US3708236A

US3708236A - Cosmetic stick holder

Info

Publication number: US3708236A
Application number: US00140791A
Authority: US
Inventors: J Greenwood
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1971-05-06
Filing date: 1971-05-06
Publication date: 1973-01-02
Anticipated expiration: 1990-01-02

Abstract

A lipstick holder is provided which comprises means for positioning the stick of lipstick at a predetermined height above the receptacle for the lipstick whenever the cover is fully removed. The disclosed positioning means includes a support assembly which supports the stick of lipstick at one end, a pair of spring arms attached to the support assembly, slots in the lipstick receptacle through which the spring arms protrude into contact with the cover when the cover is disposed over the lipstick receptacle, and a positioning member disposed in the cover and positioned to be engaged by the top of the stick of lipstick when it has reached its desired position relative to the receptacle. The engagement of the top of the stick of lipstick with the positioning member results in release of the spring arms from the cover.

Description

United States Patent 1191' Greenwood 1451 Jan. 2, 1973 s41 COSMETIC STICK HOLDER 57 ABSTRACT [76] Inventor: 1 1 Greenwood, 7 WOOdShOIe A lipstick holder is provided which comprises means East, Cliffwoocl Beach, NJ. 07735 for positioning the stick of lipstick at a predetermined I height above the receptacle for the lipstick whenever 71 1 filed 19 the cover 1s fully removed. The dlsclosed pos1t1on1ng PP N05 1 1 means includes a support assembly which supports the stick of lipstick at one end, a pair of spring arms at- 521 U.S. c1 ..40l/60 teehed to the support assembly, slots in the lipstick 51 Int. Cl. ..A45d 39/04 receptacle through which the spring time protrude [58] Field of Search ..4o1/ss, 59, 60-62, into contact with the cover when the cover is disposed 401/80 32.84, 88, 98 over the lipstick receptacle, and a positioning member disposed in the cover and positioned to be engaged by [56] References Cited the top of the stick of lipstick when it has reached its desired position relative to the receptacle. The en- UNITED STATES PATENTS gagement of the top of the stick of lipstick with the 1,734,117 11/1929 Coryell ..40l/60 Positioning member results in release of the Spring 1,794,385 3/1931 McAtree ...40l/60 arms from the cover. 2,088,899 8/1937- Chevrean ...40l/62 2,609,093 9/1952 Lynn ..40l/82 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures Primary Examiner--Lawrence Charles Attorney-Lemer, David & Littenberg 6 v L j 2 i m A; ,60 24 28 26 E 2O\$ I2 I J 4 30 4 72 g 1 32 sl g; 46

PATENTED A 2 I975 INVENTOR.

JAMES GREENWOOD LERNER, DAVID 8 LITTENBERG A TTORNEYS COSMETIC s'rrcx HOLDER FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to holders for sticks of wearable material, and particularly to holders for sticks of wearable cosmetic material, such as sticks of eye shadow and lipstick.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION places the cosmetic material, such as lipstick, in a desired operating position. In this regard, it is well known to provide holders which have covers that position the cosmetic sticks in desired closed positions when the covers are moved to their fully closed positions and that position the cosmetic sticks in fully exposed positions when the covers are moved to their fully opened positions. Examples of such prior art include U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,734,116; 1,794,385; 1,976,252 and 2,609,093.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a holder for a stick of wearable material which functions to position the end of the stick of wearable material at a desired exposed position whenever the cover is fully removed. The aforesaid desired exposed position is independent of the length of the stick of wearable material except when such length is not sufficient for the end of the stick to reach such desired exposed position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention particularly resides in the provision of a holder for a stick of wearable material which holder comprises positioning means for positioning the operable end of the stick at a desired position above the receptacle for the stick whenever the receptacle cover is fully removed. The positioning means generally comprises means cooperating with the cover to move the stick with the cover as it is opened and means responsive to the movement of the stick to its desired position to prevent further movement of the stick.

The preferred embodiment of the invention, which is described in detail hereinafter, generally comprises a support assembly for the stick which includes a spring member adapted to frictionally engage the cover. A positioning member is disposed in the path of the stick so that the end of the stick strikes the positioning member when it has reached its desired exposed position relative to the receptacle for the stick. Upon such engagement, the spring member is released from the cover and functions to hold the stick in its desired exposed position during use. Final removal of the cover results in removal of the positioning member from engagementwith the stick.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a lipstick holder without the cover which has been constructed in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a different side elevational view of the lipstick holder of FIG. 1 with the cover removed;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is capable o'f wide application in that it generally relates to an improved holder for a stick of wearable material, particularly cosmetic material, such as eye shadow and lipstick. However, for the purpose of fully explaining the invention, the present description is directed to a preferred embodiment of the invention which is embodied in a lipstick I holder. It is to be understood that this description is intended to be byway of example only and not as a limitation to the scope of the invention.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 through 4 of the drawings, there is shown a lipstick holder in accordancewith the preferredv embodiment of the invention which generally comprises a stick 10 of lipstick; a stick support-assembly 12 upon which the stick 10 is mounted at one end, a receptacle 14 which movably receives the stick 10 and stick support assembly 12, and a cover 16 adapted to matingly cooperate with receptacle 14 to seal the open end 18 of receptacle 14 when the cover 16 is in its fully closed position shownin FIG. 3.

The aforesaid general features are of course well known. The present invention generally resides in the provision of means for automatically positioning the end 19 of the stick 10 at a predetermined position relastick 10. Spring member 20 is welded by weld 28 to support platfonn 24. Spring member 20 comprises

spring arms

30 and 32 and is so constructed that, in. its normal position,

spring arms

30 and 32 extend outwardly through

slots

34 and 36 in a'wall 37 of receptacle 14. This position of

spring arms

30 and 32 is shown in FIG. 2. The edges of the

arms

30 and 32 are sawtoothed to provide a positive means for gripping them if one desiresto move stick 10 manually as will be more fully explained hereinafter. However, this is usually only done when the stick 10 has beenwom down so much that its end 19 does not protrude sufficiently out of the open end 18 of receptacle l4 forapplying lipmember 38'and base member 40 could be formed from a single piece of material and thus be entirely integral. It is to be further noted that though base member 40 within base member40.

Spring arms

30 and 32 are of such a width relative to slots '34 and 36 that they may readily extend through the slots. In fact, a portion of each of the spring arms is always disposed within the slots which thereby guide movement of the spring arms and thus movement of stick 10.

Spring member 20 includes a relatively wide top portion 50 which is substantially planar when the cover 16 is removed and the

spring arms

30 and 32 protrude outside of

slots

34 and 36. At such times,

curved edges

52 and 54 of top portion 50 engage wall 37 to frictionally hold stick in a relatively fixed position relative to elongated cylinder 38. This position is relatively fixed in that stick [0 will only move when the frictional forces developed by the'spring

edges

52 and 54 in en- Cylindrical member 60 is fixedly connected to an end member 62. It will be appreciated that endmember 62 and cylindrical member 60 could be formed from the same piece of material and thus be integral. Furthermore, the end member 62 could be flush with the end of cylindrical member 60 rather than extending beyond and around the end of cylindrical member 60 as in the presently illustrated and preferred embodiment.

A cap-shaped positioning member 64 is slidably disposed within cylindrical member 60. Positioning member 64 comprises a cylindrically shaped body portion 65 which terminates in an end or cap portion 66. Positioning member 64 is confined within cylindrical member'60 by a thickened portion 68 of cylindrical member 60 which prevents positioning member 64 from coming out of cylindrical member 60.

It willbe appreciated that positioning member 64 has outside dimensions such that it can freely slide within cover 16 while substantially maintaining a predetermined orientation relative to cylindricalmember 60. Positioning member 64 can be inserted into cylindrical member 60 by' putting it in its desired position before connecting end member 62 to cylindrical member 60.

If cover 16 is made from a single piece of material, other well known means such as, for example, initially contracting and then expanding positioning member 64 may be employed. Such methods of insertion would depend upon the materials from which positioning member 64 and cover 16 are constructed;

The portion 66 of elongated member 38 of receptacle 14 disposed adjacent the open end 18 is beveled so that the body portion 65 of positioning member 64 readily passes around and over cylindrical ;member 38 in FIG. 3. 1 it The presently preferred embodiment of the invention has all metal parts. However, other materials, such as plastic materials, could of course be used.

4 OPERATION When one purchases a lipstick constructed in accordance with the teachings of the presentinvention, the cover 16 is in the closed positionshbwnin FIG. 3.

To use the lipstick, cover 16 must be fully removed: As 1 the cover 16 is pulled off of receptacle 14,? stick 10 moves substantially at the same rate and in the same that the

curved edges

52 and 54 engage the inner wall of cylindrical member 38 to hold stick 10 in a relatively fixed position relative to member 38.

Continued opening movement of cover 16 results in engagement of thickened portion 68 with positioning member 64 which forces positioning member 64 off of cylindrical member 38. The lipstick without the'cover 16 is now in the condition illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

In fact, the position of end 19 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 5 will always beassumed until stick 10 has been worn down so much that the thickened portion 68 of cylindrical member engages positioning member prior to the engagement of positioning member 64 with'len'd 19 of stick 10. At such times, stick 10 may not be exposed sufficiently to be easily used. It can be more fully exposed by pressing the

spring arms

30 and 32 manually inwards of

slots

34 and 36 to release the .frictional engagement of curved edges 52.and 54 and,

while holding the arm members in such compressed condition, moving them toward the open end 18. In fact, if desired, the lipstick can be held in position when being applied by holding the lipstick in such a manner that the users fingers grip the saw-toothed edges of

spring arms

30 and 32.

After the lipstick has been'used, cover"16 is positioned in telescoping relationship to cylindrical member 38. As itis moved towards its fully closed position, the end 72 of cylindrical member 60 engages

spring arms

30 and 32 forcing the spring arms toward base member 40. This causes the stick 10 to move towards its closed position shown in FIG. 3. When cover 16 reaches its almost fully closed position, two things happen. The first is that the

springarms

30 and 32 engage base portion 40 so that they can moveno further and the enlarged portion 68 then moves over thickened portion 68. The second thing to occur is that positioning member 64 moves over the beveledportion 1 67 of cylindrical member 38. When the cover member when the cover 16 is in its fully closedfposi'tionshown 1 is then moved to its fully closed position, positioning member 64 is forced into relatively tight engagement withcylindrical member 38. i

The relationship between the forces created by enmember 20 and positioning member 64 can be determined by trial and error. The requirements are such that the spring member 20 engage the cover 16 with sufficient force to follow movement of the cover. This force has proven to be quite small because the entire stick support assembly 12 and stick are relatively light. This force must, in addition, be such that stick l0 will not be moved when in normal use which is when the

curved edges

52 and 54 are in engagement with cylindrical member 38.

The forces developed due to the engagement of positioning member 64 with cylindrical member 38 must be such that the engagement of the end 19 of stick 10 with positioning member 64 results in release of spring member 20 from cover 16. It will be appreciated that only this amount of force is applied to the end 19 since once the spring member 20 has been disengaged, there is no force tending to move stick 10 into engagement with the positioning member. Thus, this force has not proven to be substantial and will not adversely affect the shape of stick 10 if it comprises material of a relatively firm consistency. If the lipstick isof a relatively poor consistency, positioning member 64 may be provided with an interior shape which will result in shaping stick l0 whenever it engages the positioning member. Such a specially shaped positioning member is shown in FIG. 5.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a second embodiment of a positioning member 80 is shown in cross-section. Positioning member 80 is cylindrically shaped and has an inner curved surface 82 adapted to shape the end of a stick of wearable material when brought into engagement with such end. Positioning member 80 further comprises a flange-like portion 84 adapted to mate with and frictionally engage the top of cylindrical member 38. A step portion 86 connects the curved surface 82 to flange-like portion 84.

The inner surface of cylindrical member 38 may be provided with serrations adapted to engage the spring arms which bend top portion 50 to aid in preventing the lipstick from being pushed back into the chamber of member 38 during use of the holder.

While the principles of the invention have been described in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that the description is made only by way of example and is not intended as a limitation to the scope of the invention as set forth in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A holder wherein said cooperating means comprises a spring member attached to said support means and at least one longitudinal slot in said receptacle, a portion of said spring member being positioned within said slot and adapted to extend therethrough into engagement with said cover so that said support means moves with said cover until the engagement of said spring member with said cover is released, support means for mounting of one end of a stick of wearable material thereon, receptacle means including a receptacle having an opening thereto and means movably mounting said support means within said receptacle for movement between a closed position in which a stick supported thereon by its said one end is substantially disposed within said receptacle and an open position in which the other end of the stick rotrudes through said opening and outside of said rece tacle, a cover a apted said support means to said stick towards said opeii position as said cover is removed from said receptacle, cooperating means operatively associated with said support means and adapted to slide in said cover to inhibit said support means from moving said other end of said stick beyond a predetermined amount outside of said receptacle relative to said opening when said cover is removed, a holder wherein said receptacle comprises an elongated member and said opening thereto comprises an open end thereof, said cover comprises an elongated member open at one end and adapted to telescopingly receive said receptacle, said cooperating means comprises a positioning member movably mounted within said cover and adapted to mate with and frictionally engage said open end of said receptacle when said cover is moved to its closed position, and said cover further comprises disengaging means for moving said positioning member out of engagement with said receptacle when said cover is moved to its open position. I

2. A'holder according to claim 1, wherein said spring member comprises a pair of spring arms disposed in substantially planar relationship, and said receptacle comprises a pair of opposed slots through which said spring arms extend respectively.

3. A holder according to claim 2, wherein said disengaging means comprises an annular abutment disposed within said cover and positioned to be engaged by said spring arms when said cover is in its closed position, and said spring arms are adapted to engage said abutment with such force that the support assembly and stick move with said cover until said other end of said stick engages said positioning member, and the positioning member is so constructed that the forces developed by the engagement of said positioning member with said receptacle open end are such that the engaging force between the spring arms and said cover are overcome when said positioning member is engaged by said other end of said stick whereby said spring arms are released from said cover and said stick no longer tends to move with said cover.

4. A holder according to claim 3, wherein said spring member comprises an engaging portion fixedly attached to said spring arms and adapted to move into engaging relationship with said receptacle when said spring arms move outside of said slots to thereby hold said stick in a relatively fixed position relative to said receptacle and to be flexed by said spring arms to a non-engaging position with respect to said receptacle when said spring arms are in contact with said abutment.

5. A holder according to claim 4, wherein said positioning member is so constructed that the portion thereof engaged by said other end of said stick tends to cause said other end to assume a desired shape.

* a: e a: a I

Claims

1. A holder wherein said cooperating means comprises a spring member attached to said support means and at least one longitudinal slot in said receptacle, a portion of said spring member being positioned within said slot and adapted to extend therethrough into engagement with said cover so that said support means moves with said cover until the engagement of said spring member with said cover is released, support means for mounting of one end of a stick of wearable material thereon, receptacle means including a receptacle having an opening thereto and means movably mounting said support means within said receptacle for movement between a closed position in which a stick supported thereon by its said one end is substantially disposed within said receptacle and an open position in which the other end of the stick protrudes through said opening and outside of said receptacle, a cover adapted to mate with said receptacle to seal said opening holding said support means in its closed position for moving said support means to said stick towards said open position as said cover is removed from said receptacle, cooperating means operatively associated with said support means and adapted to slide in said cover to inhibit said support means from moving said other end of said stick beyond a predetermined amount outside of said receptacle relative to said opening when said cover is removed, a holder wherein said receptacle comprises an elongated member and said opening thereto comprises an open end thereof, said cover comprises an elongated member open at one end and adapted to telescopingly receive said receptacle, said cooperating means comprises a positioning member movably mounted within said cover and adapted to mate with and frictionally engage said open end of said receptacle when said cover is moved to its closed position, and said cover further comprises disengaging means for moving said positioning member out of engagement with said receptacle when said cover is moved to its open position.

2. A holder according to claim 1, wherein said spring member comprises a pair of spring arms disposed in substantially planar relationship, and said receptacle comprises a pair of opposed slots through which said spring arms extend respectively.