Patent Publication Number: US-7909205-B2

Title: Cosmetic container

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority to and the benefit of Korea Utility Model No. 20-2005-0028966 filed on Oct. 11, 2005, and No.20-2006-0007793 filed on Mar. 23, 2006 in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     (a) Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a cosmetics container, and more particularly, to a cosmetics container for containing powders and foundation cream. 
     (b) Description of the Related Art 
     In general, a compact is used for containing cosmetics including powders and foundation cream. A conventional compact includes a mirror provided on the inside upper cover, the inside of the compact is divided into several parts, and a puff and more than two kinds of cosmetics are provided to the divided parts. 
     Accordingly, it is inconvenient to open the cover of the compact to use the mirror. In addition, since an opening direction of the cover is predetermined, it is inconveniently required to move the mirror when a person shows his face from another angle. 
     The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a cosmetic container including a cover performing a pivot rotation when opening the cover so that a user may look at a mirror attached to the cover from a predetermined angle and inconvenience in using the cosmetic container may be reduced. 
     In addition, the present invention has been made in an effort to provide a cosmetic container including a cover opened from the cosmetic container in a predetermined direction and rotated in a vertical direction to the predetermined opening/closing direction. 
     An exemplary cosmetic container according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a cover connected to one side of a body having an inner portion that is divided into a plurality of portions, so that the cover is opened from the body. The body includes a pair of hinges integrally formed at one side of the body, and a pivot bearing formed between the hinges and supported by a shaft so that the body is rotated in the opening/closing direction. The cover includes a pivot axis divided in two, integrally formed with the cover, and protruded from the cover. A head of the pivot axis is inserted to a pivot hole of the pivot bearing so that the cover is horizontally rotated with respect to the body. 
     An exemplary cosmetic container according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a cover connected to one side of a body having an inner portion that is divided into a plurality of portions, so that the cover is opened from the body. The body includes a pivot hole formed on one side of the body and a pivot bearing is inserted to the pivot hole so that the pivot bearing is rotated. The cover includes hinges disposed on both sides of the pivot bearing and supported by a shaft penetrating the hinges and the pivot bearing so that the cover is rotated in the opening/closing direction. With respect to the body, a rotation of the cover based on the pivot bearing is performed and a rotation of the cover based on the shaft is performed. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows an exploded perspective view of a cosmetic container according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  shows a magnified perspective view of a pivot axis shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  shows a cross-sectional side view of an assembled cosmetic container. 
         FIG. 4  shows a perspective view representing an example of a pivot rotation of a cover with respect to a body. 
         FIG. 5  shows an exploded perspective view of a cosmetic container according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  shows a perspective view representing the assembled cosmetic container. 
         FIG. 7  shows a diagram representing an exterior of the folded cosmetic container. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS INDICATING PRIMARY ELEMENTS IN THE DRAWINGS 
     
       
         
           
               
               
               
             
               
                   
                   
               
             
            
               
                   
                 2: Inner storage portion 
                 4: Body 
               
               
                   
                 6: Hinge 
                 7, 9: Shaft holes 
               
               
                   
                 8: Pivot bearing 
                 10: Shaft 
               
               
                   
                 12: Pivot hole 
                 14: Cover 
               
               
                   
                 16: Pivot axis 
                 18: Mirror 
               
               
                   
                 20: Pivot head 
                 22: Latch 
               
               
                   
                 24: Locking groove 
                 26. 28: Magnets 
               
               
                   
                   
               
            
           
         
       
     
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
     Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
       FIG. 1  to  FIG. 4  show diagrams representing a cosmetic container according to a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the cosmetic container includes a body  4 , and the inside of the body  4  is divided into a plurality of inner storage portions  2 . 
     The body  4  includes a pair of hinges  6  positioned at one side of the body  4 , a pivot bearing  8  is provided between the hinges  6 , and a shaft  10  penetrating a shaft hole  7  of the hinges  6  and a shaft hole  9  of the pivot bearing  8  is provided so that they are rotatably connected to each other. 
     A pivot hole  12  is provided in a center of the pivot bearing  8 , and a pivot axis  16 , which is integrally formed with a cover  14  and protruded from the cover  14 , is inserted into the pivot hole  12 . 
     As shown in  FIG. 2 , the pivot axis  16  includes a head  20  divided in two in a length direction so that a diameter of the head  20  is reduced when the head  20  is inserted to the pivot hole  12  of the pivot bearing  8 . After being inserted to the pivot hole  12 , the diameter of the head  20  becomes wide by its self-elasticity so that the head  20  is latched into the pivot hole  12 . 
     The body  4  is connected to the cover  14  such that they can be relatively rotated based on the pivot bearing  8 , and a latch  22  formed at one end of the body  4  is combined to a locking groove  24  formed at an end of the cover  14  that corresponds to the end of the body  4  when the body  4  and the cover  14  are folded. 
     According to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an opening angle of the cover  14  is limited from a 130 degree angle to a 150 degree angle since the pivot bearing  8  is formed in a non-circular angle, as shown in  FIG. 3  with an alternate long and short dash line. 
     In addition, since the cover  14  is rotated based on the pivot bearing  8  while being opened and closed, and it performs a pivot rotation by the pivot axis  16  based on the pivot bearing  8 , a position and a posture of the mirror provided on the inside of the cover  14  may vary as shown in  FIG. 4 . 
       FIG. 5  to  FIG. 7  show diagrams representing a cosmetic container according to a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     A basic configuration of the cosmetic container according to the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a body  4  including an inner portion divided into a plurality of inner storage portions  2  and a cover  14  having a mirror  18  on one surface thereof as shown in  FIG. 5 , which is the same as the cosmetic container according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     However, there are differences in that hinges  6  are integrally formed at a lower side of the cover  14 , a pivot bearing  8  provided as an additional constituent element has a shaft hole  9  on a side thereof and a head  20  divided in two on a bottom thereof, and magnets  26  and  28  are respectively provided to edges respectively corresponding to the latch  22  and the locking groove  24  according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     While one piece of the magnet  26  is disposed to one spot on the inside of the body  4 , it is required to dispose two pieces of the magnet  28  to two spots on the inside and the outside of the cover  14 . 
     In the configuration of the cosmetic container formed as described above, as shown in  FIG. 6 , the pivot bearing  8  is attached to a pivot hole  12  formed on one side of the body  4  (see  FIG. 5 ), the pivot bearing  8  is assembled between both hinges  6  of the cover  14 , a shaft  10  is penetrated through the shaft holes  7  and  9 , and therefore, the cover  14  and the body  4  are rotatably connected to each other based on the pivot bearing  8 . Therefore, a vertical and horizontal rotation of the cover  14  in relation to the body  4  may be performed. 
     As described above, a user may look at the mirror  18  at a predetermined angle as shown in  FIG. 4 , and the body  4  and the cover  14  may be folded as shown in  FIG. 7 . 
     It has been inconvenient to use the conventional compact since a cover thereof including a mirror is opened in a predetermined direction. However, according to the exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a user may look at the mirror  18  from a desired angle since the cover  14  is opened in a predetermined direction and is pivot-rotated in a vertical direction to the predetermined opening direction, and therefore, convenience for using the cosmetic container may be increased. 
     While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be practical exemplary embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.