Abstract:
A self-contained portable liquid cosmetic delivery system for both color makeup and skin care applications is provided. The system includes a spray nozzle assembly having both a liquid path and air path communicates with the housing containing a peristaltic and diaphragm pumping systems. A removable cartridge assembly that allows for very quick changing of cosmetic, while also including a cartridge housing that not only configured to enable the use of a peristaltic pump and diaphragm pump to selectively dispense liquid cosmetic contained in the cartridge housing, it can be manufactured at a reduced cost thus making the same easily cleanable and essentially disposable.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of and priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/384,920, filed on Sep. 21, 2010. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    1. Technical Field 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to airbrush systems. More particularly, it relates to self contained cosmetic airbrush systems. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the related art 
         [0005]    Various types of airbrush systems are known for painting and applying cosmetics. Generally these systems are designed for professional user by “make-up-artists” and are made up of an air compressor and an airbrush which is attached to the compressor via an air hose. Depending on the action of the airbrush (i.e., single action or double action) the user controls of the dispensing of the paint or cosmetic. Although these systems work, they are bulky and difficult to use, thus not ideal for at home or mobile use by consumers. 
         [0006]    Several attempts at providing a handheld solution to this problem have been attempted. These attempts include use of piezoelectric devices and gravity feed systems to create a spray for various applications. Other systems include battery operated devices for use in cleaning operations where the device can draw liquid from a bottle of cleaning solution. However in cleaning operations, the velocity of the spray is irrelevant and therefore these systems cannot be used in more accuracy demanding applications such as painting, and/or more specifically, cosmetic applications. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0007]    As will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, the Cosmetic Airbrush System of the present invention provides the following advantages over other known systems: This is achieved in accordance with an implementation of the invention, wherein the airbrush system includes a housing, a liquid cartridge assembly contained within the housing, a diaphragm pump configured to generate air and in communication with the housing to provide air into a nozzle spraying chamber, and a spray nozzle assembly configured to attach to the nozzle spraying chamber. The spray nozzle assembly includes a liquid path centrally disposed there through, and an air passage way configured annularly around the liquid path such that the liquid and air meet at a tip of a spray nozzle assembly. 
         [0008]    In accordance with one implementation, the housing includes a nozzle spraying chamber, a peristaltic pump configured to selectively draw liquid out of the pouch, and a motor providing power to the peristaltic pump. 
         [0009]    According to another aspect, the liquid cartridge assembly includes a liquid reservoir pouch, and a flow check valve assembly for preventing liquid contained in the pouch from drying when not in use; 
         [0010]    In yet another aspect, the spray nozzle assembly includes a nozzle housing, a spray nozzle having one end configured to be partially inserted into the nozzle housing, and a nozzle housing cap having an outlet tip and being configured to receive the nozzle housing and spray nozzle and securing the spray nozzle assembly to the nozzle spraying chamber. The spray nozzle and nozzle housing cooperate to mix the liquid drawn from the reservoir pouch and through the spray nozzle with the air generated by the diaphragm pump at the tip of the nozzle housing cap. 
         [0011]    Other aspects and features of the present principles will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are designed solely for purposes of illustration and not as a definition of the limits of the present principles, for which reference should be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale and that, unless otherwise indicated, they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0012]    In the drawings wherein like reference numerals denote similar components throughout the views: 
           [0013]      FIG. 1   a  is a perspective view of the airbrush system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0014]      FIG. 1   b  is another perspective view of the airbrush system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 1   c  is a perspective view of the base for the airbrush according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0016]      FIG. 1   d  is another perspective view of the base for the airbrush according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0017]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the cosmetic airbrush system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0018]      FIGS. 3   a  is an exploded front view of the liquid cartridge system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0019]      FIG. 3   b  is an exploded perspective view of the liquid cartridge system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0020]      FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the liquid reservoir pouch assembly according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0021]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the peristaltic pump of the cosmetic airbrush system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0022]      FIG. 6  is a top view of the peristaltic pump of the cosmetic airbrush system according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0023]      FIG. 7  is a cross-sectional view of the peristaltic pump taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 6 ; 
           [0024]      FIG. 8   a  is a side view of the spray nozzle housing according to an embodiment of the invention; 
           [0025]      FIG. 8   b  is a cross-sectional view the spray nozzle taken along line A-A of  FIG. 8   a;  and 
           [0026]      FIGS. 9   a - 9   c  are various views of the cartridge housing according to an embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0027]    The airbrush device of the present invention is built as a self-contained portable liquid cosmetic delivery system for both color makeup and skin care applications. As shown in  FIGS. 1   a  and  1   b,  the device is composed of a main body housing  2 , a removable liquid cosmetic cartridge assembly  50  ( FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b ), an optional battery rechargeable dock  90 , and a top cover  1  to be used to protect, conceal or hold the self-contained liquid cosmetic cartridge assembly  50  in place within the housing  2 . The top cover  1  can be completely detached from the main body by pressing the cover release button  5 , or can be open but remain connected to the main body  2  through at least one hinge 
         [0028]      FIGS. 1   c  and  1   d  show an example of the battery charging dock  90  used to recharge the internal battery within the airbrush, according to an embodiment of the invention. The airbrush device will sit directly inside the base. Power will be transferred to the battery along the two connection pins  91  at the face of the base. It has a dual color LED charging induction indicator  92 . During initial activation, a “drain battery” indication is provided by the LED illuminating in a color, including, but not limited to, the color red, blue or green. Along the period of the charging process the initial LED color will slowly turn toward to a different color, including but not limited to red, blue or green, which indicates the battery is fully charged. The battery charging dock  90  can be connected through a mini USB connection outlet  93  which can be either connected to a DC power supply rated 4.5V voltage and 500 mA current, or to a powered USB port (e.g., same as cell phone charger). 
         [0029]    Shown in  FIG. 2 , the main housing  2  contains an internal housing  6  which holds an electric mini DC diaphragm pump  11 , an electric mini DC motor  12 , a battery power source  10  for activating the electric motor and diaphragm pump, a printed circuit board (PCB)  8  to control the electric components, a battery recharging sub assembly  9 , and On/Off switch assembly  7 . 
         [0030]    Also shown in  FIG. 2 , the On/Off switch assembly  7  is a two part interacting switch. In order to be able to press in the On/Off button  4  the entire switch must slide upward. Once the switch is in the upward position, the On/Off button  4  can be pressed and held down for the device to be powered on. The device will stay on as long as On/Off button  4  remains depressed. Once the On/Off button  4  is released the device will power off. 
         [0031]      FIGS. 3   a  and  3   b,  show the liquid cosmetic cartridge assembly  50  according to an embodiment of the invention. The cartridge assembly  50  is composed of a liquid cosmetic reservoir pouch assembly  31 , a cartridge housing  55 , a cartridge housing cap  56  which encloses the cartridge housing to conceal, protect or hold the internal components together. The top cover  1  engages the top of the housing cap  56  to enclose the top of the cartridge assembly  50  when inserted into the housing  2 . The cartridge housing  55  also includes a peristaltic pump  52 , and a spray nozzle assembly  54  (described in more detail below). 
         [0032]      FIG. 4  shows the liquid cosmetic reservoir pouch assembly  31  which, according to an embodiment of the invention, includes a soft liquid cosmetic reservoir pouch  32 , and is preferably made out of flexible material, such as for example, plastic, aluminum (e.g., foil like bag or pouch), rubber, etc. or any other suitable material having a sufficiently high air/water barrier. The thickness of the material is preferably 1.0 mm, is heat sealed and includes a liquid flow check valve assembly  40  having a valve outer cover  34 , an inner surface of housing  35 , a spring  36 , a ball bearing  37  preferably having a diameter of, for example, 2.8 mm. The valve outer cover  34  holds the internal parts together within the inner surface of housing  35 . The spring  36 , when relaxed in its natural state will push the ball bearing against the inner surface of housing  35  to form an air-tight seal. This will seal the liquid reservoir pouch  32  and prevent the liquid contained therein from drying up before it is assembled into the liquid cartridge assembly  50 . Once the reservoir pouch  32  is assembled into the liquid cartridge assembly  50 , the internal spring  36  and the ball bearing  37  will be pushed into contraction, and thereby open the flow check valve  40 . Once the check valve is open, it is then liquid cosmetic can be drawn out from the liquid reservoir pouch  32  via the peristaltic pump. 
         [0033]    Shown in  FIGS. 5-6 , the peristaltic pump  52  comprises two rollers  60  having a preferred diameter of 3.5 mm, a pump shaft  61 , a set of connector gearing  62  ( FIG. 7 ), a soft flexible fluoroelastomer tube  63  which has a preferred inner diameter of 0.5 mm and outer diameter of 1.5 mm with a total length of 38.2 mm. The peristaltic pump is driven directly by a mini electronic DC motor  12  ( FIG. 2 ) which is supplied with power from batteries or an AC/DC transformer providing the requisite DC voltage/amperage. The DC motor  12  is rated at 3.7V voltage, 80 mA current, and spinning at 20 RPM. The DC motor  12  directly connects to the bottom of the pump shaft via a set of connector gearing  62 . The rollers  60  are mounted 180° away from each other at the top end of the pump shaft  61 . As rollers  60  rotate along with the pump shaft  61 , they will presses the flexible fluoroelastomer tubing  63  against the surrounding wall inside of the cartridge housing  55 . This will displace the volume inside and along the tubing creating suction. Once suction is created in the system, it will allow the peristaltic pump to draw the liquid cosmetic out from the liquid reservoir pouch  32 . The liquid cosmetic will travel upward into the liquid cosmetic inlet  65  and along the liquid cosmetic flow channel  64 , and exit into the nozzle spraying chamber  78 . 
         [0034]      FIG. 6  shows the spray nozzle assembly made up of a nozzle housing  71 , which houses the a spray nozzle  72 , a O-ring  73  to keep the assembly air tight, a nozzle housing cap  74  to encapsulate the assembly together with the cartridge housing  55 , and a nozzle cover  75 . The spray nozzle  72  can be made out of any suitable materials including, but not limited to, stainless steel, plastic or rubber. Its entrance opening  76  has an inner diameter of 1.5 mm and its exit opening  77  has an inner diameter of 0.19 mm. The exit tip forms a 30° angle to the nozzle housing cap  74  and are spaced apart (See  FIGS. 8   a  and  8   b ). The nozzle housing  71  functions to hold the spray nozzle  72  secure and center it within the spraying chamber  78 . 
         [0035]    As shown in cross-sectional view of  FIG. 7 , the airbrush device sprays out liquid cosmetic in two steps. First the liquid cosmetic is pumped out from the liquid cosmetic reservoir pouch  32 . The liquid cosmetic will travel along the liquid flow channel  64  (not shown?) and into the flexible fluroelastmor tubing  63 . The liquid cosmetic will then continue through the tubing and pump through the liquid nozzle inlet  81  and into the nozzle spraying chamber  78 . At the same time pressurized air will be pumped out of the diaphragm pump up into the liquid foundation cartridge  50  and up through air let valve  82 . 
         [0036]    The air will first enter through air let valve  82 , travel along the air channel  86  and into the nozzle air inlet  83  and into the nozzle spraying chamber  78 . Inside the nozzle spraying chamber, the air will be traveling at the outer or annular chamber channel  84 , while the liquid cosmetic will flow through in the inner chamber channel  85 . Both air and the liquid cosmetic will meet together in the outer tip of the spray nozzle  72 , at which it will mix and spray out of the nozzle housing cap  74 . 
         [0037]      FIGS. 9A-9C  show the liquid flow path  64  and air flow path  86  according to according the above described embodiments. 
         [0038]    The airbrush device of the present invention is designed to be able to spray liquid cosmetic with a velocity of 10˜20 Pa-s and with particle size diameter of 15˜25 μm. The nozzle is designed to spray the above liquid cosmetic in a circular 25 mm diameter spraying pattern from 63.5 mm up to 76.2 mm distance away from the nozzle tip. 
         [0039]    While there have been shown, described and pointed out fundamental novel features of the present principles, it will be understood that various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form and details of the methods described and devices illustrated, and in their operation, may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the same. For example, it is expressly intended that all combinations of those elements and/or method steps which perform substantially the same function in substantially the same way to achieve the same results are within the scope of the present principles. Moreover, it should be recognized that structures and/or elements and/or method steps shown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form or implementation of the present principles may be incorporated in any other disclosed, described or suggested form or implementation as a general matter of design choice. It is the intention, therefore, to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the claims appended hereto.