Eyelash Brush with Varying Spike Angles for Clump-Free Application
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mascara and eyebrow applicators face challenges in achieving a balance between loading and separating eyelashes, with conventional designs often resulting in insufficient product application or clumping due to excessive or insufficient wiping of the applicator.
Innovation Solution
A brush design with multiple rows of spikes, where each row has varying spike orientations and spacings, creating a pseudo-random distribution that allows for efficient product loading and separation of eyelashes, while maintaining a high capacity for makeup application.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the applicator member is excessively wiped on withdrawal from the container, then the applicator is sufficiently cleaned, but the applicator becomes insufficiently loaded with product requiring frequent re-dipping
Solution Approach 1:
The brush head incorporates zones with different spike densities - denser zones for product loading and sparser zones for separation - creating local functional differences that enable simultaneous product retention and lash separation without excessive wiping
Solution Approach 2:
The brush is segmented into multiple functional zones along its length, with varying spike configurations in different sections, allowing the proximal portion to retain product while distal portions separate lashes, resolving the contradiction between loading and cleaning
2Quantity of substance
If the applicator member is insufficiently wiped, then the applicator retains abundant product, but excess product creates clumps on poorly separated eyelashes
Solution Approach 1:
Different zones of the brush have different spike densities - areas with higher spike density control product distribution to prevent clumping, while areas with lower density retain sufficient product, allowing both abundant loading and clump-free application
Solution Approach 2:
The spike structure acts as an intermediary between the product container and eyelashes, with varying spike densities mediating product flow to achieve both sufficient loading and proper separation without direct contact clumping
3Ease of manufacture
If the brush has uniform spike distribution, then the manufacturing is simplified, but the performance in both loading and separating eyelashes is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The brush features locally varied spike densities with denser regions for product loading and sparser regions for separation, maintaining injection moldability while achieving superior dual-function performance compared to uniform designs
Solution Approach 2:
The spike density parameter varies continuously along the brush length and across different radial positions, with the injection molding process configured to produce these gradients, achieving high productivity through parameter optimization rather than complex assembly
Data Source
AI summary
A brush for applying a cosmetic composition (P) to the eyelashes and/or eyebrows, having a core, preferably made of plastics material, having a longitudinal axis (X), a plurality of rows of spikes disposed around the core and along the latter, where, for at least each of a number k of said rows, where k is greater than or equal to 2, at least three successive spikes in this row, of respective ranks p, p+1 and p+2, have elongation axes (Y) that make respective angles ap, ap+1 and ap+2 at their base with the longitudinal axis (X) of the core, where p is an integer between 1 and n−3, where n denotes the number of spikes in the row, at least two of the angles ap, ap+1 and ap+2 being different, at least one spike of the same rank p having a different orientation ap for at least two of these k rows.