APPLICATION ELEMENT FOR AN APPLICATOR

Abstract

An application element and an applicator comprising pluralities of said application elements on a molded support is provided for applying a product such as a cosmetic, a medicinal or a care product. At least one application element of the applicator includes a base portion and at least one thin projection. The thin projection includes at least one surface and wherein the at least one outer surface flushes with at least a portion of an outer surface of the base portion.

Claims

1. An applicator comprising: a molded support; a pluralities of application elements extending from the molded support; wherein at least one application element of the pluralities of application elements includes a base portion and at least one thin projection extending from the base portion; wherein the base portion has a central longitudinal axis; wherein the base portion includes at least one flat sidewall; wherein an outer surface presented by the at least one flat side wall of the base portion flushes with a portion of an outer surface of at least one flat sidewall of the at least one thin projection providing a smooth, continuous transition from the base portion to the at least one thin projection; and wherein the at least one thin projection is off-centered with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the base portion.

2. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the at least one thin projection is at a distal end of the base portion.

3. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the pluralities of application elements are in form of tines.

4. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein a width of the at least one thin projection ranges between 0.05 mm-0.2 mm and height of the thin projection ranges between 0.1 mm-2.0 mm.

5. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the base portion has a length between 0.4 mm-5.9 mm, and a width between 0.3 mm-0.6 mm.

6. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the width of thin projection ranges between 0.08 mm-0.15 mm and the height of the thin projection is 0.5 mm.

7. An applicator according to claim 1 wherein the application element has a total length ranging between 0.5 mm-6.0 mm.

8. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the pluralities of application elements may be selected from a group consisting of bristles, tines, teeth, and disc.

9. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the at least one application element has a cross section selected from a circular or a non-circular cross-section selected from square cross-section, a rectangular cross section, a triangular cross section, a pentagon cross section or a hexagonal cross section, over at least a major part of its length.

10. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the at least one application element has a D-shaped cross section over at least a major part of its length.

11. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the at least one thin projection extends in a direction parallel to the central longitudinal axis of the base portion of the at least one application element.

12. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein at least one other thin projection extend laterally from a side wall of the base portion.

13. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the base portion of the at least one application element has a shape selected from conical shape, a curved conical shape, an inverted L-shape, a Y-shape, a T-shape, an inverted U-shape and a key hole-shape.

14. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the base portion of the at least one application element has two bends.

15. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein a portion of the at least one thin projection does not extend in direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the base portion of the application element.

16. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the application elements are molded integrally with the molded support.

17. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the applicator is a molded brush having a proximal end and a distal end, and wherein the proximal end of the applicator is configured to be secured to a stem.

18. An applicator comprising: a molded support; at least one tine extending from the molded support; wherein the at least one tine includes a base portion and at least one thin projection extending from the base portion; wherein the base portion has a central longitudinal axis; wherein the base portion has an outer surface; and wherein at least a portion of an outer surface of the at least one thin projection is in continuation with at least a portion of the outer surface of the base portion.

19. An applicator according to claim 18, wherein the at least one thin projection is off-centered with respect to the central longitudinal axis of the base portion.

20. An applicator according to claim 18, wherein the at least one thin projection is at a distal end of the base portion.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0033] So that the manner in which the above recited features of the present disclosure can be understood in detail, a more particular description of the disclosure, briefly summarized above, may be had by reference to embodiments, some of which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only typical embodiments of this disclosure and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope, for the disclosure may admit to other equally effective embodiments.

[0034] FIG. 1 illustrates a perspective view of an applicator according to one embodiment of the disclosure;

[0035] FIG. 2 illustrates a front view of the applicator of FIG. 1;

[0036] FIG. 3 illustrates a perspective view of an application element of the cosmetic applicator of FIG. 1;

[0037] FIG. 4 illustrates a top view of the application element of FIG. 3;

[0038] FIG. 5 illustrates a bottom view of the application element of FIG. 3;

[0039] FIG. 6 illustrates a side view of the application element of FIG. 3;

[0040] FIG. 7 illustrates a front view of the application element of FIG. 3;

[0041] FIG. 8 illustrates a back view of the application element of FIG. 3;

[0042] FIGS. 9 to 13 are diagrammatic cross-section views of different examples of the application element that may be used, amongst others;

[0043] FIGS. 14 to 21 are different examples of the shapes of the application element that may be used, with thin projections not shown on the application elements;

[0044] FIG. 22 illustrates a front view of an applicator element according to a second embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0045] FIG. 22a illustrates a perspective view of the applicator element of FIG. 22;

[0046] FIG. 22b illustrates a side view of the applicator element of FIG. 22;

[0047] FIGS. 23 to 34 are different examples of the placement of thin projections on the application elements;

[0048] FIG. 35 illustrates a sectional view of a conventional injection mold;

[0049] FIG. 36 illustrates a sectional view of a conventional applicator obtained using the injection mold of FIG. 35;

[0050] FIG. 37 illustrates a sectional view of an injection mold according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] FIG. 38 illustrates a sectional view of an applicator obtained using the injection mold of FIG. 37; and

[0052] FIG. 39 illustrates another sectional view of the injection mold of FIG. 37.

[0053] To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0054] FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate an applicator 100 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown, the applicator 100 is a molded brush having a proximal end 11 and a distal end 12, and comprises a molded support 10. According to an aspect of the present disclosure, the proximal end 11 of the applicator 100 is configured in a conventional manner for disposing the applicator 100 on a stem (not shown). For example, the proximal end 11 of the applicator 100 may be attached to a stem by any conventional means, such as but not limited to, snap-fit, complimentary screw threads and the like. Moreover, a handling unit, for example a screw-on cap of a cosmetics unit (not shown) may be disposed on the stem.

[0055] The applicator 100 further includes a plurality of application elements 20 extending outward from the molded support 10. The application elements 20 are molded integrally with the support 10 and extend perpendicularly to a central longitudinal axis X-X of the molded support 10. However, it is not beyond the ambit of the present disclosure that the application elements 20 may extend non-perpendicularly to the central longitudinal axis X-X of the support 10. As shown in the FIG. 2, the application elements 20 are in form of tines. In other embodiments, the application elements may be selected from a group consisting of bristles, tines, teeth, and disc.

[0056] Furthermore, the application elements 20 are arranged on the support 10 in parallel rows 30 and wherein the rows 30 extend along the longitudinal axis X-X of the support 10. In alternate embodiments, the application elements 20 may be arranged on the support 10 in non-parallel rows. For example, the application elements may be arranged in helical rows around the molded support.

[0057] Referring now to FIG. 3, an individual application element 20 of the applicator 100 is shown in isolation and wherein the applicator 100 is a cosmetic applicator, particularly a mascara applicator. It is within the ambit of present disclosure that the individual application element 20 can be used in particular for hygiene brushes, e.g. toothbrushes, cleaning brushes in the medical field or in hospitals or also as cleaning or application brushes in the food industry.

[0058] As shown in FIG. 6, the application element 20 includes a base portion 22 extending along a longitudinal axis Y-Y and at least one thin projection 24 at a distal end of the base portion 22. The application element 20 has a total length L. Along its total length L, the application element 20 has a tapering enveloping surface or at least the base portion 22 has a tapering envelope. However, it is within the ambit of present disclosure that the application element 20 may not have a tapering envelope surface.

[0059] According to an aspect of the present disclosure, as shown in the FIGS. 4 & 5, the application element 20 has a D-shaped cross section over at least a major part of its length. However, it is within ambit of the present disclosure that the cross section of the application element 20 may be any other cross-section known in the art. For example, application element 20 may have any circular or non-circular cross sections shown in FIGS. 9 to 13 but not limited to these examples, a square cross-section shown in FIG. 9, a rectangular cross section shown in FIG. 10, a triangular cross section shown in FIG. 11, a pentagon cross section shown in FIG. 12, and a hexagonal cross section shown in FIG. 13.

[0060] Similarly, it will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art that the application element 20, particularly the base portion 22 of the application element 20 may have one of a straight cylindrical shape or a curved cylindrical shape, a straight conical shape or a curved conical shape, a straight frusto-conical shape or a curved frusto-conical shape, a straight prismatic shape or a curved prismatic shape and any other shape known in the art. For example, it is possible to use application elements with the base portion 22 presenting one of the shapes shown in FIGS. 14 to 21 in a diagrammatic manner, for example a conical shape with a flat side as shown in FIG. 14, a bent conical shape as shown in FIG. 15, inverted L-shape in FIG. 16, Y-shape as shown in FIG. 17, T-shape as shown in FIG. 18, inverted U-shape as shown in FIG. 19, key hole-shape as shown in FIG. 20, or a base portion 22 having two bends as shown in FIG. 21.

[0061] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the application element 20 presents a smooth depression free continuous outer surface. According to an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, the outer surface of the application element 20 may include a texture or a profiling such as grooves at least on the base portion 22.

[0062] According to another aspect of the present disclosure, as shown in FIGS. 6 through 8, the D-shaped application element 20 includes at least one flat sidewall 22a. A part of an outer surface of the thin projection 24 flush with an outer surface presented by the flat side wall 22a of the base portion 22 such that the thin projection 24 is positioned off-centered with respect to a central longitudinal axis Y-Y of the base portion 22 of the application element 20. In other words, the thin projection 24 and the base portion 22 share a common sidewall and does not lie on the central longitudinal axis Y-Y of the base portion 22.

[0063] According to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure, the width of the thin projection 24 may range between 0.05 mm-0.20 mm and height may range between 0, 1 mm-2.0 mm. In a more preferred embodiment, the width of thin projection 24 ranges between 0.08 mm-0.15 mm and the height of the thin projection is 0.5 mm. The thin projections 24 on application elements such as on tines of a mascara brush, with such dimensions enable the tines to get between the closest eyelashes creating a highly separated fan. The thin projections also create drag and pull eyelashes upwards resulting in curling of eyelashes.

[0064] According to a preferred embodiment of the disclosure, the height/total length L of the application element 20 may range between 0.5 mm-6.0 mm and wherein the base portion 22 has a height/length between 0.4 mm-5.9 mm. The maximum width of the base portion 22 may be between 0.3 mm-0.6 mm. However, in alternate embodiments, the maximum width of the base portion may be greater than 0.6 mm.

[0065] According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the thin projection 24 includes a flat sidewall 24a and wherein the flat sidewall 24a flushes with flat sidewall 22a of the base portion 22 providing a smooth, continuous transition from the base portion 22 to the thin projection 24, as shown in FIG. 6.

[0066] According to an alternate embodiment of the present disclosure, as shown in FIGS. 22, 22a, and 22b, the application element 20 includes a conical base portion 22 having an outer surface 23, and at least a portion of the outer surface of thin projection 24 is in continuation with at least a part of outer surface 23 of the base portion 22 such that the thin projection 24.

[0067] According to a preferred embodiment of the present disclosure, the thin projection 24 extends in a direction parallel to the central longitudinal axis Y-Y of the base portion 22 of the application element 20 as shown in FIG. 6 of the present embodiment, and in other variants shown in FIGS. 22, 23, 24, 30, and 31. However in various other variants of the application element, the thin projection 24 may not extend in direction parallel to the central longitudinal axis Y-Y of the base portion 22, as shown in FIGS. 25, 26, &27. The variants of the application element of the present invention may include at least one thin projection 24 that extends in a direction parallel to the central longitudinal axis Y-Y, and at least one thin projection 24 that does extend parallel to the central longitudinal axis Y-Y of the base portion 22, as shown in FIGS. 28, 29, 32, 33, and 34.

[0068] According to another aspect of present disclosure, the longitudinal axis X-X at least in the exemplary embodiment according to FIG. 2 is the axis of symmetry of the applicator 100.

[0069] It will be apparent to a person having ordinary skill in the art that the support 10 may present a cross-section that is circular or non-circular over a major fraction of its length. For example, in alternate embodiments of the present disclosure, over at least a fraction of its length, the support 10 may present a cross-section selected from the following list: circular; semi-circular; flat; elliptical; oblong; semi-elliptical; polygonal; triangular; rectangular; square; pentagonal; hexagonal; heptagonal; octagonal; and semi-polygonal. In a variant embodiment of the present disclosure, the cross-sectional shape may vary along the central longitudinal axis X-X of the support 10.

[0070] For molding the application elements 20, it is possible to use a thermoplastic material e.g. styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene (SEBS), a silicone, latex, butyl rubber, ethylene-propylene-terpolymer rubber (EDPM), a nitrile rubber, a thermoplastic elastomer, a polyester elastomer, polyamide, polyethylene, or vinyl elastomer, a polyolefin such as polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyacetal (POM), polyamide (PA), or polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA). In particular, it is possible to use the materials known under the trademarks Hytrel®, Cariflex®, Alixine®, Santoprene®, Pebax®, this list not being limiting. In other embodiments, it is possible that at least one of the support 10 or the application elements 20 may be constructed in whole or in part of materials including, but not limited to ceramic, glass, metal (e.g., carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, chrome, copper, nickel, or titanium), or composite material.

[0071] According to present disclosure, the applicator 100 is manufactured by an injection molding process and wherein the application elements 20 are integrally molded with the support 10 and is made from the same plastic/material in which support 10 is made. However, the molded support 10 is relatively rigid because of the thicker cross-section and larger dimensions whereas, the integral application elements 20, although made from the same material but because of the thinner cross section and relatively smaller dimensions are comparatively flexible. The method of manufacturing of the application element 20 by injection-molding will now be described.

[0072] Injection-molding is understood to be molding of a component by injecting a material in the fluid state under super-atmospheric pressure into a volume which is closed apart from the injection orifice defined by the mold. Referring to FIG. 35, a conventional injection mold 40 is shown which is used for manufacturing a cosmetic applicator 110 of FIG. 36. The conventional injection mold 40 is provided with cavities 42 corresponding to application elements 20a and at least one outlet for the air such as a very thin or thin bore or tube capable of forming an air vent 44. The air vents 44 are located in correspondence with the tips of the applicator elements 20a where the air could be trapped. The air vents 44 are permeable to air but are impermeable to the plastics material as the air vents 44 has spacing between one wall and the other of 0.02 mm approximately.

[0073] Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIGS. 37 and 39, schematically illustrated is an injection mold 50 of present disclosure provided in only such detail as will be required for an understanding of the disclosure, the details of construction of which other than the particular dies used, being conventional, are not illustrated. In the embodiment as illustrated in FIG. 38, an applicator 120 is shown comprising a molded support 10 and application elements 20 having thin projection 24, the applicator is produced using the injection mold 50.

[0074] Referring to FIGS. 37-39, the molded support 10 and the application elements 20 are produced in an injection mold 50 having a cavity 52 corresponding to the molded support 10 and a plurality of subsequent molding channel cavities 54 corresponding to the base portion 22 of application elements 20. As shown in FIG. 39, the injection mold 50 comprises two halves namely a first plate 56 and a second plate 58. The first plate 56 mates with the second plate 58 to form the injection mold 50. The first plate 56 and the second plate 58 interiorly define at least one injection port 51, air vents 59, and mold cavities 52, 54. When the plates 56, 58 mate and align properly, the injection port 51 provides an entrance for the conduction of the thermoplastic material into the mold cavities 52, 54. The series of air vents 59, communicate with at least one molding channel cavity 54. The air vents 59 are formed to provide an exit to allow entrapped air to escape from the mold 50.

[0075] The injection mold 50 is different from the conventional injection mold 40 in terms of size and design of air vents in the injection mold 50. More particularly, only the front ends 59a of air vents 59 are different from the air vents 44 of the conventional mold 40 in terms of its shape and size. The conventional air vents 44 are permeable to air but are impermeable to the plastics material and has opening of 0.02 mm approximately whereas the front end 59a of air vents 59 of the present disclosure are bigger in size as compared to conventional air vents 44 and has an opening of >0.02 mm. The opening provided by front end 59a of the air vents 59 allows molten material to enter the front end 59a of the air vents 59 during injection molding to produce thin projections 24 at free end portion of the application elements 20. The injection mold 50 may be obtained from the conventional injection mold by modifying only the front ends of the air vent 44. The shape and size of the front end of the air vents may be selected corresponding to desired shape and size of the thin projections. As shown in FIG. 37, the air vent 59 gradually decreases in size from its front end 59a to a size of a conventional air vent.

[0076] During feeding of the melt, the melt enters into the cavity 52 through the injection port 51 and fills the entire longitudinal molding channels cavities 54 forming the support 10 integral with the base portion 22 of application elements 20 and, due to high pressure, also enters front end portion 59a of the air vents 59 to produce thin projections 24. The molding channels cavities 54 and the front ends 59a of the air vents 59 in the mold 50 have a cross-sectional shape corresponding to a desired shape of the application elements 20 and thin projections 24 respectively. The injection mold 50 is cooled and opened to release the injection molded applicator when it has achieved sufficient shape stability.

[0077] According to an alternate embodiment of the disclosure, the molded support 10 and the application elements 20 of the cosmetic applicator 100 are each fabricated from materials having different properties, using bi-injection or a multi injection molding technique. According to one embodiment of the disclosure, the application elements 20 are fabricated from a material which is softer than a material from which the molded support 10 is fabricated. It is also contemplated that the material of the application elements 20 may be harder than the material of molded support 10. The different materials of the molded support 10 and the application elements 20 may have properties that are attractive and non-attractive to mascara, have different stiffness, have different tactile feel, have different color, have different chemical nature, have different magnetic property, have different temperature property and/or other property.

[0078] According to an alternate embodiment, the applicator includes at least two applicator parts that are coupled to one another and wherein one of the at least two applicator parts includes a molded support and pluralities of application elements. The at least two applicator parts are each fabricated from materials having different properties. At least one of the applicator parts is manufactured by an injection molding process and wherein the application elements are integrally molded with the support.

[0079] According to alternate embodiments of the present disclosure, the applicator 100 may comprise at least two different types of application elements, such as application elements with and without thin projections on them. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, at least a portion of the application elements 20 may be flocked.

[0080] While there have been described what are at present considered to be the preferred embodiments of this disclosure, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the disclosure and it is therefore, aimed to cover all such changes and modifications that fall within the true spirit and scope of the disclosure.