COSMETIC APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING A COSMETIC COMPOSITION TO KERATINOUS FIBERS SUCH AS EYELASHES OR EYEBROWS

Abstract

A cosmetic applicator (3) for applying a composition (P) to human keratinous fibers, notably eyelashes or eyebrows, is provided. The cosmetic applicator (3) comprises: —A stem (5) having at least a rectilinear portion extending along a rectilinear axis (Y), —a brush (10) at one end of the stem (5), the brush comprising: —a curved core (43) having a distal end (46) and defining a convex side and an opposite concave side, the distal end of the core being offset from the rectilinear axis (Y) of the stem on the convex side of the core, —application members (41) supported by the core (43).

Claims

1. A cosmetic applicator for applying a composition to human keratinous fibers, notably eyelashes or eyebrows, comprising: a stem having at least a rectilinear portion extending along a rectilinear axis, a brush at one end of the stem, the brush comprising: a curved core having a distal end and defining a convex side and an opposite concave side, the distal end of the core being offset from the rectilinear axis of the stem on the convex side of the core, application members supported by the core.

2. The applicator of claim 1, the stem being rectilinear along its entire length.

3. The applicator of claim 1, the core being a twisted wire core.

4. The applicator of claim 1, the core being non rectilinear over its entire length from the stem to its distal end.

5. The applicator of claim 4, the core extending along a longitudinal axis of substantially constant radius of curvature from the stem to the distal end of the core.

6. The applicator of claim 5, the radius of curvature being greater or equal to 34 mm and less or equal to 47 mm.

7. The applicator of claim 1, the longitudinal axis of the core extending in a plane, preferably a midplane for an envelope surface of the brush defined by the application members.

8. The applicator of claim 1, the application members defining an envelope surface of non-circular cross section along at least part of its length.

9. The applicator of claim 8, the envelope surface defining at least one facet of flat or recessed cross section on the convex side of the core.

10. The applicator of claim 7, the cross section of the envelope surface having a plurality of rectilinear segments connected by circular arcs.

11. The applicator of claim 8, the cross section being of substantially triangular contour, with an apex preferably situated in a midplane for the envelope surface.

12. The applicator of claim 1, the tilt angle between the rectilinear axis of the rectilinear portion of the stem and a straight line joining the distal end of the core to the distal end of the rectilinear portion of the stem ranging from 0.5 to 10°, better 0.6 to 8°, preferably from 0.7° to 5.7° and more preferably from 2° to 4.5°.

13. The applicator of claim 1, the offset being not less than 0.5 mm and no greater than 2.5 mm.

14. The applicator according to claim 1, the application members being bristles or spikes that extend around the core.

15. A device for applying a cosmetic composition on keratinous fibers, comprising: a container containing said composition, comprising a wiper member and, an applicator as defined in claim 1.

16. The device of claim 15, the wiper member and the brush being configured so that when the applicator is withdrawn from the container along said rectilinear axis, application members situated on the convex side of the core, at an axial position less than 3 mm along the longitudinal axis of the core from the proximal end of the bristle portion of the brush, first contact the wiper member.

17. A method for manufacturing a brush for use in an applicator as defined in claim 1, comprising: machining a twisted wire core brush with a rectilinear core to form at least one planar or recessed face of an envelope surface defined by the free ends of the bristles, the core having a proximal portion for fixing into a stem and a bristle carrying portion, deforming the core to impart to the bristle carrying portion a curved shape with a convex side and a concave side, the distal end of the core being offset from the longitudinal axis of the proximal portion on the convex side of the core.

18. The method of claim 17, the core being deformed along a plane of curvature, the machining comprising forming three planar facets of the envelope surface, giving the envelope surface a substantially triangular shape in cross section, an apex lying in the plane of curvature of the core.

19. The method of claim 17, the machining comprising forming a frustoconical head portion.

20. The method of claim 18, the planar facets intersecting the frustoconical head portion.

21. The method according to claim 17, the deforming of the core comprising imparting the bristle carrying portion a constant curvature then tilting the core at the junction of the bristle carrying portion with the proximal portion, or vice versa.

22. A method for manufacturing a brush for use in an applicator as defined in claim 1, comprising injection molding the core and the application members in at least one plastics material.

23. A method for making up human keratinous fibers, comprising applying a cosmetic composition to said fibers using an applicator as defined in claim 1.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] The invention may be understood better from reading the following detailed description of nonlimiting exemplary embodiments thereof and from studying the appended drawing, in which:

[0022] FIG. 1 shows, in schematic longitudinal section, one example of a cosmetic device according to the invention,

[0023] FIG. 2 is a side view in isolation of the brush of the device of FIG. 1,

[0024] FIG. 3 is a front view of the brush along arrow III of FIG. 2,

[0025] FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the brush,

[0026] FIG. 5 is a side view of a rough brush from which a brush according to the invention is made,

[0027] FIG. 6 is a front view along arrow VI of FIG. 5,

[0028] FIG. 7 shows the rough brush after machining,

[0029] FIG. 8 is a front view along arrow VIII of FIG. 7,

[0030] FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 illustrate the wiping of the brush during withdrawal of the applicator,

[0031] FIG. 11 to FIG. 14 are cross sections of variant embodiments of the brush,

[0032] FIG. 15 shows an example of stem and core assembly,

[0033] FIG. 16 is a similar view to FIG. 16 showing a variant embodiment of the stem and core,

[0034] FIG. 17 is a partial longitudinal section of a variant of a brush.

[0035] In the following description, identical elements or elements having identical functions bear the same reference sign. Their description is not repeated for each of the FIG.s, only main differences between the embodiments being mentioned.

[0036] The cosmetic device 1 shown in FIG. 1 comprises a container 2 containing a cosmetic composition P to be applied to the eyelashes or the eyebrows and an applicator 3 which may, in the example in question, be fixed removably to the container 2. The composition P comprises, for example, one or more pigments, notably an iron oxide. It is for example a mascara.

[0037] The applicator 3 comprises a stem 5, of rectilinear longitudinal axis Y, provided at a distal end 7 with a brush 10 according to the invention and at the other end with a cap 11 for closing the container 2 in a sealed manner. The latter has a body which is provided at the top with a threaded neck 14 onto which the cap 11 can be screwed in order to close the container 2. In an alternative form the applicator can be fixed to the container in some other way.

[0038] The neck 14 may accommodate, as illustrated, a wiping member 20 which is for example inserted into the neck 14. This wiping member 20 comprises a wiper lip 21 that defines a wiping orifice having a diameter D adapted to that of the stem 5, for example a diameter of 4.25 mm.

[0039] The brush 10 may be fixed, in a conventional manner, in a seat 8 (visible in FIG. 15) provided at the distal portion 6 of the stem 5, which is advantageously made of a thermoplastic material.

[0040] The brush 10 comprises a twisted metal core 40 comprising a curved portion 43 bearing bristles 41 and a rectilinear proximal portion 44, visible in FIG. 2, that is inserted into the above-mentioned seat 8 provided at the distal portion 6 of the stem 5. The core 40 may be made by twisting together two strands of a U-shaped metal wire, the bristles being clamped by the turns of the wire. The diameter of the metal wire may vary and is for example of about 0.7 mm.

[0041] The free end of the bristles 41 define an envelope surface E with a shape that results from the trimming of the bristles 41 and the curvature imparted to the core 40 after trimming as will be described below.

[0042] The bristles 41 may be of any kind, with a circular cross section or better a non-circular cross section, for example a C-shaped cross section.

[0043] The bristles may be made of any material, preferably a thermoplastic material such as polyamide.

[0044] The outside diameter of the bristles may vary and for example is about 13/100 mm.

[0045] To manufacture the brush 10, one may start from the rough brush shown in FIG. 5, having a straight core and an envelope surface with a cylindrical portion E1 and a frustoconical head portion E2. The overall length L of the bristle carrying portion may range from 20 to 35 mm, being for example of about 28 mm, while the length/of the frustoconical portion E2 may be of about 9 mm. The diameter d2 at the distal end of the frustoconical portion may be of about 4 mm, and the diameter d1 of the cylindrical portion of circular cross section may be about 7.5 mm, the invention being not limited to any specific value.

[0046] Then the bristles are trimmed to form three planar facets 51, 52 and 53 as shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8.

[0047] Each of these facets extends over the whole length of the cylindrical portion E1 and a part of the frustoconical head portion E2, as one can see on FIG. 7.

[0048] The angle h between the facets 51 and 52 may be about 60°, as shown in FIG. 8, giving the cross section of the brush an overall triangular contour.

[0049] The facets 51, 52 and 53 are separated by circular arcs 55 in cross section.

[0050] Once the brush is trimmed, the bristle carrying portion 43 of the core is permanently deformed to impart the brush its final shape. The planar facets 51, 52 and 53 are deformed into facets 151, 152 and 153 of arcuate shape, respectively, the facet 153 extending along the extrados of the brush.

[0051] In the example shown, the radius of curvature R of the longitudinal axis X of the curved core portion 43 is constant and of about 40 mm. The longitudinal axis X of the curved portion 43 extends in a midplane M of the envelope surface E, that is a plane of symmetry.

[0052] The curved portion 43 has a convex side, that is left to the core in FIG. 2 and adjacent the extrados of the brush, and a concave side, that is right to the core in FIG. 2.

[0053] According to the invention, the distal end 46 of the core 40 is offset from the longitudinal axis Y of the stem 5 by a non-zero distance f, the distal end 46 being offset on the convex side, i.e. being to the left of the longitudinal axis Y in FIG. 2 as is the extrados of the brush.

[0054] The angle w between on the one hand the straight line Z joining the core where it connect the distal end of the stem, that coincides substantially with the junction of the portions 43 and 44 of the core 40, and the distal end 46 of the core 40, and on the other end the longitudinal axis Y, is about 3.2° is the example shown.

[0055] Thanks to the offset of the distal end 46 of the core relative to the longitudinal axis of the stem 5, the wiping occurs more efficiently on the extrados of the brush, as will be explained further with reference to FIG. 9 and FIG. 10.

[0056] FIG. 9 shows the brush 10 when it reaches the wiper lip 21 during withdrawal of the applicator from the container.

[0057] As one can see, the bristles of the facet 153 that first contact the wiper lip 21 have an abscissa x, measured along the longitudinal axis X of the curved portion 43 from the proximal end of origin x.sub.0, that is relatively small, for example 3 mm or less.

[0058] Such a contact at an early stage of the withdrawal ensures that the facet 153 is wiped efficiently along almost all its length.

[0059] When the brush has almost entirely passed the wiper lip 21, as shown in FIG. 10, the edge of the wiping lip comes relatively close to the curved portion of the core in the area A of the extrados near the distal end of the brush, thus providing strong wiping action in this area A.

[0060] The offset f is preferably however small enough so that when the applicator 3 is mounted on the container 2 with a displacement of the applicator 3 along the longitudinal axis Y, the distal end of the core engages in the wiping orifice without abutting against the wiper lip 21. This facilitates an automated mounting of the applicator 3 on the container 2.

[0061] In variant embodiments, the brush has other shapes in cross section.

[0062] For example, as shown in FIG. 11, the brush may exhibit only one facet 153 on the envelope surface, on the extrados of the brush.

[0063] The facet 153 may be flat in cross section, as shown in FIG. 11, or recessed, as exemplified in FIG. 12 to FIG. 14.

[0064] In FIG. 12, the facet 153 has a C-shape in cross section, in FIG. 13 a V-shape and in FIG. 14 a U-shape, but other forms of longitudinal notches are possible.

[0065] The offset of the distal end of the core according to the invention may allow the wiping of the bottom of the notch at least near in an area close to the distal end of the brush, thus leading to a wiped brush having a portion on its extrados with less composition left on it, better adapted to comb the lashes.

[0066] In the variant illustrated in FIG. 16, the stem 5 has a rectilinear main portion 5a that extends to the cap 11 and a relatively short rectilinear distal portion 5b that extends along an axis K that makes an angle g with the axis Y of the main portion 5a.

[0067] The core 40 is fixed in a seat 8 provided in the distal portion 5b, with the curved portion 43 extending in a same plane as the plane defined by the axes Y and K. The convex side of the curved core 43 is oriented toward the left in FIG. 16, as is the axis K below the main portion 5a.

[0068] In the embodiment of FIG. 15, the core 40 is angled right where it leaves the stem 5 to help provide the desired offset of the distal end of the core. In the embodiment of FIG. 16, thanks to the angled distal portion 5b of the stem, the core 40 may not need to be angled where it leaves the stem, as shown.

[0069] The invention also applies to injection molded brushes.

[0070] FIG. 17 shows an example of a brush 10 made by injection molding of one or more plastics material, such as thermoplastics elastomers, with application members 41 such as spikes made integrally with the core 40, in the same or in a different material.

[0071] The invention is not limited to the illustrative embodiments that have just been described, the features of which may be combined with one another within alternative forms that are not illustrated.