Cosmetic applicator

Abstract

To provide a cosmetic applicator capable of arbitrarily selecting a drawing line width according to the preference of a user.SOLUTION: A cosmetic applicator includes a holder 5 that holds an application part 4a of an application body 4 for applying a cosmetic in a protruding state, a front barrel 3 that covers the application body and the holder, houses the application body and the holder so as to be movable in an axial direction, and supports the application part of the application body so as to be retractable from a distal end opening 3b, and an outer barrel 1 that covers a rear half part of the front barrel and supports the front barrel so as to be rotatable relative to the front barrel. The holder is formed with a projection 5a projecting in a direction orthogonal to the shaft, and the inner surface of the outer shaft is formed with a spiral groove 1e into which the projection formed on the holder is inserted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an improved cosmetic applicator that can be suitably used for cosmetic products such as eyeliners and eyebrow pencils. [Background technology]

[0002] Numerous improvements have been proposed for cosmetic applicators for eyeliner, eyebrow pencil, etc., and the present applicant has also proposed a cosmetic applicator using a brush tip as the cosmetic applicator, as described in Patent Document 1, for example. The cosmetic applicator described in Patent Document 1 is configured so that the cosmetic is stored in an impregnated state in a filling contained within a barrel, and the cosmetic is supplied to the application part using the brush tip via a relay core.

[0003] The brush tip, which constitutes the applicator part, is held by a cutipla (applicator part holding member) attached to the front end of the barrel, and the brush tip is fixed and attached to the cutipla so that the dimension of its projection from the cutipla is constant. Therefore, the width of the line of cosmetic material drawn by the brush tip is largely determined by the length of the brush tip extending from the lipstick, and although it is possible for the user to control the line width somewhat by selecting the pressure of the brush themselves, there are limits to this. Therefore, it is difficult to use a single cosmetic applicator as both an eyebrow applicator and an eyeliner, for example.

[0004] Meanwhile, the present applicant has proposed in Patent Document 2 a double-headed cosmetic applicator in which applicator sections using brush tips are provided at both ends of the barrel. This double-headed cosmetic applicator is shown as a second embodiment in Figures 5 to 7 of Patent Document 2, which discloses that one of the first tips is used as an applicator for very fine lines, and the other, second tip, is prepared for drawing thicker lines than the first tip. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. WO2007 / 043555 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-179609 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] The double-ended cosmetic applicator disclosed in Patent Document 2 allows a choice of two line widths. However, even in this double-ended cosmetic applicator, the first and second brush tips are held by respective tip shafts attached to the ends of the barrel, and each tip is fixedly attached to the tip shaft so that the projection distance of the first and second brush tips from each tip shaft is constant.

[0007] Therefore, in the double-ended cosmetic applicator disclosed in Patent Document 2, the width of the cosmetic line drawn by the brush tip is largely determined by the length of the brush tip extending from the tip barrel, just like the cosmetic applicator disclosed in Patent Document 1. Therefore, although it is possible for the user to control the line width to some extent by selecting the pressure with which they themselves apply the brush, there are limits to this.

[0008] This invention was made in response to the problem of the narrow range of line width options available in the above-mentioned conventional cosmetic applicators, and its main object is to provide a cosmetic applicator that allows the user to freely select the line width to suit their preference. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The cosmetic applicator of the present invention, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, comprises a holder that holds the applicator part of an applicator body that applies cosmetic in a protruding state; a front shaft that covers the applicator body and holder and accommodates the applicator body and holder so that they can move axially, and supports the applicator part of the applicator body so that it can be protruded and retracted from a tip opening; and an outer shaft that covers the rear half of the front shaft and supports the front shaft so that it can rotate relative to the front shaft, wherein the holder is formed with a protrusion that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the shaft, and the inner surface of the outer shaft is formed with a spiral groove into which the protrusion formed on the holder is inserted.

[0010] In this case, it is desirable that the front barrel has a slit formed therein that communicates with the front end opening of the front barrel and faces rearward in the axial direction. In a preferred embodiment, a cap covering the applicator part of the applicator body is removably attached to the outer shaft to form one unit of cosmetic applicator, and multiple units of cosmetic applicator are connected in a linear fashion by sequentially attaching the rear ends of the outer shafts of other units to the front ends of the cap. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the cosmetic applicator of the present invention described above, the holder that holds the applicator body that applies the cosmetic is formed with a protrusion that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and this protrusion is housed in a spiral groove formed on the inner surface of the outer shaft. Therefore, by rotating the outer shaft relative to the front shaft which houses the applicator body and holder so that they can move axially, the protrusion formed on the holder moves within the spiral groove of the outer shaft, allowing the applicator portion of the applicator body to appear and disappear from the tip opening of the front shaft.

[0012] This makes it possible to arbitrarily set the projection dimension of the applicator body from the tip opening of the front barrel, thereby providing a cosmetic applicator that allows the user to arbitrarily select the width of the drawn line according to their preference. Other effects and advantages of the cosmetic applicator according to the present invention will be described as they arise in the section on preferred embodiments of the invention to be explained later. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] 1A and 1B show the external configuration of a cosmetic applicator according to the present invention, in which FIG. 1A is a perspective view with a cap attached, and FIG. 1B is a perspective view with the cap removed. [Figure 2] 1A and 1B show the overall configuration of a cosmetic applicator, where (A) is a front view, (B) is a cross-sectional view along the axial direction, and (C) is a cross-sectional view rotated 90 degrees relative to (B). [Figure 3A] This shows the state in which the amount of application body fed out is minimum, (A) is a front view, (B) is a cross-sectional view of (A) taken along line aa, (C) is a top view, and (D) is a cross-sectional view of (C) taken along line bb. [Figure 3B] This shows the state in which the amount of application body fed out is maximum, (A) is a front view, (B) is a cc cross-sectional view of (A), (C) is a top view, and (D) is a dd cross-sectional view of (C). [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the entire cosmetic applicator. [Figure 5] Showing the individual components of the front barrel, (A) is a perspective view with the front end facing forward, (B) is a perspective view with the rear end facing forward, (C) is a front view, (D) is a cross-sectional view along the axial direction of (C), (E) is a top view, (F) is a cross-sectional view along the axial direction of (E), (G) is a left side view, and (H) is a right side view. [Figure 6] The individual components of the holder 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 top view, (D) being a front view, (E) being a cross-sectional view along the axial direction of (D), (F) being a left side view, and (G) being a right side view. [Figure 7] The individual components of the outer shaft 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 of (C), (E) being a left side view, (F) being a right side view, and (G) being a perspective view with the front end facing forward from a different perspective. [Figure 8]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 of (C), (E) being a left side view, and (F) being a right side view. [Figure 9] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which multiple units of a cosmetic applicator are connected in a straight line. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] The cosmetic applicator according to the present invention will be described below based on the embodiments shown in the drawings. In the following drawings, the same parts are designated by the same reference numerals, but in some drawings, due to space limitations, only representative parts are designated by reference numerals, and the details of each part will be described by referring to the reference numerals designated in the exploded view of the parts or the drawings showing the individual component configurations.

[0015] 1 and 2 show the overall configuration of a cosmetic applicator according to the present invention. This cosmetic applicator is configured such that a cap 2 having approximately the same diameter as the outer shaft 1 is removably attached to the front end of the cylindrically shaped outer shaft 1, thereby forming an elongated cylindrical body with approximately the same diameter in the longitudinal direction.

[0016] 1(B), a small diameter portion 1a having a diameter slightly smaller than that of the outer shaft 1 is formed at the front end of the outer shaft 1, and the rear end opening of the cap 2 is attached along this small diameter portion 1a. The cap 2 is attached to the outer shaft 1 by abutting the edge of the rear end opening of the cap 2 against a cap attachment step 1b formed on the outer shaft 1. In this example, the rear end of the outer shaft 1 also has a cylindrical portion 1c formed thereon, the diameter of which is slightly smaller than that of the outer shaft 1, and this cylindrical portion 1c is provided with a male thread 1d. Furthermore, a female thread 2e is provided on the inner circumferential surface of the outer cylinder of the cap 2. As will be explained later, by sequentially threading the male thread 1d of the outer shaft 1 into the female thread 2e of the cap 2, multiple cosmetic applicators can be configured to be connected in a linear fashion.

[0017] A front barrel 3 is housed in the front end opening of outer barrel 1 and is positioned so that front barrel 3 protrudes forward relative to outer barrel 1, and a tip portion 3a is formed at the front end of front barrel 3 to support applicator portion 4a of applicator body 4 so that it can be protruded and retracted. As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2 and in the form of a single item in FIG. 4, the tip of applicator body 4 is sharpened into a cone shape to form applicator section 4a, and the rear side excluding applicator section 4a forms cosmetic storage section 4b that is impregnated with and stores the cosmetic.

[0018] The rear side of the applicator body 4, excluding the applicator portion 4a at the tip, is housed in a cylindrical holder 5, and the applicator portion 4a at the tip of the applicator body 4 is attached to the holder 5 in a state where it protrudes from the front end of the holder 5. Furthermore, a pair of protrusions 5a are formed at the rear end of holder 5, protruding in opposite outward directions perpendicular to the axis, and these pair of protrusions 5a are inserted into a pair of rear slits 3d formed along the axial direction at the rear end of front barrel 3. This allows front barrel 3 to house applicator 4 and holder 5 so that they can move axially. The tip ends of the pair of protrusions 5a project further outward from front barrel 3 and are inserted into a spiral groove 1e formed on the inner surface of the rear end of outer barrel 1.

[0019] Therefore, by rotating outer shaft 1 relative to front barrel 3 of the cosmetic applicator, protrusions 5a of holder 5 holding applicator body 4 slide within a pair of rear slits 3d formed in front barrel 3 due to the rotation of spiral groove 1e formed in outer shaft 1, acting to advance holder 5. As a result, applicator body 4 advances within front barrel 3 together with holder 5, and applicator portion 4a of applicator body 4 is unwound from tip portion 3a. Furthermore, when the applicator part 4a is extended from the tip of the nozzle part 3a, by rotating the outer shaft 1 in the opposite direction relative to the tip of the nozzle part 3, the applicator body 4 retracts together with the holder 5 within the tip of the nozzle part 3a, and the applicator part 4a extended from the tip of the nozzle part 3a is accommodated within the tip of the nozzle part 3a.

[0020] In this embodiment, applicator body 4 is made of, for example, a bundle of polyester fiber materials (PET, PBT, PTT, etc.) or polyamide fiber materials (nylon 6, nylon 66, nylon 610, nylon 612, etc.). Therefore, applicator part 4a, the tip of which is sharpened into a cone shape, functions as a brush tip in this embodiment. The cosmetic storage section 4b of the applicator body 4 can be kept impregnated with the cosmetic by the numerous fiber bundles, and the capillary force of the fiber bundles can supply the cosmetic to the brush tip, which serves as the applicator section 4a, in an appropriate amount.

[0021] The cosmetic applicator will be described in detail below with reference to the component diagrams of the cosmetic applicator shown in Figs. 5 to 8. Front barrel 3 is shown in FIG. 5 as a single component, and this front barrel 3 is configured in an overall cylindrical shape, with a tip portion 3a formed at the front end of front barrel 3, as already explained. The tip 3a is configured in the shape of a truncated cone with a tapered surface that narrows in diameter towards the front end, and an opening 3b is formed at the tip, from which the brush tip serving as the applicator part 4a protrudes.

[0022] In addition, a pair of slits 3c that communicate with the tip opening 3b and extend rearward are formed in the tip portion 3a in an axially symmetrical manner. These slits 3c provide flexibility to the tip portion 3a, allowing the tip portion 3a to bend outward when the brush tip serving as the applicator part 4a protrudes from the tip opening 3b. The effect of the pair of slits 3c formed in the tip portion 3a will be described later with reference to Figures 3A and 3B.

[0023] A pair of rear slits 3d extending along the axial direction are formed symmetrically about the axis at the rear end of front barrel 3. As explained above, protrusions 5a of holder 5 disposed within front barrel 3 are inserted from the inside into these pair of rear slits 3d, thereby housing holder 5 and applicator body 4 within front barrel 3 so that they are movable in the axial direction. An annular projection 3e protruding from the outer circumferential surface is formed near the center of front barrel 3 adjacent to the pair of rear slits 3d. When front barrel 3 is accommodated in rear barrel 1, this annular protrusion 3e overcomes annular protrusion 1f formed within rear barrel 1, which will be described later, and is engaged with annular protrusion 1f, preventing front barrel 3 from separating from rear barrel 1 while allowing rear barrel 1 to rotate relative to front barrel 3.

[0024] 6 shows the individual configuration of the holder 5. The holder 5 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and the interior thereof forms an applicator-accommodating space 5b. As already explained, the rear end of the holder 5 is formed with a pair of cylindrical protrusions 5a that protrude in both outward directions perpendicular to the axis. Furthermore, an annular rib 5c that protrudes in the axial direction is formed inside the front end opening of holder 5. This annular rib 5c supports applicator body 4 housed in applicator body housing space 5b, and serves to prevent movement of applicator body 4 in the axial direction inside holder 5. It should be noted that, although an annular recess 4c is shown on applicator part 4 shown in FIG. 4, this annular recess 4c is formed by annular rib 5c of holder 5 coming into contact with it.

[0025] Figure 7 shows the individual configuration of outer shaft 1. As already explained, outer shaft 1 is provided at its front end with small diameter portion 1a that is slightly smaller in diameter than outer shaft 1, thereby forming cap mounting step 1b. In addition, outer shaft 1 is also provided at its rear end with cylindrical portion 1c that is slightly smaller in diameter than outer shaft 1, and cylindrical portion 1c is provided with a male thread 1d. Furthermore, an annular protrusion 1f that reduces the inside diameter is formed in approximately the longitudinal center of outer barrel 1. An annular protrusion 3e formed on front barrel 3 rides over and engages this annular protrusion 1f, thereby preventing front barrel 3 from separating from rear barrel 1 and enabling rear barrel 1 to rotate relative to front barrel 3. A spiral groove 1e is formed in the rear portion of the annular projection 1f, into which the projection 5a of the holder 5 is inserted as described above. Furthermore, a rear end partition wall 1g that closes the rear end of the outer shaft 1 is formed between the rear end of the outer shaft 1 and the cylindrical portion 1c on which the male thread 1d is formed.

[0026] The individual structure of the cap 2 is shown in Fig. 8. The cap 2 has a cap outer cylinder 2a and a cap inner cylinder 2b, and the cap outer cylinder 2a is formed in a cylindrical shape. The cap inner tube 2b has a cylindrical shape with its front end closed by a top surface 2c and its rear end open, and the open rear end portion is connected to the inner surface of the cap outer tube 2a at approximately the middle portion by a circular connecting portion 2d. The aforementioned female thread 2e is formed on the inner peripheral surface at the front end of the cap outer cylinder 2a, and the rear end opening 2f of the cap outer cylinder 2a is detachably attached to the outer shaft 1 along the small diameter portion 1a formed at the front end of the outer shaft 1, as already explained.

[0027] Figure 3A shows a state in which the amount of application part (brush tip) 4a extended by the relative rotation of outer barrel 1 with respect to front barrel 3 is set to the minimum, and Figure 3B shows a state in which the amount of application part (brush tip) 4a extended is set to the maximum. As shown in Figure 3A, when the amount of application part 4a extended from nozzle part 3a is set to a minimum, application part 4a has a slight clearance with respect to tip opening 3b of nozzle part 3a, or is in slight contact with tip opening 3b. Therefore, when a line is drawn with the applicator part 4a protruding from the tip opening 3b in the state shown in Figure 3A, the applicator part 4a is supported by the tip opening 3b while the application operation is performed, and the line width can be made approximately 1 mm or less.

[0028] On the other hand, as shown in Figure 3B, when the amount of extension of the applicator part 4a at the nozzle part 3a is set to the maximum, the tip opening 3b of the nozzle part 3a is pushed open by the applicator part 4a with a large diameter. As already explained, this is due to the bending effect of the tip portion 3a, which is caused by the provision of a pair of slits 3c that are connected to the tip opening 3b and point toward the rear.When applying in this state, the line width can be made approximately 2.0 to 3.0 mm.

[0029] Therefore, when this cosmetic applicator is set so that the amount of extension of the applicator part 4a from the nozzle part 3a is minimized, as shown in Figure 3A, it can be suitably used as a cosmetic tool for drawing eyebrows or lower eyelashes, for example. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 3B, when the amount of application part 4a extended from tip part 3a is set to a maximum, it can be suitably used as a cosmetic tool for drawing an eyeliner. The line width can be freely selected within the above range according to the user's preference.

[0030] Figure 9 shows a state in which a cosmetic applicator with a cap 2 attached to an outer shaft 1 constitutes one unit, and multiple units of cosmetic applicators are connected in a linear fashion by sequentially threading the male thread 1d formed on the rear end of the outer shaft 1 of each unit onto the female thread 2e formed on the front end of the cap 2. This allows, for example, a unit set up for eyebrows as shown in Figure 3A and a unit set up for eyeliner as shown in Figure 3B to be stored in a connected state, and also makes it possible to use multiple units with different cosmetic colors in a connected state. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1 Outer shaft 1a Small diameter section 1b Cap mounting step 1c Cylindrical part 1d male thread 1e spiral groove 1f Annular protrusion 1g Posterior bulkhead 2 Caps 2a Cap outer tube 2b Cap inner tube 2c Top 2d connection part 2e female thread 2f Rear end opening 3 front axis 3a Tip of the mouth 3b Tip opening 3c slit 3D rear slit 3e Annular process 4. Applicator 4a Application part (brush tip) 4b Cosmetic storage section 4c Annular recess 5 Holder 5a protrusion 5b Applicator housing space 5c Circular rib

Claims

1. a holder that holds an application portion of the application body that applies the cosmetic in a protruding state; a front barrel that covers the applicator body and the holder, accommodates the applicator body and the holder so as to be movable in the axial direction, and supports the applicator part of the applicator body so as to be retractable from a front end opening; an outer barrel that covers a rear half of the front barrel and supports the front barrel so as to be rotatable relative to the front barrel; is provided, A cosmetic applicator characterized in that the holder is formed with a protrusion that protrudes in a direction perpendicular to the axis, and the inner surface of the outer shaft is formed with a spiral groove into which the protrusion formed on the holder is inserted.

2. 2. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1, wherein the front barrel has a slit formed therein that is connected to the tip opening of the front barrel and extends rearward in the axial direction.

3. The cosmetic applicator according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a cap covering the applicator portion of the applicator body is removably attached to the outer shaft to form one unit of the cosmetic applicator, and multiple units of the cosmetic applicator are connected in a linear fashion by sequentially attaching the rear ends of the outer shafts of other units to the front ends of the cap.

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