U.S. patent number 3,806,263 [Application Number 05/293,370] was granted by the patent office on 1974-04-23 for lipstick containers.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Sebec Societe d'Exploitation de Brevets d'Emballage Cosmetique S.A.. Invention is credited to Edward Webster.
United States Patent |
3,806,263 |
Webster |
April 23, 1974 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
LIPSTICK CONTAINERS
Abstract
Tubular lipstick container sleeve having a longitudinal slot and
being in idably relationship with a coaxial external housing sleeve
having a helical slot and with an internal lipstick carrying cup a
peg of which engages the slots. The body having at one end a base
portion for facilitating its rotation has at its other end at least
two inward deformations extending over a portion of the
circumferential extent of that end releasably ejecting a protective
lipstick sheet the first time the lipstick is operated and reducing
the wobbling tendency of the lipstick.
Inventors: |
Webster; Edward (Dorset,
EN) |
Assignee: |
Sebec Societe d'Exploitation de
Brevets d'Emballage Cosmetique S.A. (Fribourg,
CH)
|
Family
ID: |
10438188 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/293,370 |
Filed: |
September 29, 1972 |
Foreign Application Priority Data
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Oct 1, 1971 [GB] |
|
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45692/71 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
401/78;
401/98 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A45D
40/04 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
A45D
40/06 (20060101); A45d 039/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;401/68,75-78,87,88 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Primary Examiner: Charles; Lawrence
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Dressler, Goldsmith, Clement &
Gordon, Ltd.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. In an improved container for a lipstick or similar stick of
pasty material, comprising a cylindrical cup adapted to hold said
stick and provided with at least one radially and outwardly
extending peg projecting through a longitudinal slot provided in an
inner cylindrical sleeve having an upper end and coaxially
surrounding said cup, said peg also engaging a helical slot
provided in an outer cylindrical sleeve coaxially surrounding said
inner sleeves, said cup being mounted for axial displacement within
said inner sleeve between a retracted position and projecting
position relative to said upper end, and the inner sleeve being
rotatable within said outer sleeve, in which the improvement
comprises said inner sleeve being made of sheet metal, said inner
sleeve providing at said upper end at least two, circumferentially
equidistant, inwardly directed deformations, such as radially
flattened and inwardly inclined portions of said inner sleeve upper
end, adapted to engage peripheral portions of said cup to provide
stability for said stick in the projecting position, said
longitudinal slot extending to said upper end of said inner
sleeve.
2. The holder of claim 1, wherein one of said deformations
straddles the upper end of said longitudinal slot.
3. The holder of claim 1, wherein said upper end of said inner
sleeve has two deformations which are arranged at diametrically
opposite locations.
4. The holder of claim 1, wherein each one of said deformations is
a flat which is inclined inwardly at an angle of between 13.degree.
and 20.degree. to the longitudinal axis of said inner sleeve.
5. The holder of claim 1, wherein said inner sleeve is made from a
planar sheet metal blank.
6. A container for a lipstick or similar stick of pasty material
comprising: an inner, sheet metal, cylindrical sleeve having an
upper end and outer cylindrical sleeve coaxially surrounding said
inner sleeve; a cylindrical cup adapted to hold said stick and
provided with at least one radially and outwardly extending peg
projecting through a longitudinal slot provided in said inner
sleeve, said inner sleeve coaxially surrounding said cup, said peg
also engaging a helical slot provided in said outer sleeve, said
cup being mounted for axial displacement within said inner sleeve
between a retracted position and a projecting position relative to
said upper end, and said inner sleeve being rotatable within said
outer sleeve, said stick being contained in a projecting shell
having an open end telescoped over the open end of said cup, said
inner sleeve having at its upper end at least two,
circumferentially equidistant, inwardly directed deformations, such
as radially flattened and inwardly inclined portions of said inner
sleeve upper end, whereby said deformations act to strip said shell
from said stick when said cup is returned to a retracted position
from an initial projecting position, and said deformations engaging
peripheral portions of said cup to provide stability for said stick
in the projecting position, said longitudinal slot extending to
said upper end of said inner sleeve.
7. The holder of claim 6, wherein one of said deformations
straddles the upper end of said longitudinal slot.
8. The holder of claim 6, wherein said inner sleeve upper end has
two deformations which are arranged at diametrically opposite
locations.
9. The holder of claim 6, wherein each one of said deformations is
a flat which is inclined inwardly at an angle of between 13.degree.
and 20.degree. to the longitudinal axis of said inner sleeve.
10. The holder of claim 6, wherein said inner sleeve is made from a
planar sheet metal blank.
Description
This invention relates to containers for lipstick, salves and other
similar cosmetic materials, commonly known as lipstick containers,
and primarily to those of the kind in which there are two coaxial
sleeves, known as the body and spiral, one having a longitudinal
slot and the other a helical slot, and a cup or godet carrying the
lipstick itself, the cup or godet having a peg engaging the slots
so that by relative rotation of the body and the spiral the user
can project or retract the lipstick. We will refer to these as
lipstick containers, although it is to be understood that salves
and cosmetics other than lipstick may be used in them.
It has been proposed to enclose the lipstick in a sheath of
transparent plastics which fits onto the cup, in fact to cast the
lipstick into the sheath by inverting the container and pouring the
molten lipstick through a hole in the bottom of the cup. The sheath
remains in place until the user first projects the lipstick to a
level at which the sheath is substantially wholly clear of the body
and spiral, whereupon subsequent retraction of the lipstick causes
the lower end of the sheath to catch on the upper end of the body
or spiral (or the inturned flange of a sleeve that fits over them),
so that the sheath is not retracted but is pushed off the lipstick
and falls clear. This is known as the Ejectoret process. Because of
the difficulties with tolerances in the components (especially
where the body and spiral are moulded in plastics) and friction or
adhesion between the lipstick and sheath, trouble can be
experienced in ensuring releasable ejection of the sheath the first
time the lipstick container is operated, and various proposals have
been made for modifying the form of the skirt of the sheath or the
upper end of the body-spiral-sleeve assembly with the aim of
elimination the trouble.
An aim of the invention, where it is applied to lipstick containers
employing an ejectable sheath, is to overcome this trouble.
In lipstick containers of the general kind employing a cup that is
movable within a tubular body it is sometimes found that the cup,
when in the fully projected position, has a certain amount of
freedom to tilt or wobble with respect to the body and this makes
it difficult for the user to hold the lipstick steady when applying
it. A further aim of the invention is to reduce this tendency to
wobble.
According to the invention there is now proposed a tubular body for
a lipstick container comprising a sheet metal tube provided with an
elongated slot in its wall capable of receiving and guiding a peg
projecting from a cup slidable in the body, a base portion at one
end for facilitating rotation of the body, and at its other end at
least two inward deformations such as flats over only a portion of
the circumferential extent of that end.
Preferably there are just two inward deformations arranged
diametrically opposite each other, but there could be three, four
or more, preferably evenly spaced around the rim. The deformations
can be in the form of simple flats, defining chords to the circle
that forms the inner diameter of the associated end of the body.
Where this body is used in conjunction with Ejectoret system,
employing a sheath over the lipstick, the sheath is pushed upwards
past these flats the first time the lipstick is fully projected,
and then when it is retracted the lover edge of the sheath engages
the upper edges of the flats and is pushed off. The sheath can be
of simple shape, free from ridges, pips or slots. The resilience of
the sheet metal of the body ensures that it imposes no serious
restraint on the initial projection of the lipstick whilsts its
sharp edge ensures reliable ejection of the sheath by the flats
when the lipstick is retracted.
Even where there is no sheath the flats have a beneficial effect in
that they resiliently and firmly but gently grip the sides of the
cup when the cup is in its fully projected position, opposing any
tendency of the cup to wobble or tilt.
The invention will now be further described by way of example with
reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 shows the body of a lipstick container according to the
invention, with a cup and sheath in the fully projected
position;
FIG. 2 is a plan view of the body alone, looking from above;
FIG. 3 is an outside elevation of the body alone, looking in the
direction of the arrow A in FIG. 2; and
FIG. 4 shows how the body co-operates with the cup in a version
that does not use a sheath.
Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 3, a body 1 of sheet metal is in the
form of a tube with a longitudinal slot 2 engaged by a radially
extending peg 3 on a cup or godet 4 that carries the lipstick,
salve or other cosmetic material. In the complete lipstick
container the body 1 is enclosed in a so-called spiral, which is a
cylindrical tube containing a helical slot also engaged by the peg
3, so that relative rotation of the body and spiral caused the cup
4 to be moved axially to project and retract the lipstick in a
well-known manner. The lower end of the body 1 is enlarged at 5 to
form a base that receives a base cap (not shown) to be grasped by
the user's fingers for rotating the body.
In the version shown in FIG. 1 a sheath 6 of transparent moulded
synthetic resin fits onto the upper end of the cup 4 and encloses
the lipstick or salve. For this purpose the upper end of the cup
has a portion 7 of reduce diameter, terminating in a bead 8. The
sheath 6 has a flexible skirt 9 that fits over the bead 8.
In the retracted position of the cup 4 and sheath 6 the skirt lies
inside the body 1, but when the cup is fully projected for the
first time to the position shown in FIG. 1 the skirt 9 of the
sheath springs clear of the body, so that on subsequent retraction
of the cup, the skirt engages against the body and so the sheath
remains stationary as the cup and lipstick are retracted, and the
sheath can fall away. This is the known so-called Ejectoret process
and is disclosed in certain British Patent Specifications such as
No. 1,280,635 of Sebec S.A.
The body 1 is, as stated above, made of sheet metal and again is of
basically known form, being formed from steel strip by a pressing
operation that rolls it up to form a cylinder with a gap left to
define the slot 2 and with the base 5 and a rib 10. Simultaneously
with the pressing operation we form in the upper end of the body
two diametrically opposed flats 11, formed by deflecting the upper
rim of the blank inwards at these points.
These flats 11 reduce the effective diameter of the upper end of
the body, not as a whole (as would be obtained for example by
forming a continuous rolled-in rim or bead) but only in localised
regions, in fact across a single diameter where there are only two
opposed flats. As will be seen in FIG. 2, one of the flats
straddles the narrowed upper end of the slot 2 in the example
shown. However there could be more than two flats, and they need
not necessarily be at diametrically opposite points, although
generally it will be preferably for them to be uniformly spaced
around the circumference of the body.
As the cup 4, with the sheath 6 in it is fully projected the skirt
9 of the sheath is able to spring past the flats 11, being free to
deflect into the reduced portion 7 of the cup and then spring out
again when clear of the flats, then when the cup is subsequently
retracted the lower edge of the skirt engages the flats and causes
the sheath to be positively pushed off. Experience with this form
of engagement has shown that it is possible to be much more
confident of reliable and clean ejection of the sheath than with a
body employing simply a continuous inturned rim or bead, and
especially one of moulded synthetic resin.
In the preferred embodiment, where the inside diameter of the body
is 0.518 inch and its wall thickness 0.010 inch, the flats are
inclined inwards at between 13.degree. and 20.degree. to the axis
of the body and the distance between them is 0.508 inch.
As indicated above, a body with flats 11 may also be used in normal
lipstick containers having no sheath 6. As shown in FIG. 4, the cup
4' here is of plain cylindrical shape without the reduced portion
7, and it projects partially through the upper end of the body in
the fully advanced position, so that the flats 11 bear lightly
against its wall on opposite sides and assist in keeping the cup
stable during use of the lipstick.
The flats 11 as shown define simple chords (looking axially) to a
circle defined by the inner diameter of the associated end 7 of the
body 1. However it will be understood that they may have a
different shape in detail, even though flats are the simplest
shape, and the preferred one.
Also the invention may be applied where the body 1 has a helical
slot, and the tube outside it an axial one, the action being the
same.
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