Patent Publication Number: US-8118038-B2

Title: Powered mascara applicator

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field of applicators for cosmetics. In particular, the present invention is directed to the field of applicators for mascara. Mascara is a cosmetic applied to the eyelashes. Most available mascara containers are provided with a manual brush applicator that sometimes makes it difficult to apply the mascara. The presently available applicators suffer from various defects that sometimes make it difficult for the user to apply. One of the difficulties of applying mascara with available applicators is that it is difficult to apply mascara to the corner of the eyelashes without clumping of the mascara. 
     The primary object of the present invention is to overcome these difficulties through the means of a battery operated, self-propelling rotary mascara brush that works in combination with existing mascara containers. The applicator of the present invention provides a novel motion of the brush with two components of rotation that sweeps the mascara evenly on the eyelashes from end to end. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A motorized mascara applicator for use with available mascara brushes comprising a generally cylindrical barrel comprising a longitudinal axis, a distal end, a proximal end and an opening at the distal end, a battery operated DC Motor contained within the barrel wherein the DC motor comprises an output shaft with a concave disk on an end thereof and wherein the output shaft rotates about the longitudinal axis in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction, a first switch accessible from outside the barrel in electrical contact with the DC Motor for turning the DC Motor on or off and for selecting the direction of rotation of the output shaft, a sphere adapted to be received in the opening at the distal end of the barrel wherein the sphere partially projects above the distal end and is adapted to rotate freely in the opening, a brush shaft with a first end and a second end comprising a mascara brush on the first end and a handle on the second end whereby the handle is adapted to be removably rigidly mounted in a mating opening on the sphere and the shaft can be displaced by the user from the longitudinal axis by an angle in any direction by rotating the sphere; and a second switch for engaging the concave disk to the sphere and thereby causing the sphere to rotate after the first switch turns on the DC motor wherein the output shaft rotates thereby causing the mascara brush to rotate about the brush shaft and also about the longitudinal axis when the shaft is displaced by the user from the longitudinal axis. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of an available mascara container with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a partially exploded view of an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a cross-sectional side view of an embodiment of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a plan view illustrating the use of an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
     The present invention will now be described in terms of the presently preferred embodiment thereof as illustrated in the drawings. Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many obvious changes may be made thereto without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. 
     The mascara applicator  10  of the present invention comprises a battery operated device to impart rotary motion to a mascara brush  12 . The applicator  10  is adapted to be used with a commercially available mascara brush  12  from available mascara containers as shown in  FIG. 1 . The novel feature of the applicator  10  is that it imparts two components of rotation of the brush  12  as explained below. 
     The mascara applicator  10  comprises a generally cylindrically shaped barrel  16 . The cylindrically shaped barrel  16  comprises a longitudinal axis  17 , a proximal end  13  and a distal end  19 . The barrel  16  contains a battery powered motor  18 . In the presently preferred embodiment, the motor  18  would be powered by two ‘AAA” batteries  21 . The motor  18  itself is an available DC motor. The motor  18  comprises an output shaft  20  that is coupled to a concave disk  22 . 
     The proximal end  13  of the barrel  16  comprises a switch  24  in electrical contact with the batteries  21 . The first switch  24  turns the motor  18  on or off by putting the batteries  21  in electrical contact with the motor  18 . The barrel  16  also comprises a second switch  25  which controls the motion of the brush  12  as described below. The distal end  19  comprises an opening  26  through which a sphere  28  partially protrudes. The sphere  28  can turn freely in the opening  26  at the distal end. 
     The brush  12  comprises a shaft  11 . The shaft  11  is connected to a cylindrical handle  15 . A mounting hole  29  in the sphere  28  is adapted to receive the handle  15 . The handle  15  is inserted in the mounting hole  29  and held in place by a plurality of spring fingers  32 . The spring fingers  32  are adapted to receive handles  15  of varying diameters and still hold the brush in place. In order to use the applicator  10 , the handle  15  is removed from the available mascara  13 . The handle  15  is then placed into the mounting hole  29 . 
     In operation, the first switch  24  is used to turn on the electric motor  18 . The second switch  25  when moved toward the distal end  14  causes the concave disk  22  to contact the bottom of the sphere  28 . The concave disk  22  is adapted to match the radius of the sphere  28 . Thus, as the concave disk  22  begins to rotate, the sphere  28  will rotate and the brush  12  will rotate about its shaft  11 . If the shaft  11  of the brush  12  is aligned with the longitudinal axis  17 , the brush  12  will merely rotate around its shaft  11  and the axis  17 . However, if the user moves the brush  12  off the axis  17  by an angle “a”, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , the rotating motion of the brush  12  will have 2 components. First, the brush  12  will continue to rotate circularly about the shaft  11  but a second rotational or orbital component of the motion will result from the effect of the shaft  11  being displaced from the axis  17  of the barrel  16  by the angle a. The dual component of the rotation allows for more application of the mascara to the corners of the user&#39;s eyelashes by sweeping the mascara outward along the eyelash. In the normal user movement wherein the entire brush is swept over the eyelash manually or by merely rotating the brush  12  about its shaft  11 , clumps of mascara will buildup on the eyelashes. With the present invention, the mascara is applied smoothly without clumping and thereby adds a major dimension to the corners of the eyelashes. 
     The first switch  24  can also be used to create either clockwise or counterclockwise motion of the output shaft  20 . In turn, the brush  12  will similarly rotate in the chosen direction. It is anticipated that the user would select clockwise rotation for applying mascara to the lower eyelash and shift to the counterclockwise rotation for applying mascara to the upper eyelashes. 
     Those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that many obvious modifications may be made to the present invention without departing from the spirit of scope of the present invention as set forth in the appended claims.