Abstract:
Containers are disclosed for holding and dispensing cosmetic products. Exemplary containers have a bottom portion, a first and second sifter, and a removable cover having a protrusion. The first sifter may have at least one sifting hole for sifting materials with a powder-like consistency. The second sifter may be rotatably engaged with the first sifter and may also have at least one sifting hole. The second sifter may rotate with the rotation of the cover, such that when the cover is rotated into a closed position the second sifter is rotated in relation to the first sifter to offset the holes in the first sifter and the holes in the second sifter. When the cover is rotated into an open position the second sifter is rotated in relation to the first sifter to align the holes in the first sifter with the holes in the second sifter.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Cosmetic materials such as those used for cosmetic foundation are typically provided as a compacted or a loose powder. Loose materials, including loose powder, are becoming more common due in part to the fact that loose material provides improved coverage of the material on a surface. The loose material may be provided in a container with a perforated surface or sifter so that the powder is shaken out of the perforations and the powder can be applied onto an applicator This configuration is problematic in that the loose material has a tendency to move up through the perforations during handling and/or jostling of the container, such as the movements associated with carrying the container in a handbag, pocket, or purse. The loose material may deposit above the perforated surface and/or on the cap and may at least partially spill out when the container is opened. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0002]    This disclosure relates to containers usable for holding and dispensing, among other things, powdered or powder-like cosmetics products. Containers are disclosed that have a bottom portion, a first sifter, a second sifter and a removable cover having a protrusion. The first sifter may be engaged with the bottom portion and may have at least one sifting hole for sifting materials with a powder-like consistency. A generally L-shaped opening may extend along a circumferential surface of the first sifter for receiving the protrusion. A second sifter may be rotatably engaged with the first sifter and may have at least one sifting hole. The second sifter may have an opening for aligning with a portion of the generally L-shaped opening and accepting the protrusion. When the cover is rotated, the protrusion extending into the openings in the first and second sifters may travel along the generally L-shaped opening to secure the cover to the first sifter. The second sifter may rotate with the rotation of the cover, such that when the cover is rotated into a closed position the second sifter is rotated in relation to the first sifter to offset the holes in the first sifter and the holes in the second sifter. When the cover is rotated into an open position the second sifter is rotated in relation to the first sifter to align the holes in the first sifter with the holes in the second sifter. 
         [0003]    A process of filling containers having a rotating sifter from the bottom of the container is also disclosed. The method may include providing a container with a top portion, an open bottom portion, a rotating sifter mechanism engaged with the top portion, a cover for enclosing the top portion, and a bottom cap for enclosing the open bottom portion. The rotating sifter mechanism may be engaged with the top portion. The cover may be engaged with the rotating sifter mechanism. The container may then be positioned so that the open bottom portion faces toward a filling mechanism. Material may be supplied from the filling mechanism to the open bottom portion. The bottom cap may then be affixed to the open bottom portion to enclose the material within the container. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0004]      FIG. 1  shows an exploded view of a container having a rotating sifter, according to one exemplary implementation. 
           [0005]      FIG. 2  shows an elevational view of the container of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0006]      FIG. 3  shows a top plan view of the container of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0007]      FIG. 4A  shows a cross-sectional view of the container of  FIG. 1 , taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0008]      FIG. 4B  shows a cross-sectional view of the container of  FIG. 1 , taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3  and in which an elastomer layer is sandwiched between the first and second sifters. 
           [0009]      FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of the underside of the cover for the rotating sifter of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 6  is an exploded view of a container according to another exemplary implementation, having a rotating sifter mechanism including a first sifter and a second sifter, the first sifter having openings along its circumference that correspond to openings in a bottom portion of the container. 
           [0011]      FIG. 7  shows a cross-sectional view of the container of  FIG. 6 . 
           [0012]      FIG. 8  is an exploded view of a container according to another exemplary implementation, having a rotating sifter mechanism including a first sifter and a second sifter, the first sifter being integral with a bottom portion of the container, and a bottom cap for enclosing the bottom portion of the container 
           [0013]      FIG. 9  shows a cross-sectional view of the container of  FIG. 8 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0014]    Containers having rotating sifter mechanisms will now be described with reference to the figures. While the disclosure is described in the context of sifters for powdered cosmetics products, they may be useful for other powdered or powder-like products, such as baby powder, foot powder, medicinal powders, and the like. 
         [0015]      FIGS. 1-5  show a container  110  comprising a cover  112  and a bottom portion  114 . As shown in  FIG. 1 , the container may be provided with a first sifter  116  engaged with the bottom portion  114 . A second sifter  118  may be engaged with the first sifter  116 . The first sifter  116  may have one or more holes  117  for sifting loose material, such as facial powder, makeup, or the like stored within a cavity  132  in the bottom portion  114 . The second sifter  118  may have one or more holes  119 , which may be capable of aligning with the holes  117  in the first sifter  116 . Thus, a user may access the powder by at least slightly inverting the container  110  to sift the loose material through the holes  117  and  119 . 
         [0016]    The container  110  may be provided with a mechanism to rotate the second sifter  118  in relation to the first sifter  116  so that the sifters  116  and  118  are aligned when the container  110  is “open” to allow a user to access the powder. When the container  110  is “closed,” the sifters  116  and  118  are moved out of alignment, which prevents powder from traveling from the bottom portion  114  through the sifters  116  and  118 . In order to rotate the sifter  116  while opening or closing the container  110 , the first sifter  116  may have one or more generally L-shaped openings  120  extending along its circumference. The second sifter  18  may have one or more openings  122  for aligning with a portion of the generally L-shaped opening extending along the circumference of the first sifter  116 . The cover  112  may have one or more protrusions  124 , shown in  FIG. 5  that extend into the openings  120  and  122  in the first and second sifters  116  and  118 . The one or more protrusions  124  may travel in the generally L-shaped openings  120  during a rotation of the cover to close the container. The protrusions  124  may engage with openings  122  thus rotating the second sifter  118  with the rotation of the cover  112 . 
         [0017]    The generally L-shaped openings  120  may have a downwardly sloped portion  126  along the circumference of the first sifter. The cover  112  moves toward or away from the bottom portion  114  of the container  110  as the protrusion  124  is moved along the generally sloped portion  126  of the L-shaped opening  120 . For example, according to the configuration shown in  FIG. 1 , as the cover  112  is rotated in a clockwise motion, the protrusions  124  may travel down the sloped portion  126 , by virtue of the force applied by the user and by gravity, to guide the cap downward relative to the bottom portion  114  and position the cover  112  for tightly closing and sealing the container  110 . As the cover  112  is rotated in a counter-clockwise motion, the cover  112  is separated from the bottom portion  114  by virtue of the protrusions  124  traveling upward along the sloped portion  126 . Openings  122  in the second sifter  118  may also be provided with downwardly sloping portions  128  to correspond to or align with the sloped portion  126  of the opening  120 . 
         [0018]    The first sifter  116  may be secured or fixed to the bottom portion  114  by friction, glue, threaded engagement, or other suitable means. As shown in  FIG. 1 , ribs  115  or other contoured features may additionally provide a surface for maintaining the first sifter  16  in the bottom portion  114 . The first sifter  116  may be positioned to create a loose material holding area  132  as illustrated in  FIG. 4 . 
         [0019]    The second sifter  118  may be secured to the first sifter  116  by friction or other suitable means. Additionally or alternatively, one or more ribs  134  on the first sifter  116  may be configured to engage with one or more grooves  136  in the second sifter  118 . Groove  136  may be a circular groove along the outer circumference of second sifter  118 . The second sifter  118  may also have a rim portion  123  that extends around a portion of the first sifter  116 . Openings  122  may be positioned along the rim portion  123 . The protrusions  124  may be configured to be inwardly projecting from cover  112  to pass through openings  122  and extend to openings  120 , thus securing cover  112  directly to the first and second sifters  116  and  118 . 
         [0020]    The second sifter  118  may have a concave or sloped surface  138  on the side of the second sifter  118  facing away from the first sifter  116 , i.e., the surface facing upward from the bottom portion  114 . This surface  138  may assist in directing powder or other material into the one or more holes  119  and, thus, into loose material holding area  132 . This concave or sloped surface  138  may reduce the amount of powder or other material above the second sifter  118  when the container  110  is held in an upright position, such as when a user is preparing to close the container  110 . Reducing the amount of powder above the second sifter  118  and maintaining the holes  117  and  119  in an offset configuration while the cover is closed may reduce the amount of powder that may be spilled while the container  110  is closed or when the container  110  is initially opened. The cover  112  may have a sealing layer  140  engaged with the cover  112  for pressing or touching the second sifter  118  to further prevent the unintentional spillage of powder from container  110 . 
         [0021]    As shown in  FIG. 4B , the second sifter  118  may be provided with an elastomeric layer  121 , which may be a co-molded thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). The elastomeric layer  121  may be formed on the side of the second sifter  118  facing the first sifter  116  and may deform and seal any gap between the first sifter  116  and the second sifter  118 , particularly in the vicinity of the holes  117  and  119 . The elastomeric layer  121  may alternatively be provided on the first sifter  118  on the side facing the second sifter  118 . 
         [0022]    Bottom portion  114 , first sifter  116 , second sifter  118 , and cover  112  may be constructed of polypropylene or other suitable material and may be molded or formed according to other conventional methods. The sealing layer  140  may be waxed paperboard, Teflon, or other suitable material. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 6 and 7  show an alternative implementation to the rotating sifter shown in  FIGS. 1-5 . More particularly,  FIGS. 6 and 7  show a container  210  comprising a cover  212  and a bottom portion  214 . Similar to the configuration shown in  FIG. 1 , the container  210  may be provided with a first sifter  216  engaged with the bottom portion  214  and a second sifter  218  engaged with the first sifter  216 . The second sifter  218  may rotate with the rotation of the cover  212  due to the engagement with protrusions  224 . However, in the embodiment shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 , the bottom portion  214  may be provided with one or more generally L-shaped openings  221  that are aligned with the L-shaped openings  220  in the first sifter  216 . Thus, the one or more protrusions  224  may travel in the generally L-shaped openings  220  and  221  and the openings  222  during a rotation of the cover  212 , to secure the cover  212  to the first sifter  216 , the second sifter  218 , and the bottom portion  214 . 
         [0024]    The first sifter  216  may be press fit, friction fit, threadedly engaged, or otherwise secured the bottom portion  214  with openings  220  aligned with openings  221 . The second sifter  218  may be secured to the first sifter  216  by one or more ribs  234  on the first sifter  216  configured to engage with one or more grooves  236  in the second sifter  218 . Groove  236  may be a circular groove along the outer circumference of second sifter  218 . Rib  236  may be a circular rib along the inner circumference of first sifter  216 . 
         [0025]      FIGS. 8 and 9  show a variation of the container shown in  FIGS. 1-5 , in which the first sifter and bottom portion are integral and the bottom portion has a bottom cap. More particularly, container  310  has a bottom portion  14 a with a container wall portion  314  and an integral sifter  316 . Bottom cap  14   b  allows a user to load powder into the bottom portion  14   a  of the container after assembling the container  310  by a process of inverting the container, filling the bottom portion  14   a  with powder, and affixing bottom cap  14   b . The bottom cap  14   b  may be engaged with the bottom portion  14   a  by friction, glue, threaded engagement, and/or other suitable engagement means. Ribs  15  may assist in maintaining the engagement of bottom cap  14   b  with bottom portion  14   a . These variations of the bottom cap and the integral bottom portion and sifter may also be implemented in the embodiments shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
         [0026]    Container  310  may be filled with powder according to a bottom filling process. Container  310  may be assembled by engaging the second sifter  18  with the bottom portion  14   a . The cover may be engaged with the openings  20  and  22  such that the cover  12  is in the closed position. The user may then position the container so that the open bottom portion faces toward a filling mechanism. The filling mechanism may supply material, such as facial powder, to the open bottom portion. The bottom cap  14   b  may then be secured to the bottom portion  14   a  to complete the filling process and enclose the material within the container. 
         [0027]    It is noted that the first sifter need not be integral with bottom portion for the bottom filling process. Instead the bottom sifter may be configured as a distinct component, such as the first sifter  116  shown in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0028]    Although details of specific implementations and embodiments are described above, such details are intended to satisfy statutory disclosure obligations rather than to limit the scope of the following claims. Thus, the claims are not limited to the specific features described above.