Liquid applicator

Abstract

To provide a liquid applicator which causes no jamming of coating liquid in a coating liquid flow path or function degradation of an application body by adhesion of a foreign substance by having a function to eliminate the foreign substance adhered to the application body and to refresh the application body.SOLUTION: An application body 20 is disposed at a front end of a shaft cylinder 10, coating liquid stored in a coating liquid storage part 15 in a shaft cylinder is supplied for the application body, and a cap 50 is removably mounted to the shaft cylinder so as to cover the application body when not in use. The cap is provided with: a first seal part 52a for sealing the application body from the outer air; and a second seal part 52b sealing an air replacement port 30b provided on the shaft cylinder side from the outer air. The second seal part is first unsealed from the outer air as the cap is pulled from the shaft cylinder, and then the first seal part is unsealed from the outer air, so that reaction sucking a part of the coating liquid out to the application body is given by negative pressure generated in the first seal part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an improvement in a liquid applicator that can be suitably used in, for example, a felt-tip pen, a marking pen (writing implement), an eyeliner, an eyebrow pencil (cosmetic applicator), and the like. [Background technology]

[0002] This type of liquid applicator has an applicator body placed at the tip of the barrel, and the application liquid stored in the barrel is supplied to the applicator body at the tip of the barrel via, for example, a liquid guide pipe or a relay core. Therefore, many improvements have been proposed to ensure that the application liquid in the barrel is smoothly supplied to the applicator body at the tip. The present applicant has also proposed a liquid applicator, for example, as described in Patent Document 1.

[0003] The liquid applicator described in Patent Document 1 is a liquid applicator that supplies application liquid stored in a barrel to an applicator body via a liquid guide pipe, and in order to prevent the application liquid in the pipe from solidifying, the combination of various values ​​such as the volume from the tip of the pipe to the tip of the front barrel, the area of ​​the tip opening of the front barrel, and the area of ​​the pipe's inner diameter are set to be within a predetermined range. According to this, the tip of the pipe is positioned back from the tip opening of the front barrel, which makes it possible to slow down the rate at which the coating liquid inside the pipe dries and solidifies. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-39484 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, the above-mentioned cosmetic applicators such as eyeliners and eyebrow pencils have a problem in that foundation particles and sebum present on the skin to be applied adhere to the applicator, hindering the flow of the cosmetic liquid to be applied and causing smearing of the applied liquid. This problem is not limited to cosmetic applicators, but is also true for stationery such as felt-tip pens and marking pens. However, the liquid applicator described in Patent Document 1 does not have the function of refreshing the applicator by removing foreign matter adhering to the applicator body, and therefore, other measures were required to remove foreign matter, such as cleaning the applicator body with tissue paper.

[0006] This invention has been made in response to the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a liquid applicator that has the function of removing foreign matter adhering to the applicator body and refreshing the applicator body, thereby preventing clogging of the applicator liquid flow path with the applicator liquid and deterioration of the applicator body's functionality due to the adhesion of foreign matter. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The liquid applicator of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, is a liquid applicator in which an applicator body is placed at the front end of a barrel, applicator liquid stored in an applicator liquid storage section inside the barrel is supplied to the applicator body, and which is equipped with a cap that is removably attached to the barrel so as to cover the applicator body when not in use, and which is characterized in that the cap is equipped with a first seal portion that seals the applicator body from the outside air and a second seal portion that seals an air replacement port provided on the barrel side from the outside air, and when the cap is pulled out from the barrel, the second seal portion first releases the seal from the outside air, and then the first seal portion releases the seal from the outside air, causing the negative pressure generated within the first seal portion to act on the applicator body to suck out some of the applicator liquid.

[0008] In this case, the cap is preferably made of a soft plastic material such as rubber or elastomer. It is also preferable that the cap contains an absorbent body for absorbing the application liquid sucked out from the application body. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the liquid applicator of the present invention described above, when using the applicator, as the cap is pulled out from the barrel, the second seal portion first releases its seal against the outside air, and then the first seal portion releases its seal against the outside air, and the negative pressure generated within the first seal portion has the effect of sucking out some of the application liquid from the applicator body. Therefore, foreign matter adhering to the applicator body is cleaned and refreshed by the application liquid sucked out from the applicator body, thereby providing a liquid applicator that can eliminate problems such as clogging of the application liquid flow path without causing functional deterioration of the applicator body due to the adhesion of foreign matter.

[0010] Furthermore, when the cap is attached to the barrel, the applicator at the front end of the barrel is sealed by the first seal, and the air replacement port provided on the barrel side is sealed by the second seal, so that the application liquid can be prevented from volatilizing when the liquid applicator is not in use (storage state). [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B show the overall configuration of a liquid applicator according to an embodiment, with (A) being a perspective view and (B) being a front view. [Figure 2] The liquid applicator without the cap is shown, where (A) is a front view, (B) is a cross-sectional view along the axial direction, (C) is an enlarged left side view, and (D) is an enlarged cross-sectional view of the front end of the barrel including the applicator body. [Figure 3] 2 shows a cross-sectional view along the axial direction of the liquid applicator shown in FIG. 1, where (A) shows the state in which the cap is attached to the barrel, (B) shows the state in which the cap is being pulled out, and (C) shows the state in which the cap has been completely removed. [Figure 4]4 shows an enlarged cross-sectional view of the cap attachment portion of the liquid applicator shown in FIG. 3, where (A) shows the state in which the cap is attached to the barrel, (B) shows the state in which the cap is being pulled out, and (C) shows the state in which the cap has been completely removed. [Figure 5] The individual components of the barrel are shown, with (A) being a perspective view with the front end facing forward, (B) being a front view, (C) being a top view, and (D) being a cross-sectional view along the axial direction. [Figure 6] The individual components of the holder that supports the applicator are shown, with (A) being a perspective view with the front end facing forward, (B) being a perspective view with the rear end facing forward, (C) being a front view, (D) being a top view, (E) being a cross-sectional view seen in the direction of the arrow from line aa in (C), (F) being a left side view, and (G) being a right side view. [Figure 7] The individual components of the cap are shown, with (A) being a perspective view with the front end facing forward, (B) being a perspective view with the rear end facing forward, (C) being a front view, (D) being a cross-sectional view along the axial direction, (E) being a left side view, and (F) being a right side view. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, a liquid applicator according to the present invention will be described based on an embodiment in which the liquid applicator is applied to an eyeliner, which is one type of cosmetic applicator. In the drawings shown below, the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals, but in some drawings, due to space limitations, representative parts are indicated by reference numerals, and details of each part will be explained by citing the reference numerals given in the drawings showing the individual component configurations.

[0013] <Overall structure> FIG. 1 shows the overall external configuration of a liquid applicator 1 used as an eyeliner, and FIG. 2 shows the liquid applicator 1 with the cap removed. As shown in Figure 2(B), this liquid applicator 1 comprises barrel 10, in which smaller-diameter front barrel 11 and larger-diameter rear barrel 12 are integrally formed, and holder 30, which supports applicator body 20 attached to and protruding forward of front barrel 11. Also, rear barrel 12 is formed with application liquid reservoir 15, and application liquid reservoir 15 contains batting 17, made of, for example, polyester fiber material, which is capable of storing and holding application liquid. In addition, near the tip of the front barrel 11, an air replacement port 30b (see Figure 2) is formed between a part of the holder 30 and the barrel 10, which allows air to circulate between the inside and outside of the barrel 10.

[0014] The holder 30 is fitted with an applicator 20, which also serves as an application liquid supplier, i.e., in this embodiment, a brush tip, which penetrates the holder 30, with the tip of the brush tip protruding from the holder 30, and this tip functions as the applicator 20 for the eyeliner. The application liquid supply body, which also serves as the application body 20, i.e., the rear end side of the brush tip, is positioned in contact with the front end of the padding 17, and the application liquid as a cosmetic stored in the padding 17 is guided to the application body 20 at the tip (tip of the brush tip) by the capillary force of the numerous fiber bundles that make up the brush tip.

[0015] As shown in FIG. 1, a cap 50 is removably attached to front barrel 11 so as to cover applicator part 20, and a tail plug 60 is attached to the rear end opening of rear barrel 12. 2(B), the tail plug 60 is formed in a cylindrical shape as a whole, with a closed rear end. A ring-shaped protruding flange 60a is formed immediately adjacent to the rear end, and this flange 60a is in close contact with the end face of a rear end opening 14 (described later) of the rear body 12, sealing the interior of the rear body 12 and isolating it from the outside air. Additionally, a cylindrically shaped gripping member 40 with rounded corners is attached between front barrel 11 and rear barrel 12, and liquid applicator 1 with cap 50 attached to front barrel 11 has an appearance of a long, thin column as shown in FIG.

[0016] <Shaft cylinder 10> The individual configuration of barrel 10 is shown in Figure 5, and as described above, barrel 10 is provided with front barrel 11 and rear barrel 12 molded as a single unit. Front end opening 13 is formed at the front end of front barrel 11, and the tip of holder 30 that supports applicator body 20 is positioned in a protruding state from front end opening 13 (see Figure 2). Furthermore, the rear end of rear barrel 12 is formed with rear end opening 14 as described above, and tail plug 60 is press-fitted into rear end opening 14 as described above. The outer shape of the barrel 10 is such that the cross section perpendicular to the axis forms a quadrilateral with rounded corners.

[0017] The rear axle 12 is composed of a front grip portion 12a on the front side, which is covered by the grip member 40, and a rear grip portion 12b on the rear side. The front grip portion 12a and the rear grip portion 12b have a step portion 12c at the boundary between them, the step portion 12c having a diameter that narrows toward the front, so that the thickness of the front grip portion 12a is thinner than the thickness of the rear grip portion 12b. Further, on each surface of the outer periphery of the front grip portion 12a, there are formed outer protrusions 12a1 that contribute to engagement with the cylindrically formed grip member 40. These outer protrusions 12a1 are engaged with the grip member 40 on the inner surface of the grip member 40 to support the grip member 40. Furthermore, when this embodiment is applied to, for example, a felt-tip pen or a marking pen, the gripping member 40 may be given a color different from that of the barrel 10, and the color may be similar to the color of the application liquid (ink) stored in the padding 17, for example.

[0018] Front barrel 11 is slightly reduced in diameter relative to front grip portion 12a of rear barrel 12, forming stepped portion 11e, and has, from the rear end side to the tip end side, base end portion 11a, reduced diameter portion 11b, tip cylindrical portion 11c, and locking surface 11d. The base end 11a is a portion that extends forward with a constant thickness from the front end of the front grip portion 12a. A locking protrusion 11a1 is formed on the base end 11a along a direction intersecting the axial direction. This locking protrusion 11a1 removably holds the cap 50, which will be described later. At this time, the opening edge of the cap 50 abuts against the step portion 11e.

[0019] The reduced diameter portion 11b is a portion that tapers and extends forward from the front end of the base end portion 11a, and the distal cylindrical portion 11c is a portion that extends forward with a constant thickness from the front end of the reduced diameter portion 11b. When the cap 50 is attached, the distal cylindrical portion 11c forms a second seal portion 52b between itself and the cap 50. This second seal portion 52b will be described later. The locking surface 11d is the tip edge of the tip cylindrical portion 11c, and comes into contact with a flange portion 33 formed on the holder 30, which will be described later. In addition, the rib 12a2 and the fixing protrusion 12b1 (see Figure 5(D)) formed in the coating liquid storage section 15 of the barrel 10 come into contact with the front end and rear end of the padding 17 contained in the coating liquid storage section 15, thereby fixing the position of the padding 17.

[0020] <Holder 30> The individual configuration of holder 30 is shown in Figure 6. This holder 30 is integrally formed from a resin material with, in order from the front to the rear end, a reduced diameter portion 31, a cylindrical portion 32, a disk-shaped flange portion 33, an annular convex portion 34 protruding along the circumference, an elastic portion 35, and a tubular portion 36, and the basic shape other than reduced diameter portion 31 forms a cylindrical shape. A pair of groove-shaped recesses 30a are formed at symmetrical positions on either side of the axis from the flange portion 33 to the immediate vicinity of the elastic portion 35, and the portion communicating with the groove-shaped recesses 30a formed in the disk-shaped flange portion 33 forms the air replacement port 30b already described. Therefore, a communication hole formed by the groove-shaped recess 30a is formed along the axial direction between the holder 30 and the inner surface of the front barrel 11 on which the holder 30 is attached, and the air replacement port 30b is connected to the coating liquid storage section 15 inside the barrel 10 via the communication hole formed by the groove-shaped recess 30a.

[0021] Holder 30 is formed with a through-hole 37 (see Fig. 6(E)) that penetrates from the front end to the rear end, and applicator body 20 in the form of a brush tip is attached to this through-hole 37 as shown in Fig. 2. Note that applicator body 20 is inserted from rear opening 36a of holder 30, and is attached within holder 30 with the front end of applicator body 20 protruding from front end opening 31a of holder 30. In addition, at through portion 37 formed in holder 30, tapered inner surface 31b (see FIG. 6(E) ), which tapers in diameter toward tip opening 31a, is formed on the inner surface of tapered portion 31. As a result, the peripheral surface of the tip side of applicator body 20 comes into contact with and engages tapered inner surface 31b, causing the tip portion of applicator body 20, having a predetermined length dimension, to protrude from tip opening 31a.

[0022] When a cap 50 (described later) is attached to the cylindrical portion 32 of the holder 30, a first seal portion 52a is formed between the cylindrical portion 32 and the cap 50. This first seal portion 52a will be described later. Furthermore, when the holder 30 is attached to the barrel 10, the flange 33 abuts against the locking surface 11d of the front end opening 13 of the front barrel, thereby positioning the holder 30 relative to the barrel 10 and also positioning the air replacement port 30b formed in the flange 33 at the tip of the barrel 10. Furthermore, when holder 30 is attached to barrel 10, annular protrusion 34 engages with step 11e (see FIG. 2(D)) that is formed immediately after front end opening 13 of front barrel 11 and has a slightly larger inner diameter. This allows annular protrusion 34 to prevent holder 30 from slipping out of barrel 10.

[0023] Elastic portion 35 is formed immediately after annular protrusion 34 and is formed of a double spiral spring. When liquid applicator 1 of the present embodiment is used in place of, for example, a fine-point felt-tip pen or marking pen, this spiral spring as elastic portion 35 is used to impart a biasing force sufficient to allow axial movement to an ink supply wick or the like that serves as a writing part in place of applicator body 20 attached to through portion 37. Therefore, in this embodiment in which a brush tip is used as applicator body 20 , elastic portion 35 and tubular portion 36 can be said to be extensions of penetrating portion 37 that supports applicator body 20 .

[0024] <Cap 50> The individual configuration of cap 50 is shown in Figure 7. This cap 50 has a cap outer tube 51 and a cap inner tube 52. Cap outer tube 51 is formed in an overall cylindrical shape with openings at the front and rear ends. The outer peripheral surface of this cap outer tube 51 has a cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the axis that is quadrilateral with rounded corners, similar to the outer peripheral surface of barrel tube 10.

[0025] As shown in Figure 7(D), the cap inner tube 52 is cylindrical with its front end closed by a top surface 52c and its rear end open. The cap inner tube 52 is housed in the front half of the cap outer tube 51, and its open rear end is connected to the inner circumferential surface of the cap outer tube 51 at approximately the middle portion by an annular connecting portion 53 (see Figure 7(D)). As a result, the periphery of the closed top surface 52c portion of the cap inner tube 52 is surrounded by a circumferential groove 54 that is continuous with the cap outer tube 51, and the bottom of the circumferential groove 54 is formed into an annular shape by the connecting portion 53.

[0026] An opening 50a is formed whose inner diameter narrows stepwise from the rear-end opening of cap outer tube 51 toward the inside of closed top surface 52c of cap inner tube 52, and locking protrusions 51a are formed near the entrance of this opening 50a. These locking protrusions 51a are multiple protrusions formed intersecting the axial direction, and in this embodiment, a total of four locking protrusions 51a are provided, corresponding to each side surface of cap outer tube 51. Cap 50 is attached to barrel 10 by elastically deforming from front to rear to overcome locking protrusions 11a1 provided on front barrel 11.

[0027] At approximately the center of opening 50a in the axial direction, multiple (eight in the illustrated example) guide ribs 51b are arranged radially. These guide ribs 51b narrow the inner diameter of opening 50a toward the front end. These guide ribs 51b act to guide applicator 20, which is arranged at the front end of front barrel 11, and holder 30 that supports it, so that they can be smoothly inserted into cap inner tube 52. Within opening 50a, within cap inner tube 52 further behind guide rib 51b, a cylindrical space is formed that forms second seal chamber S2 when cap 50 is attached to front barrel 11, and annular protrusion 52b that protrudes toward the axis is formed on the inner circumferential surface of this cylindrical space. By contacting tip cylindrical portion 11c of front barrel 11, annular protrusion 52b functions as a second seal that seals air replacement port 30b, already described, from the outside air; hereinafter, annular protrusion 52b will be referred to as the second seal.

[0028] At the back of the cylindrical space that forms the second sealing chamber S2, a cylindrical space that forms the first sealing chamber S1 with an even smaller inner diameter is formed, and an annular protrusion 52a that protrudes toward the axis is formed on the inner circumferential surface of this cylindrical space on the second sealing chamber S2 side. This functions as a first sealing part that seals the applicator body 20 that protrudes from the holder 30 from the outside air by contacting the cylindrical part 32 of the holder 30, and hereinafter the annular protrusion 52a will be referred to as the first sealing part. 3 and 4, an application liquid absorber 57 is accommodated and disposed at the end of the cylindrical space forming the first seal chamber S1 on the top surface 52c side. This application liquid absorber 57 is preferably made of a sponge or the like.

[0029] The cap 50 configured as described above is preferably made of soft plastic such as rubber or elastomer. Preferred soft materials include SEBS (styrene elastomer), EPDM (polyolefin elastomer), polyester elastomer, silicone rubber, butyl rubber, and NBR. In the cap 50, the first seal portion 52a and the second seal portion 52b, which are formed by the annular protrusion, may be partially made of the rubber or elastomer described above, or the entire cap 50 may be integrally molded from the rubber or elastomer described above.

[0030] <Function of main parts> The operation of the liquid applicator 1 based on the above-described configuration will now be described. 3 and 4 show a state in which the cap 50 is attached to the barrel 10, followed by a state in which the cap 50 is removed (pulled out) from the barrel 10. FIG. 3(A) and 4(A) show a state in which the cap 50 is attached to the barrel 10, which shows the liquid applicator 1 when not in use, that is, in a stored state.

[0031] In this state, the first sealing portion 52a, which is an annular protrusion protruding toward the axis within the cylindrical space of the cap 50, abuts against the cylindrical portion 32 of the holder 30, and the tip of the applicator body 20 is sealed (blocked) from the outside air within the first sealing chamber S1. Similarly, second seal portion 52b formed by an annular protrusion on cap 50 abuts against tip cylindrical portion 11c of front barrel 11, and air replacement port 30b is sealed (blocked) from the outside air within second seal chamber S2. Therefore, when the liquid applicator 1 is not in use (storage state), the application liquid inside the liquid applicator 1 can be prevented from volatilizing.

[0032] 3(B) and 4(B) show the state in which the cap 50 is being pulled out from the barrel 10. FIG. In this state, first, tip cylindrical portion 11c of front barrel 11 moves away from the annular protrusion that constitutes second seal portion 52b, and therefore air replacement port 30b in second seal chamber S2 is no longer sealed to the outside air. In other words, second seal chamber S2 communicates with the outside air via the gap between opening 50a of cap 50 and front barrel 11, and the gap between tip cylindrical portion 11c of front barrel 11 and second seal portion 52b.

[0033] However, first seal portion 52a of cap 50 is in contact with cylindrical portion 32 of holder 30, and the tip of applicator body 20 remains sealed (blocked) from the outside air within first seal chamber S1. At this time, because holder 30 is retracted within first seal chamber S1, a negative pressure state is created within first seal chamber S1, and this negative pressure causes some of the application liquid to be sucked out from applicator body 20 within first seal chamber S1. This sucking action of the application liquid is carried out smoothly because outside air pressure is applied to air replacement port 30b. As a result, foreign matter and the like adhering to the tip of applicator body 20 is washed away and refreshed by the application liquid sucked out from applicator body 20. Therefore, clogging of the application liquid in the application liquid flow path constituted by the numerous fiber bundles that form the tip of applicator body 20 can be eliminated without causing deterioration in the function of applicator body 20 due to the adhesion of foreign matter.

[0034] 3(C) and 4(C) show the state where the cap 50 has been completely removed from the barrel 10. FIG. In this state, cylindrical portion 32 of holder 30 is separated from first seal portion 52a of cap 50, and first seal chamber S1 is released from the seal against the outside air via second seal chamber S2. In other words, the suction of application liquid from applicator body 20 continues until just before this, and the application liquid suctioned from applicator body 20 is absorbed by application liquid absorber 57 arranged at the end of the cylindrical space that forms first seal chamber S1.

[0035] <Other> The above description is based on a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to such an embodiment, and it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various other embodiments are possible within the scope of the present invention. For example, although padding 17 is used as a means for storing the coating liquid, a direct liquid type in which the coating liquid is stored directly in coating liquid storage section 15 may also be used. Furthermore, since eyeliner has been cited as an embodiment, an example has been given in which a brush tip is used as the applicator body 20, but when this invention is used for, for example, a felt-tip pen or a marking pen, other applicator bodies suitable for that purpose can be used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0036] 1 Liquid applicator 10 shaft cylinder 11 First axis 11c Cylindrical tip 11d Locking surface 12 rear axle 13 Front end opening 14 Rear end opening 15 Coating liquid storage section 17 Padding 20 Applicator 30 Holder 30a Groove-shaped recess 30b Air replacement port 32 Cylindrical part 33 Tsuba 37 Penetration 40 gripping member 50 caps 50a opening 51 Cap outer tube 52 Cap inner tube 52a First seal part (annular protrusion) 52b Second seal portion (annular protrusion) 57 Coating liquid absorber 60 tail plug S1 First seal chamber S2 Second seal chamber

Claims

1. A liquid applicator having an applicator body disposed at the front end of a barrel, an applicator liquid stored in an applicator liquid storage section in the barrel being supplied to the applicator body, and having a cap detachably attached to the barrel so as to cover the applicator body when not in use, The cap is provided with a first seal portion that seals the applicator body from the outside air, and a second seal portion that seals an air replacement port provided on the barrel side from the outside air, and when the cap is pulled out from the barrel, the second seal portion first releases its seal from the outside air, and then the first seal portion releases its seal from the outside air, thereby generating negative pressure within the first seal portion, which causes the applicator body to suck out some of the application liquid.

2. 2. The liquid applicator according to claim 1, wherein the cap is made of a soft plastic material such as rubber or elastomer.

3. 3. The liquid applicator according to claim 1, wherein the cap contains an absorber that absorbs the application liquid sucked out from the applicator body.

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