Abstract:
A nail polish dispenser is presented. The nail polish dispenser features a dual purpose nail polish applicator assembly that allows for the application of polish over a broad region of a fingernail via a brush applicator and also allows for a narrow line application of polish via a pen applicator. The nail polish dispenser includes the dual purpose applicator assembly and a polish reservoir or bottle for holding liquid nail polish and a cap. The dual purpose applicator assembly is removably attachable to the bottle and the cap is removably attachable to the pen applicator of the applicator assembly. The brush applicator and pen applicator are in fluid communication with the polish when the polish bottle is in an upright position and an inverted position, respectively.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application No.  61 / 969 , 147  filed on Mar. 22, 2014, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The invention relates to the field of fluid dispensers for nail polish and more particularly to fluid dispensers having an opening and a dual applicator assembly removably attached to a container. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Since antiquity, women have decorated their finger nails by applying colored polishes. These polishes, when hardened, give finger nails a decorative and appealing appearance. Traditionally, nail polishes have been available only in a limited selection of colors and have been applied to finger nails as smooth uniform coatings. Nail polish applicators have traditionally been in the form of small bristle brushes having substantially uniform bristles. These applicators are designed to apply nail polish over a relatively wide area, as smoothly as possible, to create a smooth and uniform coating. 
         [0004]    In recent times however, nail polish has become available in a great variety of colors and it has become quite popular to create fanciful nail designs using a multiplicity of colors. While the bristle brushes of the prior art have proven well-suited to providing a broad uniform coating of nail polish on a nail, they have proven to be inadequate for creating intricate nail designs. The creation of intricate nail designs demands an applicator that can apply nail polish in narrow line, similar to that created by an ink pen. 
         [0005]    Accordingly, there is now a need in the art for nail polish applicators that can apply polish in a narrow line for the purpose of creating a design, as well as apply polish broadly over the surface of a nail. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The present invention improves upon the prior art by providing a nail polish dispenser that features a dual purpose nail polish applicator assembly that allows for the application of a nail polish or coating over a broad region of a fingernail or substrate via a brush applicator and also allows for narrow, line application of polish via a pen applicator. The nail polish dispenser includes the dual purpose applicator assembly and a polish reservoir or bottle for holding liquid nail polish and a cap. The dual purpose applicator assembly is removably attachable to the bottle and the cap is removably attachable to the pen applicator of the applicator assembly. The brush applicator of the applicator assembly includes a stem which extends downwardly into the polish bottle and is in fluid communication with the polish when the polish bottle is in an upright position. The pen applicator, by contrast, is in fluid communication with the polish when the bottle is held in an inverted position. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0007]    The features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent with regard to the following description, claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0008]      FIG. 1  shows an exploded view of nail polish applicator and bottle in accordance with the present invention; 
           [0009]      FIG. 2  shows a sectional view of the nail polish applicator of  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0010]      FIG. 3  shows a sectional view of the nail polish applicator and bottle of  FIG. 1 , and a bottle cap, with the applicator attached to the bottle and the cap attached to the applicator; 
           [0011]      FIG. 4  shows a side view of a pen plug (with a brush tip inserted in the plug) in accordance with the present invention, as depicted in  FIG. 1 ; 
           [0012]      FIG. 5  shows a bottom view of the pen plug of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0013]      FIG. 6  shows a top view of the pen plug of  FIG. 4 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 7  shows a sectional view of the pen plug of  FIG. 4 , taken along the line A-A of  FIG. 6 , and also shows a sectional view of the brush stern depicted  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0015]      FIG. 8  shows a sectional view of the pen plug of  FIG. 4 , taken along the line B-B of  FIG. 6 , and also shows sectional view of the brush stern depicted in  FIG. 1 . 
           [0016]      FIG. 9  shows a perspective view of the pen head of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0017]      FIG. 10  shows a sectional view of the pen head of  FIG. 9 , taken along the line C-C. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0018]    The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. The invention may, however, may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. 
         [0019]    Referring now to  FIG. 1 , there is shown an exploded view of a nail polish dispenser  8  of the present invention. The dispenser  8  includes an applicator assembly  10 , a polish bottle or polish reservoir  28 , and a cap  30 . The applicator assembly  10  comprises a brush applicator  12  and a pen applicator  14 . The brush applicator  12  comprises a stem  16  and a brush  18 . The pen applicator  14  comprises a pen housing  20 , a pen head  22 , a hollow pen tip or application element  24 , and a pen plug  26 . 
         [0020]    Referring now o  FIG. 3 , the polish bottle or reservoir  28  includes a cylindrical side wall  30 , a top end wall  32 , an opposing bottom wall  34 , and a hollow neck  36 . The neck  36  is cylindrical and includes external helical threads  38  formed therein. The diameter of the neck  36  is preferably less than that of the cylindrical side wall  30 . The neck  38  has a lower end  42  and an upper end  44  and a hollow cylindrical bore  40  is formed therebetween. The hollow cylindrical bore  40  is open at both the upper and lower ends  42  and  44  of the neck  36  of the polish bottle  28 . 
         [0021]    The polish bottle  28  may be made of glass, aluminum, plastic or like materials. Flexible plastic is a preferred material because it will permit the cylindrical side wall  30  to be resiliently deformed when pressed inwardly by a user to decrease the volume of the polish bottle  28  and thereby pressurize the liquid polish disposed therein. Such pressurization is useful when the pen applicator  14  of the dispenser  8  is being used. Materials which may be clear in color, such as plastic and glass, are also desirable because they allow for a visual check of the level of polish remaining the polish bottle  28 . 
         [0022]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the pen housing  20  of the applicator assembly  10  includes a base  46  having a lower end  74  and an upper end  76  and a cylindrical side wall  48  therebetween which defines an interior bore  72 . The interior bore  72  includes a helical internal thread  50  formed therein. The cylindrical side wall  48  may optionally be tapered along its length. The internal thread  50  of the pen housing  20  is configured to threadably engage the external thread  38  of the neck  36  of the polish bottle  28  to removably attach the applicator assembly  10  to the neck  36  of the polish bottle  28 . The pen housing  20  may optionally be provided with a textured surface to facilitate threading and unthreading of the applicator assembly  10  from the polish bottle  28 . 
         [0023]    Referring now to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the pen housing  20  features a cylindrical step portion  52  having a diameter less than the base  46 . The cylindrical step portion  52  is centrally joined to an end wall  54  of the base  46 . The cylindrical step  52  includes a cylindrical locking rib  56  at its upper end. The cylindrical step portion  52  includes an interior pen plug retention bore  78  having a diameter less than the bore  72  of the base  46 . The pen plug retention bore  78  terminates in a generally cylindrical pen plug ledge  80 . Positioned above the pen plug retention bore  78  is a pen head retention bore  82  which has a diameter less than the pen plug retention bore  78 . The pen head retention bore  82  terminates in a generally circular pen head abutment surface  84 . 
         [0024]    With continued reference to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , extending upwardly from the locking rib  56  of the cylindrical step portion  52  is a nozzle portion  58 . In the exemplary embodiment, the nozzle portion  58  has a generally tapering exterior conical surface comprising a lower generally tapering conical portion  64  and an upper generally tapering conical portion  66 . A transition portion  68  interconnects the generally tapering upper  66  and lower  64  conical portions. The generally tapering upper conical portion  66  of the nozzle portion  58  transitions to a generally cylindrical pen tip portion  60  via a transition portion  70 . In the exemplary embodiment, the transition portion  70  features a generally concave curvature of generally decreasing radius along its length. The nozzle portion  58  of the applicator assembly  10  also includes an interior pen head bore  62 . Likewise, the pen tip portion  60  includes a pen tip bore  86 . 
         [0025]    Referring now to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the pen head  22  of the applicator assembly  10  includes a lower pen head body  90  and an upper pen head body  92 . The lower pen head body  90  has a lower end  94  and an upper end  96  and a generally cylindrical wall  98  extending therebetween. At the lower end of the lower pen head body  90  is a generally annular ledge  100 . Extending radially outwardly from the generally annular ledge  100  are two generally annular ledge extensions  102 . The generally annular ledge extensions  102  span approximately 20 to 40 degrees of arc length and are spaced 180 degrees apart. Within the interior of the lower pen head body  90  of the pen head  20  is formed a generally cylindrical bore  104  which terminates in a cavity  106 . 
         [0026]    With continued reference to  FIGS. 9 and 10 , the upper pen head body  92  of the pen head  22  is formed by a general cylindrical side wall  112  bounded by the upper end  96  of the lower pen head body and an upper end  108  of the upper pen head body  92 . The diameter of the generally cylindrical side wall  112  of the upper pen head body  92  is less than that of the generally cylindrical side wall  98  of the lower pen head body  90 . The generally cylindrical side walls  112  and  92  of the upper and lower pen head bodies  92  and  90  are interconnected via step wall  110 . Generally triangular support gussets  114  are spaced about the exterior periphery of the generally cylindrical wall  112  of the upper pen head body  92 . Formed within the upper pen head body  92  of the pen head  22  is a pen tip retention bore  116 . The pen tip retention bore  116  extends through the upper pen head body  92  and is in fluid communication with the cavity  106  of the lower pen head body  90  of the pen head  22 . The pen tip retention bore  116  is configured to receive the pen tip  24 . The pen tip  24  comprises a hollow cylindrical rod  27  having a through bore  25 . 
         [0027]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4-7 , the pen plug  26  of the applicator assembly  10  includes a lower pen plug body  118 , an upper pen plug body  120 , with a locating ring  122  therebetween. The lower pen plug body  118  includes a generally cylindrical side wall  124  extending from a lower end  126  of the lower pen plug body  118  to an upper end  128 . Formed within the lower pen plug body  118  is a bore  130  (best shown in  FIGS. 4 and 8 ). Extending radially inwardly into the bore  130  are gussets  132 , having innermost surfaces  134  (see  FIG. 5 ). In the exemplary embodiment four gussets  132  are used. The innermost surfaces  134  are sized such that the gussets  132  form a press or slip fit with the outside diameter of the brush stem  16 . Extending radially outwardly from the gussets  132  at about the upper end  128  of the lower pen plug body  118  are gusset extensions  144  (best shown in  FIGS. 5 and 6 ). The gusset extensions  144  serve to control the insertion depth of the brush stem  16  in the pen plug  26  and further serve to ensure that the brush stem  16  does not close out or obstruct the bore  140  of the upper pen plug body  120 . 
         [0028]    When the brush stem  16  is secured within the gussets  132 , (best shown in  FIG. 8 ), sector passageways  136  are defined by the brush stem  16 , the generally cylindrical side wall  124 , and the gussets  132 . In the exemplary embodiment four sector passageways  136  corresponding to the four gussets  132 , are present. The sector passageways  136  are in fluid communication with the contents of the polish bottle  28  when the applicator assembly  10  is attached to the polish bottle  28  and the bottle is inverted. 
         [0029]    The upper pen plug body  120  includes a generally cylindrical wall  138  and an interior bore  140 . The bore  140  extends from a top end  142  of the upper pen plug body  120  through the locating ring  122  to the upper end  128  of the lower pen plug body  118  and is in fluid communication with the sector passageways  136  of the lower pen plug body  118 . The generally cylindrical side wall  138  of upper pen plug body  120  is configured to be a press or slip fit within the generally cylindrical bore  104  of the pen head  22 . The locating ring  122  of the pen plug  26  is sized to be a press or slip fit with the pen plug retention bore  78  of the pen housing  20 . 
         [0030]    Referring now to  FIG. 2 , the brush applicator  12  includes the brush stem  16  and the brush  18 . In the exemplary embodiment, the brush  18  is composed of a plurality of flexible bristles. Alternatively, the brush  18  may be a shaped foam pad or like material suitable for applying nail polish. Preferably, the brush stem  16  will be capable of flexing. A number of low density plastic materials such as low density polyethylene are suitable for this application. 
         [0031]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , the cap  30  features a cylindrical side wall  146  having a first end  150  defining an enlarged opening  152  and a second end  154  closed by an end wall  148 . The cap  30  further includes an upper bore  156 . The upper bore  156  is sized to provide a press or interference fit with the nozzle portion  58  of the pen housing  20 . Likewise, the enlarged opening  152  is sized to provide an interference fit with the locking rib  56  of the pen housing  20 . 
         [0032]    The pen housing  20 , pen head  22  and pen plug  26  may be made from a wide variety of materials. Plastic materials such as high density polyethylene or polypropylene are representative suitable materials. The pen tip  24  will generally be made of tubular metallic materials as is known in the art. 
         [0033]    Assembly and use of the applicator  8  of the present invention will now be discussed in detail. Referring to  FIG. 3 , the nail polish applicator  8  of the present invention is shown as a complete assembly. Referring to  FIG. 2 , the applicator assembly  10  of the applicator  8  comprises the pen applicator  14  and the brush applicator  12 , where the pen applicator comprises the pen housing  20 , pen head  22 , pen plug  26 , and pen tip  24 , and the brush assembly  12  comprises the brush stem  16  and brush  18 . 
         [0034]    Referring to  FIGS. 2-10 , assembly of the pen applicator  14  is generally as follows. The pen head  22  is secured to the pen housing  20 , i.e. the generally cylindrical side wall  112  of the upper pen head body  92  (see  FIG. 9 ) is secured by means of a press fit or an adhesive within the pen head retention bore  82  of the pen housing  20  (see  FIGS. 2-3 ), with the generally annular ring extensions  102  of the lower pen head body  90  of the pen head  20  (see  FIG. 9 ) abutting the generally circular pen head abutment surface  84 . (See  FIGS. 2-3 .) Secured within the pen housing  20  and pen head  22  is the pen plug  26 . The generally cylindrical side wall  124  of the upper pen plug body  138  of the pen plug  26  (see FIGS.  4  and  7 - 8 ) is press fit or secured with an adhesive within the bore  104  of the lower pen head body  90  of the pen head  22  (see  FIG. 10 ), while the annular ring  122  of the pen plug  26  (see FIGS.  4  and  7 - 8 ) is press fit or secured with adhesive within the pen plug retention bore  78  of the pen housing  20 . (See  FIGS. 2-3 .) 
         [0035]    Secured to the pen head  22  is the pen tip  24 . The pen tip  24  is secured to the pen head  22  by means of press fitting the pen tip  24  into the pen tip retention bore  116  of the upper pen head body  92  of the pen head  22 . (See  FIGS. 9-10 .) Alternatively, the pen tip  24  may be secured within the pen tip retention bore by means of an adhesive. The pen tip  24  further extends upwardly through the pen tip bore  86  of the pen tip portion  60  of the pen housing  20 . 
         [0036]    The applicator assembly  10  is completed by securing the brush applicator  12  to the pen applicator  14 . (See  FIG. 2 .) The brush applicator  12  is secured to the pen applicator  14  by press fitting a first end  15  (see  FIG. 1 ) of the brush stem  16  within the gussets  132  of the lower pen plug body  118  of the pen plug  26 . (See  FIGS. 4-8 .) Alternatively, the brush stern  16  may be secured to the gussets  132  by means of an adhesive. The brush  18  is secured to a second end  17  the brush stem  16  (see  FIG. 1 ) by means of an adhesive, ultrasonic bonding or other means known in the art. 
         [0037]    Referring now to  FIG. 3 , as a final assembly procedure, the polish bottle  28  is filled with a liquid nail polish (not shown) and the applicator assembly  10  is secured to the polish bottle  28  by means of mating the internal thread  50  of the pen housing  20  with the external thread  38  of the neck  36  of the polish bottle  28 . Thereafter, the cap  30  is secured to the applicator assembly  10 . 
         [0038]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , the brush  18  extends into the polish bottle  28  and into the liquid polish and may be used simply by unscrewing the applicator assembly  10  from the polish bottle  28  and applying polish to the nails to be coated with polish. When it is desired to use the pen applicator  14 , the cap  30  is removed from the applicator assembly  10 . The polish bottle  28  and the attached applicator assembly  10  are then inverted. The action of gravity causes the liquid polish to flow through the neck  36  of the polish bottle  28  and into the sector passageways  136  of the pen plug  26 . From the sector passageways  136 , the polish flows into the interior bore  140  of the upper pen plug body and therefrom into the generally cylindrical bore  104  and cavity  106  of the pen head  22 . Thereafter, the liquid polish enters the pen tip  24  which may subsequently be used to apply polish in the form of lines to the nails to be coated with polish. 
         [0039]    The foregoing detailed description and appended drawings are intended as a description of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention and are not intended to represent the only forms in which the present invention may be constructed and/or utilized. Those skilled in the art will understand that modifications and alternative embodiments of the present invention which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the foregoing specification, drawings, and appendix of the claims below are possible and practical. It is intended that the claimed invention covers all such modifications and alternative embodiments.