US-12622502-B2 - Applicator to create multiple thin and close lines

US12622502B2US 12622502 B2US12622502 B2US 12622502B2US-12622502-B2

Abstract

An applicator that draws fine lines and dots includes a body sleeve having a shape of an elongated tube, a first drawing tool having a first section within the body sleeve and a first tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the first drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the first drawing tool, a second drawing tool having a second section within the body sleeve and a second tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the second drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the second drawing tool, and the first drawing tool, the second drawing tool, or both first and second drawing tools have a bend to bring the first and second tips closer together.

Inventors

Kyoo Jin Park
William Bickford

Assignees

L'OREAL

Dates

Publication Date: 20260512
Application Date: 20220531

Claims (13)

1 . An applicator that draws fine lines and dots, comprising: a body sleeve having a shape of an elongated tube; an ink cartridge within the body sleeve; a connector having a radial section placed on an end of the body sleeve, a section below the radial section configured to fit on a distal end of the ink cartridge, and first and second apertures extending through the connector, each of the first and second apertures including a portion that is angled radially inward; a first drawing tool having a first section within the body sleeve and a first tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the first drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the first drawing tool and a proximal end of the first drawing tool contacts the ink cartridge, the first drawing tool is made from an absorbent material; and a second drawing tool having a second section within the body sleeve and a second tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the second drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the second drawing tool and a proximal end of the second drawing tool contacts the ink cartridge, the second drawing tool is made from the absorbent material; wherein the first drawing tool extends through the first aperture, the portion of the first aperture that is angled radially inward directing the first tip toward the second tip, the second drawing tool extending through the second aperture, the portion of the second aperture that is angled radially inward directing the second tip toward the first tip, wherein the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool are flexible to allow bending along the length of the first and the second drawing tools, wherein the bend in the first and second drawing tools is located between the distal and proximal ends of the first and second drawing tools; wherein the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool are separated along a lengthwise dimension, wherein a distance between the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool proximally before the bend is greater than a distance between the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool distally after the bend, the tips being arranged non-parallel to each other.
2 . The applicator of claim 1 , further comprising: a third aperture extending through a central portion of the connector between the first and second apertures; and a third drawing tool having a third section within the body sleeve and a third tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the third drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the third drawing tool and a proximal end of the third drawing tool contacts the ink cartridge, the third drawing tool is made from the absorbent material, wherein the third drawing tool is between the first and second drawing tools, and the third drawing tool does not have a bend.
3 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the first, second, and third tips are in a line.
4 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein any two adjacent tips are physically separated from each other by a space not greater than 4 mm or by a space not greater than 2 mm.
5 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the first drawing tool has a bend to bring the first tip closer to the third tip, and the second drawing tool has a bend to bring the second tip closer to the third tip.
6 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the first, second, and third tips extend out from the body sleeve to an equal height.
7 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the first, second, and third drawing tools carry a formulation from the ink cartridge to the first, second, and third tips by capillary action.
8 . The applicator of claim 7 , wherein the formulation is a cosmetic formulation.
9 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the first, second, and third drawing tools have a rod-shaped section extending into the body sleeve and a cone-shaped section for the tip.
10 . The applicator of claim 2 , wherein the first, second, and third drawing tools are aligned in a radial direction.
11 . A method for making an applicator that draws fine lines or dots, comprising: placing a first drawing tool having a first section within a body sleeve with a first tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the first drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the first drawing tool and a proximal end of the first drawing tool contacts an ink cartridge, the first drawing tool is made from an absorbent material; placing a second drawing tool having a second section within the body sleeve and a second tip extending out from the body sleeve, wherein the second drawing tool reduces in size at a distal end of the second drawing tool and a proximal end of the second drawing tool contacts the ink cartridge, the second drawing tool is made from the absorbent material; adding a connector at an end of the body sleeve, the connector having a radial section configured to be placed on the end of the body sleeve, a section below the radial section configured to fit on a distal end of the ink cartridge, first and second apertures extending through the connector, each of the first and second apertures including a portion that is angled radially inward, the first and second apertures receiving the first and second drawing tools, respectively, therethrough, the radially inward angled portions of the first and second apertures guiding the first and second tips toward each other, wherein the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool are separated along a lengthwise dimension, wherein a distance between the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool proximally before the bend is greater than a distance between the first drawing tool and the second drawing tool distally after the bend, the tips being arranged non-parallel to each other.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the bent drawing tools enter the connector on a proximal side of the connector at a first angle and exit a distal side of the connector at a second angle different than the first angle.
13 . A method of applying a cosmetic formulation, comprising: drawing fine lines or dots between or in proximity to eyelashes or eyebrow hairs with the applicator of claim 1 .

Description

SUMMARY In one embodiment, an applicator allows drawing multiple super fine lines or dots. Previous applicators that create multiple lines cannot achieve sharp enough lines and have gaps that too wide. In one embodiment, an applicator solves the problem to create multiple lines at extreme accuracy and sharpness. In one embodiment, the applicator will allow consumers to draw multiple fine lines or dots very close together. There can be two different uses for this type of applicator. One use of the applicator is filling the gap between lashes. This is similar to an eye liner but far more natural. The disclosed applicator creates extremely precise and sharp lines and dots because dots need to be applied at the waterline in between the eye lashes. Therefore, the dots produced are very close together to increase accuracy. A second use can be for creating microblading type effects for brows. Traditional brow microblading products have a single applicator but have issues surrounding the stability of the flow when used on brows, and the lines produced are also not so sharp. According to one embodiment, the problem of creating fine dots and lines is solved by using a connector or other means to gather multiple fine tips closer together, such as gathering the outer tips closer to a center. In one embodiment, the connector has an angled surfaces that will bend the tips as they are inserted and the tips will eventually gather close to a point. This provides a very unique make up effect that existing applicators are not capable of. The result is very subtle yet defined lines which look very natural instead of drawn. In one embodiment, ad tubular applicator housing has a longitudinal axis with a proximal end and a distal end with an angle connector, two or more eyeliner portions extending parallel with the longitudinal axis and passing through the angle connector to bend the eyeliner portions toward a central point. This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter. DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical illustration of an applicator in accordance with one embodiment; FIG. 2 is diagrammatical illustration of a top view of the applicator of FIG. 1; FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical illustration of a cross-sectional view of the applicator of FIG. 1; FIG. 4 is a diagrammatical illustration of a cross-sectional view of the applicator of FIG. 1; and FIG. 5 is a diagrammatical illustration of an exploded view of the applicator of FIG. 1. DETAILED DESCRIPTION FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical illustration of an applicator 100 for creating fine lines and dots, such as for applying cosmetics, but has other uses in applications where manually creating fine lines and dots is needed. The applicator 100 is described in the context of applying cosmetics, such as eye liner, but the applicator may be used for applying ink for writing instruments or paints for free-hand drafting and drawing instruments. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, in one embodiment, the applicator 100 includes a body sleeve 110 including an ink cartridge 112. The body sleeve 110 is capped at the top end by a drawing tool connector 102. The connector 102 in configured to hold two or more drawing tools. In the illustrated embodiment, three drawing tools 104, 106, and 108 are shown. The drawing tools 104, 106, and 108 are used for drawing fine lines or dots by applying liquid formulations, such as cosmetics, by transferring the liquid formulation from the cartridge 112 to the drawing tools 104, 106, and 108. In one embodiment, drawing tools 104, 106, and 108 carry liquid formulation through capillary action. In one embodiment, drawing tools 104, 106, and 108 are made from material suited to transfer a liquid formulation by capillary action. In one embodiment, the drawing tools 104, 106, and 108 are made from compressed felt fibers. The felt fibers can be any natural or synthetic fibers. Similarly, the cartridge 112 can also be formed from an absorbent material, such as felt fibers. In any case, the cartridge transfer formulation to the drawing tools 104, 106, and 108. Although representative examples describe a felt drawing tool, the disclosure can be applied to other drawing tools including rolling ball pens that have a small metal tip connected to a plastic tube, a dip pen having a tip with capillary channels, flexible graphite pencils, and the like. In one embodiment, the drawing tools 104, 106, and 108 have a flexible body The drawin