Improvements to cosmetic pencils

Description

[0001] The present invention refers to cosmetic pencil.

[0002] Said pencils, in the cosmetic sector, are commonly referred to as "slim sticks".

[0003] As is known to the skilled in the art, the cosmetic pencils are formed by a pastel which is inserted into a tubular pastel-holder which comprises a mechanism to pull out and to withdraw said pastel from its seat.

[0004] The structure of said mechanism is formed by a screw and a nut screw system which drives the pastel-holder bottom portion, which can slide back and forth with respect to an outer tubular container.

[0005] One of the most significant technical problems to be solved in order to provide a cosmetic slim stick is related to the steady fixing of the pastel rear end to the pastel-holder bottom which is slidable along its seat (pastel-holder).

[0006] In fact the pastel, since it is formed by doughy material and, due to the continuous pulling out and withdrawal from its seat, could come off from the engagement with the pastel-holder bottom driven by the control mechanism.

[0007] As a consequence, after having pulled out the pastel, it is no longer possible - by driving the screw and nut screw system- to withdraw the pastel inside the pastel-holder with all the disadvantages deriving therefrom, since said withdrawal shall be done by pushing back manually the pastel inside its seat.

[0008] Another disadvantage of the known cosmetic pencils is that the sliding of the pastel pullout mechanism with respect to the pastel-holder is not always easy because of the surface friction between the components with mutual movement.

[0009] WO 96 32031 A refers to cosmetic pencil which provides expendable mass retention devices.

[0010] A purpose of the present invention is to overcome the disadvantages of the known art by providing a cosmetic pencil provided with a system to fix the pastel inside its seat, said system working even after having pulled out the pastel several times.

[0011] Said purpose is achieved by a cosmetic pencil having the features disclosed in the accompanying claims.

[0012] The structural and functional features of the invention and its advantages in comparison with the known art will be better apparent from the following description, which refers to the accompanying drawings showing two embodiments of the invention. In said drawings:

Figure 1 is an exploded sectional view of a cosmetic pencil according to the invention;

Figure 2 is a view similar to the one of Figure 1, but it shows the pastel while it is inserted into the corresponding pastel-holder;

Figure 3 is a view similar to the one of Figure 2, but it shows the pastel fixed to the corresponding pullout mechanism;

Figure 4 is a bottom plan view of the pastel-holder;

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the pastel-holder;

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken along the plane VI-VI of Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken along the plane VII-VII of Figure 5; and

Figure 8, 9 and 10 are views as in Figures 1, 2 and 3, but said figures show another possible embodiment of the invention.

[0013] With reference to Figures 1-3 of the drawings, the cosmetic pencil of the present invention is indicated, as a whole, by numeral 10 and its structure is formed by a tubular body 11, wherefrom a tubular pastel-holder 12 extends, which holds a cosmetic pastel 13. The bottom portion of said tubular body 11 is closed by a cap 24.

[0014] The body 11 has a traditional mechanism with a screw 14 and a nut screw 15, said mechanism driving a cup 16 - which is slidable back and forth - wherein the rear end of the pastel 13 is inserted and fixed. The cup 16 is integral with the screw 14.

[0015] According to the present invention, a diametric projection 18 extends from the centre of the bottom 17 of said cup 16, whilst the wall 20 of the cup 16 has openings 21 and each one of said openings defines an undercut 22. The projection 18 has a slightly tapered section.

[0016] As can be clearly seen from Figure 6 of the drawings, the projection 18 has an engagement opening 23, the purpose of which will be explained hereinafter.

[0017] From the above description, it is clear that, when the pastel 13 is forced inside the cup 16, as shown in the Figure 1-3 sequence, and the rear end of the pastel 13 meets the tapered projection 18, said rear end will expand outwardly in the radial direction and it will fill the openings 21 of the cup wall 20 (as shown in Figure 3), said pastel rear end will be steadily fixed to the cup 16, thanks to the undercuts 22. The fixing is even more stable since the doughy material penetrates into the opening 23 of the projection 18.

[0018] In this way, the pastel 13 pulling out and withdrawal operations from the pastel-holder 12 can easily be done till the consumption of said pastel, without any concern about the detachment of the pastel rear end from the sliding cup 16.

[0019] Further, the doughy material forming the pastel rear end which expands through the openings 21 has, besides a fixing function, a lubricant function for the surfaces of the components which have a relative movement.

[0020] In the other possible embodiment shown in Figures 8-10, the radial projection 18 is substituted by a plurality of projections 118, positioned along the circumference, with a tapered tip 119.

[0021] The purpose is identical to the one of the projections 18, i.e. to expand the pastel rear end outwardly, so that some doughy material fills the openings 21 and engages with the corresponding undercuts 22.

[0022] The scope of protection of the present invention is therefore defined by the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. Cosmetic pencil which comprises a pastel (13) and a pastel-holder (12) extending from a body (11) which contains a mechanism (14, 15) to pull out and to withdraw said pastel (13) from said pastel-holder (12), said mechanism acting on the fixing system at the rear end of said pastel (13), wherein said fixing system comprise a cup (16), which is slidable back and forth along said pastel-holder (12) and radial expansion means (18, 118, 119) of the doughy material of the pastel (13) rear end inside said cup (16) characterised in that said cup (16) is provided with openings (21, 22) which receive part of said pastel rear end expended by said expansion means (18, 118, 119).

2. Cosmetic pencil as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the pastel (13) rear end is inserted and fixed in said cup by means of a diametric projection (18), with a tapered section, which extends from the centre of the bottom portion (17) of the cup (16), said openings (21) being also provided in the wall (20) of the cup (16) and each opening defining an undercut (22) wherein the pastel (13) rear end, made of doughy material, engages itself and expands due to the presence of said projection.

3. Cosmetic pencil as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that said projection (18) has an opening (23) suitable to be filled by the doughy material to fix the pastel rear end.

4. Cosmetic pencil as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the doughy material which fills the openings (21) comes in contact also with the inner surface of the pastel-holder (12) and does a lubricant function.

5. Cosmetic pencil as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that said radial expansion means are formed by a plurality of projections (118), positioned along the circumference, with a tapered tip (119).

Ansprüche

1. Kosmetikstift umfassend ein Pastell (13) und eine Pastell-Halterung (12), die sich von einem Körper (11) weg erstreckt, der einen Mechanismus (14, 15) zum Herausziehen und Zurückziehen des Pastells (13) aus der Pastell-Halterung (12) enthält, wobei der Mechanismus auf das Befestigungssystem an dem rückseitigen Ende des Pastells (13) wirkt und wobei das Befestigungssystem einen Becher (16), der entlang der Pastell-Halterung (12) vor und zurück gleiten kann, und Mittel (18, 118, 119) zur radialen Expansion des teigigen Materials des rückseitigen Endes des Pastells (13) innerhalb des Bechers (16) umfasst,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der Becher (16) mit Öffnungen (21, 22) versehen ist, die einen Teil des von den Expansionsmitteln (18, 118, 119) expandierten rückseitigen Endes des Pastells aufnehmen.

2. Kosmetikstift nach Anspruch 1,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das rückseitige Ende des Pastells (13) mittels eines einen konisch zulaufenden Abschnitt besitzenden, diametrischen Vorsprungs (18) in den Becher eingeführt und darin befestigt ist, der sich von der Mitte des Bodenbereichs (17) des Bechers (16) weg erstreckt, wobei die Öffnungen (21, 22) auch in der Wand (20) des Bechers (16) vorgesehen sind und jede Öffnung eine Hinterschneidung (22) definiert, in welche das rückseitige Ende das aus teigigem Material gefertigten Pastells (13) selbst eingreift und aufgrund des Vorhandenseins des Vorsprungs expandiert.

3. Kosmetikstift nach Anspruch 2,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass der Vorsprung (18) eine Öffnung (23) besitzt, die geeignet ist, um von dem teigigen Material gefüllt zu werden, um das rückseitige Ende des Pastells zu befestigen.

4. Kosmetikstift nach Anspruch 2,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass das die Öffnungen (21, 22) füllende teigige Material auch mit der inneren Oberfläche der Pastell-Halterung (12) in Kontakt kommt und eine schmierende Funktion erfüllt.

5. Kosmetikstift nach Anspruch 1,
dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass die Mittel zur radialen Expansion von einer Mehrzahl entlang des Umfangs angeordneter Vorsprünge (118) mit konisch zulaufender Spitze (119) gebildet werden. 6083

Revendications

1. Crayon cosmétique qui comprend un pastel (13) et un porte-pastel (12) s'étendant depuis un corps (11) qui contient un mécanisme (14, 15) servant à faire sortir et rentrer ledit pastel (13) dudit porte-pastel (12), ledit mécanisme agissant sur le système de fixation à l'extrémité arrière dudit pastel (13), dans lequel ledit système de fixation comprend une cuvette (16), qui peut glisser en avant et en arrière le long dudit porte-pastel (12), et un moyen de dilatation radiale (18, 118, 119) de la matière pâteuse de l'extrémité arrière du pastel (13) à l'intérieur de ladite cuvette (16) caractérisé en ce que ladite cuvette (16) est munie d'ouvertures (21, 22) qui reçoivent une partie de ladite extrémité arrière du pastel dilatée par ledit moyen de dilatation (18, 118, 119).

2. Crayon cosmétique selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que l'extrémité arrière du pastel (13) est insérée et fixée dans ladite cuvette au moyen d'une saillie diamétrale (18), avec une section rétrécie, qui s'étend depuis le centre de la partie inférieure (17) de la cuvette (16), lesdites ouvertures (21) étant également prévues dans la paroi (20) de la cuvette (16) et chaque ouverture définissant un dégagement (22) dans lequel l'extrémité arrière du pastel (13), faite d'une matière pâteuse, s'engage et se dilate en raison de la présence de ladite saillie.

3. Crayon cosmétique selon la revendication 2, caractérisé en ce que ladite saillie (18) comporte une ouverture (23) adaptée pour être remplie par la matière pâteuse afin de fixer l'extrémité arrière du pastel.

4. Crayon cosmétique selon la revendication 2, caractérisé en ce que la matière pâteuse qui remplit les ouvertures (21, 22) vient aussi au contact de la surface intérieure du porte-pastel (12) et assure une fonction de lubrification.

5. Crayon cosmétique selon la revendication 1, caractérisé en ce que ledit moyen de dilatation radiale est formé d'une pluralité de saillies (118), positionnées le long de la circonférence, avec un bout rétréci (119).

Drawing