APPLICATOR FOR APPLYING A COSMETIC, MAKEUP, OR CARE PRODUCT COMPOSITION, AND A METHOD OF MANUFACTURE

• US 20100294299A1
• Filed: 03/22/2010
• Published: 11/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/20/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: L'Oreal SA
• Original Assignee: L'Oreal SA
• Inventors: GUERET, Jean-Louis H.
• Application Number:
  US12/728,691
• Publication Number:
  US 20100294299A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 132/218
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 34/042 using a brush or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A45D 40/262 using a brush or the like
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 2200/1046 Brush used for applying cosmetics
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 2200/1053 Cosmetics applicator specifically for mascara
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/021 arranged like in cosmetics brushes, e.g. mascara, nail polish, eye shadow
• CPC Class Codes: A46B 9/028 Bristle profile, the end of the bristle defining a surface other than a single plane or deviating from a simple geometric form, e.g. cylinder, sphere or cone

Abstract

The present invention relates to an applicator (3) comprising a stem (5) and an applicator member (8) at an end of the stem, the applicator member comprising:

• • a core; and
  • projecting elements that extend from the core, the applicator member including a corkscrewed portion having an envelope surface of cross-section that is flat, and having a greatest transverse dimension that lies in the range 8 mm to 16 mm.

Claims

1. An applicator comprising a stem and an applicator member at an end of the stem, the applicator member comprising:

a core; and

projecting elements that extend from the core, the applicator member including a corkscrewed portion having an envelope surface of cross-section that is flat, and having a greatest transverse dimension that lies in the range 8 mm to 16 mm.

2. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein long axes of proximal and distal cross-sections of the corkscrewed portion are angularly offset around a longitudinal axis of the core by less than 90°

.

3. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the thickness of the corkscrewed portion lies in the range 2 mm to 6.5 mm.

4. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the corkscrewed portion extends over at least half the length of the applicator member.

5. An applicator according to claim 4, wherein the corkscrewed portion extends over at least three fourths of the length of the applicator member.

6. An applicator according to claim 4, wherein the corkscrewed portion extends over the entire length of the applicator member.

7. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the long axes of proximal and distal cross-sections of the corkscrewed portion are angularly offset by an angle β

that lies in the range 20°

to 80°

.

8. An applicator according to claim 7, wherein the angle β

lies in the range 25°

to 35°

.

9. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the cross-section of the corkscrewed portion is at least 30% wider than it is thick.

10. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinal axis of the core is rectilinear.

11. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the width of the corkscrewed portion is at least 3 mm greater than a thickness of the corkscrewed portion.

12. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the corkscrewed portion presents two opposite main faces that are parallel to each other.

13. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the corkscrewed portion is at constant pitch.

14. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the core is twisted.

15. An applicator according to claim 1, wherein the applicator member and the projecting elements are molded.

16. A method of manufacturing a brush according to claim 1, comprising :

a) making a blank of a twisted-core brush of envelope surface that is circularly cylindrical, and of diameter lying in the range 8 mm to 16 mm;

b) machining the brush over at least a portion of its length, so as to obtain a blank of cross-section that is flat; and

c1) corkscrewing the core, preferably through an angle β

that is strictly less than 90°

;

or

c2) machining the blank, while turning the brush relative to the machining tool, so as to obtain a brush that presents a portion of cross-section that is flat over at least a fraction of its length, the long axes of the proximal and distal cross-sections of the machined portion defining an angle β

that is preferably strictly less than 90°

.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the angle β

is strictly less than 90°

.