Wire core brush with twisted film

Abstract

A wire core brush, preferably in the form of a cosmetic or mascara applicator, having bristle-forming elements held between at least two wires that are twisted together, forming bristles arranged essentially along at least one helix, between which a helical open space is provided, characterized in that the helical open space is partially filled by a film strip, which wraps around circumference surface shared by the wires that are twisted together.

Claims

1. A cosmetic or mascara applicator, comprising: a bristle-free handle extending from a proximal end of the applicator; and a bristle set region located at the proximal end of the applicator, wherein the bristle set region includes a plurality of bristle-forming elements held between at least two wires that are twisted together, forming bristles, wherein the cosmetic or mascara applicator has been manufactured so that before twisting, the plurality of bristle-forming elements and a flat, rectangular piece of film have been inserted between the at least two wires with the film strip oriented so that its length is essentially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the at least two wires, after which the wires have been twisted together without first removing the piece of film, and wherein the film and the bristle-forming elements are independent of each other and the length of the film is greater than its breadth, and the film has a thickness of 0.008 mm to 0.08 mm.

2. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film and the bristle set are inserted together between the not yet twisted wires, and the bristles rest on the film.

3. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of bristle-forming elements held between the at least two wires are twisted together, forming bristles arranged essentially along at least one helix, between which a helical open space is provided and the helical open space is partially filled by the piece of film, which wraps around a circumference surface shared by the wires that are twisted together.

4. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film is a transparent or opaque film.

5. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film shrinks when subjected to heat.

6. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film is tough enough that it can be stretched by at least 80% of its initial length before it breaks.

7. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film is a PE film.

8. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film is inserted as a film strip between the not yet twisted wires of the subsequent wire core and the film has a breadth (BFS) that is at least 30% of a length (LFI) of a filament that subsequently, immediately after the twisting, forms two bristles protruding out from the wire core.

9. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the bristle-forming elements are filaments.

10. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein a diameter of the bristle-forming elements is between 0.008 mm and 0.04 mm, and the bristle-forming elements have a circular cross-section.

11. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film is inserted as a film strip between the not yet twisted wires of the subsequent wire core and the film has a length (LFS) that is at least 25% of a length (LB) along which the wire core of the finished brush is equipped with bristles.

12. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein just before the twisting of the wires, the cosmetic or mascara applicator has the following layering: wire, film, layer comprising a plurality of bristle-forming elements oriented essentially parallel to one another, film, and wire.

13. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, wherein the film is a flocked film.

14. The cosmetic or mascara applicator according to claim 1, further comprising a mascara container containing, mascara in combination with the cosmetic or mascara applicator, wherein the cosmetic or mascara applicator may be dipped into and removed from the mascara container in order to apply mascara to the cosmetic or mascara applicator.

15. A method for manufacturing a cosmetic or mascara applicator having bristle-forming elements held between at least two wires that are twisted together, comprising: inserting a plurality of bristle-forming elements in the form of filaments and a flat, rectangular piece of film between two wires with the film oriented so that its length is essentially parallel to a longitudinal axis of the two wires, and subsequently twisting the wires together without first removing the piece of film, wherein the film and the bristle-forming elements are independent of each other, and wherein the length of the film is greater than its breadth and the film has a thickness of 0.008 mm to 0.08 mm; and attaching the twisted wires to a bristle-free handle.

16. The method according to claim 15, comprising inserting the film and the bristle-loaning elements at the same time.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) Other advantages, possible embodiments, and functions of the invention will become apparent from the description of an exemplary embodiment of the invention with the aid of the figures. In the drawings:

(2) FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment in an inclined view from above.

(3) FIG. 2 shows a side view of an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

(4) FIG. 3 shows an end view of the exemplary embodiment of the invention from the front.

(5) FIG. 4 shows a section through the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 2, extending along the center line or the longitudinal axis L of the wire core.

(6) FIG. 5 shows the manufacture of the exemplary embodiment shown in the preceding figures at the moment in which the wires that subsequently constitute the wire core have not yet been twisted and between these two wires still extending parallel, the filaments and the film to be used according to the invention have been inserted; the twisting occurs in the very next step.

(7) FIG. 6 shows the same thing as FIG. 5, but seen from the front.

(8) FIG. 7 shows the prior art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(9) FIG. 1 gives a first overview of the exemplary embodiment according to the invention, which in this case is embodied in the form of a mascara brush. The brush here is shown at a significantly enlarged scale. In actuality, in mascara brushes of this kind, the bristle set has a length of between 17.5 and 35 mm and a maximum outer diameter of 7.5 to 15 mm, measured in the direction along the twisting axis of the wire core.

(10) At its proximal end, i.e. close to the handle, the applicator 1 has a first closely spaced bristle set region 2, i.e. a bristle set region in which the bristle density is higher than in another bristle set region, preferably the middle bristle set region. In the region of its tip, i.e. in the region of its distal end, it preferably has a second closely spaced bristle set region 3. In its middle region, which makes up the preponderance of the length of the applicator in the direction of the longitudinal axis L, the bristle set is lighter and has the interstices according to the invention so that in this region, one can speak of the existence of a bristle set 4 that is less densely packed in comparison to the bristle set regions 2 and 3.

(11) The applicator 1 shown here as a first exemplary embodiment has a wire core composed of two wires 5 and 6 that are twisted together. Between these wires are clamped bristle-forming elements, approximately in the region of their middles. Preferably, filaments are used, which form a bristle group that extends along at least one helix. The individual bristles of the bristle group are not shown in detail in the figures; instead, each of the elements shown with a fin-like embodiment represents a number of individual bristlesa bristle bunch, so to speak.

(12) In reality, each individual filament produces two bristles, which protrude outward approximately in the radial direction in relation to the longitudinal axis L. The bristles vaguely indicated by the elements shown with a fin-like embodiment are labeled with the reference numeral 7. According to the invention, the term bristle is preferably understood to mean a rod-shaped structure. In one general aspect of the invention, however, bristles can also be embodied in another way, e.g. in the form of loops or structures that branch out as they extend from the inside toward the outside so that a bristle can be a structure that divides into a plurality of strands from the inside to the outside. Preferably, however, the term bristle is actually understood to be a classic bristle in the sense defined at the beginning.

(13) In the first narrow bristle set region 2 and in the second narrow bristle set region 3, no special measures have been taken. Instead, the filaments here have been inserted between the wires 5 and 6 in an intrinsically known way before the wires are twisted to form a wire core. Because of this, they constitute a bristle field of the known type whose density is the greatest along a helix and from which individual bristles, however, protrude into the interstice between two helixes or at least the helixes are arranged so closely in succession that they result in a bristle set that appears to be almost intrinsically closed when viewed from the outside.

(14) The measures according to the invention affect the bristle set region 4. Here, the bristles are arranged along a helix so that between the individual sections of the helix, an interstice remains that is clear and bristle-free to the greatest extent possible. What is conspicuous here is that the bristles in this region are only arranged along one helix or one thread of the double-start thread formed by two twisted wires, while the second thread remains free of bristles.

(15) It is also conspicuous that in the largely bristle-free region, a film strip 9 has been wound around the outside of the wire core produced by the wires 5 and 6. This does not mean that no film is to be found between the two wires 5 and 6 of the wire core. The larger part of the film, however, is wound around the outside of the wire core composed of the wires 5 and 6; only the smaller part of the film or film strip is clamped between the wires 5 and 6, but this is not visible in the figures. This film strip wound around the outside of the wire core preferably has the effect that it acts on the adjacent bristle bunches, which extend along a helix, with forces that are oriented essentially or predominantly in the direction of the longitudinal axis L and thus compress the individual bristle bunches, i.e. have the tendency to prevent the bristles from bending toward the open interstices and protruding into them.

(16) The bristle set thus produced, with an arrangement of the bristles along a helix and large, essentially bristle-free interstices between them positively influences the make-up application result. On the one hand, the interstices can be easily filled with an increased quantity of mascara compound so that with a single dip and subsequent removal of the mascara applicator, a significant quantity of mascara can be applied to the lashes. On the other hand, the lashes can be inserted into the interstices between the bristle bunches arranged along a helix, thus making it possible to produce a good combing action.

(17) FIG. 2 shows the whole thing again in a side view.

(18) Here, too, the first and second wire 5 and 6 are visible, which together form a twisted wire core. This drawing also once again shows the first bristle set region 2 that is provided with closely spaced bristles and that is situated at the end of the applicator close to the handle and the second bristle set region 3 that is likewise provided with closely spaced bristles, situated at the end of the applicator oriented away from the handle. Between them is the bristle set region 4 according to the invention, with completely or at least essentially bristle-free interstices 10 that are significantly larger than the interstices that remain between the rows of bristles of the first bristle set region 2 that is provided with closely spaced bristles and the second bristle set region 3 that is provided with closely spaced bristles. Contrary to what one might assume from the depiction that has been kept schematic with regard to the bristles in FIG. 2, the interstices between the bristle bunches of the closely spaced bristle regions 2 and 3 are in practice not completely free of bristles, but are instead as a rule obstructed by a not entirely insignificant number of bristles that, in the course of the twisting, have been subjected to a powerful lateral displacement and now protrude at an angle into the open space so that it is not easy for lashes to be inserted into the quite narrow and not quite entirely bristle-free interstices.

(19) FIG. 2 also shows the film strip 9 that winds around the outside of the wire core composed of the first wire 5 and the second wire 6, even if a part of the film is clamped between the two wires 5 and 6. Here, too, it is clear that one of the two helixes formed by the two wires 5 and 6 that are twisted together (namely the helix 8) remains free of bristles, thus producing the particularly large interstice in the region 4.

(20) FIG. 3 shows the brush from FIG. 2 in a head-on view from the front. As is clear from the drawing, there is a bristle set that is intrinsically closed in the circumference direction. In other words, the brush is equipped with bristles all the way around it.

(21) Upon consideration of FIG. 4, which shows a middle section, it becomes clearer how the exemplary embodiment is designed. Here, the film strip is shown clearly as a dark material concentration on the outer circumference of the twisted core, and quite clearly wraps largely around the outside of the wire core formed by the first wire and the second wire 6.

(22) FIG. 5 shows how the brush according to the invention is manufactured. Over the entire length of the region 4 in which in the finished state, the bristle set should have the interstices according to the invention, a filament layer 10 of the filaments that will later constitute the bristles is inserted between the two not yet twisted wires, of which only the first wire 5 is visible here. Together with this, a film is inserted between the two wires 5 and 6. This film is a film strip whose length LFS essentially corresponds to the length of the region in which the bristles are to subsequently have the spacing according to the invention. The breadth of the film strip BFS here essentially corresponds to the length of the individual filament, i.e. the length of the filament perpendicular to the longitudinal axis LU of each untwisted wire 5 or 6 of the subsequent wire core.

(23) No film is inserted into the region that will later form the first closely spaced bristle set region 2 or the second closely spaced bristle set region 3.

(24) In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 5, therefore, one of the two not yet twisted wires is immediately adjacent to the filament layer while the other of the two not yet twisted wires is immediately adjacent to the film.

(25) The crucial point is that the film influences how the filaments that subsequently constitute the bristles are distributed between the two wires 5 and 6 when they are twisted. The presence of the film during the twisting causes the filaments in the places where the film is present to be distributed only along one of the two threads of the double-start thread formed by the two wires as a result of the twisting. In this way, one of the two bristle threads formed by the twisting, in the region in which the film is inserted, remains filament-free or bristle-free as explained above.

(26) This manufacturing process is also shown again in FIG. 6, which shows a view of FIG. 5 in the direction of the arrow P. This figure shows very clearly the layer of filaments, which is labeled with the reference numeral 10 (filament layer) and the film, which in the not yet twisted state is labeled with the reference numeral 11, while the first wire and the second wire are labeled as usual with the reference numerals 5 and 6.

(27) For the sake of completeness, certain embodiments include the following method: A method for manufacturing a wire core brush having bristle-forming elements held between at least two wires 5, 6 that are twisted together, characterized in that before the twisting, not only the bristle-forming elements, preferably in the form of filaments 10, but also a film 11 are inserted between the wires, after which the wires 5, 6 are twisted together, without having first removed the film 11. This method can be combined with all of the features or individual features of this application.