Simple lip balm applicator
A simple applicator for a stick product, such as lip balm, includes a plastic hollow dome component with an open top and closed bottom and a main body component with closed side walls defining a hollow interior space, an open top, and an open bottom. Cooperating detachable fasteners releasably connect the components together. A flip top lid has a living hinge connection to the main body component to close its open top. A hollow interior space of the main body has a larger volume than that of the dome. There is sufficient stick product in the interior space so that after the stick product in the dome is depleted the applicator can be exposed to external energy, such as from a conventional microwave oven, to cause the stick product in the interior space to become fluid and flow into and refill the dome with stick product.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/392,964 filed Jun. 16, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein.
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARYIn PCT/IB2015/053286 (also U.S. Ser. No. 15/330,500 and Published Application 2017/0007003 published Jan. 12, 2017) a novel applicator for semi-solid materials (stick products), such as lip balm, is disclosed which has many advantages over conventional lip balm applicators, or the like. However, there are some circumstances when a simpler and less expensive applicator is desirable, and according to the present invention such an applicator is provided, as well as a method of filling and performing a refilling operation using the applicator.
According to one aspect of the invention, the applicator is preferably molded from plastic as two components, a main body component, and a dome component.
The dome component is desirably substantially circular in cross-section, has a hollow interior, has closed sides (typically formed by a continuous curved sidewall), a closed bottom, and an open top. The periphery of the top is defined by external screw threads or a similar fastening mechanism.
The main body component comprises a one-piece hollow container (also preferably substantially circular in cross-section) defining an interior space with an open bottom, open top, and closed sidewalls (typically a continuous curved sidewall). At the open bottom internal screw threads, or a similar fastening mechanism, are provided which cooperate with the external screw threads on the dome.
Unlike other simple applicators, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,667, the open top of the main body component is closed by a flip top lid, which has a pivot connection, preferably a living hinge, to the main body component. The flip top lid insures that the lid is not misplaced, has advantages in the manufacture of the applicator, and provides other benefits. There is at least one pair, and preferably a plurality of (e. g. three) pairs, of locking elements in the form of a tab, and a recess, to releasably hold the flip top lid in a closed position. Alternatively the lid can be permanently fixed in place after filling of the main body component.
The flip top lid is moved to an open position to allow semi-solid material (stick product) in a highly flowable form to flow into the main body component, and to contact the interior surface of the dome. The semi-solid material (e. g. lip balm) then cools/hardens/cures into place within the dome and main body component, and the flip top lid is closed once the semi-solid material has cooled/hardened/cured in place within the dome and main body component.
According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a semi-solid material applicator comprising: A plastic hollow dome component with an open top, closed curved sidewall, and closed bottom. A plastic main body component with closed side walls defining a hollow interior space, an open top, and an open bottom, the hollow interior space having a volume at least as large as the volume of the dome component. Cooperating detachable fasteners provided on the main body component and the dome component for releasably connecting the components together. And wherein the dome component interior and the main body component interior space are substantially filled with a stick product, such as lip balm.
According to yet another aspect of the invention there is provided a method of performing a re-filling operation of the applicator which is initially filled with a reservoir of semi-solid material within the main component interior space. The reservoir is a significant amount (preferably at least the volume of the applicator dome) of the semi-solid material that does not fill the dome when the applicator is initially filled. In this method, the applicator is placed in a position so that the dome is on the bottom, then the applicator is subjected to external energy so that the reservoir of semi-solid material becomes readily flowable and substantially fills the applicator dome without the applicator itself being adversely affected. Finally, the applicator is allowed to rest so that the semi-solid material re-hardens. The method is preferably practiced so that the semi-solid material (stick product) is lip balm, and/or so that the external energy supplied is microwave radiation from a conventional residential microwave oven or the like.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an advantageous simple applicator for a semi-solid material/stick product (such as lip balm), and a method of filling the applicator so that the ultimate user may functionally re-fill the applicator by her/his self in her/his home environment. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from a detailed description of the invention, and from the appended claims.
The main body component of an exemplary applicator 10 according to the invention is shown generally by reference numeral 11 in
The flip top lid 13 may be held in the closed position of
As yet another alternative, instead of the tabs 16 and recesses 18 the lid can be sealed in place once the interior of the main body 11 has been filled with semi-solid material. Sealing can be by ultrasonic or laser welding, adhesive, or any other suitable conventional technique.
The main body component 11 comprises a one-piece hollow container (preferably substantially circular in cross-section as readily seen in
Located near the open bottom 22 of the main body 11—as seen in
The dome component 12 of the applicator 10 made be molded of a durable high temperature resistant transparent thermoplastic material, such as styrene acrylonitrile (SAN). As seen in
While screw threads 26, 28 are the preferred cooperating structures for releasably fastening the components 11, 12 together, other conventional fastening elements may be utilized, such as bayonet couplings and press-fit, snap-fit, or interference-fit, components. Also, alternatively, the screw threads 28 may be internal and the cooperating screw threads 26 external.
In the method of filling the applicator 10, as indicated schematically by box 42 in
As the flowable semi-solid material cools or otherwise hardens or cures, it does not adhere to the interior sidewall 34 of the dome 12, but rather extends exteriorly of and upwardly from the main body 11 when the dome 12 is unscrewed, as illustrated by reference character S in
According to the method of
As schematically illustrated by box 44 in
One desirable way that this “re-filling” operation of box 46 may be practiced, particularly when the semi-solid material is lip balm, the dome 28 is of SAN, and the main body 11 of polypropylene, is to place the applicator 10 in a conventional residential microwave oven, with the dome 12 on the bottom. Then the microwave is operated at a relatively low power, for a short time (e. g. middle level power for 45-90 seconds). This causes the lip balm to flow into the dome 12, with a sufficient amount provided so as to envelope the struts 30, to reform, after cooling, to substantially the configuration S in
While the use of a residential microwave oven is ideal for this situation, other external energy sources could be used, depending upon the particular semi-solid material, and the material of construction of the dome 12 and component 11, including sound, light (e. g. laser), and magnetic energy.
Once the material S has been reformed as illustrated in
That is, according to the method schematically illustrated in
For the purposes of the method, the lid 13 of the type illustrated in the drawings can be replaced by the bistable base cap of said Published U S Application 2017/0007033, or any other suitable type of closure, and the term “lid” in the method is intended to encompass all such structures.
While it desirable that the interior space 21 be of sufficient volume for only one “re-fill” of the applicator 10, under some circumstances the main body 11 may be elongated so that the interior space 21 is sufficient to hold a reservoir of stick product sufficient for two, or even more, “re-fills,” in which case the procedures in boxes 44, 46, 48 & 50 will be repeated more than once. Any suitable material, preferably a plastic, may be used for the components 11, 28; and any suitable semi-solid material/stick product, such as skin balm, lip gloss, lipstick, lip balm, blush, deodorant, or other cosmetic materials, may be provided as the material S.
While the invention has been herein shown and described in a practical and preferred embodiment thereof, it is to be understood that the invention should be given the broadest interpretation of the appended claims consistent with the prior art to encompass all equivalent structures and methods.
Claims
1. A semi-solid material applicator comprising:
- a plastic hollow dome component with an open top, closed curved sidewall, and closed bottom;
- a plastic main body component with closed side walls defining a hollow interior space, an open top, and an open bottom;
- cooperating detachable fasteners provided on said main body component and said dome component for releasably connecting said components together; and
- a flip top lid having a pivotal connection to said main body component and integrally molded therewith for movement between an open position uncovering the open top of said hollow interior space, and a closed position covering the open top of said hollow interior space.
2. An applicator as recited in claim 1 wherein said pivotal connection comprises a living hinge.
3. An applicator as recited in claim 1 further comprising at least one set of locking tabs and recesses formed on and in said main body adjacent said open top thereof, and said flip top lid periphery, for holding said main body and flip top lid together in said closed position.
4. An applicator as recited in claim 3 wherein said pivotal connection comprises a living hinge.
5. An applicator as recited in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of struts in said interior space adjacent said open bottom of said main body component which help hold a cooled/cured/hardened semi-solid material mass to the interior of said main body component and extending outwardly from said main body component when said dome component is detached from said main body component.
6. An applicator as recited in claim 5 wherein said hollow interior space has a volume at least as large as the volume of said dome component.
7. An applicator as recited in claim 1 wherein said cooperating detachable fasteners are cooperating screw threads.
8. An applicator as recited in claim 1 wherein said dome is made of SAN, and wherein said main body component and said flip top lid are integrally molded of polypropylene.
9. An applicator as recited in claim 1 wherein said hollow interior space has a volume at least as large as the volume of said dome component.
10. An applicator as recited in claim 2 wherein said hollow interior space has a volume at least as large as the volume of said dome component.
11. An applicator as recited in claim 9 wherein said closed bottom of said dome component has a flattened portion so that said dome component may be supported by a flat surface with said main body component extending upwardly therefrom.
12. An applicator as recited in claim 11 wherein said dome component interior and said main body component interior space are substantially filled with a stick product selected from the group consisting essentially of lip balm, lip gloss, lipstick, skin balm, blush, and deodorant.
13. A semi-solid material applicator comprising:
- a plastic hollow dome component with an open top, closed curved sidewall, and closed bottom;
- a plastic main body component with closed side walls defining a hollow interior space, an open top, and an open bottom, said hollow interior space having a volume at least as large as the volume of said dome component;
- cooperating detachable fasteners provided on said main body component and said dome component for releasably connecting said components together; and
- wherein said dome component interior and said main body component interior space are substantially filled with a stick product.
14. An applicator as recited in claim 13 wherein said stick product is selected from the group consisting essentially of lip balm, lip gloss, lipstick, skin balm, blush, and deodorant.
15. An applicator as recited in claim 13 wherein said closed bottom of said dome component has a flattened portion so that said dome component may be supported by a flat surface with said main body component extending upwardly therefrom.
16. A method of performing filling and re-filling operations of a semi-solid material applicator, the applicator having a main body component having an open top closeable by a lid and an open interior space, and a hollow dome component releasably connected to the main body component, and wherein the volume of the main body component is at least as large as the volume of the dome component, said method comprising:
- a) introducing stick product in readily flowable form through the open top of the main body component into the open interior space and the hollow dome component so as to substantially fill the open interior space and hollow dome component, then closing the open top of the main body component using the lid;
- b) allowing the stick product to cool/cure/harden in the main body and dome components;
- c) after significant depletion of the stick product in the dome component orienting the applicator so that the dome component is below the main body component;
- d) applying external energy to the stick product in the open interior space so that it flows from the open interior space into the hollow dome component to re-fill the dome component; and
- e) allowing the stick product to cool/cure/harden in the dome component so that it is ready for use.
17. A method as recited in claim 16 wherein d) is practiced by supplying microwave radiation from a conventional residential microwave oven as the external energy.
18. A method as recited in claim 17 wherein the main body component has a plurality of struts adjacent the open bottom thereof which help hold stick product in the applicator; and wherein d) is practiced so that the flowing stick product substantially completely envelopes the struts.
19. A method as recited in claim 17 wherein a)-e) are practiced using as the stick product a material selected from the group consisting essentially of lip balm, lip gloss, lipstick, skin balm, blush, and deodorant.
20. A method as recited in claim 16 wherein the applicator lid is pivotally connected to the main body component, and wherein a) is practiced in part by pivoting the lid into a closed position with respect to the main body component and substantially permanently affixing the lid in the closed position.
Type: Application
Filed: May 31, 2017
Publication Date: Dec 6, 2018
Inventor: Ken Paquet (North York)
Application Number: 15/731,349