Coating implements with material supply – Including means to apply material-moving force – Manually engageable resilient wall or wall portion
Reexamination Certificate
1999-08-31
2001-01-23
Recla, Henry J. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Including means to apply material-moving force
Manually engageable resilient wall or wall portion
C401S153000, C401S169000, C401S202000, C401S206000, C401S279000, C401S286000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06176632
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid container adaptable for storing a liquid such as cosmetic nail polish, correction fluid and so on and designed to have on its tip portion an application tip body for the application of the liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is described a liquid container of this type in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-57771 which comprises: an elastic tank portion for receiving a liquid, a liquid-supplying member disposed axially slidably within the tank, and a pump space portion formed between the liquid-supplying member and the tank portion whose pumping function to discharge the above liquid is actuated by the advancement of the liquid-supplying member. The liquid-supplying member comprises a pump shelf portion whose outside diameter is the same as the inside diameter of a pump internal wall of the pump space portion formed within the tank portion. When the elastic tank portion is shrinked so that the liquid-supplying member will move forward, the pump shelf portion of the liquid-supplying member moves on the pump internal wall of the pump space portion, as a result, almost all the liquid in the pump space portion is supplied from the pump space to the outside by the pumping function.
However, such a conventional art liquid container has a problem such that, when the rear end portion of the tank portion is pressed by mistake, causing the tank portion to be shrinked, the liquid may spring out unexpectedly undesirably to the outside. If a cap is not provided on the tip of the liquid container, the surrounding will be soiled, and even if a cap is provided, the liquid having spread may be solidified within the cap, which may cause a problem that the cap becomes hard to take off.
The liquid container described in the above publication is designed in such a manner that clearance is made axially between the pump shelf portion and the pump internal wall when the tank portion is not shrinked, and as long as the pump shelf portion moves within the clearance, the liquid does not spring out ahead of the tip portion of the container. However, a small clearance is not very effective, and too large a clearance may cause a problem that, when the liquid-supplying member moves axially within the tank portion, undesirable radial movement becomes bigger, which leads to collision of the pump shelf portion with an edge of the pump internal wall.
Further, since the tank portion is formed integrally with the bellows-shaped elastic portion, it should have both rigidity which is required for storing liquid and flexibility which is required for easy handling thereof, consequently the tank portion becomes difficult to manufacture.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention was made in light of the above difficulties. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid container such that, if it is handled by mistake, the liquid will not easily spring out therefrom.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a liquid container which is easy to manufacture.
In order to attain the above objects, there is provided, according to the present invention, a liquid container which comprises:
a tank portion for storing a liquid,
a knock bar lying axially movably within the tank portion which is designed to have on its axial tip a pump shelf portion whose diameter have been enlarged,
an induction bar fixed into a tip of the knock bar for opening/closing a tip opening of the tank portion,
an application tip body provided on a tip side of the induction bar,
energizing means for always energizing the above knock bar and induction bar rearward,
a knock body operatable to bias the knock bar within the above tank forward,
wherein a plurality of ribs are axially formed on the internal periphery surface of the tank portion, on top of which the pump shelf portion can slide, an internal periphery surface ahead of the ribs of the tank portion is at the same level as and continuous with the top face of the ribs and designed as a diameter-reducing portion where the pump shelf portion can slide, and the pump shelf portion of the knock bar slidably touches the top of the ribs when it is not biased.
In this container, even when the knock bar is biased forward as a result of a wrong operation of the knock body, since the pump shelf portion of the knock bar slides on top of the ribs of the tank portion in the early stage of knocking so that no pump room will be formed between the tank portion and the knock bar/induction bar, the liquid is prevented from being unexpectedly discharged from the application tip body. Since the knock bar slides on top of the ribs, it dose not move undesirably radially, but moves steadily axially.
The liquid container may further comprise a tail stopper fixed on a rear end portion of the tank portion, a rear ring fitted on a rear end of the tail stopper, and a bellows-shaped elastic body sandwiched between the tail stopper and the rear ring. The manufacturing of the liquid container becomes easier since the tank portion and the bellows-shaped elastic body are formed independently of each other.
The tail stopper, the rear ring and the elastic body may configure a previously integrally formed unit. The whole assembly of the liquid container becomes easier since a tail stopper, a rear ring and an elastic body are attached to the tank potion as a previously formed unit.
The liquid container may further comprise a cap which is adapted to be detachably attached on a tip portion of the tank portion and designed to protect the application tip body, the cap comprising: a cap body, a solvent-impregnation medium which is impregnated with a solvent for preventing the above application tip body from being dried up and housed in an inner side portion of an inside of the cap body, a partition member fixed within the cap body for dividing the above solvent-impregnation medium from an open side portion of the cap body, solvent flowing-out means provided radially almost centrally in the above partition member for letting the vapored solvent out of the solvent-impregnation medium flow out, an opening/closing member disposed within the open side portion of the cap body for opening/closing the above solvent flowing-out means, energizing means for always energizing the opening/closing means in such a direction as to close the solvent flowing-out means, and an inner cap fixed inside the above opening/closing member,
Wherein a solvent passage for letting the vaporized solvent from the above solvent flowing-out means pass through is defined between the external surface of the above inner cap and the internal surface of the above opening/closing member, further a second solvent passage via which the above solvent passage and the above application tip body communicate with each other is formed between the external and internal surfaces of the inner cap, and when the cap is attached to the liquid container, the above opening/closing member is biased so that it opens the above solvent flowing-out means, while the above application tip body being inserted into the above inner cap, as a result of which the vapored solvent out of the solvent-impregnation medium is allowed to pass through the solvent flowing-out means, the above solvent passage and the second solvent passage, so as to reach the application tip body.
When the cap is not being used and attached to the liquid container in order to protect its application tip body, since the above opening/closing member is pushed in such a direction as to open the above solvent flowing-out means, the vaporized solvent out of the solvent-impregnation medium is allowed to pass through the solvent flowing-out means, the solvent passage formed between the opening/closing member and the inner cap, and the second solvent passage formed between the external and internal surfaces of the inner cap, so as to reach the application tip body, as a result of which the application tip body can be moistened and prevented from being dried up. In addition, in cases where the
Fueki Tomohiro
Kageyama Hidehei
Noguchi Yoshio
Kotobuki Printing Co., Ltd.
McGinn & Gibb PLLC
Prunner Kathleen J.
Recla Henry J.
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