REFILLABLE COSMETIC PEN

Abstract

A refillable cosmetic applicator with a cartridge that accommodates a refill stick which is movable in relation thereto, and an applicator main body to which the cartridge can be attached, characterized in that the cosmetic applicator comprises two couplings, namely a first coupling by means of which a rotational movement generated by the user on the applicator main part is transmitted to the cartridge in such a way that the refill stick is displaced relative to it, and a (different) second coupling, by means of which it is prevented that a rotational movement is transmitted to the cartridge any longer as soon as the cartridge can no longer follow this rotational movement.

Claims

1. A refillable cosmetic applicator comprising: a cartridge that houses a refill that can be moved relative to the cartridge, an applicator main part to which the cartridge can be fixed, and two couplings, namely a first coupling by which a rotary movement generated by a user on the applicator main part is transmitted to the cartridge in such a way that the refill is displaced relative to the cartridge, and a second coupling that prevents a further rotational movement transmitted to the cartridge any longer as soon as the cartridge can no longer follow the rotational movement.

2. A refillable cosmetic applicator comprising: a cartridge that houses a refill that can be displaced relative to the cartridge, an applicator main part to which the cartridge can be fixed, and a first coupling which is a positive coupling consisting of two coupling halves that are completely separable from each other which are positively coupled and uncoupled with each other by a translational movement along their operating axes of rotation of the two coupling halves, wherein the two coupling halves do not lock with each other in a direction of the operating axes of rotation of the two coupling halves, but the two coupling halves can also perform relative movements to each other in the direction of the operating axes of rotation even under load, and wherein one of the two coupling halves is an integral part of the cartridge and the other of the two coupling halves is an integral part of the applicator main part.

3. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 2, wherein the cosmetic applicator has a second coupling which is an overload coupling designed to slip when the applicator main part is about to transmit a destructive torque to the cartridge, and the second coupling is designed to re-engage automatically after the overload has ended.

4. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 3, wherein the second coupling is an integral part of the applicator main body and is preferably formed entirely within the applicator main body.

5. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 3, wherein the coupling half of the first coupling associated with the applicator main part also forms, in one piece, a coupling half of the second coupling.

6. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 3, wherein one coupling half of the second coupling is a brake disc that rotates relative to a remainder of the applicator main part and rests against an inner brake collar of the applicator main part with a friction fit.

7. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 6, wherein the brake disc forms a conical friction surface which bears against a complementary conical friction surface of the inner brake collar the conical friction surface.

8. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge has a male or female solid tube section which can be attached to a female or male solid tube section, by a locking bead on an outer circumferential surface of a first tube section and a locking recess on an outer circumferential surface of a second tube section.

9. A cartridge suitable for installation in the applicator according to claim 1.

10. A refillable cosmetic applicator system comprising the cosmetic applicator according to claim 1 and at least two of the cartridges.

11. The refillable cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein the cartridge comprises a threaded feed mechanism for the refill.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0031] FIG. 1 shows a preferred embodiment of an applicator according to the invention.

[0032] FIG. 2 shows the applicator according to FIG. 1 in different stages of assembly.

[0033] FIG. 3 shows a central longitudinal section through the applicator shown in FIG. 1.

[0034] FIG. 4 shows a central longitudinal section rotated by 90 around the operating axis of rotation 19 compared to FIG. 3.

[0035] FIG. 5 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 3.

[0036] FIG. 6 shows an enlarged detail from FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] FIG. 1 shows a first embodiment of the cosmetic applicator 1 according to the invention, here in the form of a pen-shaped eyeliner.

[0038] The main body 2 of the applicator is clearly visible, of which only its single or multi-part outer sleeve 3 and its rear cap 4, which in some cases is attached separately, can be seen here. A cartridge 5 is inserted into the main body 2 of the applicator, of which only the optional radial outer collar 6 is visible here, which acts as a stop limiter and specifies how far the cartridge 5 can be inserted into the main body 2 of the applicator or its outer sleeve 3. Next, you can see the closure cap 7, which is pushed over the part of the cartridge 5 protruding from the applicator main body and is preferably locked in this position.

[0039] The structure of the cosmetic applicator 1 can be seen in more detail in FIG. 2. Here, the cosmetic applicator is shown on the left side of the drawing in its assembled state with the closure cap 7 removed. Next to it, i.e., in the center of the image and on the right side of the drawing, this cosmetic applicator 1 is shown in a disassembled state in the form of an exploded view.

[0040] The main body 2 of the applicator with its one-piece outer sleeve 3 and rear cap 4 is clearly visible. The outer sleeve 3 forms a continuously hollow tube on the inside and houses the spring element 8, which is designed here as a compression spring and, in this specific case, has the shape of a coil spring, but could also be a springy plastic element. In addition, the outer sleeve 3 also houses the coupling component 9.

[0041] As can already be clearly seen, the coupling component 9 here consists of a pot 13 with an opening at the front and a pin extension 10. A locking device 25, preferably designed as a locking hook, is provided at the free end of the pin extension. This pot 13 forms one half 11b of the first coupling 11a, 11b. On its ring surface facing away from the opening at the front end, the pot 13 forms one half 28a of the second coupling 28a, 28b.

[0042] The structure of the cartridge 5, which is shown in the exploded view in a position removed from the applicator main body 2, is also clearly visible. The cartridge 5 comprises a casing pipe 15, which forms an outlet opening on one of its end faces, through which the refill 16preferably guided by said outlet openingcan be pushed outwards into a position in which cosmetic mass can be removed from its tip. The casing pipe 15 forms a male solid tube section 17, which can be pushed telescopically into a complementary female solid tube section 18 of the applicator main body, preferably by a movement that runs exclusively in the direction of the operating axis of rotation 19. Ideally, the solid tube section 17 forms a first locking member 20 on its outer circumferential surface, which can be locked with a second locking element (not shown here) on the inner circumferential surface of the outer sleeve in such a way that, ideally, the cartridge 5 is held in its fully operational position on the applicator main body 2 solely by this means, preferably rotatably relative to the latter.

[0043] The casing pipe 15 of the cartridge 5 houses a refill guide tube 21 inside it. The refill guide tube is predominantly or even essentially slotted, cf. the slot of the refill guide tube 21 marked with reference number 22. The refill guide tube 21 is fixed in the casing pipe 15 so that it can rotate relative to the casing pipe 15.

[0044] The refill guide tube 21 in turn has a refill base 23 such that the refill base can perform a translational sliding movement relative to it in the refill guide tube. The refill base 23 has a partially threaded block 24 that protrudes radially outward beyond its remaining circumferential shell surface. This partially threaded block 24 protrudes radially outward through the slot 22 and can thus interact with the internal thread of the shell tube 15, which is not shown in this figure.

[0045] FIGS. 3 and 4 show what the whole assembly looks like in a central longitudinal section when fully assembled.

[0046] The reader may first turn to FIG. 6.

[0047] The coupling component 9 with its pin extension 10 is particularly easy to see in both figures due to its strikingly dense hatching. As can already be roughly seen in FIG. 2, the pin extension 10 forms a locking device 25 at its free end, in particular in the manner of a double-tongued catch or hook. This locking mechanism 25 or its spaced-apart tongues are not directly shown in FIG. 5.

[0048] The locking mechanism 25 is locked with the spring support pot 26, which preferably does not interact directly with the outer sleeve 3.

[0049] This allows the spring element 8 to be supported on the one hand by the spring support pot 26 and on the other hand by the inner collar 27, which protrudes radially inward from the inner circumferential surface of the outer sleeve. The spring element 8 is held compressed between these two components.

[0050] The inner collar 27 also forms the second coupling half 28b of the second coupling 28 on its side facing away from the spring element 8. The associated first coupling half 28a of the second coupling 28 forms the rear side of the pot 13.

[0051] Once this is understood, it becomes clear that the spring element has the function of pressing the first coupling half 28a and the second coupling half 28b of the second coupling 28 against each other and thus keeping them closed.

[0052] The second coupling 28 can be a purely friction-locking coupling. Preferably, the second coupling is a coupling whose coupling halves each have a spur gear or a type of spur gear. The two spur gears can transmit torque as long as a certain limit torque is not exceeded. In this way, a rotational movement applied by the user to the outer sleeve 3 or a part thereof can initially be transmitted to the coupling component 9 as long as the torque of this rotational movement is not too great.

[0053] As soon as the torque becomes too great, one coupling half 28a of the second coupling 28 slips on the second coupling half 28b of the second coupling. If the coupling halves have the preferred spur gearing, this causes the coupling component 9 to be pushed to the left along the operating axis of rotation 19 against the preload of the spring element 8, so that the spur gearing is translated and thus cannot transmit an impermissibly high torque.

[0054] The structure of the first coupling 11 with its first coupling half 11a and its second coupling half 11b is now of interest. This is illustrated in FIG. 5.

[0055] As can be clearly seen in FIG. 5, the coupling component 9, again indicated by its particularly dense hatching, has a pot 13 at one end. This pot 13, which is open on its left end face, forms the second coupling half 11b of the first coupling 11. It has an inner circumferential surface which has at least one, preferably several, drive projections which protrude radially inwards. The refill guide tube 21 forms a first coupling half 11a of the first coupling 11 at its end facing away from the refill 16. The latter protrudes in the direction of the operating axis of rotation 19 into the pot 13 forming the second coupling half 11b. This causes it to be driven by the driver or drivers of the second coupling half in a form-fitting manner.

[0056] The preferred and space-saving very high degree of integration of the design is also noteworthy here. The refill guide tube 21 forms a guide skirt 29, which preferably overlaps the pot 13 to a certain extent on the outside. The guide skirt 29 forms a slide bearing with which the refill guide tube 21 is held rotatably and in a defined position on the casing pipe 15 of the cartridge.

[0057] It is particularly noteworthy that the first coupling half 11a of the first coupling 11 and the second coupling half 11b of the first coupling 11 can also perform a (usually small) movement relative to each other in the direction of the operating axis during operation. This movement may be necessary in order to activate the second coupling in the event of an overload.

[0058] This becomes apparent when one considers how the entire assembly functions.

[0059] In order to push the refill 16 forward to the left (in the figures here) out of the cartridge 5, the user preferably holds the cartridge 5 with one hand and turns the outer sleeve 3 of the applicator main body opposite it. This rotational movement is transmitted from the outer sleeve 3 to the coupling component 9 via the aforementioned second coupling. This causes the coupling component 9 to rotate in the outer sleeve 3. Its pot 13, which forms the second coupling half 11b of the first coupling 11, transmits this rotational movement to the first coupling half 11a of the first coupling 11. Since the latter coupling half is part of the refill guide tube 21, the refill guide tube 21 also rotates. Due to the rotational movement of the refill guide tube 21, the threaded elements of the partial thread block 24 of the refill base 23 interact with the internal thread on the inner circumferential surface of the casing pipe 15. As a result, the refill base 23 moves to the left with the refill 16, which is normally held in a form-fitting manner by it, i.e., the refill 16 is pushed out.

[0060] Looking at FIGS. 5 and 6 together with FIGS. 3 and 4, it can be seen that the first coupling 11 is designed in such a way that the two coupling halves 11a and 11b connect or disconnect from each other automatically without any further action on the part of the user as soon as the cartridge 5 is inserted into or pulled out of the outer sleeve 3 by a movement essentially in the direction along the operating axis of rotation 19.