Abstract:
Here is disclosed a thrust-out type container for a rod-like article such as a lipstick basically comprising a body and a cap. The body has an axis C extending in a vertical direction and comprises, around the axis C and radially outward from the axis C, a movable member, an inner cylindrical tube, an outer cylindrical tube and a control tube in this order. An intermediate cylindrical tube is interposed between the outer cylindrical tube and the control tube. The intermediate cylindrical tube is fixed to the control tube and rotatable around the outer cylindrical tube. An outer peripheral surface of the intermediate cylindrical tube and an inner peripheral surface of the cap come in air-tight contact with each other. The intermediate cylindrical tube extends downward beyond respective lower ends of the inner and outer cylindrical tubes and has a bottom covering the respective lower ends of these tubes.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a thrust-out type container for a rod-like article such as a lipstick.  
           [0002]    [0002]FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a thrust-out type container for a rod-like article disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 2000-300337A. This container  101  comprises an inner cylindrical tube  103  housing a lipstick L so that the lipstick L can move in a vertical direction and a lower covering tube  108  which is integral with a lower outer cylindrical tube  106  formed with a spiral groove  166 . An upper covering tube  109  is interposed between the inner cylindrical tube  103  and the lower covering tube  108 . The upper covering tube  109  is slidably in close contact with an outer peripheral surface of the inner cylindrical tube  103  and fixed to an inner peripheral surface of the lower covering tube  108 . An O-ring  194  is interposed between the lower covering tube  108  and the upper covering tube  109 . Except when the lipstick L is actually used, a cap (not shown) is put on this container  101 .  
           [0003]    With the container of the well known art as has been described above, the entire container can be maintained substantially air-tight state by putting the cap on the lower covering tube having its bottom closed. Theoretically, evaporation of low boiling point ingredients contained in the lipstick can be restrained and thereby a storage stability of the lipstick can be improved. However, in the course of press working or alumite working the lower and upper covering tubes and/or in the course of compressing the upper covering tube into the lower covering tube in the assembling process for the container, the inner surface of the lower covering tube and/or the outer surface of the upper covering tube may be formed with scratches extending in the vertical direction. Evaporation of ingredients contained in the lipstick through such scratches may deteriorate the storage stability of the lipstick. While the O-ring interposed between the lower covering tube and the upper covering tube certainly offers a packing effect between these tubes, it is impossible for the O-ring to block the grooves formed by the scratches. With the lower covering tube presenting a polygonal cross-section in a radial direction, it will be difficult to maintain the upper covering tube in close contact with the inner surface of the lower covering tube at every corner of the polygonal cross-section and thereby to maintain the interior of the lower covering tube in air-tight condition. In this case also, the storage stability of the lipstick is apt to be deteriorated.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    This invention relates to an improvement in the container of the well known art as has been described above and aims to improve a preventive effect of the container against evaporation of the low boiling point ingredients contained in the rod-like article such as a lipstick confined therein.  
           [0005]    According to this invention, by an improvement in a thrust-out type container for a rod-like article having a vertical direction and a radial direction orthogonal to the vertical direction and basically comprising a body adapted to thrust out the rod-like article through an opening formed at its upper end in the vertical direction and a cap adapted to be detachably put on the body from above in the vertical direction, the body comprising, around an axis extending in the vertical direction and radially outward from this axis, a movable member, an inner cylindrical tube, an outer cylindrical tube and a control tube in this order, the movable member being adapted to carry the rod-like article thereon and movable in the vertical direction, the inner cylindrical tube having an opening at its upper end in the vertical direction and lying outside the movable member to receive the movable member so that the movable member can move in the vertical direction and rotate together with the inner cylindrical tube around the axis, the outer cylindrical tube having an opening at its upper end in the vertical direction and lying outside the inner cylindrical tube to receive the inner cylindrical tube so that the inner cylindrical tube can rotate around the axis, the control tube lying outside the outer cylindrical tube and coupled to the inner cylindrical tube below the outer cylindrical tube so that the control tube can rotate around the axis together with the inner cylindrical tube, the body further comprising, between the outer cylindrical tube and the control tube, an intermediate cylindrical tube fixed to a peripheral surface of the control tube, surrounding the outer cylindrical tube and being rotatable around the outer cylindrical tube wherein an outer peripheral surface of the intermediate cylindrical tube and an inner peripheral surface of the cap come in air-tight contact with each other.  
           [0006]    This invention further comprises the intermediate cylindrical tube extending downward beyond respective lower ends of the inner and outer cylindrical tubes and having a closed bottom covering the respective lower ends of these inner and outer cylindrical tubes from below.  
           [0007]    This invention includes preferred embodiments as follow:  
           [0008]    (1) The movable member presents a circular or polygonal cross-section in the radial direction and includes at least one arm extending outward from an outer peripheral surface of the movable member in the radial direction of the movable member, and the inner cylindrical tube has a first upper end as viewed in the vertical direction, a first lower end as viewed in the vertical direction and a first peripheral wall extending between these two ends, the first peripheral wall being formed with at least one guide slit by making a long cut therein in the vertical direction so that the arm of the movable member lying inside the first peripheral wall extends outward and can be guided through the slit in the vertical direction.  
           [0009]    (2) The outer cylindrical tube has a second upper end as viewed in the vertical direction, a second lower end as viewed in the vertical direction and a second peripheral wall extending between these two ends, the second peripheral wall being formed on its inner surface with at least one spiral groove extending between these two ends so as to receive the arm of the movable member slidably along the spiral groove.  
           [0010]    (3) The intermediate cylindrical tube is coupled to the inner cylindrical tube below the outer cylindrical tube so that the intermediate cylindrical tube can rotate together with the inner cylindrical tube.  
           [0011]    (4) A second intermediate cylindrical tube presenting a polygonal cross-section in the radial direction is interposed between the control tube and the intermediate cylindrical tube.  
           [0012]    (5) The control tube presents a polygonal cross-section in the radial direction. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a thrust-out type container according to this invention;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the thrust-out type container;  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 is a side view showing a movable member and an inner cylinder; and  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 5 is a partially cutaway side view showing an example of the conventional thrust-out type container. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0018]    Details of the thrust-out type container for a rod-like article according to this invention will be more fully understood from the description of a lipstick container as one of the typical embodiments given hereunder in reference with the accompanying drawings.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lipstick container  1 . The container  1  is generally shaped in square tube extending in a vertical direction and comprises a body  2  and a cap  3  detachably placed on a top of the body  2 . This cap  3  is illustrated as has been detached. The body  2  is arranged so that a control tube  24  may be rotated in a direction indicated by an arrow P with an outer cylindrical tube  23  held with fingers to thrust a lipstick L out from a top opening  34  of the outer cylindrical tube  23  as indicated by imaginary lines and rotated in a direction opposite to the direction of the arrow P to retract the lipstick L.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the container taken along a line II-II in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the container  1  and FIG. 4 is a side view of a movable member  21  and an inner cylindrical tube  22 . In FIG. 2, the cap  3  is placed on the body  2  and illustration of the lipstick L is eliminated.  
         [0021]    The cap  3  shown in FIG. 2 comprises an outer cap  11  and an inner cap  12  which is tightly inserted into the outer cap  11  from its bottom without any possibility that the inner cap  11  might fall off from the outer cap  11 . A lower end portion  13  of the inner cap  12  is elastically deformable radially of the cap  3  and snap-engageable with a first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  of the body  2 .  
         [0022]    The body  2  shown in FIG. 2 has a central axis C and there are provided, around this central axis C and radially outward from the axis C, the movable member  21  carrying the lipstick thereon (not shown) and being movable in the vertical direction, the inner cylindrical tube  22  lying outside the movable member  21 , the outer cylindrical tube  23  lying outside the inner cylindrical tube  22  and the control tube  24  lying outside the outer cylindrical tube  23  in this order. The first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  is interposed between the outer cylindrical tube  23  and the control tube  24 , a second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  is interposed between the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  and the control tube  24  and a cover member  28  is placed on a top of the control tube  24 . An annular spring  29  normally biasing the outer cylindrical tube  23  upward is interposed between respective lower end portions of the inner cylindrical tube  22  and the outer cylindrical tube  23 .  
         [0023]    Referring to FIG. 3, arrows associated with the respective members indicate a sequence in which the body  2  is assembled. The assembling of the body  2  is carried out in a manner as will be described. The outer cylindrical tube  23  consists of a first outer cylindrical tube  31  and a second outer cylindrical tube  32  which is tightly inserted into the first outer cylindrical tube  31  from its bottom without any possibility that the second outer cylindrical tube  32  might fall off from the first outer cylindrical tube  31 . The second outer cylindrical tube  32  is formed on its inner peripheral surface with a pair of spiral grooves  33  spaced from each other by 180° in a circumferential direction. The outer cylindrical tube  23  assembled in this manner has a top opening  34 , a bottom opening  36  and a peripheral wall  30  extending between these openings  34 ,  36 . The peripheral wall  30  is formed inside with the spiral grooves  33  (See FIG. 2 also).  
         [0024]    The inner cylindrical tube  22  has a front face as shown in FIG. 3 and its left side face as viewed in FIG. 3 is shown in FIG. 4 with the movable member  21 . The inner cylindrical tube  22  has a top opening  37 , a bottom opening  38  and a peripheral wall  39  extending between these openings  37 ,  38 . The top opening  37  is formed along its peripheral edge with an upper flange  41  and the bottom opening  38  is formed along its peripheral edge with a lower flange  42 . The inner cylindrical tube  22  is further provided along its outer peripheral surface with a plurality of projections arranged intermittently in the circumferential direction so as to form upper anti-rotation means  43  and lower anti-rotation means  44  immediately above and below the lower flange  42 , respectively. The peripheral wall  39  is partially cut out to form a pair of guide slits  46 ,  47  extending in the vertical direction and diametrically of the inner cylindrical tube  22  opposed to each other (See FIG. 4). The annular spring  29  is put around the top of the inner cylindrical tube  22 . The annular spring  29  is provided on its inner peripheral surface with a plurality of projections arranged intermittently in the circumferential direction so as to form inner anti-rotation means  49 . The inner anti-rotation means  49  engaged with the upper anti-rotation means  43  of the inner cylindrical tube  22  prevents the annular spring  29  from moving in the circumferential direction of the inner cylindrical tube  22 . The annular spring  29  has a pair of sub-springs  48  which are elastically deformable in the vertical direction as viewed in FIG. 3. The cylindrical movable member  21  is received within the inner cylindrical tube  22 .  
         [0025]    The movable member  21  has a pair of arms  51  lying at a same level in the vertical direction of the member  21  and protruding radially outward from the outer peripheral surface of the member  21  in the opposite direction each other. With the movable member  21  received within the inner cylindrical tube  22 , these two arms  51  extend outward through the associated guide slits  46 ,  47 . The movable member  21  is movable within the inner cylindrical tube  22  in the vertical direction along the respective guide slits  46 ,  47 . However, rotation of the movable member  21  around the center axis C is prevented by the arms  51  coming in contact with edges of the respective guide slits  46 ,  47  extending in the vertical direction. Therefore the movable member  21  is movable around the center axis C together with the inner cylindrical tube. From above, the outer cylindrical tube  23  is put around the inner cylindrical tube  22  having received therein the movable member  21 . With the outer cylindrical tube  23 , the peripheral edge of the bottom opening  36  comes in contact with the annular spring  29  from above and the flange  52  around the top opening  34  bears against the upper flange  41  of the inner cylindrical tube  22  from below being biased upward by the annular spring  29 . The pair of arms  51  of the movable member  21  extending outward through the respective guide slits  46 ,  47  of the inner cylindrical tube  22  are received by the respective spiral grooves  33  of the outer cylindrical tube  23 .  
         [0026]    The inner cylindrical tube  22  around which the outer cylindrical tube  23  has been put has its lower part received within the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26 . The first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  has a peripheral wall  56  and a top opening  56   a.  Below the opening  56   a,  the inner surface of the peripheral wall  56  is depressed so as to raise the outer surface thereof so that an annular groove  56   b  and an annular upper flange  56   e  may be formed on these inner and outer surfaces, respectively. Below the upper flange  56   e,  an annular lower flange  56   d  extends in parallel to the upper flange  56   e.  Lower end of the peripheral wall  56  is provided on its inner surface with a plurality of projections which are convex inward and arranged intermittently in the circumferential direction of the peripheral wall  56  so as to form anti-rotation means  58  and an undercut portion  59  immediately above the anti-rotation means  58  (See FIG. 2). Along the undercut portion  59 , the outer surface of the peripheral wall  56  is annularly depressed inward.  
         [0027]    With the inner cylindrical tube  22  received within the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26 , the inner cylindrical tube  22  can no more move within the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  not only in the vertical direction of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  but also in the circumferential direction thereof. This is for the reason that, as will be apparent from FIG. 2, a bottom of the inner cylindrical tube  22  comes in contact with a bottom  60  of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26 , the lower anti-rotation means  44  of the inner cylindrical tube  22  is engaged with the anti-rotation means  58  of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  and, in addition, the undercut portion  59  formed on the inner peripheral surface of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  overlies the lower flange  42  of the inner cylindrical tube  22 . The bottom  60  of this first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  is closed. The top opening  56   a  of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  has its peripheral edge surrounding the outer cylindrical tube  23 .  
         [0028]    The square control tube  24  has an upper opening  61  and a lower closed bottom  62 . The second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  has a peripheral wall  63 , a polygonal top opening  66  and a closed bottom  67 . With the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  inserted from its bottom  67  into the control tube  24 , a top flange  57  of the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  comes in contact with the top of the control tube  24  and a peripheral edge of the polygonal top opening  66  is pressed against the inner peripheral surface of the control tube  24 . Received within the control tube  24  in this manner, the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  can no more move within the control tube  24  in the vertical direction as well as in the circumferential direction. The cover member  28  is put around the top of the control tube  24  having received therein the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27 . The bottom  62  of the control tube  24  as well as the bottom  67  of the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  may have openings, respectively, instead of being closed as in the illustrated embodiment. It is also possible for the peripheral wall  63  of the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  to have diameter-reduced or circular cross-sectional lower part so that the lower part may be easily inserted into the control tube  24 .  
         [0029]    Into the control tube  24  with the cover member  28  put around the top of the tube  24 , the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  integral with the inner cylindrical tube  22  received within the outer cylindrical tube  23  is inserted with its bottom  60  ahead through an opening  71  of the cover member  28 . The first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  has its peripheral wall  56  tightly put against the inner surface of the polygonal peripheral wall  63  of the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  until the lower flange  56   d  of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  comes in contact with the top of the cover member  28 . In this state, the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  can no more move within the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  not only in the vertical direction but also in the circumferential direction.  
         [0030]    Into the body  2  adapted to be assembled in the manner as has been described above, the lipstick may be incorporated using the method of well known art before the body  2  is assembled or after the body  2  has been assembled. The inner peripheral surface of the elastically deformable lower part  13  of the inner cap  12  bears against the upper flange  56   e  of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  (See FIGS. 2 and 3) as the cap  3  is put on the body  2 . Thereupon, the inner cap  12  and the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  of the container  1  define a practically air-tight space so that low boiling point ingredients of the lipstick confined within this space may be prevented from easily evaporating. When it is desired to incorporate the lipstick in the body  2 , the inner cylindrical tube  22  having the closed bottom  50  as illustrated in FIG. 2 may be replaced by the inner cylindrical tube  22  of which the bottom  50  has an opening.  
         [0031]    When the lipstick is used, the cap  3  is taken off, with the thereby exposed outer cylindrical tube  23  held with fingers, the control tube  24  is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow P in FIGS. 1 and 2. Rotation of the control tube  24  causes the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  integral with this control tube  24  and the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  integral with the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  to rotate in the direction P around the outer cylindrical tube  23 . Simultaneously, the inner cylindrical tube  22  integral with the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  rotates together with the movable member  21  received within the inner cylindrical tube  22  within the outer cylindrical tube  23  in the direction P. The movable member  21  carrying the lipstick moves upward within the inner cylindrical tube  22  as the arms  51  of the movable member  21  move along the spiral grooves  33  of the outer cylindrical tube  23 . In this way, the lipstick is thrust out through the respective openings  37 ,  34  of the inner cylindrical tube  22  and the outer cylindrical tube  23 . In FIG. 2, the movable member  21  lying at a descendent position of the inner cylindrical tube  22  is indicated by solid lines and the movable member  21  lying at an ascendant position of the inner cylindrical tube  22  is indicated by imaginary lines.  
         [0032]    While the body  2  and the cap  3  are shaped in square tubes in the embodiment illustrated, these members  2 ,  3  may be replaced by those shaped in cylindrical tubes. In this case, the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  may be eliminated and the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  may be force fitted to the inner side or the outer side of the control tube  24 . It is also possible to eliminate the cover member  28 . This invention comprises the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  and the cap  3  which are tightly engaged with each other so as to form a sealed space in which the rod-like article is received. So far as such a container can be formed, the inner structure of the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  is not limited to the illustrated embodiment and may be appropriately selected. It is possible to provide the movable member  21  with one or three or more arms  51  and the outer cylindrical tube  23  may be formed with one or three or more spiral grooves  33 . The first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  as well as the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  may be integrally injection molded of plastic so that the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26  may be provided with anti-rotation function for the control tube  24 . It is also possible to mold the first intermediate cylindrical tube  26 , the second intermediate cylindrical tube  27  and the cover member  28  integrally one with another.  
         [0033]    The thrust-out type container for a rod-like article according to this invention has the advantageous effects the intermediate cylindrical tube cooperates with the cap to define the practically air-tight space within which the rod-like article is confined. With this container, evaporation of low boiling point ingredients in the rod-like article is restrained and thereby a storage stability of the rod-like article is improved.