Ultrasonic Welded Bristled Component for Personal-Care Applicator
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current manufacturing methods for personal-care applicators, such as cosmetic brushes, are limited in flexibility and functionality, restricting the variety of patterns and shapes that can be produced, and often involve expensive and time-consuming batch processing with quality control challenges.
Innovation Solution
The use of ultrasonic welding to attach bristles to a carrier, allowing for a wide range of angles, shapes, and patterns, enabling the creation of complex bristled components with varying bristle materials and distributions, and facilitating continuous manufacturing processes.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If molding methods (injection molding or casting) are used to create brush patterns, then almost any desired pattern can be achieved, but every new brush design requires a new mold making it expensive and difficult to prototype
Solution Approach 1:
The invention segments the brush manufacturing process into separate components: the wire form structure and the bristle attachment. This allows the wire form to be manufactured independently using conventional methods, and the bristle pattern to be created separately through ultrasonic welding, eliminating the need for expensive custom molds for each pattern design.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the manufacturing parameter from mold-based shaping to ultrasonic welding-based attachment. By using ultrasonic welding with varying parameters (welding energy, pressure, duration, bristle arrangement), a wide variety of patterns can be achieved without requiring new molds, thus reducing manufacturing costs while maintaining pattern versatility.
2Adaptability or versatility
If molding methods are used, then various patterns can be produced, but the process is time-consuming due to multi-cycle batch processing
Solution Approach 1:
The ultrasonic welding process enables continuous manufacturing where bristles are attached to the wire form in a continuous operation rather than through multi-cycle batch processing. This continuous action significantly increases productivity while maintaining the ability to produce various patterns through parameter adjustment.
3Ease of manufacture
If injection molding or casting is used, then bristle patterns can be formed, but a continuous taper and mold-parting line are created which may not be desirable and affect functionality
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the bristle attachment process from the molding process itself. Instead of forming bristles directly through molding (which creates unwanted tapers and parting lines), the bristles are attached separately through ultrasonic welding. This extraction eliminates the harmful effects of continuous tapers and mold-parting lines while maintaining the ability to form desired bristle patterns.
4Adaptability or versatility
If twisted-wire brushes are used with varying bristle thickness, then some pattern variety is achieved, but thick bristles next to thin bristles cause tenting where thin bristles slip through gaps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by pre-forming the wire form structure with appropriate geometry before bristle attachment. The wire form is designed and manufactured in advance with features that prevent tenting, such as optimized twist patterns and structural support elements, ensuring that thin bristles remain stable even when placed next to thick bristles.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances the flexibility and functionality of personal-care applicators by enabling the production of diverse shapes and patterns while reducing production costs and improving quality control through continuous processing.
Implementation Method 1
The bristles are ultrasonically welded to the carrier throughout the carrier's length so that a direct ultrasonic bond is formed between a surface of the carrier and a portion of each of the bristles
Data Source
AI summary
A bristled component for a cosmetic applicator comprising: an elongated carrier having a longitudinal axis; and at least a first plurality of bristles including at least one array of bristles ultrasonically welded to the carrier and outwardly extending therefrom according to a first pre-determined pattern, wherein the carrier and the bristles comprise ultrasonically compatible materials, and wherein the bristles are ultrasonically bonded to the carrier through a direct ultrasonic bond between a surface of the carrier and a lengthwise portion of each of the bristles.