Applicator

Abstract

To provide a coating tool capable of coating an object to be coated with various coating agents at a low cost.SOLUTION: The coating tool 1 is composed of a coating agent adsorbing member 21 for adsorbing a required coating agent and a shaft body 3 for detachably holding the coating agent adsorbing member 21. The coating agent attracting member 21 has a part to be held by the shaft body 3. The shaft body 3 is provided with an attaching / detaching operation part 41 for detachably holding a part 22 to be held formed at a part of the coating agent adsorbing member 21 and pulling the part 22 to be held into the shaft body 3 to fix it.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 9

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a brush-shaped applicator that adsorbs a liquid, powder, or solid coating agent and applies it to an object to be coated. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, when painting plastic models, a brush-shaped applicator with a sponge tip attached to the end of the handle, which acts as a paint absorber, is used. Since painting plastic models usually requires a variety of paints, in order to paint plastic models at low cost, it is desirable to use an applicator with a removably attached absorber at the end of the handle, which can be used with a variety of paints simply by replacing the absorber. Conventionally, this type of applicator has been known to have a removably attached applicator part at the end of the grip (see, for example, Figure 1 of Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-176120 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the applicator described in Patent Document 1 has an applicator part that is made of a flexible applicator body made of sponge or the like, to which a hard rod-shaped mounting base is fixed, making the applicator part expensive and leaving room for improvement in this regard.

[0005] This problem is not unique to painting plastic models, but also occurs with other application tools such as makeup brushes.

[0006] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an applicator that can apply a variety of coating agents to an object at a lower cost. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides an applicator comprising a coating agent adsorption member that adsorbs a coating agent and a shaft that detachably holds the coating agent adsorption member, wherein the coating agent adsorption member has a held portion that is held by the shaft, and the shaft is characterized by comprising an attachment / detachment operating portion that detachably holds the held portion, pulls the held portion into the shaft to fix it, and pushes the held portion out of the shaft, thereby making it possible to remove the coating agent adsorption member from the shaft. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, since there is no need to provide the coating agent adsorption member with a hard member for attaching the coating agent adsorption member to the shaft, the coating agent adsorption member and therefore the coating tool can be manufactured inexpensively, thereby reducing the cost of applying various types of coating agents to objects to be coated. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view of an application tool according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a plan view of the coating agent suction tip according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the coating agent suction tip according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a plan view of a coating agent suction tip according to another embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a plan view of a coating agent suction tip according to still another embodiment. [Figure 6] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main portion of an application tool according to an embodiment, showing a state in which a tip holding member is housed within a barrel body. [Figure 7] 1 is a cross-sectional view of a main portion of an application tool according to an embodiment, showing a state in which a tip holding member is protruding outside a shaft body. [Figure 8] 10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part illustrating a method for attaching a coating agent adsorbing tip to a tip holding member provided in the coating tool according to the embodiment. FIG. [Figure 9]10 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of a main part illustrating a method for retracting the coating agent suction tip into a shaft provided in the coating tool according to the embodiment. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the applicator according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope of the embodiment described below, and naturally includes various design modifications that are made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0011] As shown in FIG. 1, an applicator 1 according to the embodiment is composed of a coating agent suction tip 2 that adsorbs a coating agent, and a shaft 3 that detachably holds the coating agent suction tip 2.

[0012] The coating agent adsorption tip 2 has a coating agent adsorption member 21 made of a flexible material that can adsorb various types of coating agent, such as liquid, powder, or solid. Examples of materials that can be used for the coating agent adsorption member 21 include, but are not limited to, sponge, felt, nonwoven fabric, etc.

[0013] 2 has a pen-tip-like external shape, and is formed with a protruding held portion 22 that protrudes outward from the main body. As shown in FIG. 1, at least a portion of held portion 22 is drawn into the interior of shaft 3 when attached to shaft 3.

[0014] 3, the coating agent adsorption member 21 is formed in a bag shape overall, and accommodates a stiffening member 23 made of a harder material than the coating agent adsorption member 21. An opening 24 is provided at the end of the held portion 22, and the stiffening member 23 can be placed in the internal space of the coating agent adsorption member 21 through the opening 24.

[0015] Stiffening member 23 may be made of a material such as a metal piece, a plastic piece, or a paper piece, and provides appropriate stiffness or elasticity to coating agent adsorption tip 2 depending on the application. Stiffening member 23 is preferably disposed from the tip of coating agent adsorption member 21 to the end of held portion 22. This improves the feel of coating agent adsorption tip 2, and ultimately coating tool 1, when in use.

[0016] The external shape of the coating agent adsorption member 21 is not limited to a pen tip shape, but can be any shape depending on the application. For example, when applying coating agent to a large area, a cylindrical or prismatic main body is used, as shown in Fig. 4. When drawing fine lines, a calligraphy brush-like one is used, as shown in Fig. 5.

[0017] Furthermore, the coating agent adsorption tip 2 of the embodiment is formed by inserting the stiffening member 23 into the internal space of the bag-shaped coating agent adsorption member 21, but the gist of the present invention is not limited to this, and the coating agent adsorption member 21 and the stiffening member 23 may be molded integrally. This allows the coating agent adsorption tip 2 to be manufactured at lower cost.

[0018] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the coating agent adsorption member 21 is provided with a stiffening member 23 inside, but if the coating agent adsorption member 21 itself has sufficient stiffness or elasticity for practical use, the stiffening member 23 can be omitted.

[0019] Next, the shaft body 3 will be described.

[0020] Shaft body 3 is mainly composed of hollow shaft main body 31 which is held by the user with the fingers, and attachment / detachment operation part 41 which is provided on shaft main body 31 and which is operated by the user with the fingers.

[0021] Barrel body 31 is formed from a material having the required rigidity, such as metal or plastic, and is sized to be handheld. As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , barrel body 31 is formed in a cylindrical shape with a through-hole extending from its tip to its end, and the tip portion (the side where applicator adsorption tip 2 is attached) is formed in a conical shape with an outer diameter that decreases toward the tip. A female thread 33 for attaching cap 32 is formed on the inner surface of the end portion of barrel body 31. Two guide members 34, 35 for slidably guiding attachment / detachment operation unit 41 are fixed at a required distance to the inner surface of the central portion of barrel body 31. The number of guide members 34, 35 may be any number equal to or greater than one.

[0022] Cap 32 closes the end of shaft body 31 and has flange 36 formed in approximately the middle in the longitudinal direction, with male threads 37 cut from the end face of flange 36 so as to be engageable with female threads 33 cut into body 31. Cap 32 is attached to shaft body 31 by threading male thread 37 into female thread 33, and is fixed to shaft body 31 by abutting the end face of flange 36 against the end of shaft body 31.

[0023] The attachment / detachment operation unit 41 has an operation shaft 42 slidably attached to the center holes 34a, 35a of the guide members 34, 35, and one end of a tip holding member 43 made of a highly elastic metal piece or metal wire is fixed to the tip of the operation shaft 42. As shown in FIGS. 6 to 9, the side shape of the tip holding member 43 is formed in a roughly dogleg shape, and the tip holding member 43 is fixed to the tip of the operation shaft 42 with the bent portion 43a facing outward. Note that in this embodiment, two tip holding members 43 are arranged opposite each other, but the number of tip holding members 43 is not limited to two and can be two or more. The greater the number of tip holding members 43, the more firmly the coating agent suction tip 2 can be attached to the tip of the shaft body 31.

[0024] In the embodiment, in order to improve the operability of operating shaft 42, attachment / detachment operating unit 41 has pressing operating unit 44 attached to the end of operating shaft 42, the pressing operating unit 44 having a larger diameter than operating shaft 42. The end side of pressing operating unit 44 is disposed outside shaft body 31 through opening 32a of cap 32.

[0025] In addition, a return spring 45a is arranged between the step portion 45 formed between the operating shaft 42 and the pressing operating portion 44 and the guide member 34, which constantly urges the tip holding member 43 in the direction of retracting it into the shaft main body 31.

[0026] Furthermore, stopper member 46 is fixed near the tip of operating shaft 42, abutting against guide member 35 to hold operating shaft 42 at a predetermined position within shaft body 31. Stopper member 46 is attached at a position where the tip of tip holding member 43 can be completely retracted into the internal space of shaft body 31 when no force is applied to pressing operation unit 44, as shown in Figure 6 .

[0027] A method for attaching the coating agent suction tip 2 to the shaft body 3 will be described below.

[0028] When no force is being applied to pressing operation unit 44 in the operating direction, return spring 45a is extended as shown in Fig. 6, and the elastic force of return spring 45a causes tip holding member 43 to be completely drawn into the internal space of barrel body 31. At this time, tip holding member 43 is urged by the inner surface of barrel body 31 and contracts inward against its own elastic force.

[0029] From this state, when pressing operation portion 44 is pressed toward the tip of shaft body 31 against the elastic force of return spring 45a, return spring 45a is compressed, the tip of operating shaft 42 moves toward the tip of shaft body 31, and tip holding member 43 protrudes outward from the tip of shaft body 31, as shown in Figure 7. Tip holding member 43 protruding from shaft body 31 expands outward due to its own elastic force.

[0030] To attach the coating agent suction tip 2 to the shaft 3, pressing operation unit 44 is pressed to cause tip holding member 43 to protrude from the tip of shaft body 31 and expand tip holding member 43 outward. Then, as shown in FIG. 8 , held portion 22 of the coating agent suction tip 2 is positioned inside the tip of expanded tip holding member 43. Thereafter, the pressing force applied to pressing operation unit 44 is released, and the elastic force of return spring 45a pulls tip holding member 43, together with held portion 22 of the coating agent suction tip 2, into the internal space of shaft body 31. As a result, the outer periphery of held portion 22 is fixed by the inner surface of shaft body 31 and the inwardly compressed tip holding member 43, and the coating agent suction tip 2 is easily and reliably attached to the tip of shaft 3.

[0031] When removing coating agent suction tip 2 from barrel 3, pressing operation unit 44 is pressed again to cause tip holding member 43 to protrude from the tip of barrel body 31. This causes tip holding member 43 to automatically expand outward, and coating agent suction tip 2 is removed from the tip of expanded tip holding member 43. Thereafter, when the pressing force applied to pressing operation unit 44 is released, tip holding member 43 is automatically drawn into the internal space of barrel body 31 by the elastic force of return spring 45a, returning to its initial state.

[0032] The applicator 1 according to the embodiment does not include a component for attaching the applicator adsorption tip 2 to the shaft 3, so the applicator adsorption tip and therefore the applicator itself can be manufactured inexpensively, reducing the cost of applying various types of applicators to objects to be coated.

[0033] Furthermore, in the applicator 1 according to the embodiment, the applicator adsorption tip 2 is formed by combining a flexible applicator adsorption member 21 with a harder stiffening member 23, which can impart appropriate stiffness or elasticity to the applicator adsorption tip 2 and improve the feel of use of the applicator 1. In particular, when the stiffening member 23 is arranged from the tip of the applicator adsorption member 21 to the end of the held portion 22, this effect can be further enhanced.

[0034] Furthermore, in the applicator 1 according to the embodiment, the applicator adsorption tip 2 is attached to the tip of the shaft 3 by pulling the retained portion 22 formed on a part of the applicator adsorption member 21 into the interior of the shaft body 31, so that the attachment of the applicator adsorption tip 2 to the shaft 3 can be made strong and reliable, which also contributes to a good usability of the applicator 1.

[0035] Furthermore, in the applicator 1 according to the embodiment, the coating agent adsorption member 21 having the holdable portion 22 is formed in a bag shape, and the stiffening member 23 is inserted into the interior of the coating agent adsorption member 21 through the opening 24 opened in the holdable portion 22, which facilitates the manufacture of the coating agent absorption tip 2 and reduces the manufacturing cost of the coating agent absorption tip 1. In contrast, if the coating agent adsorption member 21 and the stiffening member 23 are integrally molded, it is possible to prevent the stiffening member 23 from accidentally falling off the coating agent adsorption member 21, and it is possible to facilitate the storage and management of the coating agent absorption tip 2.

[0036] Furthermore, in the application tool 1 according to the embodiment, the attachment / detachment operating section 41 of the application agent absorption tip 2 is mainly composed of an operating shaft 42 that is inserted so as to slide freely inside the shaft body 31, and a tip holding member 43 that has one end fixed to the tip of the operating shaft 42. Therefore, simply by pressing the operating shaft 42, the application agent absorption tip 2 can be attached / detached to / from the tip holding member 43, and the application agent absorption tip 2 attached to the tip holding member 43 can be fixed to the shaft body 3, making it easy to replace the application agent absorption tip 2.

[0037] It is also possible to omit the return spring 45a disposed between the pressing operation portion 44 and the guide member 34. Even if the return spring 45a is omitted, the application agent suction tip 2 can be reliably attached to and detached from the shaft body 3 by operating the pressing operation portion 44 with a finger. [Explanation of symbols]

[0038] 1...applicator, 2...appliance agent adsorption tip, 3...shaft, 21...appliance agent adsorption member, 22...held portion, 23...rigidity imparting member, 24...opening, 31...shaft body, 32...cap, 32a...opening, 33...female thread, 34, 35...guide member, 34a, 35a...center hole, 36...flange portion, 37...male thread, 41...attachment / detachment operation portion, 42...operation shaft, 43...tip holding member, 43a...bent portion, 44...pressure operation portion, 45...step portion, 45a...return spring, 46...stopper member.

Claims

1. The coating agent adsorption member adsorbs the coating agent, and the shaft body detachably holds the coating agent adsorption member. the coating agent adsorption member has a held portion that is held by the shaft, The shaft body is provided with an attachment / detachment operation part that detachably holds the held part, pulls the held part into the inside of the shaft body to fix it, and pushes the held part out of the shaft body to make the coating agent adsorption member detachable from the shaft body. An applicator characterized by:

2. 2. The coating tool according to claim 1, wherein the held portion is formed in the shape of a protrusion that protrudes outward from a part of the coating agent adsorbing member.

3. 2. The coating tool according to claim 1, wherein a stiffness imparting member made of a material harder than the constituent material of the coating agent adsorption member is disposed inside the coating agent adsorption member, the stiffness imparting member providing an appropriate stiffness to the coating agent adsorption member.

4. 4. The coating tool according to claim 3, wherein the coating agent adsorption member is formed in a bag shape having an opening in the held portion, and the stiffness imparting member is inserted into the coating agent adsorption member through the opening.

5. 4. The coating tool according to claim 3, wherein the coating agent adsorbing member and the stiffening member are integrally formed.

6. 4. The coating tool according to claim 3, wherein the stiffening member is disposed from the tip of the coating agent adsorbing member to the end of the held portion.

7. 2. The applicator according to claim 1, wherein the shaft body has a hollow shaft body that is gripped with the fingers of a user, and the detachable operation unit comprises: an operating shaft whose distal end is slidably inserted into the shaft body and whose distal end protrudes outward from the distal end of the shaft body; and a tip holding member whose one end is fixed to the distal end of the operating shaft and which protrudes outward from the distal end of the shaft body when the distal end of the operating shaft is operated in a direction to push it into the shaft body.

8. 8. The applicator according to claim 7, further comprising a return spring provided between the shaft body and the operating shaft for constantly biasing the tip holding member in a direction of retracting it into the shaft body.

Images