U.S. patent application number 12/490421 was filed with the patent office on 2009-12-24 for dispenser of a product in stick form.
Invention is credited to Michel Limongi.
Application Number | 20090317169 12/490421 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 40690604 |
Filed Date | 2009-12-24 |
United States Patent
Application |
20090317169 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Limongi; Michel |
December 24, 2009 |
Dispenser Of A Product In Stick Form
Abstract
The dispenser for a product (1), typically a cosmetic product,
comprises a body with a tubular skirt (2) forming a typically
cylindrical cavity for said product and equipped in its upper
section with an upper opening, a support for said product able to
move in an axial direction inside said tubular skirt and thereby to
make said product emerge through said upper opening to be used, a
cap (4) able to seal said upper opening by working jointly with
said tubular skirt, a bottom (3) interdependent with said tubular
skirt and said support and a means to manually ensure an axial
displacement of said support in relation to said tubular skirt by
relative manual rotation of said tubular skirt (2) in relation to
said bottom (3) around said axial direction, characterized in which
said bottom (3) and said cap (4) are elements of identical
shape.
Inventors: |
Limongi; Michel; (Clichy,
FR) |
Correspondence
Address: |
BANNER & WITCOFF, LTD.
TEN SOUTH WACKER DRIVE, SUITE 3000
CHICAGO
IL
60606
US
|
Family ID: |
40690604 |
Appl. No.: |
12/490421 |
Filed: |
June 24, 2009 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61075069 |
Jun 24, 2008 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
401/68 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45D 40/065
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
401/68 |
International
Class: |
A45D 40/06 20060101
A45D040/06 |
Claims
1. A dispenser for a product, typically a cosmetic product,
including a body with a tubular skirt forming a typically
cylindrical cavity for said product and equipped in its upper
section with an upper opening, a support for said product able to
move in an axial direction inside said tubular skirt and thereby to
make said product emerge through said upper opening to be used, a
cap able to seal said upper opening by working jointly with said
tubular skirt, a bottom interdependent with said tubular skirt and
said support, and a means to manually ensure an axial displacement
of said support in relation to said tubular skirt by relative
manual rotation of said tubular skirt in relation to said bottom
around said axial direction, wherein said bottom and said cap are
elements of identical shape.
2. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the bottom and the
cap are in the shape of a ball.
3. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the bottom and the
cap are in the shape of an olive.
4. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the bottom and the
cap are in the shape of a cube.
5. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the bottom and the
cap are connected by a chain.
6. A dispenser according to claim 5, in which the chain comprises a
plate able to be marked
7. A dispenser according to claim 1, in which the cap works in
conjunction with the tubular skirt by encircling.
8. A dispenser according to claim 7, in which the bottom is
interdependent of the tubular skirt and the support via an
interdependence part free to rotate inside the tubular skirt, and
in which the bottom works in conjunction with the interdependence
part by encircling.
9. A dispenser according to claim 8 in which the interdependence
part can extend axially beyond a lower opening in the tubular
skirt, protruding radially beyond the external surface of the
tubular skirt so that the fixing between the bottom and the
interdependence part is stronger than between the cap and the
tubular skirt.
10. A dispenser according to claim 9, in which the bottom and the
interdependence part are made interdependent for rotation in the
axial direction and/or for translation in the axial direction by
means of fixing of the male/female type.
11. A dispenser according to claim 10, in which the bottom and the
cap have a side external wall which extends radially beyond the
external surface of the tubular skirt.
12. A dispenser according to claim 11, in which the cap and the
bottom comprise a means of fixing for a link designed to connect
the cap and the bottom.
13. A dispenser according to claim 12, in which the link is a
chain.
14. A dispenser according to claim 13, in which the link carries a
plate.
15. A dispenser according to claim 14, in which the bottom and the
cap are in the shape of a ball.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The invention relates to the field of dispensers of products
in stick form, such as lipsticks, sticks of deodorants, sticks of
adhesive, etc, or of typically rigid products, which run out under
force, such as creams, pastes, etc.
BACKGROUND OF RELATED ART
[0002] Traditionally, cosmetic products used as lipsticks form
solid products, usually placed in dispensers called lipstick tubes,
which appear as sticks and which are applied to the lips as one
would with a brush, which results in depositing a varying amount of
lipstick according to the pressure exerted on the tube.
[0003] Many lipstick dispensers or tubes are already known, as
described for example in European applications No 96500011,
98500016, 98500088, 99420027, 99420072, including a cap and a body
housing said stick and a mechanism to move said stick manually.
[0004] The body of these lipstick tubes typically includes three
coaxial parts, with, from the outside to the inside, an external
body forming a tube skirt and typically bearing two spiral grooves
on its interior surface, a tubular element interdependent with the
bottom of the tube and bearing two diametrically opposite axial
openings, a support for the stick equipped with two diametrically
opposite pins, said pins passing through said axial openings and
working in conjunction with the spiral grooves, so that the
relative rotation of said body in relation to that of said bottom
leads to an axial displacement of said support and therefore of
said stick.
[0005] Deodorant dispensers are also known, such as described for
example in French patent No 2.573.734. These dispensers typically
include a body equipped with a side skirt and a bottom, a piston
forming a support for the deodorant stick, working in conjunction
with a central screw that is rotated by the bottom.
[0006] The dispensers known in related art pose various kinds of
problems which result mainly from the many requirements to be
satisfied in order to have a valid dispenser from the commercial or
marketing standpoint.
[0007] Firstly, these dispensers are relatively complex assemblies
of different parts, given their number and the precision necessary
to assemble them, so that the production costs of such dispensers
are relatively high. Secondly, in the field of cosmetic packaging
in particular, there is a permanent demand for the development and
launch of new products, in order to substantially stand out from
already known products. The average lifespan of packaging, which
can be extremely long in the case of bottles of perfumes, is
generally very short in the case of dispensers of less prestigious
products than perfumes, products typically under consideration in
the present invention. In addition, it was observed that younger
consumers are not attracted by lipstick whose packaging, generally
appearing too conventional, of the cylindrical type, has an ageing
image. The invention aims at providing a solution to all of these
problems.
DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0008] According to the invention, the dispenser of a product,
typically a cosmetic product, includes a body with a tubular skirt
forming a typically cylindrical cavity for said product and
equipped in its upper section with an upper opening, a support for
said product able to move in an axial direction inside said tubular
skirt and thereby to make said product emerge through said upper
opening to be used and typically applied on an application surface,
a cap able to seal said upper opening by working jointly with said
tubular skirt, a bottom interdependent with said tubular skirt and
said support, and a means to manually ensure an axial displacement
of said support in relation to said tubular skirt by relative
manual rotation of said tubular skirt in relation to said bottom
around said axial direction, wherein said bottom and said cap are
elements of identical shape.
[0009] Consequently, this bottom and this cap can be manufactured
for example by molding a thermoplastic on the same mold, thus
reducing the manufacturing costs because of the need for only one
mold for two elements generally manufactured on two different
molds. This leads to savings at various levels: the manufacture of
the molds, time lost to change the molds, setting the machines, the
use of two different molding stations, handling the parts to
assemble them, etc.
[0010] In addition, the use of an identical bottom and a cap endows
the lipstick tube with an original and agreeable appearance.
[0011] The cap works in conjunction more particularly with the
tubular skirt by encircling. The bottom is more particularly
interdependent with said tubular skirt and said support via a free
interdependence part free to rotate inside the tubular skirt, the
bottom working in conjunction with the interdependence part by
encircling.
[0012] The interdependence part can moreover extend axially beyond
a lower opening in the tubular skirt, protruding radially very
slightly beyond the external surface of the tubular skirt so that
the fixing between the bottom and the interdependence part is
stronger than between the cap and the tubular skirt. The friction
coefficients between the different materials used to manufacture
the cap-bottom, the interdependence part and the tubular skirt can
be designed to accentuate still further this holding
characteristic.
[0013] In addition, means of fixing of the male/female type or by
clipping can be used to make the bottom interdependent with the
interdependence part for rotation around said axial direction
and/or translation along said axial direction. The means of fixing
also present on the cap finds no related means of fixing on the
tubular skirt at the level of the upper opening and does not
obstruct closure by encircling between the cap and the tubular
skirt.
[0014] The means for manually making an axial displacement of said
support in relation to said tubular skirt by relative manual
rotation of said tubular skirt in relation to said bottom are of
the conventional type. For example, the interior surface of the
tubular skirt bears two spiral grooves, the interdependence part is
a tubular element bearing two diametrically opposite axial openings
with stops. The support for the stick is equipped with two
diametrically opposite pins, said pins passing through said axial
openings and working in conjunction with the spiral grooves, so
that said relative rotation of said tubular skirt in relation to
said interdependence part and thus to said bottom causes an axial
displacement of said support and therefore of said stick.
[0015] According to the invention, the bottoms and caps are not
cylindrical and have side external walls which extend radially
beyond the external surface of the tubular skirt. The bottoms and
caps are more particularly in the shape of a ball, an olive, or a
hollow cube, cut to reveal an open cavity, inside which can be
encircled the upper end of the tubular skirt or one end of the
interdependence part.
[0016] Also according to the invention, the cap/bottom comprises a
means of fixing for a link designed to connect the cap and the
bottom of the lipstick tube. The link may, for example, be a ribbon
or a chain and additionally include a plate on which can be marked,
for example, a brand name, a logo, a first name, or a color. The
link also makes it possible to hold the cap when the latter is
removed during use of the lipstick, freeing the hands of the user.
It can also be used to suspend the lipstick tube, for example on a
display unit, the tube not being designed to stand up
vertically.
[0017] Such a cosmetic product dispenser meets perfectly with
expectations by offering a neat and original appearance and
decreased production costs, making it possible to lower the
consumer price of the product and to encourage young consumers to
purchase it.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0018] FIG. 1 is a perspective view for a first embodiment of a
lipstick tube according to the invention.
[0019] FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the lipstick tube in FIG.
1.
[0020] FIGS. 3 and 4 are perspective views from above and below of
the bottom/cap of the lipstick tube in FIG. 1.
[0021] FIG. 5 is a perspective view for a second embodiment for a
lipstick tube according to the invention.
[0022] FIG. 6 is a cross-section of the lipstick tube in FIG.
5.
[0023] FIGS. 7 and 8 are perspective views from above and below of
the bottom/cap of the lipstick tube in FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
[0024] As can be seen in FIG. 1, the lipstick tube 1 according to
the invention is of a totally innovative type. For example it does
not comprise a flat bottom that would allow it to stand up
vertically.
[0025] The lipstick tube 1 consists of a tubular skirt 2, typically
cylindrical, a bottom 3 and a cap 4 of identical outward
appearance, here in the shape of a cut ball, laid out at each end
of the tubular skirt 2 along an axial direction to close a lower
opening and an upper opening respectively of the tubular skirt 2,
bottom 3 and cap 4 being connected together by means of a chain 5
bearing more particularly a plate 6.
[0026] Chain 5 is attached to cap 4 (to bottom 3 respectively) by
means of a ring 7 closed onto a loop 8 marked in cap 4 (bottom 3
respectively).
[0027] Tube 1 is of minimalist design, making it economical to
manufacture. The bottom and the cap are perfectly identical and can
be manufactured by injection molding on the same mold. The internal
mechanism for the outlet of the stick is of conventional type and
is made up, as can be seen in FIG. 2, of a tubular skirt 2
typically bearing two spiral grooves 9 on its interior surface, a
tubular element 10 interdependent with bottom 3 of tube 1 and
bearing two diametrically opposite axial openings 11, and a support
for the stick (not shown) equipped with two diametrically opposite
pins, said pins passing through said axial openings and working in
conjunction with the spiral grooves so that said relative rotation
of the tubular skirt in relation to said bottom causes an axial
displacement of said support and therefore of said stick which can
then emerge through an upper opening 12 in the tubular skirt 2. The
tubular element 10 also known as an interdependence part makes
tubular skirt 2, support and bottom 3 interdependent.
[0028] The bottom/cap comprises an internal cavity with an internal
wall. This internal wall is adapted to encircle the external
surface of the tubular skirt 3 at the level of the upper opening.
This internal wall is also adapted to encircle an external surface
of the tubular element 10 which protrudes axially in relation to
the lower opening of the tubular skirt 2. As can be seen in FIGS. 2
and 4, a projection 13 can be provided in the internal cavity of
the bottom/cap so as to engage a groove arranged in the tubular
element 10 so that said tubular element 10 is perfectly
interdependent with bottom 3 for rotation. This projection 13 has
no function when one considers the cap, or may possibly act as a
stop. Bottom 3 and cap 4 only slightly overlap the tubular skirt 4,
so that a smaller amount of plastic is used to manufacture tube 1
according to the invention than to manufacture an ordinary lipstick
tube, which has a positive effect in terms of material cost and
ecological balance.
[0029] Still according to the invention, the cap and the bottom
protrude radially by more than 3 mm in relation to the tubular
skirt, which gives an appearance of volume to the tube and
facilitates gripping of the cap or the bottom to be turned. An
effect of symmetry emerges from this lipstick tube according to the
invention formed from a cap and an identical bottom, like a pair of
atoms connected by a strand or a pair of dumbbells.
[0030] FIGS. 5 to 8 show a lipstick tube 1' according to the
invention virtually identical to that shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and
different from it in that the bottom 3'/cap 4' are slightly
lengthened, in the shape of an olive, and that the chain 5' fixing
system is different. The chain 5' fixing system is more
particularly made up by an opening 14' in bottom 3'/cap 4' through
which a fastener 15' is forced comprising a back draft 16'
preventing the chain 5' from being withdrawn.
[0031] Other known mechanisms of axial displacement of the support
by rotating the bottom may be used.
[0032] It is obviously possible to consider various means of
male/female fixing, of the rib/groove type, or clipping between the
bottom and the tubular element without the means formed on the cap
obstructing the encircling of the cap onto the tubular skirt.
[0033] For example a tubular rib can advantageously be provided on
the internal wall of the bottom/cap which works in conjunction, for
the bottom, with a tubular groove made in the tubular or
interdependence element to form a means of fixing and, for the cap,
with the external surface of the tubular skirt to form a means of
sealing, for example against volatile solvents in the composition
of the stick.
[0034] The invention, presented with reference to a lipstick tube
also extends to other dispensers of cosmetic products, for example
eyelid cream, blusher, lip-care cream, anti-wrinkle cream, etc.
* * * * *