Toilet – Hair device – Eyelash or eyebrow
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-21
2002-07-02
Manahan, Todd E. (Department: 3732)
Toilet
Hair device
Eyelash or eyebrow
C132S901000, C401S122000, C401S129000, C015S207200
Reexamination Certificate
active
06412496
ABSTRACT:
The present invention pertains to applicators, and methods using of such applicators, for applying a product. In particular, the present invention is directed toward an applicator for the application of a product, such as a cosmetic product for example, to the eyelashes or eyebrows. The invention also relates to an applicator system including the applicator and a container for containing the product to be applied. Applicators including a comb having a single row of teeth aligned along a straight line have been used to apply a make-up product.
In order to form product reservoirs which permit such a conventional applicator to be used without having to reload the make-up product onto the applicator too frequently, the teeth typically are fairly widely spaced from one another. The spacing between two consecutive teeth generally is significantly greater than the diameter of an eyelash. This configuration has the drawback of not allowing the eyelashes to be gripped by the comb very well. Thus, these conventional applicators are not able to properly smooth the product deposited at the surface of the lashes and are not capable of satisfactorily lengthening and curling the eyelashes.
Moreover, these conventional comb-like applicators often are not suitable for applying pasty or relatively low viscosity products.
Application DE-A-25 59 273 discloses a brush comprising rows of bristles connected to a support. The bristles of each row have fairly widely spaced portions connected to the support and located alternately on each side of a central line.
Application EP-A-0 474 934 discloses a brush including a number of rows of elements oriented radially, said rows being axially offset with respect to each other.
In one aspect of the present invention an applicator is provided for applying a product, for example a make-up product to the eyelashes, which is capable of satisfactorily gripping the eyelashes while at the same time holding fairly large reservoirs of product on the applicator. Preferably, this is achieved by providing an applicator having an application element that includes at least one row of teeth arranged alternately on opposite sides of a central core.
The central core provided on the applicator of the present invention tends to act as a framework and, in some embodiments, may hold the teeth on the application element. The application element according to the invention may make it possible to form reservoirs of product between the teeth while at the same time allowing the product deposited on the eyelashes to be smoothed out and the eyelashes to be gripped, lengthened, and/or separated by the teeth.
By altering the geometric configuration of the teeth, such as the tooth spacing for example, it may be possible to modify the amount of product held by the application element and thus alter the application effects of the application element in terms of the smoothing of the product and the separating and lengthening of the eyelashes. The geometric configuration of the teeth, and especially the spacing between consecutive teeth, also allows fibers that may be contained in the product to become aligned substantially so as to be substantially parallel with the eyelashes when the product is applied.
A further aspect of the invention includes an applicator as defined herein for applying makeup to the eyelashes which achieves advantages in gripping, curling, lengthening, separating, and/or loading the eyelashes.
In one embodiment according to the invention, two consecutive teeth form between them an interstice allowing the eyelashes to reach the core. As an alternative, two consecutive teeth have roots that are either substantially contiguous or overlapping, thus preventing the eyelash from freely moving between the roots or from reaching the core. In the latter embodiment, upper portions of the teeth form an interstice substantially in the form of a notch, with the notch being formed at a distance from the core. The bottoms of said notches may, for example, be at a distance greater than or equal to approximately 0.2 mm from the core.
This notch is able to grip the eyelashes to promote the lengthening or curling of the eyelash during application of the product. The expression “substantially contiguous roots” as used throughout this application should be understood as meaning the roots of the consecutive teeth do not necessarily overlap when viewed from a side of the application element, but are close enough together to prevent the free movement of an eyelash between the roots when the eyelash is inserted between consecutive teeth in a plane substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the application element. In other words, the eyelash is prevented from moving freely between substantially contiguous roots when the application element is placed in contact with the eyelashes substantially transversely. The eyelash may also be prevented from passing between substantially contiguous portions of consecutive teeth.
In another aspect of the invention, the teeth extend over substantially the entire height of the core of the application element. This is made possible by the fact that the teeth are on substantially opposite sides of a central core.
In a preferred embodiment, the envelope, i.e., the outer peripheral surface, of the application element essentially forms a substantially cylindrical surface, the directrix of which is a curve formed, for example, by the meeting of a semicircle at the bottom and an inverted V at the top (i.e., a tear drop shape).
The cross section of the core may represent less than half of the total cross section of the applicator element.
Two teeth located on the same side of the core may have disposed between them, at their lower parts, a groove configured to hold a reservoir of product with which the eyelash may come into contact during application. Thus, not only the upper portion of the teeth but also their lower portions, or roots, which connect to the core, can be used to hold and apply product. In a preferred embodiment, the groove extends at least partially on the core of the application element.
By offsetting the teeth, the teeth can be disposed on each of opposite sides of the core with a relatively wide spacing between adjacent teeth on the same side, without the application element losing its ability to grip hold of the eyelashes.
As it is withdrawn from the container, and through a wiper that may be disposed in the container, the product is contained in the cavities, i.e, volumes, formed between the teeth. The amount of product with which the application element becomes laden may thus be fairly constant from one application to the next.
According to another aspect of the invention, the teeth are deeper than they are wide, the depth being measured perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the core and the width parallel to the axis of the core. This allows the teeth to exhibit good mechanical strength to withstand the forces exerted by the eyelashes during application. It is thus possible to use the application element to apply a product that is likely to dry relatively quickly. Preferably, a ratio b/e is greater than or equal to approximately 1.2, and more preferably greater than or equal to approximately 1.4, where b is the depth of the root of a tooth and e is the width of the tooth.
The teeth may have a depth varying according to the axial position along the longitudinal axis of the core. Thus, the teeth may have a depth which increases, decreases, increases then decreases or vice versa, from one end of the application element to the other.
The application element may be produced at a relatively low cost by molding, preferably using plastic. In a preferred embodiment, the teeth are produced by molding plastic as a single piece with the core. The application element may include a part attached to an end of an applicator stem, such as a wand, or may be produced by molding plastic as a single piece with the applicator stem.
The application element may be produced by molding plastic as a single piece with the applicator stem and with a sealing
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
L'Oreal (S.A.)
Manahan Todd #E.
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