JP2023116199A - Cotton swab - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a cotton swab capable of suppressing falling and fluffing of fiber from a fiber lump-like part even when reducing an application quantity of top paste.SOLUTION: A cotton swab according to the present invention comprises a shaft body 2, and a fiber lump-like part 3 with fiber wound around and adhering to one end or both ends of the shaft body 2. The fiber lump-like part 3 has a base end part 31 adhering to the shaft body with lower paste, and a body part 32 extending outside the shaft body 2 along an axial direction of the shaft body 2 from the base end part 31. First top paste 5 is applied to a surface of the base end part 31, and second top paste 6 is applied to a surface of body part 32. Between the first top paste and the second top paste, at least the application quantity applied to the surface of the body part is less than that of the first top paste, and the second top paste 6 contains a moisturizing component.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a cotton swab used for ear cleaning or the like.

In general, a cotton swab is made by applying a lower paste to the end of a shaft body, bonding a fiber clump, and then applying a top paste to the surface of the fiber clump (see Patent Document 1, etc.). Such cotton swabs are widely used for ear cleaning and the like by utilizing the scraping action of the fibers. In addition, because of its high liquid absorbency, it is also used in the fields of hygiene and medical care, cosmetics, and the like.

However, conventional cotton swabs have a problem in that the elastic and soft texture inherent in the fiber clumps tends to be lost because the top paste is applied to the surface of the fiber clumps. The top paste is used for the purpose of preventing the fibers from falling off from the fiber clumps and preventing the fibers from becoming fuzzy. Therefore, it has been difficult to reduce the amount of top glue applied.

JP 2012-152329 A

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a cotton swab that suppresses falling off of fibers from a mass of fibers and fluffing even if the amount of top paste applied is reduced.

A cotton swab of the present invention comprises a shaft and a fiber clump having fibers wound around one end or both ends of the shaft and bonded thereto, the fiber clump having a base end bonded to the shaft with a lower glue; a body portion extending outward from the shaft body along the axial direction of the shaft body from the base end portion; a first top paste is applied to the surface of the base end portion; A top paste is applied, and at least the second top paste of the first top paste and the second top paste has a smaller amount of coating on the surface of the main body than the first top paste, and is moisturizing. contains ingredients.

According to the present invention, since at least the second top paste contains a moisturizing component, it is possible to prevent the fibers from coming off from the fiber clumps and fluffing. As a result, at least the amount of the second top paste applied can be reduced, and the elastic and soft texture inherent in the bulky fiber portion is not impaired.

1 is a side view of a cotton swab according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a fiber mass portion in the cotton swab shown in FIG. 1;

The cotton swab of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a cotton swab 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of its fiber mass portion.

As shown in FIG. 1, a cotton swab 1 includes a shaft 2 and fiber mass portions 3 and 4 in which fibers are wrapped around and bonded to both ends of the shaft 2, respectively. One fiber mass portion 3 has a base end portion 31 and a substantially spherical main body portion 32 extending outward from the shaft body 2 along the axial direction of the shaft body 2 from the base end portion 31 .

The other fiber mass portion 4 also has a base end portion 41 and a body portion 42 extending outwardly of the shaft body 2 from the base end portion 41 along the axial direction of the shaft body 2 . The body portion 42 is formed in a stepped shape with a plurality of steps in order to enhance the scraping effect.
Here, the base end portions 31 and 41 are portions that are pressure-bonded to the outer peripheral surface of the shaft body 2 with a glue, which will be described later, in order to prevent the bulky fiber portions 3 and 4 from coming off from the shaft body 2. say. On the other hand, the body portions 32 and 42 are portions that come into contact with the skin or the like.

Examples of the shaft 2 include a paper shaft, a plastic shaft, and a wooden shaft. A paper shaft can be manufactured, for example, by applying an adhesive to one side of a rectangular paper sheet and winding it into a small size. The cross-sectional shape of the shaft 2 may be, for example, circular, elliptical, flat, rectangular, etc. In the case of a circular shape, the diameter should be 1 mm or more, preferably 6 mm or less.

Examples of fibers that form the fiber lumps 3 and 4 include various natural fibers (cotton, silk, wool, etc.), regenerated fibers (rayon, cuber, etc.), synthetic fibers (polyester fiber, polypropylene fiber, etc.), and the like. However, cotton fibers such as absorbent cotton, which have good hygroscopicity, are preferably used. These fibers may be used alone or in combination of two or more.

The fiber mass portions 3 and 4 are adhered to the shaft body 2 with an underglue. As the base paste, for example, starch paste, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl acetate, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, carboxymethyl cellulose, etc. can be used. The lower glue is applied in advance to the portion from the base end portion 31 to the tip of the shaft 2, and the fibers of the fiber mass portions 3 and 4 are respectively wound around the shaft 2 and pressurized in the radial direction to bond them.

A top paste is applied to the surfaces of the fiber mass portions 3 and 4 in order to prevent the fibers from falling off and fluffing. As shown in FIG. 2, the fiber mass portion 3 in the present embodiment is formed by applying the first top paste 5 to the surface of the base end portion 31 and applying the second top paste 6 to the surface of the body portion 32 . there is In this embodiment, the second top glue 6 contains a moisturizing component.

As the first and second upper glues 5 and 6, for example, glue materials such as polyvinyl alcohol can be used. The first and second top pastes 5 and 6 may be of the same type, but different paste materials may be used.
The method of forming the top paste is not particularly limited, and a method of applying a solution obtained by dissolving the top paste component in a solvent such as water by, for example, roll coating, spraying, showering, or brushing, followed by drying can be mentioned.

In FIG. 2, for convenience of explanation, the first and second top glues 5 and 6 are shown to exist on the surfaces of the base end portion 31 and the main body portion 32, respectively. It is thought that the water permeates not only the surface of the fibers and between the fibers, but also the inside of the base end portion 31 and the main body portion 32 .

The first top paste 5 used for the base end portion 31 is applied to the base end portion 31 of the fiber mass portion 3 in a sufficient amount so that the fibers do not fall off from the fiber mass portion 3 at the base end portion 31 or do not become fuzzy. coated. Specifically, for example, the first upper paste 5 is applied to the base end portion 31 at a coating solution containing a paste material at a concentration of 1% by mass or more and 10% by mass or less in an amount of 5 g/cm ² or more and 100 g/cm ^{2 or} less. The base end portion 31 can be formed at the same time as the base glue is adhered by applying pressure from the outer peripheral surface (heating and pressurizing if necessary) and drying. Converting the amount of application to a solid content (paste material), the first top paste 5 is preferably applied to the base end portion 31 in an amount of 0.5 g/cm ² or more and 10 g/cm ^{2 or} less.

On the other hand, the amount of the second top paste 6 applied to the surface of the body portion 32 is less than the amount of the first top paste 5 applied in terms of solid content. 10% by mass or more and 80% by mass or less, preferably 10% by mass or more and 50% by mass or less based on the coating amount of 100% by mass.
Since the amount of the second top paste 6 applied to the main body portion 32 is less than the amount of the first top paste 5 applied, the body portion 32 has more elasticity than the base end portion 31 . It is possible to provide the cotton swab 1 which can maintain a soft touch and is pleasant to the touch.
The second top paste 6 may be applied at the same time as the first top paste 5 is applied, or may be applied before or after the first top paste 5 is applied.

As described above, the second top glue 6 contains a moisturizing component. As a result, it is possible to prevent the fibers from falling off from the fiber clumps 3 and to prevent the fibers from being fluffed. Therefore, even if the amount of the second top paste 6 applied is less than the amount of the first top paste 5 applied, it is possible to suppress deterioration of the texture and softness of the bulky fiber portion 3 .

Moisturizing ingredients include, for example, glycerin, butylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, lactic acid or salts thereof (sodium lactate, etc.), urea, and the like, and two or more of them may be used in combination.

The content of the moisturizing component contained in the second top paste 6 is preferably 20 parts by mass or more and 100 parts by mass or less when the second top paste 6 is 100 parts by mass. The moisturizing component may be applied to the surface of the main body portion 32 together with the second top paste 6 in addition to the coating solution when preparing the coating solution for the second top paste 6 and then dried. Alternatively, after applying the second top paste 6 to the surface of the body portion 32, the moisturizing component may be applied before or after drying.

The length of the main body portion 32 (the length along the axial direction of the shaft 2 ) in the fiber mass portion 3 is preferably 30% or more and 85% or less of the total length of the fiber mass portion 3 . Within this range, it is possible to sufficiently secure the length of the region where the fiber mass portion 3 is firmly adhered to the shaft 2 at the base end portion 31 .

The shape of the main body portion 32 is not particularly limited, and examples thereof include a waterdrop shape, an egg shape, a brush tip shape, a cylindrical shape, a straw shape, a spherical shape, and the like. In this embodiment, as described above, the main body portion 32 is excellent in texture and softness, so by forming the main body portion 32 larger than a normal cotton swab, it is possible to provide the cotton swab 1 with a good touch. .

Specifically, the maximum length of the body portion 32 in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the shaft 2 (the diameter when the cross-sectional shape is spherical, and the maximum diameter when the diameter is not constant in the axial direction of the shaft 2) ) is 2.5 times or more, preferably 3 times or more, and 5 times or less the diameter of the shaft 2, so that a cotton swab 1 that is soft and pleasant to the touch can be obtained.

When the amount of the first top paste 5 applied to the base end portion 31 is sufficient to suppress the shedding of fibers from the base end portion 31 and the fluffiness, the first top paste 5 is added with a moisturizing component. It can be said that it does not need to be contained. However, the first top paste 5 may contain a moisturizing component, which rather contributes to reducing the amount of the first top paste 5 used. That is, the first top paste 5 may contain the same amount of moisturizing component as the second top paste 6 or less, or may be in a mode of not containing the moisturizing component.

As for the other fiber mass portion 4 in the present embodiment, the second top paste applied to the surface of the main body portion 42 may contain a moisturizing component in the same manner as the fiber mass portion 3 described above. The first top glue applied to the surface of the end portion 41 may also contain a moisturizing component. Furthermore, the first top paste on the base end portion 41 and the second top paste on the main body portion 42 may be applied with only the top paste, similar to conventional cotton swabs that do not contain moisturizing ingredients. .

In the present embodiment, the other fiber mass portion 4 has a stepped shape, but the cotton swab 1 of the present invention is not limited to such a shape. They may be the same or may be of different shapes.

The cotton swab of the present invention can be suitably used for hygiene and medical applications, cosmetic applications, and industrial applications such as cleaning of precision instruments, in addition to being used for ear cleaning and the like.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 cotton swab 2 shaft 3 fiber mass portion 31 base end portion 32 body portion 4 fiber mass portion 41 base end portion 42 body portion 5 first top paste 6 second top paste

Claims (3)

It comprises a shaft and a fiber mass portion in which fibers are wound and bonded to one or both ends of the shaft, the fiber mass portion having a base end bonded to the shaft, and a main body portion extending outward of the shaft along the axial direction of
A first top paste is applied to the surface of the base end portion, a second top paste is applied to the surface of the main body portion, and at least one of the first top paste and the second top paste is The cotton swab, wherein the second top paste is applied in a smaller amount to the surface of the body portion than the first top paste and contains a moisturizing component. 2. The cotton swab according to claim 1, wherein said first top paste has a lower content of said moisturizing ingredient than said second top paste, or does not contain said moisturizing ingredient. The cotton swab according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the moisturizing ingredient contains at least one selected from glycerin, butylene glycol, dipropylene glycol, lactic acid or salts thereof, and urea.

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