Abstract:
A personal care accessory for carrying cosmetic articles and viewing one&#39;s image during their use includes a shallow open top basket which has releasably attached to opposite sides thereof an inverted U-shaped bail-type handle. The vertical segments of the handle are elastically deformable apart to disengage and reattach the handle to the basket. The handle has a straight upper central portion over which is fitted a tubular end portion of a mirror assembly support bracket, the other end of the bracket supporting an inverted U-shaped yoke which holds a mirror. The mirror is rotatable about a yoke pivot axis to a desired inclination angle, and the yoke assembly is orbitable around the handle to position the mirror at a selected polar angle.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to articles for use by individuals in conjunction with personal grooming and beautification tasks. More particularly, the invention relates to a versatile combination face mirror and tote basket for carrying cosmetic articles and implements. 
     B. Description of Background Art 
     Most personal grooming and beautification tasks such as combing or brushing one&#39;s hair, applying make-up, eyeliner or eyeshadow and the like requires viewing one&#39;s face in a mirror. When such tasks are performed in a person&#39;s bathroom or bedroom, there are usually available wall mounted mirrors which are conveniently useable for such grooming or beautification tasks. Moreover, there is usually space available in drawers or cabinets at such locations, for storing various cosmetic articles such as hair brushes and combs, lipstick, eye brushes, powder puffs, and cosmetic preparations of various sorts. There are occasions, however, when a person prefers to perform certain grooming or beautification tasks at non-customary locations, such as at a patio table, dining room table or the like. For use on such occasions, or for traveling, a person may employ portable cosmetic case/mirror combinations which are available. However, such articles, often referred to as “compacts,” usually contain a substantially small mirror, and have a minimal storage space for cosmetic preparations and/or implements. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have available a portable beauty accessory which has a reasonably large storage capacity for storing various cosmetic implements and preparations, and which has a reasonably large mirror suitable for use in grooming and applying cosmetics, but which is configurable to a relatively compact package for ease of carrying and storage. The unavailability of such an article was a motivation for the present invention. 
     OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION 
     An object of the present invention is to provide a combination carrying container for conveniently carrying and organizing personal grooming and beautification articles such as cosmetic implements including brushes, combs, lipsticks, eye makeup, applicator brushes, and the like, as well as cosmetic preparations such as lipsticks and eyeliners, and a face mirror which is adjustably attached to the container, enabling the container to be configured with the mirror adjusted to a low-profile position near an article storage area of the container, to facilitate carrying the container between various locations and storing the container when not in use, and reconfigured with the mirror in upper positions away from the article storage area for convenient viewing of the mirror during use. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a cosmetic articles basket with an adjustably configurable handle and mirror which includes a basket provided with a plurality of storage compartments for carrying and organizing grooming articles and cosmetic preparations, and a handle bale which is attached at lower opposite ends thereof to the basket, the bale having an arcuately curved upper portion which serves the dual purpose of providing a convenient structure for grasping by a person&#39;s hand for carrying the basket, and serving as a pivot axle for pivotable support of a mirror which may be orbited around the axis of the axle to any desired position in a 360 degree circle, and secured at the selected position. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a combination face mirror/cosmetic accessory tote basket which includes a shallow basket section with generally vertical sides and which is partitioned into a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, vertically oriented storage areas for storing and organizing cosmetic articles, an upstanding handle bale, and a face mirror pivotably mounted to an upper horizontal portion of the handle bale. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a combination face mirror/cosmetic accessory tote basket which includes a circular or oval horizontal cross section basket in which are located a plurality of circumferentially arranged, vertically disposed article storage compartments, an upstanding handle bale removably attachable at opposite lower ends thereof to opposite sides of the basket, a yoke or cradle pivotably mounted by a friction bracket to an upper portion of the handle bale, the cradle being orbitable about the handle to a desired polar angle and secureable thereto by friction between the bracket and handle, and a mirror held between horizontally opposed ends of the cradle, and rotatable therewithin to a selected inclination angle relative to the cradle. 
     Various other objects and advantages of the present invention, and its most novel features, will become apparent to those skilled in the art by perusing the accompanying specification, drawings and claims. 
     It is to be understood that although the invention disclosed herein is fully capable of achieving the objects and providing the advantages described, the characteristics of the invention described herein are merely illustrative of the preferred embodiments. Accordingly, I do not intend that the scope of my exclusive rights and privileges in the invention be limited to details of the embodiments described. I do intend that equivalents, adaptations and modifications of the invention reasonably inferable from the description contained herein be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Briefly stated, the present invention comprehends a combination face mirror/cosmetic articles tote basket for carrying items customarily used in conjunction with personal grooming and beautification tasks, including implements such as combs, brushes, and other cosmetic articles and preparations. According to the invention, the basket has a flat bottom and curved vertical sides which together define a circular or oval cylindrical interior space. In a preferred embodiment, the interior space of the basket is divided into a plurality of adjacent article storage compartments by wire frame partitions, thus facilitating the organized storage of cosmetic articles and preparations into a desired order which facilitates their convenient access and use by a person. 
     According to the invention, the face mirror/cosmetic articles tote basket includes an inverted U-shaped handle bale which has a straight, horizontally disposed upper center portion, and a pair of opposed, horizontally inwardly protruding short end tangs which are releasably engageable with a pair of apertures in the sides of the basket, thus facilitating “knocking down” the basket for convenient packaging, storage and shipment. 
     The combination face mirror/article tote basket according to the present invention also includes a tubular friction swivel bracket which supports a mirror frame and which fits over the straight, horizontal upper center portion of the bale in frictional engagement therewith. The friction swivel is orbital around the handle bale to any desired polar angle, and secured thereat by friction between an inner elastic tube and the outer surface of the center portion of the handle bale. With this construction, the mirror/basket combination may be configured with the mirror within the mirror frame adjustably positionable to a pendent position below the upper horizontal portion of the handle, thereby facilitating grasping the upper portion of the handle for the purpose of carrying the basket. Also, the friction swivel is adjustably secureable at locations above the handle bale, enabling the mirror/basket combination to be reconfigured with the mirror positioned at higher elevations relative to the basket, when so desired by an individual using the mirror. 
     A preferred embodiment of a combination face mirror and cosmetic/articles tote basket according to the present invention includes a downwardly concave mirror frame support cradle or yoke which depends radially outwardly from the friction bracket and handle bale. In this embodiment, the mirror frame is pivotably supported within the cradle by a pair of horizontally disposed pivot pins located at opposed lower ends of the cradle, thus enabling the mirror to be pivoted to a desired inclination angle. The mirror of the combination mirror and accessory tote basket according to the present invention preferably has a circular or oval shape, and optionally may have two faces of different magnification powers, e.g., 5× and 7×, or 1× and 5×. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a combination face mirror and cosmetic articles carrying basket according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a front elevation view of the article of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is a right side elevation view of the article of FIG. 1, the left side elevation view being mirror symmetric therewith. 
     FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of the article of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 5 is an upper plan view of the article of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 6 is a lower plan view of the article of FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 7 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the article of FIG. 1, taken in the direction of line  7 — 7 . 
     FIG. 8 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view of the article of FIG. 1, taken in the direction of line  8 — 8 . 
     FIG. 9 is a front perspective view of the article of FIG. 1, showing a mirror thereof pivoted to an upward use position and showing how compartments of a basket portion of the article are used to hold cosmetic articles. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     FIGS. 1-9 illustrate various aspects of a combination face mirror and cosmetics/articles carrying or “tote” basket accessory  21 , according to the present invention. 
     Referring now to FIG. 1, cosmetic basket/mirror accessory  21  according to the present invention may be seen to include a basket  22  which has an upstanding, bail-type handle  23  that supports a mirror assembly  24 . Basket  22  has the shape of a short, oval cylinder that has a uniform, generally elliptical horizontal cross sectional shape. Optionally, basket  22  may have a different cross-sectional shape such as circular or rectangular. Basket  22  has a skeletal frame  21 A which includes a generally flat, oval shaped base perimeter ring  25 . Base perimeter ring  25  has protruding perpendicularly upwards therefrom a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, rod-shaped support struts  26 . As shown in FIG. 6, support struts  26  are attached to an inner circumferential surface  27  of base perimeter ring  25 . Although the exact number of support struts  26  is not critical, in a preferred embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, basket  22  has four struts  26  including left and right front struts  26 LF,  26 RF, spaced equal left and right distances from a fore-and-aft disposed minor axis of base perimeter ring  25 , and a pair of left and right rear or back struts  26  LB,  26 RB, longitudinally aligned with respective ones of the front struts. 
     Referring still to FIG. 1, it may be seen that basket  22  of basket/mirror accessory  21  includes an intermediate oval perimeter ring  28  which is shaped similarly to base perimeter ring  25 , and which has an inner circumferential surface  29  that is attached to intermediate longitudinal portions  30  of struts  26 , in a manner which secures the intermediate perimeter ring at a location spaced above and parallel to the base perimeter ring. Similarly, basket assembly  22  has an upper oval perimeter ring  31  which is shaped similarly to intermediate and base perimeter rings  28 ,  25 . Upper perimeter ring  31  is spaced above and parallel to the intermediate and base perimeter rings  28  and  25 , near the upper ends  32  of vertical support struts  26 , and has an inner circumferential surface  33  which is fastened to the struts. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  5  and  6 , the lower surface of basket base perimeter ring  25  has secured thereto a thin, flat base or floor panel  34 , which preferably has a screen mesh construction. Basket assembly  22  also has a thin, flat, vertically disposed oval plan-view side wall  35  which fits conformally around outer circumferential sides  36  and  37  of base perimeter ring  25  and intermediate perimeter ring  28 . Preferably, side wall  35  protrudes vertically upwards no further than the upper surface  38  of intermediate perimeter ring  28 , and is also of screen mesh construction. In a preferred embodiment, all of the foregoing components of the basket assembly  22  are made of metal, and fastened together by welding. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  5 ,  6 , and  7 , basket  22  of cosmetics basket/mirror accessory  21  has located within an oval cylindrically-shaped interior space  39  thereof a plurality of circumferentially spaced apart, vertically disposed, open article storage compartments  40  for storing in a generally vertically disposed orientation elongated cosmetic articles such as lipstick tubes, eyeliners, brushes and the like. Article storage compartments  40  are formed by vertically aligned, parallel, horizontally disposed upper, intermediate and lower compartment divider grids  41 ,  42 ,  43  attached to inner surfaces  33 ,  29 , and  27  of upper, intermediate and lower perimeter rings  31 ,  28 , and  25 , respectively. 
     As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, intermediate divider grid  42  includes a pair of symmetrically shaped left and right halves  42 L,  42 R, which are spaced equidistant from a fore-and-aft disposed minor axis of basket assembly  22 . Each grid half  42 L,  42 R includes an arcuately curved wire segment  44 L,  44 R which lies in a horizontal plane coextensive with that of intermediate perimeter ring  28 . As shown in FIG. 5, arcuately curved wire segments  44 L,  44 R of intermediate divider grid  42  are parallel to and located radially inwardly from opposite lateral end portions of intermediate perimeter ring  28 , and have symmetrically-shaped front and rear halves which are centered on a laterally disposed major axis of the perimeter ring. Front and rear halves of arcuately curved wire segments  44 L,  44 R are joined at front and rear inner ends  45 ,  46  thereof to inner circumferential surface  29  of intermediate perimeter ring  28  by generally radially outwardly disposed short end legs  47 ,  48 , which are bent at an oblique angle relative to the arcuately curved parts  49  of each segment  44 . 
     As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, an oval annular ring-shaped space  50  is formed between each wire segment  44  and inner circumferential surface  29  of intermediate perimeter ring  28  and is segmented into a sequence of approximately rectangular plan-view grid partitions  51  by a plurality of generally radially disposed, short wire segments  52  which are spaced apart at approximately equal circumferential angles. Wire segments  52  are attached at inner radial ends thereof to arcuately curved grid segment  44 , and at outer radial ends thereof to inner circumferential surface  29  of intermediate perimeter ring  28 . The exact number, size and spacing of grid partitions  51  of intermediate divider grid  42  are not critical. However, in an example embodiment of basket  22  shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, each separate left and right grid half  42 L,  42 R of intermediate divider grid  42  has three front grid partitions and three rear grid partitions  54  which are all of approximately the same size, and which are joined to a trapezoidally-shaped end partition  55  of somewhat greater angular width. 
     As shown in FIGS. 1,  5 ,  6 , and  9 , upper and lower grids  41  and  43  of basket  22  are preferably sparse grids  56  and  57 , respectively, each consisting of a single partition comprising a generally trapezoidal plan view mesh ring which is vertically aligned with left and right lateral end grid partitions  55  of intermediate divider grid  42 . Thus, upper divider grid  41  of basket  22  has located at opposite lateral ends of a major axis of upper perimeter ring  31  left and right trapezoidally-shaped end grid partitions  56 L,  56 R which are vertically aligned with end partitions  55 L,  55 R of intermediate divider grid  42 . Similarly, lower divider grid  43  of basket  22  has located at opposite lateral ends of a major axis of lower perimeter ring  25  left and right trapezoidally-shaped end partitions  57 L,  57 R which are vertically aligned with end partitions  55 L,  55 R of intermediate divider grid  42 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1-9, it may be seen that handle  23  of basket/mirror accessory  21  is a bail type handle formed of an elongated circular cross-section metal rod  60  which is bent into an inverted U-shape. As may be seen best by referring to FIG. 2, the upper arcuately curved apex of the U-shaped handle is altered by the presence of a straight, laterally centrally located horizontal section  61 . Also, the lower ends of left and right vertical side segments  62 L,  62 R of handle rod  60  have at the lower ends thereof connector tangs  63 L,  63 R which are bent horizontally inwards towards one another at right angles to the vertical side segments. 
     As may be seen best by referring to FIGS. 1,  2 ,  7  and  8 , each tang  63 L,  63 R of handle-rod  60  is insertably received in a separate one of a pair of U-shaped handle mounting brackets  64 L,  64 R attached to opposite lateral ends of upper perimeter ring  31 . Each U-shaped handle mounting bracket  64 L,  64 R has front and rear vertically disposed, longitudinally aligned parallel legs  65 LF,  65 LB,  65 RF and  65 RB, respectively, the lower ends of which join an upwardly concave, arcuately curved central segment  66 L,  66 R. The aforementioned straight front and rear legs of each handle mounting bracket  64 L,  64 R are attached to an outer circumferential surface  67  of upper perimeter ring  31 , by welding, for example. As shown in FIG. 8, central arcuately curved segments  66 L,  66 R of handle mounting brackets  64 L,  64 R are spaced below lower surface  68  of upper perimeter ring  31 , forming therewith a pair of generally cylindrically-shaped apertures  69 L,  69 R for insertably receiving handle bail tangs  63 L,  63 R. Moreover, as shown in FIGS. 1,  3 ,  5  and  7 , parallel front and rear side legs  65 LR,  65 LB, and  65  RF,  65 RB of brackets  64 L,  64 R, abut front and rear sides  70 F,  70 B of lower straight segments  62  of handle  23 , thus maintaining the handle upright. As shown in FIG. 4, lower straight segments  62 L,  62 R of handle  23  may be bent elastically apart to disengage end tangs  65  from handle brackets  64 , thus allowing the handle to be removed from basket  22  and positioned parallel to the base of the assembly, thus enabling the knocked-down accessory  21  to be packaged substantially flat for storage and shipping. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, mirror assembly  24  of cosmetic basket/mirror accessory  21  includes a circular mirror frame  72  which holds therein a front circular mirror  73  of a given magnification, e.g, 1×. As shown in FIG. 4, mirror frame  72  may also hold a rear circular mirror  74  which has a different magnification than front mirror  73 , e.g., 5×. 
     Mirror frame  72  is mounted to short, straight upper central portion  61  of handle  23  by means of a friction bracket  75 . As shown in FIG. 7, friction bracket  75  has at one end thereof a tubular portion  76  which has a horizontally disposed cylindrical bore  77  in which is coaxially fitted a resilient friction tube  78 . Friction tube  78  has an inner cylindrical wall surface  79  which fits tightly against outer surface  80  of straight central portion  61  of handle  23 , exerting sufficient frictional force to maintain friction bracket  75  at any selected orbital position relative to straight central portion  61  of handle  23 , such as a pendent position below the straight handle portion, as shown in FIG. 1, and a superior position above the handle, as shown in FIG.  9 . 
     A preferred embodiment of cosmetic basket/mirror accessory  21  according to the present invention includes a mirror frame support cradle  82  interposed between mirror frame  72  and friction bracket  75 . As shown in the figures, mirror frame support cradle  82  is made of a circular cross-section rod which is formed into the shape of a downwardly open, upwardly concave semi-circular arc segment  83 . Opposite lateral ends  84 L,  84 R of arc segment  83  are bent perpendicularly outwards from the plane of the arc to form a pair of left and right, generally circular ring-shaped pivot eyes  85 L,  85 R. The latter have diametrically opposed, horizontally aligned bores  86 L,  86 R, which receive in a tight interference fit pivot pins  87 L,  87 R which protrude laterally outwards from opposite lateral sides of mirror frame  72 . With this arrangement, mirror frame  72  may be pivoted about a horizontal axis through pivot pins  87 L,  87 R, as well as orbited about handle bail  23 . Thus, mirror frame  72  may be tilted to any desired inclination angle relative to cradle  82 , or rotated 180 degrees to position a front or rear mirror in front of a user as desired, as shown in FIG.  3 .