Patent Publication Number: US-2012039653-A1

Title: Substance Applicator

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE  
     This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/373,613 file on Aug. 13, 2011, which is incorporated herein in its entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
     This invention relates generally to substance applicators or markers and particularly to substance applicators for planar surfaces or items requiring the application of a mark or coating. 
     Various applicators for marking surfaces currently exist, including applicators that are sold by the assignee of the subject invention, Clarence J. Venne, Inc., as shown in U.S. Design Pat. Nos. D274,697, D300,118, D303,926, D396,244, D389,365 and D138,621 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,713,681 and 6,913,405. While many prior art substance applicators, including those of the assignee of this invention, were suitable for their intended purposes, a need still remains to improve the comfort and ergonomic grip of applicators that may be disposed in any one of a number of differing rotational positions. 
     For example, although some prior art applicators were designed with comfort in mind, they required users to position the applicator in a specific rotational positions. One example of such a design is shown in Design Pat. No. D455,782. Another example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,705. Both of these designs require the user to hold the applicator in a specific rotational position. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
     The present invention is directed to an applicator that includes a hollow body having a central longitudinal axis to hold a colored ink, a shoulder portion, a central recessed portion, and a base portion. The shoulder portion is located above and merges with the central recessed portion at an upper end thereof and includes a top wall having an opening. The base portion is located below and merges with the central recessed portion at a lower end thereof and includes a bottom wall. The central recessed portion has a smooth continuous sidewall formed as a triangle with three sides of substantially identical dimensions. The central recessed portion merges with the shoulder portion and the base portion at upper and lower flared surfaces, respectively. 
     A better understanding of the objects, advantages, features, properties and relationships of the invention will be obtained from the following detailed description and accompanying drawings which set forth illustrative embodiments that are indicative of the various ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       For a better understanding of the invention, reference may be had to preferred embodiments shown in the following drawings in which: 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a substance applicator in accordance with the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side elevational view of the applicator of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a back elevational view of the application of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a front elevational view of the applicator of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a bottom plan view of the applicator of  FIG. 1 ; and 
         FIG. 6  is a top plan view of the applicator of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
     While several embodiments of the present invention are shown in the drawings and described in detail, the present disclosure should be considered as an exemplification of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiments so illustrated. The invention will be illustrated in more detail with reference to the following example, but it should be understood that the Referring now to various figures of the drawings where like reference numerals refer to like parts, there is shown a substance applicator constructed in accordance with the subject invention. As shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , the substance applicator  20  can be a bottle or other container adapted to contain a substance in the interior thereof for the application of the substance to a surface under the control of a user. The substance contained within the substance applicator  20  for application to the surface may be an ink, for example, for applying the ink to a surface such as the surface of a bingo card or other type of game card. Additionally, the substance contained within the substance applicator  20  may be a shampoo, a dye, a conditioner or any other hair products, or substances for use in connection with arts and crafts, such as glue. The substance contained within the applicator  20  may also be a paint or inking substance such as a window paint, poster paint, bathtub paint, blackboard paint or various types of children&#39;s&#39; paints, varnishes and other coatings. Furthermore, materials for use in an office environment, shoe polish, soap, cosmetics, nail polish, sealing agents, medicaments, or any substance suitable for applying the substance to a surface as described herein may also be contained within the substance applicator  20 . 
     As best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 6 , the substance applicator  20  basically comprises a hollow body  22  having an opening  58  at the top thereof and may include threads  62  for receiving and securing a cap (not shown) and an applicator substance transferring device (not shown). The cap for the substance applicator  20  may be of any suitable shape in the interest of aesthetics, as long as it includes interior threads for mating with the threads  62  of the applicator  20 . 
     The structural details of the body  22  will be described later. Suffice it to state that the body  22  of the substance applicator  20  includes a large hollow interior space or cavity for receipt of the substance therein as previously described. The substance transferring device may be of a conventional type that is used for the particular substance disposed within the applicator  20 . The substance transferring device may be inserted into the opening  58  at the top of the applicator  20 . Preferably, the substance transferring device inserted therein constitutes a spring valve device or other easy-flow device, similar to the device described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,405, which is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. 
     The substance within the interior of the applicator  20  is placed in communication with the substance transferring device when the applicator  20  is inverted, so that when the applicator  20  with the cap removed is inverted and brought into forcible engagement with a surface (not shown) or other item to be marked, the substance transferring device applies a mark to the surface or item. The mark can be circular or any other shape, depending on the substance within the applicator  20  and the shape of the substance transferring device. For example, relatively smaller markings may be applied if the substance is eye makeup or another cosmetic. The substance applicator  20  is arranged to be held in the crook formed between the thumb and index finger of a hand, with the thumb, index finger and middle finger of the hand resting on portions of the applicator  20 , so that the applicator  20  can be inverted and manipulated like a pencil, pen, or other writing instrument. 
     When the applicator  20  is no longer needed to mark a surface, the cap may be threadibly received by the threads  62 , thereby sealing off the substance transferring device from the ambient air, and preventing the substance from drying out and/or allowing the substance in the cavity of the body  22  to leak, harden or evaporate. 
     The body  22  of the substance applicator  20  is formed of a suitable plastic material, which is preferably blow molded by extrusion of injection, so that it is a unitary member of substantially uniform wall thickness. As can be seen clearly in  FIGS. 1-4 , the body  22  of the substance applicator  20  is an elongated member having a central longitudinal axis  30  extending therethrough. The body  22  includes a shoulder portion  32 , a base portion  34  and a central recessed portion  36 . 
     The shoulder portion  32  includes a cylindrically circular sidewall  38  extending around the central longitudinal axis  30 , and having a predetermined exterior diameter (e.g., approximately 1.665 inch (42.29 mm), measured perpendicular to the central axis  30 , a slightly concave frustoconical intermediate sidewall  40  extending up from the circular sidewall  38 , and a generally planar top wall  42 . It will be understood that the applicator  20  can be adapted to contain varying amounts of substance, i.e., four ounces, and that the dimensions of the applicator  20  can be adjusted accordingly, as shown in more detail below, without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
     The top wall  42  of the applicator  20  includes an open circular neck centered about the central longitudinal axis  30 . The helical thread  62  extends about the open circular neck. The substance transfer device can be mounted on the top of the neck centered around the central longitudinal axis  30  in a conventional manner. 
     The base portion  34  of the applicator  20  includes a cylindrically circular sidewall  39  extending around the axis  30  and having substantially the same predetermined exterior diameter as the shoulder portion  32  measured perpendicular to the central axis  30 . As best seen in  FIG. 5 , the base portion  34  of the applicator  20  also includes a generally planar bottom wall  50 . The applicator  20  can be stored by disposing it on a support surface (not shown) with its planar bottom wall  50  in engagement therewith. 
     As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the fact that the shoulder portion  32  and the base portion  34  each include substantially similar circular sidewalls  38  and  39 , respectively, having substantially the same outside diameter centered about the central longitudinal axis  30  enables the applicator  20  to be readily molded and removed from the molding machine. Moreover, the substance applicator  20  can be readily filled with substance during manufacturing regardless of its orientation within a filing machine. 
     The intermediate portion or central recessed portion  36  of the applicator  20  is constructed and sized and provided with a triangular shape to permit it to be ergonomically held within the crook between the thumb and index finger of one hand of the person holding the applicator  20  when the applicator  20  is either poised for use or inverted and put into use by applying it to a surface, regardless of which sides of the applicator  20  the user chooses to engage. For example, the applicator  20  can be held like a pencil or pen in a plurality of different rotational positions to mark the surface of a bingo card or other item. To that end the central recessed portion  36  is provided in the form of a substantially triangular sidewall. The triangular sidewall has three sides  48  of nearly identical dimensions. While the exact dimensions of the three sides  48  may vary without departing from the scope of this invention, the three sides  48  must be substantively identical and proportional to each other. 
     The triangular shape of the central recessed portion  36  allows users to grip the applicator  20  without the need for re-positioning the applicator based on how it is initially held. The triangular shape of the central recessed portion  36  may also be useful for providing three large viewing panels to which one or more labels may be affixed. The labels affixed to the applicator  20  may be conventional adhesive labels, shrink wrapped labels, or any other type of labels. 
     As best seen in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the sidewalls of the central recessed portion  36  of the body  22  merge with the sidewall  38  of the shoulder portion  32  at three upper flared surfaces  54 . The upper flared surfaces  54  of the applicator  20  are adapted to permit convenient mating of the substance applicator  20  with the hand of a person and ergometric use of the applicator  20  when the substance applicator  20  is picked up in a plurality of different rotational positions and gripped, both while it is poised and ready for use, and when it is inverted to apply force to a surface to be marked. The upper flared surfaces  54  may form concave arcuate surfaces for receiving the thumb and the index finger of a user. 
     In addition, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,913,405 B2 assigned to the instant inventor and mentioned above, groups of ridges (not shown) can be provided on the three upper flared surfaces  54  of the central recessed portion  36  of the applicator  20  immediately below the shoulder  32 , i.e., the upper flared portion of the recess. In one embodiment of the invention, there can be four ridges in each of the ridge groups. The ridges of each ridge group can be of graduated lengths that decrease in the direction from the lowermost of the ridges to the uppermost. 
     As shown in  FIGS. 1-4 , the sidewalls of the central recessed portion  36  of the body  22  may also merge with the sidewall  39  of the base portion  34  at three lower flared surfaces  35 . The lower flared surfaces  35  may form concave arcuate surfaces. 
     The height of the applicator  20  may be any dimension desired depending on the amount of substance to be disposed therein. One particularly effective height to provide a capacity of approximately four ounces for ink or other substance is approximately 6.596 inches (167.5 mm) from the base wall  50  to the top of the opening in one embodiment. It will be understood that substance applicators  20  adapted to contain other amounts of substance for application to a surface can have differing dimensions, as previously described, including differing heights. Other sizes of applicator  20  are also contemplated within the scope of the invention without limiting the scope of the invention as set forth below. For example, in one alternative embodiment of the invention, adapted to contain approximately three ounces of substance for application to a surface, the outside diameter of the cylindrically circular sidewall  38  of the shoulder portion  32  extending around the central axis  30  may be approximately 1.540 inches (39.12 mm), and the height of the applicator  20  can be approximately 5.540 inches (140.17 mm). It will be understood that applicators  20  containing substantially more than four ounces of substance and substantially less than fifty milliliters of substance may also be provided. 
     In an additional alternate embodiment, the applicator  20  is adapted to contain approximately fifty milliliters of substance for application to a surface, the outside diameter of cylindrically circular sidewall  38  can be approximately 1.285 inches (32.64 mm). The height of the substance applicator  20  can be approximately 3.845 inches (97.66 mm). It will be understood that applicators  20  containing substantially more than four ounces of substance and substantially less than fifty milliliters of substance may be provided, including as little as approximately fifteen milliliters of substance. While specific embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those details could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Accordingly, the particular arrangement disclosed is meant to be illustrative only and not limiting as to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.