Wiper mounting ring

A cosmetics container includes a bottle for holding liquid cosmetics and a cap having extending therefrom a rod and applicator brush for applying the cosmetics. The rod and applicator brush are inserted into the bottle through a resilient wiper comprising a tubular sleeve and an apertured wiper diaphragm. The wiper is mounted in the neck of the bottle by means of a wiper mounting ring, which receives and holds the wiper and snap-fits into the bottle neck. The size of the wiper mounting ring may be varied to fit into various size bottle necks without altering the wiper/applicator/cosmetics combination. The wiper and wiper mounting ring are assembled together prior to insertion into the bottle, so that they can be inspected prior to final assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a wiper mounting ring which mounts a wiper for a 
cosmetics applicator in the neck of a cosmetics bottle. 
Cosmetics, such as mascara, are packaged in a container which includes an 
applicator. Typically, the applicator is mounted on a rod extending from a 
cap into a bottle holding the cosmetics. The applicator may be a brush, a 
foam tip, or a threaded end of the rod. The applicator is stored in the 
reservoir of cosmetics within the bottle, and the cap is unscrewed and the 
applicator is pulled out in order to apply the cosmetics. 
A wiper is generally provided at the neck of the bottle. The wiper 
typically includes a diaphragm having an opening therethrough for 
receiving the applicator and applicator rod. Thus, the rod and applicator 
are "wiped" of excess cosmetics as the rod and applicator are removed from 
the bottle. 
Wiper designs are very important to the proper operation of an overall 
cosmetics container and application systems. Many variables are involved, 
including: the kind of cosmetics, its viscosity, any solid pigmentation, 
etc.; the type and size of applicator and the diameter of the applicator 
rod; the size and configuration of the wiper diaphragm, including the size 
and configuration of the opening, the material and the material's degree 
of elasticity. A substantial amount of design work and testing is often 
necessary to get a successful combination of cosmetics, applicator and 
wiper. Thereafter, the combination must be accurately mass-produced in 
order to maintain the design parameters and the desired operation. 
A particular problem is the desire to use the same cosmetics and applicator 
in a different size or style of bottle, without losing the benefits of a 
successful cosmetics/applicator/wiper combination. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A principal object of the invention herein is to facilitate use of a 
particular cosmetics/applicator/wiper combination in containers of 
different size. 
An additional object of the invention herein is to adapt the mounting of a 
wiper of a particular size and configuration to a cosmetics container 
having a larger neck opening. 
Another object of the invention herein is to facilitate mounting of a wiper 
in a cosmetics container. 
A further object of the invention herein is to improve quality control of 
the mounting of wipers in cosmetics containers. 
A wiper mounting ring according to the invention herein is used to mount a 
wiper in the bottle of a cosmetics container. The bottle has a neck with a 
threaded exterior and a generally cylindrical interior opening, and a cap 
includes a rod and applicator which extend centrally through the neck into 
the bottle when the cap is attached. A wiper is integrally comprised of a 
sleeve and a resilient, flexible, apertured diaphragm extending across the 
interior of the sleeve for receiving and wiping the rod and applicator. 
The outside diameter of the sleeve is less than the inside diameter of the 
bottle neck. The wiper mounting ring generally comprises a hollow 
cylindrical wall made of a more rigid material than the wiper. The wiper 
mounting ring is adapted to mount the wiper sleeve on its inside 
cylindrical surface, and is further adapted to be mounted and retained in 
the bottle neck, thereby positioning the wiper in the bottle neck for 
accommodating the rod and applicator. 
According to one feature of the invention, the wiper sleeve includes an 
upper radially extending lip and the wiper mounting ring includes a notch 
receiving said lip, for longitudinally positioning the wiper with respect 
to the wiper mounting ring. According to another aspect of the invention, 
the wiper includes a plurality of radially extending lugs from its lower 
surface, which engage with the wiper mounting ring to hold the wiper in 
its desired position. According to another feature of the invention, the 
wiper mounting ring includes an inwardly extending radial flange received 
in a mating groove in the wiper surrounding the wiper diaphragm in order 
to maximize stability of the wiper diaphragm. 
According to other features of the invention herein, the wiper mounting 
ring is adapted to snap into engagement with the bottle neck, wherein the 
assembly and inspection of the wiper and wiper mounting ring can be 
accomplished prior to snapping the wiper mounting ring and wiper into the 
bottle neck. The wiper mounting ring has a beveled surface facilitating 
insertion into the bottle neck. 
Other objects and features of the invention herein will in part be 
understood by those skilled in the art and will in part appear in the 
following description of the preferred embodiment and claims, taken 
together with the drawings.

The same reference numerals refer to the same elements throughout the 
various Figures. 
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
A cosmetics container 10 incorporating a wiper mounting ring according to 
the invention herein is illustrated in FIG. 1. The cosmetics container 10 
generally comprises a bottle 12 having a neck 14 and a cap 16 which screws 
onto the neck 14. The cosmetics container 10 further includes an 
applicator rod 18 and an applicator 20 in the form of a brush, which are 
inserted into the cavity 22 of the bottle through a wiper 24 mounted in 
the neck of the bottle by a wiper mounting ring 30. 
With reference to FIGS. 2-4, details of the bottle neck, wiper and wiper 
mounting ring are illustrated. The wiper 24 comprises a cylindrical sleeve 
32 and an integral wiper diaphragm 34. In the embodiment shown, the wiper 
diaphragm is deployed in a depending conical configuration and has a 
central aperture opening 36. With reference to FIG. 3, the aperture 
opening is provided in conjunction with a transverse slit 38. The wiper 24 
is fabricated of BUNA N elastimer. 
It will be appreciated that the wiper 24 is designed and tested to work 
with particular cosmetics and cosmetics applicators to achieve a desired 
loading of cosmetics onto the applicator and a desired transfer of the 
cosmetics from the applicator. Any changes in this combination, such as 
changing the size of the wiper, can change the wiping action of the 
diaphragm. Accordingly, once a good combination of cosmetics, applicator 
and wiper is achieved, it is desirable to avoid any operative changes in 
that combination. 
To that end, the wiper 32 is mounted to the bottle neck 14 by means of the 
wiper mounting ring 30. The wiper mounting ring 30, shown isolated in FIG. 
4, comprises a generally cylindrical sidewall 40. At the upper end of the 
cylindrical sidewall 40 is a radially projecting rim 42. The wiper 
mounting ring defines an annular notch 44 on its upper end adjacent to the 
cylindrical interior of the sidewaIl. Below the notch 44 is an inwardly 
projecting annular flange 46. The exterior of the sidewall 40 is provided 
with an annular raised bead 48. 
The wiper 24 also includes a rim 50 at the upper end of sleeve 32, and 
further defines an annular groove 52 below the rim 50. Thus, the wiper 
fits into the wiper mounting ring as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, with 
the rim 50 of the wiper being received in the notch 44 of the wiper 
mounting ring, and the flange 46 of the wiper mounting ring extending into 
the groove 52 of the wiper. Additionally, the wiper is provided with three 
lugs, lug 54 being seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 and lugs 56 and 58 being seen in 
FIG. 3, which fit over the lower end of the wiper mounting ring sidewall 
40. The rim 50 and lugs 54, 56 and 58 hold the wiper longitudinally with 
respect to the wiper mounting ring, and the flange 46 and groove 52 
provide additional longitudinal stability of the flexible wiper in the 
vicinity of the wiper diaphragm. 
The wiper 24 and wiper mounting ring 30 are assembled together as shown in 
FIG. 2 and thereafter mounted as a sub-assembly to the bottle 12. This 
permits full visual inspection of the wiper and wiper mounting ring, to be 
certain that the wiper is properly seated and engaged. 
With further reference to FIG. 2, the bottle neck 14 has a smooth 
cylindrical inside surface 60 sized to matingly receive the sidewall 40 of 
the wiper mounting ring, and the interior surface 60 is further provided 
with a peripheral groove 62 which receives the bead 48 of the wiper 
mounting ring in a snap-fit engagement to secure the wiper mounting ring 
in the bottle neck. (The lower portion of the wiper sidewall is beveled at 
64 to ease insertion of the wiper mounting ring and wiper subassembly into 
the bottle neck.) Upon insertion, the rim 44 of the wiper mounting ring 
overlays the bottle neck, as best seen in FIG. 1. 
Referring again to FIG. 1, with the wiper 24 and wiper mounting ring 30 
secured in the neck 14 of bottle 12, the cosmetics container assembly 
operates in the following manner. Cosmetics, not shown, are placed in the 
bottle cavity 22. The applicator brush 20 and rod 18 are inserted through 
the aperture 36 in the wiper diaphragm 34, thereby introducing the 
applicator brush into the cavity 22 of the bottle 12. For storage 
purposes, the rod 18 is inserted substantially into the bottle and the cap 
16 is screwed onto the bottle neck 14, complementary threads 72 and 74 
being provided for this purpose. When the cap is fully screwed onto the 
bottle neck, the rim 24 of the wiper, which protrudes above the rim 42 of 
the wiper mounting ring, engages the cap surface 76 to seal the cosmetics 
within the bottle. Upon unscrewing the cap and withdrawing the rod and 
applicator brush from the bottle 12, the wiper acts to wipe excess 
cosmetics from the rod 18 and applicator brush 20 as they are removed from 
the bottle, thus preparing the cap, rod and applicator for use of the 
cosmetics. 
It will be appreciated that the size and configuration of the wiper 
mounting ring can be changed according to the diameter or length of bottle 
neck with which it is desired to use the wiper. Thus, for a larger 
diameter bottle neck, the sidewall 40 of the wiper mounting ring could be 
thicker, and in the embodiment described the wiper mounting ring is 
already shown mounting of the wiper into a bottle neck of longer dimension 
than the wiper itself. Similarly, the interface between the bottle neck 
and the exterior of the wiper mounting ring which results in the wiper 
mounting ring being retained in the bottle neck may be altered from that 
shown for other applications. It will be appreciated by those skilled in 
the art that these and other modifications may be made without departing 
from the spirit and scope of the invention, which is limited only by the 
following claims.