COSMETIC BRUSH UNIT

Abstract

The invention relates to a cosmetic brush unit (1) comprising a bristle carrier (2) in the form of at least two twisted wires (3) holding a plurality of filaments (4) clamped so that each filament (4) forms outwardly extending bristles (4) constituting a brush, characterised in that the bristles (4) preferably have a diameter in the range 0.076 mm to 0.3556 mm and wherein the bristles (4) are divided into several preferably at least four bristle fingers (5) in the region of their free distal ends.

Claims

1. A cosmetic brush unit (1) comprising a bristle carrier (2) in the form of at least two twisted wires (3) holding a plurality of filaments (4) clamped so that each filament (4) forms outwardly extending bristles (4) constituting a brush, characterised in that the bristles (4) preferably have a diameter in the range 0.076 mm to 0.3556 mm and wherein the bristles (4) are divided into several preferably at least four bristle fingers (5) in the region of their free distal ends.

2. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that the said several bristle fingers (5) represent at least 10%, preferably at least 20%, of the total length of the bristle (4) to which they belong.

3. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the at least four bristle fingers (5) above their root (7), separated from each other by substantially V-shaped gaps (11), extend side by side in diverging direc-tions.

4. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bristle fingers (5) are grouped around a free central space (6), the cross-section of which increases continuously in the direction of the distal end.

5. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each bristle finger (5) is stiff enough to substantially return to its initial position after being deflected by a more than insignificant load.

6. A cosmetic brush unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each bristle finger (5) carries at its distal end a beard (8) of a plurality of essentially slack strands.

7. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that each bristle finger (5) has a substantially rounded, mostly continuously convex in circumferential direction, mantle surface portion (9) and two substantially non-circular, preferably substantially straight, mantle surface portions (10) which meet along a line and diverge towards the substantially rounded mantle surface portion (9), said mantle surface portions (9, 10) preferably together forming the entire mantle surface.

8. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bristles (4) consist of or contain a polymeric material, ideally polyamide.

9. Cosmetic brush unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the bristles (4) have a Shore D hardness in the range from 55 to 85 and more preferred in the range from 70 to 85.

10. A cosmetic brush unit (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said at least two twisted wires (3) are made of stainless steel and wherein each of said at least two twisted wires (3) has a diameter in the range of 0.40 mm to 0.90 mm.

11. Cosmetic applicator with a handle and a cosmetic brush unit (1) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that the handle is preferably adjoined by a grip, usually in the form of a closure cap for a cosmetic storage container.

12. A method of manufacturing the cosmetic brush unit (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 10, comprising the steps of: a) arranging the bristles (4) between at least two wires (3), b) twisting the at least two wires (3) so that a part of the bristles (4) is held between the at least two twisted wires (3), c) cutting the tips of the bristles (4) 10 with a knife so that each tip of the bristles (4) is di-vided into at least four cross-sectional segments separated from each other in the region of their free ends and forming at least four bristle fingers (5).

Description

FIGURE LIST

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a whole cosmetic brush unit according to the invention.

[0043] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partial view of the cosmetic brush unit shown in FIG. 1.

[0044] FIG. 3 shows the bristle fingers of a single bristle in side view.

[0045] FIG. 4 shows a top view of the bristle shown in FIG. 3.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0046] The mode of operation of the invention is described by way of example using FIGS. 1 to 4. For reasons of clarity, the bristles 4 and the surface sections 9 and 10 of the bristle fingers 5 are only given reference signs as examples.

[0047] FIG. 1 shows a side view of a cosmetic brush unit 1 according to the invention. The cosmetic brush unit 1 is formed by the bristles 4 and the bristle carrier 2 carrying the bristles 4.

[0048] The bristle carrier 2 consists of two wires 3 twisted together. The bristles 4 are held on the bristle carrier 2 by being clamped between the twisted wires 3. For this purpose, the bristles 4 were placed between the two wires 3 before the twisting of the wires 3 and held there during the twisting process. The free ends of the bristles 4 protrude in a radial direction from the bristle carrier 2. The bristles 4 have a constant length over approximately two thirds of the length of the bristle carrier 2, so that in this area a cylindrical bristle set or a cylindrical brush section may result. In the area of the last third of the bristle carrier 2, the length of the bristles 4 can continuously be reduced. In this area, the result is then a truncated pyramid-like bristle trim or truncated pyramid-like brush section.

[0049] In the region of a certain axial axis section of the bristle carrier 2, the bristles 4 are not arranged uniformly around the bristle carrier 2 in the circumferential direction. Ra-ther, the bristles 4 are arranged helically around the longi-tudinal axis of the bristle carrier 2.

[0050] The bristle carrier 2 protrudes at one end beyond the bristle set formed by the bristles 4, i.e. is not occupied by bristles 4 along a section. This section of the bristle carrier 2 serves to connect the cosmetic brush unit to a handle of a cosmetic applicator, see FIG. 1.

[0051] FIG. 2 shows an enlarged partial view of the cosmetic brush unit from FIG. 1. This clearly shows how the individual bristles 4 are clamped between the twisted wires 3. In addition to fixing the bristles 4 to the bristle carrier 2 by means of the clamping force resulting from the twisting of the wires 3, the bristles 4 can also be glued to one of the wires 3 before twisting.

[0052] FIGS. 3 and 4 show a more detailed view to the free end of a single bristle 4 as shown by FIG. 2. The bristle 4 is shown in FIG. 3 more or less in side view and in FIG. 4 essentially in top view.

[0053] FIG. 3 and in particular FIG. 4 show the bristle fingers 5 of the bristle 4. Each of the four bristle fingers 5 has a quar-ter-circle cross-section. The lateral surface of the individual bristle fingers 5 thus consists of a rounded, essentially circular arc-shaped lateral surface section 9 andhere-two essentially flat lateral surface sections 10. The two essentially or more or less flat lateral surface sections 10 meet along a straight line and thus form an edge on the bristle finger 5.

[0054] Between the edges of the individual bristle fingers 5 formed in this way is a free central space 6 with a circular cross-section. The diameter of the free central space 6 decreases, in most cases continuously, from the free end of the bristle fingers 5 to the value 0, so that the bristle fingers 5 merge into each other or into the bristle 4. The area where the bristle fingers 5 merge into the bristle 4 forms the root 7 of the individual bristle fingers 5.

[0055] There is a gap 11 between each two facing, essentially flat lateral surface sections 10 of two bristle fingers 5. The gap thickness of the gap 11, measured orthogonally to the essentially flat lateral surface sections 10, also decreases continuously from the free end of the bristle fingers 5 to the root 7 to the value 0. This results in a V-shaped geometry of the gap 11 in the side view of the bristle 4.

[0056] A beard 8 is also attached to the free ends of each bristle finger 5, which consists of a plurality of individual strands of the bristle finger 5, see FIG. 3, while FIG. 4 shows the status after removal of the beards 8.

REFERENCE LIST

[0057] 1 cosmetic brush unit [0058] 2 bristle carrier [0059] 3 wire/twisted wire [0060] 4 filaments/bristles [0061] 5 bristle finger [0062] 6 free or central space of the bristle fingers [0063] 7 root of the bristle fingers [0064] 8 beard of a bristle finger [0065] 9 rounded mantle surface section of a bristle finger [0066] 10 out-of-round mantle surface sections of a bristle finger/flat lateral surface sections [0067] 11 V-shaped gap