Tube container with a metal applicator

A tube container with a metal applicator, and more particularly, a tube container equipped with a metal applicator which is attached on the top portion of the tube container, so that when contents are applied onto the skin it is possible for the metal applicator to deliver heat or cold to the skin and facilitate metabolism of the facial skin, improving the elasticity of the skin.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This U.S. non-provisional patent application is a national stage application under 35 U.S.C. §371 of international application PCT/KR2014/010154, filed Oct. 28, 2014, and claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 of Korean Patent Application No. 10-2014-0139961, filed Oct. 16, 2014, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a tube container equipped with a metal applicator, and more particularly, a tube container equipped with a metal applicator which is attached on the top portion of the tube container, so that when contents are applied onto the skin it is possible for the metal applicator to deliver heat or cold to the skin and facilitate metabolism of the facial skin, as improving its elasticity.

BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

Generally, a tube container comprises a tube body containing contents, a tube neck comprising an outlet part that is coupled to an upper portion of the tube body, as supporting the tube body and allowing the contents contained in the tube body to be discharged into, and an overcap that is coupled detachably to the tube neck and opens and closes the outlet part.

The tube containers as above, wherein contents are discharged through the outlet part when the tube container is pressurized, as shown in FIG. 1 of patent registration no. 10-1057333, has an applicator, which is coupled to a tube upper structure (120), like a brush (140) which sucks contents and discharges to the outside to allow contents to be applied easily over the skin.

Recently, as interest in skincare increases, it is hard to obtain satisfying absorbance and skincare effect only by absorbing the contents, so that there have been tried a variety of methods that can apply heat or cold onto a face in order to facilitate metabolism of the facial skin and improve its elasticity; however, the said registered patent has a structure wherein contents are sucked from the contain body and discharged through the brush (140), and thus it is hard for heat or coldness to be delivered onto the facial skin.

Meanwhile, to satisfy customers' need such as the described above, hot and cold maskpack devices for serving as hot or cold maskpack are manufactured and released commercially. However, since the structure of these products is complicated and thereby manufacturing cost is high, they are not widely utilized.

Accordingly, a simple structured cosmetic container is needed that can deliver heat or cold onto the skin when the contents is applied.

Meanwhile, the applicator that can deliver heat or cold onto the skin when applying the contents are usually made of metal, while a support body that supports the applicator is usually made of thermoplastic resin; however, there is a big gap in the deformation rate against temperature change between metal and thermoplastic resin, and the coupling structure of two parts becomes loose or separated, leading to a problem that contents may be licked through an opening.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The presently disclosed embodiments are devised to solve the problems above, with the goal of equipping a metal applicator, which will be contacted to the skin, on the top of a tube container, so that when the contents are applied onto the skin, it is possible to deliver heat or cold onto facial skin, leading to facilitating the metabolism of the facial skin and improving its elasticity.

Furthermore, the present disclosure is related to a tube container equipped with a metal applicator that is manufactured in the circular shape through NC manufacturing process and is able to be attached and detached on the top of the support body, thereby possible to lower manufacturing cost and also to mass-produce due to no need of a separate mold for producing an applicator.

Meanwhile, there is a task to be solved, which is to make the strong bond between the applicator and the support body, even though the metal applicator and the support body made of thermoplastic resin change differently in size according to temperature change.

To solve the above problems, a tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to the presently disclosed embodiments comprise a tube body100which contains contents inside and on whose top a tube neck110is combined in order for contents to be discharged; a support body200, made of thermoplastic resin, which is combined to the top of the said tube neck and forms a passage wherein contents moves through the outlet part111; a metal applicator which is combined on the top of the tube neck110with insertion combination; and an overcap400, encircling the support body200and the applicator300and combined to the tube neck110, which comprises an opening and closing projection410that opens and closes a content discharging hole310of its inside.

The said support body200comprises a fixing part210which fixes the support body to the tube neck110, while encircling the outlet part111on the inner lower portion of the support body200and combined to the tube neck110; a contents movement tube220connected with the outlet part111and forming a passage wherein contents discharged through the outlet part111flows in; a coupling part230built on the upper end with protrusion and coupled with the applicator300, wherein a securing protrusion231is formed, encircling the outer circumferential surface for the applicator300to be secured; and a hollow part240which is formed from the upper portion to the lower portion of the support body200.

The applicator300comprises a depression coupling part320, wherein the securing protrusion231is inserted and combined to the lower side of the applicator300, and a coupling protrusion330which forms along the inner circumferential surface in order for the securing protrusion231to secure on the lower side of the depression coupling part320.

The outer radius of the coupling part230under the lowest usable temperature is the same or bigger than the inner radius of the depression coupling part320under the ordinary usable temperature.

Furthermore, on the lower portion of outer circumferential surface of the outlet part111is formed a rotation preventing protrusion111bwhich couples with the support body200and simultaneously prevents the rotation thereof.

Furthermore, on the lower end of the fixing part210is formed a coupling groove211which is coupled with the rotation preventing protrusion111b.

Furthermore, on the outlet part111is formed a fixing protrusion111cwhich encircles the outer circumferential surface to prevent the support body200from being separated upward, and a protrusion212which meets the lower end of the fixing protrusion111cis formed on the lower inner portion of the fixing part210.

According to the present disclosure as described above, the present embodiments have an advantage in that, when applied on the face, by equipping on the tube container a metal applicator contacted onto facial skin, it is possible to apply heat or cold and thereby to facilitate its metabolism and improve its elasticity.

Furthermore, through NC manufacturing process, by manufacturing a metal applicator into a circular shape that can be attached and separated on the upper portion of the support body, the presently described embodiments do not need a separate mold to build an applicator; therefore, it is possible to reduce manufacturing cost and also to mass-produce in a short time.

In addition, in the metal applicator and the support body that are coupled by the hollow part with elastic insertion combination, despite the difference of the size change of the metal applicator and the support body which is thermoplastic resin, the strong combination between the metal applicator and the support body is still possible.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals provided in the drawings indicate the same members.

FIG. 1is an exploded perspective view illustrating a configuration of a tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 2is an assembled perspective view illustrating a configuration of a tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIGS. 3 and 4are cross-sectional views illustrating a configuration of a tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.FIG. 5is an explanatory view illustrating configuration of a part and a support body of a tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6is an explanatory view illustrating a size configuration of an applicator and a support body of the tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring toFIGS. 1 to 4, a tube container equipped with a metal applicator according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure includes a tube body100, a support body200, an applicator300, and an overcap400.

Contents are contained into the container body (100), on whose upper portion a tube neck110having an outlet part111that discharges the contents is coupled, and on the center of the outlet part111is coupled a discharging hole111ato which contents contained in the tube container body100is discharged.

Regarding to the presently described embodiments, on the lower outer circumferential surface of the outlet part111is formed a rotation preventing protrusion111bwhich prevents a support body200from rotating, and the rotation preventing protrusion111b, coupled with a coupling groove211, prevents the support body200from rotating and simultaneously guides combining direction when coupling the support body200to the outlet part111.

Meanwhile, it is preferred that a fixing protrusion111cis formed, encircling the outer circumferential surface, on the outlet part111so as to prevent the support body200from being separated to upward direction after the support body200is coupled.

The support body200, made of thermoplastic resin, supports an applicator300, and comprises a passage where the contents discharged through the outlet part111flows, and further includes a fixing part210, a contents movement tube220, a coupling part230, and a hollow part240.

The fixing part210is coupled with the outlet portion on the inner lower portion of the support body200as encircling the outlet part111and fixes the support body200to the tube neck110, wherein a coupling groove is built on the lower portion of the fixing part so as to be able to combine with the rotation preventing protrusion111band prevent the support body200from rotating.

Furthermore, on the inner lower portion of the fixing part210is formed a protrusion212, which meets the lower end of the fixing protrusion111cin a state of the protrusion212being combined with the outlet part111and prevents the support body200from moving upward.

The contents movement tube220is connected to the outlet part111, and forms a passage longitudinally, so as to allow the contents discharged through the outlet part111to flow to the upper part.

The coupling part230is formed with protrusion on the upper end of the support body200, coupled with an applicator300and supports the applicator300, wherein a securing protrusion231is formed, as encircling the outer circumferential, so that the applicator300may be secured.

It is preferred that the securing protrusion231may have a fluent curve so that the applicator300can be attached and separated.

Meanwhile, the support body200has a narrow middle portion like an hourglass, wherein with the top end of the support body200forming a slope from one side to the other side, the applicator should be built obliquely, providing esthetic effect to the container.

Furthermore, as shown inFIGS. 3 and 4, it is preferred that a hollow part240is formed from the upper side and toward the lower side of the support body200, so that when combined with elastic fit the support body200may be pressed, not only enabling to be contracted, but also effectively compensating by the elasticity the difference of the volume change that is caused by the temperature difference and temperature change of the applicator300and the support body200, and thereupon the applicator300and the support body200are contacted tightly each other all the time and maintain their firmly contacted state.

The applicator300is coupled with a coupling protrusion230to be able to be attached and separated on the top end of the support body200, and thereof on the center of the applicator300, forms a contents discharging hole310which allows the contents to move through the contents movement tube220to the outside.

According to the present disclosure, the applicator300is made of metal, and thus it is possible to deliver heat or cold to the facial skin when applied, resulting in facilitating the metabolism of facial skin and improving the elasticity of the skin.

Furthermore, the applicator300is formed in a circular shape in the state of bilateral symmetry with the contents discharging hole310in the center, and thereby it is possible to mass-produce with ease through NC manufacturing process and also to reduce expense due to no need of a separate mold.

Furthermore, the applicator300can be manufactured through NC manufacturing process, so that it is possible not only to reduce the time required to grind and polish the applicator when post-processing but also to reduce post-processing expense.

Meanwhile, the support body200is made of thermoplastic resin and the applicator300is made of metal. In this case, since the embodiments of the present disclosure are usually used by contacting the applicator300directly to the facial skin after being warm or cool, the support body200and the applicator300are used under the condition of repeated temperature change.

In this case, the temperature change of metal and thermoplastic resin are varied in size; the coefficient of thermal expansion of metal has a range of 5-25 (unit: x0.000001/° C.), such as brass 18.7, copper 18.0, cast iron 10.8, stainless steel 14.4˜'7.3, whereas the coefficient of thermal expansion of thermoplastic resin (polymer) is 50˜600 (unit: x0.000001/° C.), such as polypropylene 100˜200, polyethylene 200, polystyrene (PS) 70, because thermoplastic resin has weak secondary intermolecular bonds and minimum cross-links. In other words, under the conditions of the same temperature change, the size change of thermoplastic resin is bigger than that of metal, and thereby the difference of size change occurs.

Accordingly, the bonding structure between the support body200made of two kinds of material and the applicator300may get weaker or be separated, and also the gap between them may arise; thereby, undesirable results such as linkage of contents may occur. To prevent those problems, it is preferred that the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231under the lowest usable temperature should be the same or bigger than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320under the ordinary usable temperature, as shown inFIG. 6.

That is, as described above, when the temperature rises, the support body200has bigger size increase according to the temperature change than the applicator300(in other words, when the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231according to the temperature rise change gets bigger than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320), leading the hollow part240to efficiently offset the difference of volume change by elasticity and then despite the temperature change and temperature difference, the applicator300and the support body200are able to contact each other and maintain combining state.

Meanwhile, when temperature drops, the reduction of the support body200is much bigger than that of the applicator300, and whereupon, the space between the support body200and the applicator300should arise, and thereby bonding structure may become weaker or separation may occur.

Furthermore, when the applicator300touches a user's skin and is used, the applicator300having high coefficient of heat conduction gets to the temperature (this is called “ordinary usable temperature”) of the user's skin with relatively rapid speed, and the size of the applicator increases rapidly, whereas the temperature rise of the support body200having low coefficient of heat conduction falls behind, and as a result, the size increase of the support body200is delayed, causing the gap between the support body200and the applicator300to arise, leading to the weakness of the bonding structure and the separation.

As shown inFIG. 6, these problems can be solved by setting the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231under the lowest usable temperature (Generally, this is the temperature on which contents can be kept refrigerated without being deteriorated such as congelation.) to the same or bigger than the inner radius of the depression coupling part320under the ordinary usable temperature. Herein, the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231and the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320should be measured in the state where they are not coupled and separated respectively, and those measurements should be used.

In other words, when kept refrigerated under the lowest usable temperature, the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231is set to be the same or bigger than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320, and thus, always has a bigger measurement than that of the depression coupling part320under the same lowest usable temperature.

Meanwhile, while using, even when the applicator300rises in relatively rapid speed and the support body200is still under the lowest usable temperature, the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231has the same or at least bigger measurement than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320.

Hereforth, when both temperatures of the applicator300and the support body200rise above the lowest usable temperature, then again the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231always gets to have bigger or at least the same measurement than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320.

Accordingly, under any temperature change, the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231is at least the same or bigger than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320, and therefore, prevents the gap between the support body200and the applicator300from being generated, leading to preventing bonding structure from being weakened or separated, or fundamentally prevents the contents from being leaked.

Meanwhile, when the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231is always bigger or has the same features (this means when the support body200and the applicator300are separated, meaning the same as previously described) than the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320, the support body20undergo an elastic deformation by the hollow part240, with the support body200and the applicator300under the state of being coupled each other as shown inFIG. 3 or 4; thereby, the outer radius (D1) of the coupling part231is made to fit to the inner radius (D0) of the depression coupling part320, and as a result, the support body200and the applicator300can be maintained in the state of being coupled tightly.

The overcap400encircles the support body200and the applicator300and is coupled to the tube neck110, wherein an opening and closing projection410is provided with protrusion on the inner top of the overcap400, so as to enable the contents discharging hole310to open and close.

As described above, optimal embodiments have been disclosed in the drawings and the specification. Although specific terms have been used herein, these are only intended to describe the present embodiments and are not intended to limit the meanings of the terms or to restrict the scope of the present embodiments as recited in the accompanying claims. Therefore, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and other equivalent embodiments are possible from the above embodiments. Therefore, the scope of the present disclosure should be defined by the technical spirit of the accompanying claims.