Patent Publication Number: US-6709181-B1

Title: Mascara product sampler

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the design of a cosmetic package and more particularly to the design of a cosmetic package for mascara. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In the manufacturing of cosmetic packages, there are substantial expenses that are inherent in producing different packages from the same manufacturing facility. These expenses include the design costs of developing multiple packages, and the tooling costs associated with each different package design. Different manufacturing dies may be needed for different packages. There are also manufacturing costs associated with the reconfiguration of the production machines for a run of packages that varies from the previous run of packages. Extruder dies, molds, cutter heads, guides, fence settings, tool program settings and the like may need to be changed to adapt the tool or tools to the new physical dimensions of the package to be manufactured. This retooling and reconfiguration increases cost of the delivered product. 
     The costs of alternative package designs may be reasonably amortized over a large production order or series of orders. However, in small manufacturing orders, these costs are substantial. A typical example is a small production run to manufacture brush sample mascara packages to be used by consumers and others in testing a new product or new package configuration. Mascara formulations may differ from company to company, and each formulation may require a different brush, with a potentially different brush stem and brush wiper. It would be desirable to provide the manufacture of sample mascara brush packages with a flexible design that can be changed with a change of the mascara formulation with minimal effort. This will benefit the package manufacturer, who may be expected to provide inexpensive sample brushes, or the cosmetic company, who may wish to purchase and consumer test a variety of different mascara formulation brush combinations, without incurring the expense associated with a full package design and manufacture. 
     Consequently, what mascara brush package manufacturers need is a more universal and flexible design for mascara brush packages that would allow sampling of different mascara fluid/brush combinations thereby reducing the manufacturing expenses associated with different mascara brush packages. This flexible design should have a reduced parts count, be interchangeable into a number of design configurations, and minimize the need for changes in the manufacturing process when components are changed. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a universal and flexible design for mascara brush packages, and more particularly to provide a standard design for a mascara brush sampler. 
     It is another object of the present invention to provide a mascara brush package that will have a reduced parts count but with all the functionality of a custom designed mascara brush package. 
     It is still a further object of the invention to provide a mascara brush package that can be used in a number of configurations without alteration of the base package design and with a standard manufacturing process. 
     To overcome the deficiencies of the past and present package designs and to achieve the objects and advantages listed above, a package design is disclosed which includes a reservoir having an open end and a closed end, with a frustoconical threaded socket at the open end; and a cap assembly having a cap end and a frustoconical threaded plug. The cap frustoconical threaded plug is sized to mate sealingly with the frustoconical threaded socket of the reservoir when the cap assembly is rotated relative to the reservoir. The cap frustoconical threaded plug has a stem projecting axially from the plug. A cosmetic applicator is mounted to the stem and a reservoir insert is fitted inside the reservoir below the frustoconical threaded socket. The reservoir insert has a wiping orifice sized and shaped to wipe the cosmetic applicator. In a preferred embodiment, the stem has a central bore at its free end, and a cosmetic brush assembly is mounted to the stem by fitting into the stem central bore. 
    
    
     Embodiments of the invention and their particular features and advantages will become more apparent from the following detailed description when considered with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cosmetic package assembly in accordance with the present invention; 
     FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of a cosmetic applicator cap and brush in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of an applicator cap in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 4 is a detailed cross sectional view of a stem end of the applicator cap of FIG. 3; 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of an embodiment of an applicator reservoir in accordance with an embodiment of the invention; 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of a reservoir insert; and 
     FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view of the reservoir insert of FIG. 6 assembled with the reservoir of FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     In the following drawings the same elements are identified by the same reference numbers. It should also be noted that for the sake of clarity, all the components and parts of the package assembly might not be shown and/or marked in all the drawings. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1-7, package assembly in accordance with the present invention is shown and generally designated by the reference numeral  10 . As best shown in FIG. 1, package assembly  10  comprises two main components, cap assembly  20  and reservoir  40  which are designed to be interlocked forming a fluid proof seal. The seal is obtained by use of a mating set of male  34  (FIG. 3) and female  44  (FIG. 7) frustoconical surfaces. The result of the mating frustoconical male/female surfaces  34 ,  44  is to create a wedging effect between cap  20  and reservoir  40  as the two package components are screwed together into an interlocked package assembly. 
     This wedging effect creates a seal that is analogous to a cork in bottle. Therefore, as cap  20  and reservoir  40  are screwed together, the frustoconical surfaces will seat against each other to form a seal due to the compression created by the matched male/female frustoconical design. It is not important which side, cap  20  or reservoir  40 , inserts into the other in order to form the interlocking coupled joint. For example, in one embodiment, the cap may be inserted into the reservoir to form the interlocking seal; in another embodiment, the reservoir may be inserted into the cap to form the interlocking seal. 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1-7, the cap assembly  20  has a cap end  24  for gripping by a mascara package user, and a frustoconical plug  21 . The reservoir  40  has an open end  41  and a closed end  43 . Open end  41  of the reservoir  40  has a frustoconical socket  45 . The frustoconical plug  21  of the cap assembly  20  is sized to sealingly engage with the frustoconical socket  45  of the reservoir  40 . In particular, the male frustoconical surface  34  of frustoconical plug  21  sealing bears against the female frustoconical surface  44  of socket  45  of reservoir  40 . 
     Frustoconical plug  21  of the cap assembly has a stem  28  projecting axially from the frustoconical plug end  22 . A cosmetic applicator  23  is mounted to the stem  28 . The applicator may be mounted to the stem  28  by any number of means as are known in the art, such as by interfitting parts, gluing, melting. Preferably, the stem  28  is provided with a bore  36  in the stem  28 , with bore  36  being open at one free end  38  of the stem  28 . 
     The cosmetic applicator may be a twisted wire containing short bristles to form twisted wire brush assembly as shown at  25  in FIG. 2, or it may be a soft applicator such as a foam cosmetic applicator, or a hard applicator such as a stylus or a comb, or a fine brush such as a nail polish brush, or another type of applicator as is known in the industry. 
     A reservoir insert  60  is fitted inside the reservoir  40  below the frustoconical socket  45 . Reservoir insert  60  has a wiping orifice  64  sized and shaped to wipe the cosmetic applicator. Reservoir insert  60  can be held in place in reservoir  40  by different methods. For example, reservoir insert  60  in one embodiment can be held in place by an interference fit. Another embodiment of the invention will utilize a mounting rim  66  that snap fits into an annular channel in the inner walls of reservoir  40 . Other embodiments of reservoir insert  60  will be held in place by adhesives or other retaining structures or combinations of the foregoing methods of holding reservoir insert  60  in reservoir  40 . Preferably, the reservoir insert  60  snap fits in the reservoir  40 , and preferably is retained in the reservoir  40  by a mounting rim  66  at an upper end thereof. Mounting rim  66  snap fits into an annular lip or channel  47  extending around an inner surface of the reservoir  40 . The distal end of reservoir insert  60  has orifice  64  whose dimensional size is calibrated to control the amount of product that goes on mascara brush  25 . Therefore, orifice  64  functions as a wiper for the package brush  25  and changing the dimensions of orifice  64  will either remove more product or less product from package brush  25 . Consequently, multiple package designs can be realized utilizing the same cap  20  and stem  28  and reservoir  40  but using different brushes  25  and reservoir inserts  60  of different sizes of orifice  64 . Reservoir insert  60  preferably has a cylindrical upper section  61  and a tapering or frustoconical lower section  62 . The tapering section has a small amount of give or flex to allow the cosmetic applicator to be closely wiped. 
     Plug end  22  of frustoconical plug  21  sealingly seats against the upper end  68  of the reservoir insert  60 . The sealing fit of the plug end  22  of frustoconical plug  21  against the upper end  68  of the reservoir insert  60  provides a secondary sealing of the cap  20  to the reservoir  40 . 
     The travel of the male frustoconical surface  34  of frustoconical plug  21  into the female frustoconical surface  44  is preferably controlled by a stop. The stop can have any form. For example, the stop can be realized by the compression of the frustoconical surfaces, i.e., the male surface will travel into the female surface no further than the compressibility of the material from which they are formed. An alternative stop design is for cap  20  to have a shoulder  26  which bears against the end  42  of reservoir  40 . This bearing of shoulder  26  against the end  42  of reservoir  40  also provides a secondary sealing of the cap  20  to the reservoir  40 . 
     As noted above, the reservoir insert  60  (shown in FIG. 6) also may serve as a stop that controls the seal seating of the frustoconical surfaces. In this embodiment, the plug end  22  of cap  20  stops against the upper end  68  of insert  60 . 
     The frustoconical plug  21  and the frustoconical socket  45  of the reservoir  40  are preferably provided with mating screw threads to secure the reservoir  40  together with the cap assembly  20 . However, other mating male and female retaining structures could be used, such as threads/threads recesses, snap-ring/snap-ring recess, snap-tabs/snap-tab recess, snap-ridges/snap-ridges recess and the like. 
     It is not important which side carries the male or female retaining structure as long as the final cosmetic package assembly has a complete set of matched male/female retaining structures. In the preferred embodiment these retaining structures are mating male threads (as shown in FIG. 2) and female thread channels  46  (as shown in FIG.  7 ). Threads are found on the frustoconical surface  34  of cap  20  and the matched set of thread recesses  46  are found on reservoir  40 . 
     The ability to create this sealed joint between cap  20  and reservoir  40  is a major advantage for the manufacturer because now the manufacturer does not have to add gasketing material and/or o-rings, other sealing means, for example, in order to insure a fluid tight seal in package assembly  10  as are needed in present package assembly designs. This means the manufacturer can reduce the number of parts in package assembly  10 , which translates to a more cost efficient design. 
     The present mascara sample reduces the number of parts and manufacturing steps and is cost efficient to manufacture. 
     In addition, the mascara sampler of the present invention allows use of a standard package that can be adapted to different mascara formulations. In the embodiment of the present invention shown in the Figures, package stem  28  is a standard size that fits bore  36  of cap  20 . Since the cap  20 , reservoir  40 , and component parts such as the package stem  28  and bore  36  are standardized, the number of package designs that can be fabricated using a single cap  20  design is increased and therefore the cost to manufacture multiple package designs is reduced. The only changes that are necessary to accommodate different mascara formulations are changes to the brush  25  design and/or the wiper orifice  64  of reservoir insert  60 . 
     It should also be understood that the invention has been described for use with cosmetic packages for the sake of convenience only and is not intended to be limiting. Also, although the invention has been described with reference to a particular arrangement of parts, features and the like, these are not intended to exhaust all possible arrangements or features, and indeed many other modifications and variations will be ascertainable to those skilled in the art.