Mascara Applicator Spikes with Angled Flat Faces
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing mascara applicators fail to effectively transfer cosmetic product to eyelashes for lengthening, thickening, and separating due to suboptimal spike design, leading to inefficient product distribution and lash separation.
Innovation Solution
An applicator device with elongate spikes made in one piece with the core, featuring a first flat face aligned with the longitudinal axis and a second flat face forming an angle between 91° and 179°, creating a reservoir volume for the cosmetic product, which improves product loading and lash separation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If spikes with flat faces are used to accommodate mascara, then product load is improved, but lash separation is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The spike is divided into two distinct functional faces: a first flat face for product accumulation and a second non-flat face for lash separation. This segmentation allows each face to specialize in its function, with the flat face capturing product and the non-flat face mechanically separating lashes through its angled surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Different surfaces of the same spike are given different geometric properties to serve different functions. The first flat face provides a large surface area for product loading, while the second non-flat face provides a angled surface for mechanical separation, optimizing both functions simultaneously.
2Ease of operation
If spikes with non-flat faces are used for separation, then lash separation is improved, but product load is insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The spike is divided into two distinct functional faces: a first flat face for product accumulation and a second non-flat face for lash separation. This segmentation allows each face to specialize in its function, with the flat face capturing product and the non-flat face mechanically separating lashes through its angled surface.
Solution Approach 2:
Different surfaces of the same spike are given different geometric properties to serve different functions. The first flat face provides a large surface area for product loading, while the second non-flat face provides a angled surface for mechanical separation, optimizing both functions simultaneously.
3Quantity of substance
If brushes require multiple passes with reversed movement, then product distribution is improved, but application time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spike combines both product loading and lash separation functions into a single structural element that performs both actions simultaneously during one brush stroke. The flat face loads product while the non-flat face separates lashes, eliminating the need for separate passes and reversed movements.
Solution Approach 2:
The dual-faced spike design enables continuous useful action throughout the single brush stroke, with the flat face continuously accumulating product and the non-flat face continuously separating lashes as the brush moves through the lashes, rather than requiring discrete sequential actions.
Data Source
AI summary
The application relates to an applicator device for applying a product of the fluid or pasty type to keratin fibres or to an epidermis, including a central core of elongate shape, which extends along a longitudinal axis XX, at least one row of elongate spikes including a first end embedded in the core and a second, free end, the spikes and the core being formed in one piece, at least one of the spikes being delimited by a first flat face coincident with a longitudinal plane passing through the longitudinal axis XX of the central core, referred to as the joint face, and by a second flat face that forms, with the first flat face, an angle of between 91° and 179°, delimiting a cosmetic product reservoir volume V.