(en)A cosmetics brush and a method for manufacturing the same. The cosmetics brush includes a rod; a ferrule formed at an end of the rod; a bundle of fibers folded in the middle and inserted in the ferrule; and a fixing piece inserted in the folding of the fiber bundle with both ends engaged with the inner side of the ferrule. The method includes the steps of: feeding raw fiber; cutting the raw fiber; placing the cut raw fiber on a guide; feeding and fixing a rod formed with a ferrule contacting the guide; feeding a fixing piece; inserting the fixing piece with a pushing piece into the middle portion of the fiber bundle to fold and insert the bundle into the ferrule; and cutting and finishing the fibers of the bundle exposed out of the ferrule.

1.ApplicationNumber: US-201414564389-A
1.PublishNumber: US-2015313344-A1
2.Date Publish: 20151105
3.Inventor: KIM ELIZABETH H.

4.Inventor Harmonized: KIM ELIZABETH H(US)

5.Country: US
6.Claims:
(en)A cosmetics brush and a method for manufacturing the same. The cosmetics brush includes a rod; a ferrule formed at an end of the rod; a bundle of fibers folded in the middle and inserted in the ferrule; and a fixing piece inserted in the folding of the fiber bundle with both ends engaged with the inner side of the ferrule. The method includes the steps of: feeding raw fiber; cutting the raw fiber; placing the cut raw fiber on a guide; feeding and fixing a rod formed with a ferrule contacting the guide; feeding a fixing piece; inserting the fixing piece with a pushing piece into the middle portion of the fiber bundle to fold and insert the bundle into the ferrule; and cutting and finishing the fibers of the bundle exposed out of the ferrule.

7.Description:
(en)CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority of Korean Application No. 10-2013-0120788 filed Oct. 10, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a cosmetics brush and the manufacturing method therefore. The method for manufacturing the cosmetic brush in accordance with the present invention provides a cosmetics brush which can apply cosmetics uniformly over a wide area by a bundle of fibers folded in the middle by a fixing piece that is inserted in the ferrule provided at the end of a brush handle, in addition to improved productivity of the brush.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
A general form of cosmetics brushes used for applying such cosmetics as rouge, lip gloss, mascara, eye liner, and manicure comprises a brush handle holding a bundle of fibers and a cap at an end of the handle, screw-coupled to a cosmetics container, so that the fiber bundle is stored inside of the cosmetics container for good portability, being dipped in the cosmetics, and can be used to apply cosmetics adhered to the bristles by simply detaching the cap.
Since a cosmetics brush of this formation has a bundle of fibers, inserted in an end of the handle, formed in a cylindrical shape, and a cap screw-coupled to the cosmetics container, the fiber bundle is twisted in the cosmetics when rotated together with the cap by the resistance of the liquid cosmetics usually having a higher viscosity. Further, if the fiber bundle is formed in a cylindrical shape, it has a weak force of restitution and difficult to return to its proper shape and apply the cosmetics uniformly, resulting in inconvenience of the user.
In addition, it is important for making-ups using cosmetics brushes to apply cosmetics at a constant thickness and width, however, the fiber bundles having a cylindrical shape are disadvantageous for applying cosmetics at a constant thickness and width even though they are not twisted.
In a cosmetics brush devised to solve the above mentioned problems, a fiber bundle is cut and formed into a flat shape and the cut portion is fixed to a brush handle by thermal fusion. However, this type of cosmetics brush is manufactured by manual processes resulting in relatively lower productivity and irregularity in the shape due to higher deviation in the number of the fibers in the bundle.
Further disadvantage includes detachment of the fiber bundle from the handle while in use.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Technical Object of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention is to improve durability and productivity of cosmetics brushes by preventing the bristles folded and inserted in the handles from being separated. Another aspect of the present invention is to form the bristles in a constant, flat shape by reducing the deviation in the number of the bristles so that the brushes can apply cosmetics by a constant thickness and width.
Means for Achieving the Technical Object
The cosmetics brush A in accordance with the present invention is characterized by being comprised of: a rod 10 of the brush A; a ferrule 11 provided at an end of the rod 10 ; a bundle of fibers 20 folded at the middle and inserted in the ferrule 11 ; and a fixing piece 30 inserted in the middle of the folded fiber bundle 20 with both side ends are latched on the inner side of the ferrule 11 .
In addition, the ferrule 11 is characterized by compressing the fiber bundle 20 folded and inserted in the ferrule by being formed with a compressing protrusion 12 .
In addition, the rod 10 is engaged with a container cap 40 formed with a coupling guide 41 , and the ferrule 11 is provided with a bundle insertion groove 111 formed from an end towards the inside of the ferrule, wherein the bundle insertion groove 111 is characterized by being formed in a rectangular shape whose transverse width W is greater than the longitudinal width W′.
In addition, the fixing piece 30 is characterized by being formed with a length longer than the transverse with W of the ferrule 11 and inclined insertion guides 31 at its both ends.
In addition, the manufacturing method for a cosmetics brush A in accordance with the present invention is characterized by being comprised of the steps of: feeding raw fibers unwound from a roll to a cutting device (S 100 ); cutting the raw fibers fed into the cutting device with a cutting blade or blades to form the raw fibers into a bundle and place the bundle on a guide (S 200 ); feeding and fixing a rod with a ferrule near the guide at the middle of the cut raw fibers approaching the rod fixing portion (S 300 ); feeding a fixing piece to the guide on the side corresponding with the ferrule of the rod (S 400 ); inserting the fixing piece by compressing the fixing piece with a pushing member so that the fixing piece folds the bundle of the raw fibers at the middle portion and inserts the bundle into the ferrule of the rod (S 500 ); and finishing the raw fibers, when the pushing member has returned to its original position, exposed out of the ferrule on the rod using a finish cutting device (S 600 ).
In addition, the method for manufacturing a cosmetic brush is characterized by being further comprised of a step (S 700 ) of compressing, after the finishing step (S 600 ) of the fiber bundle, the ferrule 11 by pressure punching so that a portion of the ferrule 11 is formed into a compressing protrusion 12 which compresses the bundle of raw fibers 20 .
In addition, the step S 100 of feeding raw fibers is further characterized by employing a plurality of raw fiber rolls, the step S 300 of feeding and fixing the rod is further characterized by the ferrule provided at an end of the rod being formed with an injection molding process into a rectangular shape, and the step S 400 of feeding the fixing piece is further characterized by the fixing piece being cut from a steel sheet into a pin-shape and formed with inclined insertion guides at the cut ends.
Effects of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention can improve the productivity of cosmetic brushes by folding a bundle of raw fibers in the middle and inserting the folded bundle into a ferrule provided at an end of a rod.
In addition, another aspect of the present invention can extend the life cycle of the cosmetics brushes by preventing the bundle of fibers from being separated from the ferrule with the fixing piece inserted in the ferrule and the compression protrusion formed inwards with a portion of the ferrule.
Still another aspect of the present invention can provide cosmetic brushes having flat, broadened, rectangular-shaped fiber bundles so that the brushes can apply cosmetics uniformly over a wide area.



BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a cosmetics brush in accordance with the present invention coupled with a cosmetics container,
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a cosmetics brush in accordance with the present invention separated from a cosmetics container,
FIG. 3 is a perspective, bottom view of a cosmetics brush in accordance with the present invention separated from a cosmetics container,
FIG. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken from line A-A of FIG. 2 ,
FIG. 5 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken from line B-B of FIG. 2 ,
FIG. 6 is a flow chart depicting the process of manufacturing the cosmetics brushes in accordance with the present invention, and
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram explaining the process of manufacturing the cosmetics brushes in accordance with the present invention.



DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
An embodiment of the present invention is described hereinbelow by referring to the accompanying drawings.
The cosmetics brush A in accordance with the present invention can prevent loss of brush fibers and apply cosmetics uniformly over a wide area. As shown in FIGS. 1 to 5 , the cosmetics brush in accordance with the present invention comprises a rod 10 , a ferrule 11 for fibers, a fiber bundle 20 , and a fixing piece 30 . The cosmetics brush is engaged with a cosmetics container R with screw threads with the rod 10 and the fiber bundle 20 stored inside of the cosmetics container R to improve portability and enable application of cosmetics simply by separating the container cap 40 , because the fiber bundle is dipped in and coated with the cosmetics.
According to the present invention, the rod 10 is formed with a plastic resin by injection molding at a length fit to be stored inside of a cosmetics container R and coated with cosmetics in the container. The head portion of the rod is wider to be press-fitted inside of the container cap 40 and the lower portion of the rod is provided with the ferrule 11 which is formed in integration.
The ferrule 11 maintains the fiber bundle 20 in a spread formation, preferably formed in integration with the rod 10 by injection molding and with a fiber bundle insertion groove 111 from the tip of the rod 10 inwardly by a certain depth.
The fiber bundle insertion groove 111 is formed in a rectangular shape whose transverse width W is longer than the longitudinal width W′ so that the shape of the fiber bundle 20 is maintained in a flat, broad form enabling uniform application and reduced consumption of cosmetics.
While the shape of the fiber bundle insertion groove 111 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention is a rectangle, the shape is not limited to a rectangle but also can be a polygonal, a circle, or any other form as appropriate.
The fiber bundle 20 , which is coated with the cosmetics in the cosmetics container R, comprises approximately 1000 filaments of raw fiber 21 , maintained in a spread form, made of polyamide and formed with a diameter of between from about 0.05 to 0.09 mm. More preferably, the number of the raw fibers 21 should be between from about 980 to 1020. This range of raw fibers provides good adhesive property of cosmetics in liquid status, without separation and excellent result or response in make-up tests.
The fiber bundle 20 is folded by the fixing piece 30 at its middle portion, inserted in the ferrule 11 and fixed or bound to the ferrule to prevent the fibers from being separated from the bundle.
Referring to FIG. 7 , to produce the fiber bundle 20 , raw fiber 21 wound on a roll 110 is unwound from the roll, cut at a predetermined length by a cutting blade 220 on the cutting device 210 , and bundled in hundreds of filaments. The steel sheet 430 wound on another steel sheet roll 420 is unwound and cut by a steel sheet cutting device 440 into fixing pieces 30 . A pushing piece 510 pushes the fixing piece to the middle portion of the raw fiber bundle 20 so that the bundle is folded at the middle and inserted into the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 . Then, the ends of the fibers of the bundle 20 exposed out of the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 is finished with a finish cutting device 610 .
The fixing piece 30 folds the fiber bundle 20 at the middle portion and inserts it into the insertion groove 111 of the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 and prevents the bundle 20 from being separated from the ferrule. To this end, both sides of the bundle is latched on the inner side of the groove 111 when inserted in the groove 111 .
The fixing piece 30 , which is made by cutting steel sheet 430 wound on a roll 420 with steel sheet cutting device 440 , is preferably fed automatically in the forward direction of the pushing piece 510 with a feeder which is not shown.
The fixing piece 30 is formed with a length longer than the transverse with W of the ferrule 11 so that the fixing piece 30 cannot be separated from the ferrule 11 by itself. For this, the fixing piece 30 is formed with inclined insertion guides 31 on its both side ends.
The insertion guides 31 of the fixing piece 30 facilitates insertion into the bundle insertion groove 111 and prevents the fiber bundle from being separated in reverse direction because the end of the insertion guide 31 is caught in the inner wall of the bundle insertion groove 111 when engaged in the groove.
While the fixing piece 30 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention has inclined insertion guides 31 on both side ends, the shape of both ends of the fixing piece 30 is not limited to an inclined surface but also can be a rectangular or flat surface.
In this case, both side ends of the fixing piece 30 is engaged in both sides of the bundle insertion groove 111 by nearly a force fitting.
In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, the fiber bundle 20 is folded by a fixing piece 30 at the middle portion and inserted in the ferrule to be prevented from being separated in reverse direction, the constitution does not limit the scope of the present invention, and more preferably, the ferrule is compressed by punching 710 so that an inner part of the ferrule 11 is formed inwardly into a compressing protrusion 12 which compresses the fiber bundle 20 to prevent separation. Here, the compressing protrusion 12 can be formed on one or both sides of the ferrule 11 to be engaged in a zigzag arrangement.
The rod 10 in accordance with the present invention is, in normal condition, coupled with a cosmetics container R containing liquid cosmetics with a container 40 cap formed with screw-threaded coupling guide 41 .
As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 , the raw fiber 21 wound on a roll 110 is unwound and fed to a cutting device 210 in the feeding step S 100 , and the raw fiber 21 fed to the cutting device 210 is cut with a cutting blade 220 , formed into a bundle of fibers 20 and placed on the guide 410 in the raw fiber cutting step S 200 . In the raw fiber feeding step S 100 , the roll 110 on which the raw fiber is wound can be provided in a plural number to allow a plurality of raw fibers cut to form fiber bundles 20 at a high speed.
In the raw fiber cutting step S 200 , the diameter and the number of the raw fibers 21 constituting a fiber bundle 20 are preferably between from about 0.05 mm to 0.09 mm and from 980 to 1020. If the diameter of the raw fiber is less than 0.05 mm, the elasticity of the fiber bundle 20 is insufficient and can be deflected when impregnated with cosmetics, causing difficulty in application of cosmetics. On the other hand, if the diameter of the raw fiber is greater than 0.09 mm, the elasticity of the fiber bundle 20 is sufficient. But the fibers become difficult to be coated with cosmetics and the cosmetics brush cannot apply cosmetics uniformly over a wide area, that is, loss of adhesive property.
In the rod feeding and fixing step S 300 , the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 is fed close to the rod fixing portion 310 , at the middle portion of the guide 410 on which the bundle 20 of the cut war fibers is placed, and the fixing piece 30 is fed to the guide 410 in the direction corresponding with the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 , in the fixing piece feeding step S 400 . In the rod feeding and fixing step S 300 , the rod 10 is preferably formed at an end in integration with the fiber insertion groove 111 , preferably in a rectangular shape, in an injection molding process.
In the fixing piece feeding step S 400 , it is more preferable to cut the fixing piece 30 from steel sheet with a cutting device into a pin-shape formed with inclined, sharp ends on both sides, and the cut ends each are formed with an inclined insertion guide 31 .
In the fixing piece insertion step S 500 , the fixing piece 30 is compressed with a pushing piece 510 so that the fixing piece 30 folds the middle portion of the fiber bundle 20 and inserts the folded bundle into the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 .
In the fiber finishing step 600 , when the pushing piece 510 has returned to its original position, the tips of the bundle of fibers 20 exposed out from the ferrule 11 of the rod 10 are finish cut with a finish cutting device 610 to obtain a cosmetics brush.
In addition, the method for manufacturing a cosmetic brush A is further comprised of a step S 700 of compressing the fiber bundle 20 , after the finishing step S 600 of the raw fibers, wherein a part of the ferrule 11 is formed into a compressing protrusion 12 by punching 710 the ferrule 11 , so that the compressing protrusion 12 can compress the fiber bundle 20 to prevent from being separated from the ferrule. Here, the compressing protrusion 12 can be formed inwardly on one or both sides of the ferrule 11 and can be formed in a plurality.