US3623821A

US3623821A - Cosmetic container

Info

Publication number: US3623821A
Application number: US879138A
Authority: US
Inventors: Melvin Gould
Original assignee: Eyelet Specialty Co Inc
Current assignee: Eyelet Specialty Co Inc
Priority date: 1969-11-24
Filing date: 1969-11-24
Publication date: 1971-11-30
Anticipated expiration: 1988-11-30

Abstract

The invention contemplates an improved refill cartridge and insert-sleeve construction for use in lipstick or the like containers having outer decorative casings, the sleeve being permanently assembled into the bore of the base part of the outer decorative casing. The particular feature of the invention resides in provision of such circumferential uniformity of the sleeve fit in the outer decorative casing that inherently weak plastic outer casings are smoothly cylindrically supported and permanently engaged, without imposing such circumferential stress as to rupture the casing. At the same time, improved detent and locking structure coacts between removably fitted parts of the cartridge and casing to assure smooth detent action without damage to keyed parts or surfaces.

Description

Unite States Patent [72] Inventor Melvin Gould l'lamden, Conn. [21] Appl. No. 879.138 [22] Filed Nov. 24, 1969 [45] Patented Nov. 30, 1971 [73] Assignee Eyelet Specialty Company Wellington-d, Conn.

[54] COSMETIC CONTAINER 7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

52 U.S.C1 .1 401/86 [51 Int. Cl A45d 40/06 [50] Field of Search 401/61. 68v 78. 86

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,323,641 6/1967 Landen 401/86 3,335,854 8/1967 Landen 401/68 X Primary E.raminerLawrence Charles Atwme vSandoe. Hopgood and Calimafde ABSTRACT: The invention contemplates an improved refill cartridge and insert-sleeve construction for use in lipstick or the like containers having outer decorative casings, the sleeve being permanently assembled into the bore of the base part of the outer decorative casing. The particular feature of the invention resides in provision of such circumferential uniformity of the sleeve fit in the outer decorative casing that inherently weak plastic outer casings are smoothly cylindrically supported and permanently engaged. without imposing such circumferential stress as to rupture the casing. At the same time. improved detent and locking structure coacts between removably fitted parts of the cartridge and casing to assure smooth detent action without damage to keyed parts or surfaces.

Ill

COSMETIC CONTAINER This invention relates to an improved lipstick or the like container construction of the removable-cartridge type wherein the cartridge assembly is removably received in an outer decorative casing, and in particular when the outer decorative casing is of molded plastic.

In catering to todays market for lipstick containers of the character indicated, it is important that the manufacturer shall be able to offer great variety in the design of outer decorative casings which utilize the same basic internal mechanism. This is ordinarily achieved by providing a standard cartridge and by providing a custom-designed outer casing to receive the cartridge. Competition forces further economies through standardizing of an insert for the base-receiving part of the outer casing, the insert being specially formed for reception of an inserted standard cartridge; Landen U.S. Pat. No. 3,323,641 is illustrative of such an insert. But the said Landen construction has been found to present intolerable difficulties when the outer decorative casing is of molded-plastic construction and especially when the plastic casing parts are locally weakened by decorative relief or intaglio formations. The difficulties are believed to be attributable in part to lack of circumferentially complete internal support of the casing plastic, in part to the rough nature of detent action, and in part to detent peening of keying surfaces.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved device of the character indicated.

Another object is to provide a cartridge-type refill-container construction featuring improved locking engagement between the parts when the cartridge is received in the housing.

A further object is to meet the above objects with a device in which adequately positive locking action is assured as long as the parts are assembled, and yet they may be unlocked by simple manipulation.

A still further object is to meet the above objects with a basic insert construction for an outer decorative casing so as to render the cartridge and insert structure universally applicable to a plurality of outer casing configurations, and so as also to inherently receive and secure a plurality of types of refill-cartridge construction.

A specific object is to meet the foregoing objects with a construction which inherently supports the plastic casing without noticeable local deformation, and which is not only smooth in its detent action upon cartridge insertion and removal but is also incapable of damaging the keying relation of rotated parts, regardless of the number of cycles of insertion and removal of the cartridge base in the casing base.

Other objects and various further features of novelty and invention will be pointed out or will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following specification in conjection with the accompanying drawings.

In said drawings, which show, for illustrative purposes only, a preferred form of the invention:

FIG. 1 is a view in elevation of an assembly according to the invention with a cartridge refill received in the base-housing member of the outer decorative housing, the closure cap being suggested in phantom outline;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refill cartridge used in the container of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view in elevation, with base-housing parts shown in section, to reveal coaction of the parts in assembled relation;

FIG. 4 is a bottom view of the cartridge of FIG. 2 on a further enlarged scale, to identify a dimension; and

FIG. 5 is an exploded sectional view, on the enlarged scale of FIG. 4, to permit identification of dimensional relationships in casing parts of FIG. 3.

Briefly stated, the invention contemplates an improved refill cartridge and insert-sleeve construction for use in lipstick or the like containers having outer decorative casings, the sleeve being permanently assembled into the bore of the base part of the outer decorative casing. The particular feature of the invention resides in provision of such circumferential uniformity of the sleeve fit in the outer decorative casing that inherently weak plastic outer casings are smoothly cylindrically supported and permanently engaged, without imposing such circumferential stress as to rupture the casing. At the same time, improved detent and locking structure coacts between removably fitted parts of the cartridge and casing to assure smooth detent action without damage to keyed parts or surfaces.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, the invention is shown in application to a cartridge-refill container designated generally 10, removably received within the lower or base half of an outer decorative housing member, designated generally 11. The housing member is shown to be generally cylindrical and to comprise a lower cylindrical end 12 and an upper cylindrical end or bead 13. The bead l3 constitutes a stop when the container is closed by application of a closure cap 14 having internal friction ribs 15 to grip the cartridge 10 when cap 14 is driven to abutment with the bead 13. The cap 14 may be cup shaped, of molded plastic, with external decorative relief or intaglio designs, and with a smooth bore in which the friction means 15 is integrally formed.

The cartridge refill 10 may be of the type employing two relatively rotatable parts to produce propel-repel action of a lipstick carrier therewithin, and it suffices for present purposes to identify the upper or application end 16, which may be cylindrical, having an opening through which the lipstick is selectively projected, and in addition, to identify a lower or base operating end 18 received and concealed within the base housing member 12.

When the closure cap 14 is removed and with the parts then as shown in solid outline in FIG. 1, the lipstick within the cartridge 10 is projected and retracted in accordance with relative rotation of the exposed cartridge part 16 and the basehousing member 11. This is done by means of a keyed engagement between the base end 18 of the cartridge and suitable formations within the bore of the base-housing member 11. These formations characterize the profile of the inner edge of a radially inwardly directed flange 19 (see FIGS. 3 and 5) carried by and forming part of the base-housing member 11. In the form shown, the keyed engagement involves a circumferentially spaced plurality of elongated noncircular formations or flats 18' on the cartridge base 18, and a corresponding plurality of straight edges or short flats 19 (see FIG. 2) on the radially inward flange 19.

In accordance with the invention, an inserted refill cartridge is retained within the base-housing member 11 by detent action until it is desired to remove and replace the cartridge. This is achieved by relying primarily upon local resilient deformation of an insert sleeve 20 at an axial location spaced from the keyed engagement at l8'-19'. In the form shown, the insert sleeve 20 is press fitted and snapped into permanent assembly with the outer decorative plastic cup 12, to complete the base-housing member 11.

As best seen in FIG. 5, the insert sleeve 20 is a thin metal shell formed with the bead 13 at its upper end and with the flange 19 at its lower end. A cylindrical body between these ends is continuous except for a circumferentially continuous bead formation 21. The convex mature of bead 21 on the outside is matched by a corresponding circumferentially continuous concavity or groove 22 in the bore of sleeve 20. The convex bead 21 serves permanently to hold sleeve 20 in assembled relation to cup 12, while the concavity or groove 22 provides insertably removable detent-retaining action with detent means on the cartridge. As already indicated, the axial locale of detent action is spaced from the keyed engagement l8-l9 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, angularly spaced plural radially outward bumps 23 are formed on a circumferentially continuous cylindrical or bead portion 24 of the base 18. Conveniently, the bumps 23 may be formed in bead 24 as one of the automatic steps of fabricating the inner tubular propulsion member of the cartridge 10, the base 18 (including bead 24 and flats 18) being merely the externally exposed lower end of such member, all of which is preferably made on a so-called eyelet machine.

The cooperating functions of the described parts will be better understood from a description of preferred dimensional relationships, starting with press-fit assembly of the sleeve 20 to the cup 12, which, to match or estl'letically complement the decorative scheme of cap 14, is shown to be of molded-plastic construction. The bore of cup 12 is preferably formed with circumferentially continuous smooth surfaces, involving an end counterbore 25, a land 26, a groove 27, and a further land extension 28; the inner end 29 of the cup 12 is thickened for added strength.

For press-fit assembly of sleeve 20 to cup 12, the bead 21 is of diameter D to clear the diameter D, of the end counterbore 25 but to interfere with the reduced diameter D of the land 26. The sectional curvature of the groove 27 substantially matches the sectional curvature of the bead 21, but preferably the outer diameter of cylindrical sleeve surfaces axially adjacent bead 21 (and including bead 21) are such as to have slight residual interference (in the order of l to mils) with the corresponding bore surfaces 262728 after bead 21 registers with and snaps into groove 27. Then thus assembled, the end bead 13 defines the upper end of base housing member 11, with the upper end of cup 12 snugly adjacent thereto, and the engaged sleeve and cup surfaces provide circumferentially uniform reinforcement to the plastic cup.

For smooth snap-acting detent assembly of the cartridge to the base member 11, the inside-rim diameter D at the mouth of the sleeve 20 exceeds the diameter D of the included circle 23' of detents 23, and the keying prismatic flats 18 are within confines appropriate to engage the cutout flange 19, with a section reduced from the diameter D of the cylindrical surface or bead 24. Preferably, the interference between the detent-circle diameter D and the diameter D, of the detent land 29 adjacent groove 22 is such as to develop transient resilient chordlike deformations in sleeve 20 (at and near the land 29) as this interfering region is traversed prior to detent-engagement in groove 22, and the extent of such deformations is so slight as (a) not to cause interference between the bead surface 24 and the land surface 29 (at angular locations between detents 23) and (b) not to impair the structural integrity of the plastic cup, however embrittled or weakened for decorative purposes.

Typically, for a cartridge size in which the base bead 24 is of about 0.6 inch, the detents 23 rise radially from the bead diameter D to the extent of about 0.006 to 0.01 1 inch. The detent-circle 23 has an undeformed interference of about 0.008 to 0.014 inch with the sleeve land 29. For the force-fit lock of sleeve 20 to the mouth of cup 12, the parts have the l to 5-mil interference already described for the final position, and the interference of bead 21 with land 26 upon assembly may be in order of 5 to mils.

It will be seen that the invention provides an improved construction particularly suited to the employment of delicate decorative outer casing parts. The detent action is smoothly cammed, positive and long lasting, without damage to keyed elements, regardless of the number of recycled cartridge insertions and removals. Also, detent-action distortions are well within the tolerance capability of sleeve-reinforced plastic caps, even when the plastic is of the nonuniform section which results from deep intaglio contouring of outer surfaces.

While the invention has been described in detail for a preferred form, it will be understood that modifications may be made within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination, a lipstick or the like container cartridge having a base end and an applicator end for exposing lipstick or the like to be applied, a cup-shaped housing member having an opening removably receiving the base end of said cartridge; said cup-shaped housing member including an outer decorative cup with a bore having an internal circumferentially continuous groove, and a metal insert sleeve supported by the bore of said cup near the open end thereof and including a cir cumferentrally continuous radially outward bead having initial press-fitting interference with the bore of said cup upon axial insertion therein but having lesser press-fitting interference plus axially locating snap engagement with said bore upon bead registry with said groove, the bore of said sleeve having a circumferential groove at the axial location of said bead, said sleeve including an integral radially inward flange located deeper than said bead but axially short of the closed end of said housing member; said base end including a key portion having key engagement with said flange member when received therein, and said base end further including a circumferential bead with radially outward detent means having insertably removable detent interference with the bore of said sleeve and also having two-way-acting snap-lock detent action with the groove of said sleeve upon approach to and achievement of full insertion of said base end into said cup-shaped housing member.

2. The combination of claim 1, wherein the interference of said sleeve bead with the groove of said cup exceeds the interference of said cartridge-bead detent means with the groove of said sleeve, whereby said sleeve is retained by said cup during axial insertion and removal of said cartridge base with respect to said sleeve.

3. The combination of claim 1, wherein said detent means comprises a plurality of angularly spaced smoothly rounded outward bumps, said sleeve being locally radially deformable between the axial location of said groove and the open end of said sleeve, whereby interference prior to snap-detent engagement with the sleeve groove is relatively light in action due to local detent-urged radial deformation of said sleeve.

4. The combination of claim 1, wherein the open end of said sleeve includes a radially outward bead having a shoulder adjacent the open end of said cup when said sleeve bead is engaged at the groove in the bore of said cup.

5. The combination of claim 3, in which said plurality is three.

6. The combination of claim 1, in which said key portion of said cartridge is regularly polygonally prismatic and in which the key formations of said flange member comprise a matching polygonal edge at an opening in said flange member.

7. The combination of claim 1, in which said decorative cup is of molded plastic.

Claims

1. In combination, a lipstick or the like container cartridge having a base end and an applicator end for exposing lipstick or the like to be applied, a cup-shaped housing member having an opening removably receiving the base end of said cartridge; said cup-shaped housing member including an outer decorative cup with a bore having an internal circumferentially continuous groove, and a metal insert sleeve supported by the bore of said cup near the open end thereof and including a circumferentially continuous radially outward bead having initial press-fitting interference with the bore of said cup upon axial insertion therein but having lesser press-fitting interference plus axially locating snap engagement with said bore upon bead registry with said groove, the bore of said sleeve having a circumferential groove at the axial location of said bead, said sleeve including an integral radially inward flange located deeper than said bead but axially short of the closed end of said housing member; said base end including a key portion having key engagement with said flange member when received therein, and said base end further including a circumferential bead with radially outward detent means having insertably removable detent interference with the bore of said sleeve and also having two-way-acting snap-lock detent action with the groove of said sleeve upon approach to and achievement of full insertion of said base end into said cup-shaped housing member.

5. The combination of claim 3, in which said plurality is three.