Coating implements with material supply – Brush – broom – or mop – Including feeder
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-06
2003-09-09
Walczak, David J. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Brush, broom, or mop
Including feeder
C401S129000, C015S187000, C015S188000, C132S216000, C132S218000, C300S020000, C300S021000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06616366
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention concerns an applicator brush for liquid or pasty media, in particular for decorative cosmetics such as mascara, with a rod-shaped support the outer side of which has a plurality of injected fingers of plastic material which are disposed at mutual separations to project radially in different directions. The invention also concerns a method for producing a corresponding applicator brush.
Applicator brushes of this type can be used for different purposes. The application of so-called mascara is described below. The inventive applicator brush can also be used for coloring strands of hair, and for applying pharmaceuticals or cleaning agents.
An applicator brush for mascara should simultaneously satisfy different requirements to permit advantageous application of the mascara. The applicator brush should at least comb the eyelashes and optionally the eyebrows before applying the mascara, thereby aligning them in the desired fashion. The applicator brush should accept a sufficient amount of mascara to permit coloring of all eyelashes or hair therewith, while avoiding frequent dipping of same into the mascara supply container. Since the mascara should be applied uniformly and without spilling, there can be no excess mascara on the applicator brush. Towards this end, the applicator brush is usually wiped off when pulled out of the supply container.
Since the applicator brush is formed as a freely projecting component having a handle at one end, it must be sufficiently stable to absorb the forces exerted during use to prevent it from breaking. On the other hand, the applicator brush must be flexible enough to adjust to the curvatures of the eyelids and eyebrows and must yield sufficiently during improper use to prevent injuries to the eye region.
To prevent user allergic reactions, the applicator brush should contain no metal and mold fungus and bacteria contamination should be largely prevented. This can be achieved e.g. in that unused residual mascara does not cling to the applicator brush, since these residual amounts are a good basis for mold fungus and bacteria growth.
The applicator brush can be used for applying mascara onto the eyelashes and also for applying mascara onto the eyelids as so-called eyeliner.
When the supply container is empty, the applicator brush is usually disposed of therewith. Since the applicator brush is relatively expensive to manufacture compared to the mascara, it should be produced as inexpensively as possible.
The known applicator brushes satisfy only some of the abovementioned requirements and have further disadvantages.
It is known to dispose a plurality of short bristles between several wires and twist them such that the bristles are held between the wires. Such a twisted applicator brush, which is mostly used today as a mascara applicator, is described e.g. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,838. A substantial disadvantage of a twisted applicator brush is that a large portion of the mascara is retained in the regions formed between the bristles during use, due to the compact arrangement of the bristles, in which dirt, e.g. spores or bacteria can develop. Moreover, such an applicator brush does not provide uniform combing of the eyelashes or hair due to the plurality of densely packed bristles, since the bristles cannot engage with the eyelashes or hair in a combing fashion.
To improve the combing action, DE 80 26 372 U1 has attempted to incorporate an asymmetric bristle support into the twisted wires. A construction of this type is very demanding and does not actually improve the combing effect since the plurality of bristles form a surface which blocks the eyelashes or hair such that the hair cannot penetrate between the bristles to an extent which would be required to obtain a good combing effect.
The production of twisted applicator brushes is also relatively expensive since the wires and bristles are produced individually and the bristles must be subsequently twisted into the wires, which is complicated from an apparatus point of view. The bristle ends must also be thereby deburred and ground to prevent the ends from having sharp edges which could cause injuries. A further additional disadvantage of twisted applicator brushes is that the metal core formed from the twisted metal wires can bend during use which makes the applicator brush useless and presents a great danger to the eye region of the user.
To eliminate the disadvantages of twisted applicator brushes comprising a bristle stock, an applicator brush was developed which comprises injected fingers (described in DE 80 10 740 U1) on which the pre-characterizing part of claim
1
is based. An applicator brush of this type has a relatively rigid tubular support with injected plastic coating having radially outwardly projecting fingers formed in one piece therewith, the fingers having a constant cross-section throughout their length. Attempts were made to improve the combing effect of this applicator brush by giving the individual fingers sufficiently large mutual separations. However, this caused the amount of mascara accepted in the spaces between the fingers to be insufficient. If the fingers are disposed at smaller mutual separations, a sufficient amount of mascara can be received, however, the combing effect is inadequate, since the eyelashes and hair cannot or can only insufficiently penetrate between the fingers. DE 80 10 740 U1 tries to increase the reception capacity for mascara by profiling the fingers. This slightly reduces the above-mentioned problems but does not eliminate them completely.
The desired sequence of combing effect and subsequent application of mascara and optionally renewed final combing is not guaranteed by the applicator brush of DE 80 10 740 U1. Moreover, it does not bend under the application of small forces due to the relatively stiff, central support such that optimum adjustment to the curvature of the eyelids or eyelashes is not ensured.
It is the underlying purpose of the invention to produce an applicator brush of the above-mentioned type which reliably achieves a good combing effect and good, uniform application of the medium to be applied.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This object is achieved by an applicator brush of the above-mentioned construction in that the fingers have a cross-section which tapers towards their free end and are made, together with the carrier, from an elastic plastic material, in particular an elastomeric plastic material.
The outwardly tapering shape of the fingers ensures that the foot sections of the fingers, where they are connected to the support, have smaller mutual separations than the free ends thereof. The larger separation at the free ends of the fingers ensures that they can easily engage the hair and eyelashes in a combing fashion. Due to the relatively large mutual separation, none or only a small amount of mascara is received in the region of the finger tips which can be almost completely removed by a conventionally provided wiper such that the tip region of the fingers substantially contains no mascara and exercises a pure combing effect. Consequently, the eyelashes and hair are combed before contacting the mascara which is accommodated in the foot region of the fingers. It has turned out that in this fashion, the eyelashes can be excellently pre-positioned before applying the actual mascara.
Due to the relatively small separation between neighboring fingers in their foot region, a sufficiently large amount of mascara can be received to generally avoid frequent dipping of the applicator brush into the supply container.
The inventive applicator brush is also advantageous in that the eyelashes and hair are combed again after application of mascara by moving the finger tips of the applicator brush through the eyelashes with decreasing pressure.
The support and the fingers are formed in one piece from a soft-elastic plastic material to ensure that the applicator brush adjusts to the curvatures of the eyelids even at low pressures thereby reliably preventing breaking of the applicator brush. The app
Coronet-Werke GmbH
Vincent Paul
Walczak David J.
LandOfFree
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