Coating implements with material supply – Including means to apply material-moving force – By telescoping cylinder means in continuous communication
Reexamination Certificate
2002-08-29
2004-08-17
Walczak, David J. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Including means to apply material-moving force
By telescoping cylinder means in continuous communication
C401S126000, C401S130000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06776549
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to a device for applying a product, for example, one or more cosmetic products. For example, the device may be used to apply cosmetic products such as those defined in Counsel Directive 93/35/EEC (European Economic Community) dated Jun. 14, 1993, which provides merely one example of a definition of cosmetic products and should not be considered as limiting. The device may be suitable, for example, for applying products in the form of a liquid, a gel, and/or a cream. Cosmetic products may include care products and/or other products for the skin and/or the hair, for example, make-up products, make-up removers, or hair-dye products.
In the field of cosmetic products, for example, products in the form of a milk, a cream, and/or a gel, may be dispensed under pressure via a pump. Some products may be unstable when exposed to air and may be packaged in pump systems that do not provide air intake (e.g., packaged under a vacuum in packaging having a volume that diminishes as a result of use). Some examples of devices for dispensing such products include a pouch having retractable walls, a tube having deformable walls, and a bottle in which a follower piston may be arranged. The pump of such devices may include a piston-type pump, a membrane-type pump, or a shutter-type pump.
In order to apply some cosmetic products, a user may place product expelled via a pump on one or more of his or her fingers and apply it, for example, by massaging the surface to be treated with the product. In some cases, the product may be applied via an applicator.
In instances where an applicator is reused a number of times, for example, throughout the life of the product, it may be desirable for the applicator to be stored between uses so that it may be protected from the air to prevent its mechanical properties (e.g., flexibility and/or absorption) from being adversely affected. In the case of an applicator that is not cleaned after each use, contact between the product remaining on the applicator and the ambient air (or other elements of the environment in which it may be stored) may risk soiling the applicator and adversely affecting the product it carries. Thus, transportation of an applicator of this type, for example, in a user's handbag or other carry-all, may present problems.
In the case of certain devices, for example, devices having applicators configured to be tailored to the profile of the surface to be treated (e.g., the lips or the corners of the eyes), it may be desirable for the product to be consistently deposited on the applicator in substantially the same fashion and/or in substantially the same quantity so that the product can applied in a consistent manner from one application to the next.
Examples of some devices for applying products are generally described in the following patent applications: EP-A-0 416 185 and EP-A-0 931 476; and in U.S. Pat. No. 5,636,931. These devices generally include first and second housings in communication with each other and a removable applicator element for applying the product. In some examples, one of the two housings is intended for receiving an applicator having an integral gripper, for example, in the form of a stopper which may be capable of closing off an opening of the housing intended to receive the applicator. For example, by rotating the stopper relative to a body of the device, the product may become pressurized and may be forced into the applicator's housing. In some examples of devices, a barrier may be provided which separates the two housings and which moves axially and/or rotationally inside the body of the device. The axial height of these devices does not vary during the movement of the wall, and the overall size of the devices remains constant throughout their use.
One subject of the invention relates to providing a device that fully or partly obviates one or more of the drawbacks associated with the related art. Another subject of the invention relates to providing a device which may be well-suited for applying products having a relatively high viscosity such as, for example, products in the form of gels, creams, and/or pastes. A further subject of the invention relates to providing a device that may be capable of precise and reproducible loading of an applicator with product. Another subject of the invention relates to providing a device that may be relatively simple to use and produce in an economical manner.
In the following description, certain aspects and embodiments will become evident. It should be understood that the invention, in its broadest sense, could be practiced without having one or more features of these aspects and embodiments. It should be understood that these embodiments are merely exemplary.
In one aspect, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention includes a device for applying a product. The device defines a height and may include a first compartment defining a reservoir for containing a product. The first compartment may have a variable volume. The device may include a second compartment defining an opening and being in one of selective and permanent flow communication with the first compartment via at least one orifice. The second compartment may be configured to at least partially receive an applicator for applying the product, and may define a volume which is substantially fixed. The device may include a closure element configured to close off the opening of the second compartment. The device may be configured so that the height of the device diminishes as the volume of the first compartment becomes reduced. The device also may be configured so that at a last use of the device, the axial height of the device may be less than the axial height of the device at a first use of device (e.g., the device may lack a bellows structure (or piston structure) that returns to its original expanded state resiliently (i.e., with resilience) after being placed in a reduced volume state).
According to another aspect, the closure element may be configured to seal the opening of the second compartment in a substantially product-tight manner. In another aspect, the closure element may be configured to seal the opening of the second compartment in a substantially air-tight manner. Thus, between two applications, the applicator may be sealed inside the second housing and may be protected from the air which may allow the applicator to retain good mechanical properties and may prevent any product remaining on the applicator from being adversely affected in the presence of air and/or fouling the applicator.
The reduction in volume of the first compartment containing the product may result in an overpressure condition inside the first compartment, which may force the product to exit from the first compartment via the orifice, thereby entering the second compartment containing the applicator regardless of the viscosity of the product.
Moreover, as the axial height of the device diminishes with the volume of the first compartment, the overall size of the assembly may be reduced. This may, for example, render it possible for the user to identify the amount of product remaining in the device.
In still another aspect, the device may include a piston configured to slide axially in the first compartment in response to a force exerted on the second compartment. For example, the piston may be configured to slide inside the first compartment in response to a force exerted on the closure element. Thus, the user may receive the impression of pressing on a push-button of a conventional pump device.
According to yet another aspect, the first compartment may include an outer wall, the second compartment may include a lateral wall, and the device may include an actuator having a screw thread. The actuator may be integral with the lateral wall of the second compartment, and the screw thread may be configured to interact with the outer wall of the first compartment, for example, so as to cause the piston to slide inside the first compartment in response to threading the actuator onto the first comp
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
L'Oreal (S.A.)
Walczak David J.
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