CONTAINER FOR DEPILATORY COMPOSITION

Abstract

The object of the invention is a compact container (10) with a double wall (14), intended to receive a depilatory composition (12) intended to be brought to the temperature of use by heating in a microwave oven, characterised in that it comprises a lid (16) provided with at least one access opening (20) to said depilatory composition (12), with the lid closed.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is related to French patent application Ser. No. 09/50181 filed Jan. 14, 2009 and takes priority therefrom.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a container for a depilatory composition in particular intended to be raised to the temperature of use by heating in a microwave oven.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Various depilation techniques exist. In particular depilation by means of a depilatory composition is known, normally referred to as hot depilatory wax, which is applied directly to the skin with removal by peeling, with or without related support strip.

The well-known principle thus makes it possible to trap the hairs in the adhesive matrix of the depilatory composition once cooled. Manual removal by peeling off the strip formed by the adhesive matrix provides the pulling away of the hairs thus trapped.

Depilatory compositions are generally stored in solid or semi-solid form in compact containers made from metal or plastic materials. These depilatory compositions must be heated rapidly and in a practical fashion to a suitable temperature before being applied in the molten state to the area to be depilated.

Since microwave ovens have become very widespread, because of the very great speed of heating of some dipolar materials, this domestic electrical appliance has appeared to be a particularly suitable means for heating up such depilatory compositions formulated for this purpose.

With the known containers, when these solid or semi-solid compositions are heated, critical disparities in melting are found. Thus, in order to make this composition useable at this stage it is necessary to be able to homogenise the entire mass of the composition by mixing until a semi-fluid paste is obtained, homogeneous in texture and temperature.

This problem of homogeneous heating is posed throughout the useable life of the depilatory composition, including during the very first use of the composition when the volume of depilatory composition is large, during reheating phases that may prove to be necessary when the depilatory composition cools too rapidly, or during reuse of the depilatory composition remaining in the receptacle during subsequent use.

Another constraint is being able to maintain the depilatory composition at its desired temperature as long as possible and in an optimum fashion throughout its use so that reheating this composition once again does not become necessary. Thus, beyond making the heating of the composition secure, it is desirable to seek to increase the period during which the depilatory composition remains useable.

This duration of use is defined by the range in which the depilatory composition remains at an acceptable temperature and to keep a fluid paste texture compatible with its homogeneous, easy and painless application in a thin layer using a spatula or any suitable applicator in order to be able to trap the hairs to be pulled away and to allow the production of continuous thin bands, homogeneous and able to be pulled away in a single movement.

Currently the period of use, within the meaning defined above and to give an order of magnitude, is 10 minutes for 400 g containers according to the prior art.

Another major drawback of the depilatory composition containers of the microwaveable hot wax type relates to the possibility of overheating during the heating of the composition with microwaves. The walls of these containers have the potential to become quite hot, the overheating of the container, just like the contents, being difficult to detect.

The present invention aims to mitigate the drawbacks of the prior art by proposing a container for a depilatory composition intended to be brought to the temperature of use by heating in a microwave oven, which meets the many constraints mentioned in the preamble.

For this purpose, an object of the invention is a compact container for a depilatory composition intended to be brought to the temperature of use by heating in a microwave oven, comprising a lid provided with at least one opening for access to the depilatory composition, a closed lid and/or a double wall on at least part of its body.

Compact container means a container having a height, width and depth with close dimensions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is now described in detail with regard to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 depicts a cross section of a container according to the invention;

FIG. 2 depicts a perspective view of a container according to the invention, open; and

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of a container according to the invention, closed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The invention therefore relates to a compact container 10 for a depilatory composition 12 intended to be brought to the temperature of use by heating in a microwave oven, comprising a double wall 14 over at least part of its body.

The container can be produced from any material preferentially from heat-resistant material, especially from plastic materials adapted to the working temperature of around 50° to 80° C. but able to resist extreme temperatures of 150° to 200° C. in the event of faulty handling and overheating.

To this end, the container may have an internal wall having a resistance to temperature less than that of the external wall, which will ensure the confinement of the wax in the event of failure of the internal wall.

The container may be in any compact form. Preferably the container according to the invention has a parallelepiped shape, and is compact, that is to say substantially cube-shaped, as depicted in FIGS. 2 and 3.

Preferentially, the container according to the invention has, in the corners, fillets so as to be able to recover almost all the depilatory composition with a spatula.

According to a non-limitative embodiment, the container 10 comprises a lid 16 that makes it possible to close said container 10 for the storage and heating of the depilatory composition 12.

The lid 16 may be attached to the container 10 by a hinge 18, for example, made from plastic materials preferentially, but could also be clipped or screwed.

In a preferred embodiment, the cover 16 comprises at least one opening 20. This opening in the cover is of limited dimensions, in this case a preferential form of this opening is a slot. This slot 20 should have a dimension adapted to be able to make a spatula 26 pass through, such as a spatula normally used for applying depilatory compositions.

In a preferred embodiment, a dimensional and geometrical arrangement of the spatula and a positioning of the said slot in the lid is provided so that the lid can be opened leaving the spatula immersed in the depilatory composition.

According to a preferred embodiment, the container 10 comprises means 24 of receiving a spatula 26 intended for the application of the depilatory composition 12. These reception means 24 serve to store the spatula 26 before use.

The container according to the invention allows easy and rapid use of the depilatory composition.

A user wishing to perform a depilation with a depilatory composition package in a container according to the invention should firstly, before any heating, open the lid 16 of the container 10 and recover the spatula 26 disposed at the reception means 24. Of course, if the spatula is supplied separately, this operation is unnecessary.

The user then recloses the lid 16 and inserts the container 10, the lid 16 being closed, in a microwave oven for a period of between 1 and 5 minutes with a power of 1000 W, for example.

After heating, the user recovers the container 10 from the microwave oven and inserts the spatula 26 in the composition 12 through the slot 20, without opening the lid 16. Once the user has checked the state of melting of the depilatory composition, the user opens the lid 16 and proceeds with confidence to mix the composition in order to make it perfectly homogeneous. The user then proceeds with the depilation operations.

Advantageously, the container according to the invention makes it possible to heat the depilatory composition that it contains, in a rapid, effective and homogeneous manner.

In addition, the walls of the container do not heat up when the composition is heated in the microwave oven, so that the user can easily grip it with confidence.

According to another advantage, the container, when it is designed with a double wall, makes it possible to keep the depilatory composition at the temperature of use for a long period, normally without proceeding with a further heating.

Likewise, the user, after heating the container in the microwave oven, can check the temperature of the depilatory composition by dipping a spatula in the composition without opening the lid.

According to a particularly adapted embodiment, the depilatory composition packaged in the container according to the invention is a composition comprising:

a. at least one base compound allowing adhesion to the hairs,

b. at least one rheology-regulating compound, and

c. at least one microwave-absorbing compound, in particular a hyperbranched or dendritic polymer.

The association of the container according to the invention with this specific composition makes it possible to obtain extremely satisfactory results in terms of speed of heating, homogeneity and duration of use.

The invention, therefore, consists of providing a single-wall container with a lid having at least one opening in order to allow the introduction of a spatula or any other equivalent element without opening said lid, thus making it possible to test the depilatory composition.

Next, the lid is removable, hinged, screwed or a tight fit, in order to allow access to the depilatory composition and allow firstly homogenisation and secondly use.

Particularly advantageously, the container is equipped with a double wall that, apart from the well known maintenance of temperature, fulfils a function of double confinement.

Claims

1. A compact container (10) with a wall (14) intended to receive a depilatory composition (12) intended to be brought to the temperature of use by heating in a microwave oven, characterised in that comprises a lid (16) provided with at least one access opening (20) to said depilatory composition (12), with the lid closed.

2. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to claim 1, characterised in that the wall (14) is a double wall.

3. A compact container (10) for an depilatory composition (12) according to claim 2, characterised in that at least one access opening (20) to said composition provided in the lid (16) is a slot.

4. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to claim 1, 2 or 3, characterised in that the lid (16) is connected to the container by a hinge (18).

5. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it has a compact parallelepipedal shape.

6. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to claim 5, characterised in that it has fillets in the corner.

7. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it is produced from plastics material resistant to the heating temperature of the depilatory composition.

8. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to one of the preceding claims, characterised in that it comprises means (24) of receiving a spatula (26) intended for the application of the depilatory composition (12).

9. A compact container (10) for a depilatory composition (12) according to any one of the preceding claims, characterised in that said depilatory composition (12) comprises:

a. at least one base compound allowing adhesion to the hairs,

b. at least one rheology-regulating compound, and

c. at least one microwave-absorbing compound.

10. A compact container according to claim 9, characterised in that the microwave absorber is a hyperbranched or dendritic polymer.