Coating implements with material supply – Including means to apply material-moving force – Piston-provided reservoir
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-21
2004-02-10
Mancene, Gene (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Including means to apply material-moving force
Piston-provided reservoir
C401S172000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06688793
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an applicator for a product, such as a semi-fluid product, for example, wherein the applicator includes an applicator wall.
In general, a semi-fluid product as defined herein is to be understood as being a viscous product having a consistency such that it may flow under the effect of its own weight. By way of example, such a product may be in the form of a cream, a paste or a gel.
Optionally, the applicator is intended to apply topically a product with a cosmetic or dermopharmaceutical action, such as a deodorant, scented product, thinning product, depilatory cream, a face cream, and/or a gel for treating the scalp, for example.
The applicator, according to an optional aspect, may be of the type comprising a body having an end closed by a product-permeable applicator wall. The applicator may comprise a piston capable of sliding in a sealed manner against an interior wall of the body and of passing from a first position in which the piston may be at substantially a maximum distance from the applicator wall to a second position in which the piston may be at substantially a minimum distance from the applicator wall. The applicator may comprise a rod associated with a drive mechanism, for example, a mechanism with a screw thread in combination with a rotary knob, for driving the piston towards the second position and forcing the product through the applicator wall.
In another optional aspect, the present invention may relate to an applicator of the aforementioned type, which is filled from the bottom, that is to say from the opposite end of the body to the applicator portion of the applicator.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
DE 2 027 483 describes an applicator having a container with an internal cross section in a circular shape. The applicator portion consists of an attached element having an orifice at its center. The applicator portion is in the form of a sponge having a hole at its center, or a wall made of polyethylene and having an exterior surface with spiral grooves for distributing product that comes out of a single central orifice. The disadvantages of a structure such as this are many. The circular shape of the body of the container, and therefore of the piston, mean that in order to prevent the latter from turning, it has to be mounted very tightly inside the body, particularly via an elastic steel filament, which forces the piston to press constantly against the internal walls of the container. Operation of such a circular applicator device may require a relatively large force to cause the piston to travel towards the applicator portion.
Added to this potential disadvantage is the additional assembly step dictated by the fact that the applicator portion is attached. Furthermore, the presence of a single central orifice means that the central orifice has to be produced with a relatively large cross section. As a result, unless the cap comprises an element that, in the closed position, becomes inserted inside the central orifice so as to seal it off, the risk of inadvertent dispensing of product when the device is in the storage position is relatively high. Furthermore, despite the presence of grooves on the applicator surface, product is not spread out over the applicator surface as uniformly as it might be. Additionally, the grooves are sources of soiling of the applicator surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,298,036 describes an applicator having a product that can be filled from the bottom via a hollow part of a shaft that drives a plunger. Air escapes through a hole provided in the plunger. An end of the housing in the filling position is delimited by an inner piece with a desired profile, and held in position, for example by means of a removable cap. After a certain period, the product sets to form a solid stick. Upon first use, the user removes the inner piece and applies the product, using the upper surface of the stick itself as the applicator surface.
Apart from the absence of an applicator wall capable of “closing” the body at an application end, throughout the life of the applicator, the position of the vent orifice in the plunger makes the use of such an applicator inappropriate for a stick other than a solid one. This is because, in the case of a semi-liquid product, for example a creamy product, a certain amount of product would inevitably escape through the vent orifice under the pressure generated by the movement of the plunger. This leakage would contaminate at least the portion of the applicator situated beneath the plunger.
Elsewhere, there are devices in which the piston and the mechanism that drives the piston are mounted after filling from the bottom and thus do not provide a channel for filling the applicator while the piston is in place on the applicator. The problem with such a configuration lies in the difficulty to achieve this assembly after filling. That is to say with product present. In an assembly environment using industrial tooling, for example, there may exist substantial risks of some of the product escaping from the housing and soiling the mechanism.
Filling the housing of the applicator from the top may preclude producing the applicator portion in the form of an apertured wall obtained by molding with the body of the applicator. Furthermore, mounting an applicator portion, for example in the form of a grating or of a porous element, after the housing has been filled, may prove difficult in an industrial production environment.
SUMMARY
Hence, one of the optional aspects of the invention may be to provide an applicator that may solve one or more of the problems discussed hereinabove with reference to certain conventional devices.
One aspect of the invention may be to produce such an applicator that may be simple and economical to produce. Another aspect of the invention may be to provide an applicator that may be relatively simple and economical to fill, for example, on an industrial production line. Yet another aspect of the invention may be to produce an applicator with a configuration that may be filled on an industrial production line, for example, while reducing the risks of product soiling the outside of the housing.
Other further aspects will become apparent from the detailed description that follows.
According to the invention, there is an applicator, for example for a cosmetic product, comprising a body having an interior and one end closed by an applicator wall. The applicator may further comprise a piston capable of sliding in a sealed manner along an interior of the body, and a rod associated with a drive mechanism for driving the piston towards the applicator wall to cause or force product to pass through the applicator wall.
The rod may have passing through it, over at least part of its length, a channel configured to open onto the outside of the body via a first opening and also opening into the body via at least one second opening. The at least one second opening may be arranged between the piston and the applicator wall when the piston is substantially a maximum distance away from the applicator wall. The rod may also have passing through it at least one vent orifice configured to allow air to escape, for example, while the body is being filled with product via the channel.
The body may be of non-circular interior cross section, and/or the applicator wall may be made of a single-piece unit with the body, for example by molding. The applicator wall may optionally have, passing through it, a number of orifices. The configuration of these orifices may allow product to be spread in such a way as to distribute the product over substantially the entire surface of the applicator wall.
A non-circular (for example rectangular, ovoid or elliptical) shape of the internal cross section of the body may allow the piston to be prevented from rotating within the body without special immobilizing means or without demanding a substantially high bearing force between the peripheral lip of the piston and the internal surface of the body. Operation may, therefore, be easier.
The applicator according to one aspect of
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner L.L.P.
L'Oreal
Le Huyen
Mancene Gene
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