Coating implements with material supply – Supply container and independent applicator – Applicator includes container closure or overlies material
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-15
2001-10-23
Maust, Timothy L. (Department: 3751)
Coating implements with material supply
Supply container and independent applicator
Applicator includes container closure or overlies material
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305863
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an assembly for storing, dispensing, and applying a product, such as, for example, a cosmetic product. In particular, the invention may be used for products in the form of a liquid, a gel, or a cream. By way of example only, use of the present invention for storing, dispensing, and applying products, such as skin-care or hair-care products, make-up removers, or hair-coloration products will be described.
In the field of cosmetics in particular, certain products, for example in the form of a milk, a cream or a gel, are dispensed under pressure by a pump. Because of their instability in the presence of air, these products may be packaged in pump systems of the airless type. That is, the products are packaged under vacuum in a reservoir having a volume that decreases as the product is pumped from the reservoir. Typically, the reservoir is made of a bag with collapsible walls, a tube with deformable or bellowed walls, or a bottle in which a follower piston is disposed. The pump may be a pump of the type with a piston, a diaphragm or a shutter valve.
To apply the product, a user takes the pumped-out product onto one or more of her fingers and applies it by rubbing it in to the surface to be treated. Alternatively, the product may be applied using an applicator, such as, for example an applicator in the form of an open-cell foam.
In the case of a reusable applicator, i.e., an applicator that is used throughout the life of the product, it often is desirable for the applicator to be stored, between uses, out of contact with the air so that its mechanical properties, for instance, those of flexibility or absorption, are not adversely affected. Furthermore, in the case of an applicator which is not cleaned after each use, contact between the product remaining on the applicator and the ambient air, or any other element in the environment in which it is kept, carries the risk of soiling the applicator and of adversely affecting the product it contains. Carrying these applicators around, especially in a user's handbag or the like, may exacerbate many of these problems.
Finally, in the case of certain applicators, the shape of which is suited to the profile of the surface which is to be treated, for example the outline of the lips or the corners of the eyes, it is preferable for the product always to be deposited onto the applicator in the same way and in the same quantity so that application of the product is essentially repeatable from one application to the next.
European patent, EP 0,612,488, in the name of the applicant discloses a dispensing assembly in the form of a reservoir containing a product that is to be applied. A cap closes the reservoir and an applicator holder supports a deformable applicator element, made, for example, of foam or of an elastomer of low hardness. The reservoir is bounded by a capillary end piece in the shape of a thimble, the closed end of which has a seat pierced with at least one capillary orifice in which the deformable element rests and is deformed when the reservoir is closed by the cap. A device of this kind is most suitable for very liquid fluids or for powders. In the case of a cream, however, bringing the cream into contact with the capillary orifices presents difficulties. Furthermore, the presence of a volume of air above the free surface of the product may be detrimental to the properties of certain products, particularly their cosmetic properties.
It is one of the objects of the invention to provide a dispensing assembly which solves all or some of the problems discussed hereinabove with reference to the conventional devices.
A particular object of the invention is to provide a device which is capable of dispensing high-viscosity products, for example those in the form of creams and the like.
Yet another object of the invention is to allow an application member to be laden precisely and reproducibly with product so that repeatable applications of the product can be achieved.
Still further objects will become clear from the detailed description which follows. It should be understood that the invention could still be practiced without performing one or more of the preferred objects or advantages described herein.
According to the invention, the objects of the invention are achieved by an assembly for dispensing a product, such as, for example, a cosmetic product, comprising a first portion defining a reservoir containing the product. The volume of the reservoir decreases in response to removal of the product from the reservoir. The assembly further includes a second portion defining a space to removably receive an application member. A flow passage provides flow communication between the reservoir and the space and a flow valve selectively enables flow of the product from the reservoir to the space via the flow passage. A removable cap is disposed on the second portion and a piston causes a pressure decrease in the space. The valve opens in response to the pressure difference in the space to enable flow of at least a portion of the product from the reservoir to the space via the flow passage.
Thus, when the cap is fitted onto the second portion, the application member is arranged in a predetermined way with respect to the product flow passage, which can have the form of a outlet orifice, preferably resting elastically against the flow passage, which allows it to be more precisely laden, both with respect to the amount of product withdrawn and to the location of the product on the applicator. Between consecutive applications, the application member is preferably kept out of contact with the air, which allows it to maintain desirable mechanical properties, particularly its flexibility. Furthermore, any product that remains on the applicator may be prevented from becoming adversely affected in the presence of the air or from soiling the environment in which the assembly is stored.
Regardless of the viscosity, the product can be moved from the reservoir to the space in response to a pressure decrease generated by the relative movement of the piston within the space. The volume of product that can be absorbed by the application member preferably is greater than or equal to the volume pumped out of the reservoir in response to the displacement of the piston. It is, however, possible to arrange for the volume that can be absorbed by the application member to be smaller than the volume of product pumped out of the reservoir. In the latter case, it is possible, as will be seen in detail later, to make the piston disengageable, so as to be able to withdraw the excess product not pumped out by motion of the piston without having to withdraw product from the reservoir to the space again.
Preferably, the application member and piston are secured to the cap and the piston generates the pressure decrease inside the space by moving from a first position into a second position when the cap is opened. The cap thus forms a member for grasping hold of the application member. In a single action, it is possible both to open the space and to load the application member with product, and to do so in a repeatable and consistent manner. The application member may, in an unstressed condition, have a cross-section which exceeds the cross-section of the piston.
In a preferred embodiment, a mechanism is provided, in response to a pressure increase within the space (for example, when the cap is closed onto the space), to vent the space to atmospheric pressure. The presence of the one-way flow valve (that is, a valve which opens only under the effect of a pressure decrease in the space with respect to the pressure in the reservoir) between the reservoir and the space prevents any air introduced into the space from entering the reservoir. It is contemplated that the mechanism allowing the space to be vented to atmospheric pressure may be formed of a second one-way vent valve provided within a vent passage. The vent valve preferably will be in the form of either a shutter valve or a ball valve. However, other suitable like flow control mecha
deVore Peter
Finnegan Henderson Farabow Garrett & Dunner LLP
L'Oreal
Maust Timothy L.
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