Applicator for tampons
DC CAFC
First Claim
Patent Images
1. An applicator for a tampon, comprising:
- an outer cylinder including forward and rearward ends, a first portion for fitting the tampon therein formed on a side of the forward end, and a second portion formed on a side of the rearward end and having a smaller diameter than that of said first portion, a push-out member movably inserted into said second portion of said outer cylinder, and a plurality of valves provided with the forward end of said outer cylinder, each valve being converged to have a curved face portion to be diametrically gradually reduced and define a leading end, wherein a ratio of a radius of an outer face at an inflection point of a boundary between a maximum diameter portion of said first diameter portion and said curved face portion to an axial length of the outer face from the inflection point to the leading end of said curved face portion is at most 0.8; and
wherein a ratio of a length of said valves to a width of root ends of said valves is 1.0 to 2.0.
1 Assignment
Litigations
1 Petition
Accused Products
Abstract
Provided is an applicator for a tampon including an outer cylinder having a large diameter portion for fitting a tampon therein, a small diameter portion provided on the side of a rear end of the outer cylinder and having a smaller diameter than that of the large diameter portion; and a plurality of valves provided on the side of a leading end of the outer cylinder. The valves are converged to have a curved face portion to be diametrically gradually reduced toward the leading end of the outer cylinder, and a push-out member is movably inserted into the small diameter portion of the outer cylinder. A ratio A/B is at most 0.8, when an inflection point for the boundary between the maximum diameter portion of the large diameter portion and the curved face portion is designated by Z, a radius of the outer face at the inflection point Z is designated by A, and the axial length from the inflection point Z to the leading end of the curved face portion is designated by B. A ratio L/W is within a range of 1.0 to 2.0, when the width size of root ends of the valves is designated by W and the length of the valves is designated by L.
59 Citations
6 Claims
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1. An applicator for a tampon, comprising:
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an outer cylinder including forward and rearward ends, a first portion for fitting the tampon therein formed on a side of the forward end, and a second portion formed on a side of the rearward end and having a smaller diameter than that of said first portion, a push-out member movably inserted into said second portion of said outer cylinder, and a plurality of valves provided with the forward end of said outer cylinder, each valve being converged to have a curved face portion to be diametrically gradually reduced and define a leading end, wherein a ratio of a radius of an outer face at an inflection point of a boundary between a maximum diameter portion of said first diameter portion and said curved face portion to an axial length of the outer face from the inflection point to the leading end of said curved face portion is at most 0.8; and
wherein a ratio of a length of said valves to a width of root ends of said valves is 1.0 to 2.0. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
wherein the root ends of said valves are located substantially at the inflection point. -
3. An applicator for a tampon as set forth in claim 1,
wherein said curved face portion has two curvature radii, and one curvature radius at the leading ends of said curved face portions is smaller than the other curvature radius at the root ends of said valves. -
4. An applicator for a tampon as set forth in claim 3,
wherein an axial length of said valves having a smaller curvature radius is one half or less than the axial length of the outer face from the inflection point to the leading end of said curved face portion.
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5. An applicator for a tampon, comprising:
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an outer cylinder including forward and rearward ends, a first portion for fitting a tampon therein formed on a side of the forward end, and a second portion formed on a side of the rearward end and having a reduced diameter relative to said first portion, a push-out member movably inserted into said second portion of said outer cylinder, and a plurality of valves provided with the forward end of said outer cylinder, each having a root end, a curved face portion to be diametrically gradually reduced, a leading end, a first inflection point at the root end of said valve and a second inflection point adjacent to the leading end of said valves, a curvature radius for said first inflection point being larger than a curvature radius for said second inflection point, wherein a ratio of a radius of an outer radius at said first inflection point to an axial length of said curved face from said first inflection point to the leading end of said curved face portion is at most 0.8; and
wherein a ratio of a length of said valves to a width of said root ends of said valves is 1.0 to 2.0.
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6. An applicator for a tampon comprising:
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an outer cylinder made of a thermoplastic resin and including forward and rearward ends, a first portion for accommodating the tampon therein formed on a side of the forward end, and a second portion formed on a side of the rearward end and having a reduced diameter relative to said first portion;
a push-out member movably inserted into said second portion of said outer cylinder;
a plurality of valves provided with the forward end of said outer cylinder, each valve being converged to have a curved face portion to be diametrically gradually reduced and define a leading end;
wherein a ratio of an outer radius at an inflection point of a boundary between a maximum diameter portion of said first portion and said curved face portion to an axial length of said curved face portion from the inflection point to the leading end of said curved face portion is at most 0.8; and
wherein a ratio of a length of said valves to a width of root ends of said valves is 1.0 to 2.0.
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Specification
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Litigation Data
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Current AssigneeUnicharm Corporation
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Original AssigneeUnicharm Corporation
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InventorsSuga, Ayami, Wada, Mitsuhiro
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Primary Examiner(s)Ruhl, Dennis
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Application NumberUS09/708,843Time in Patent Office643 DaysField of Search604/11-18, 604/904, 604/57-60, 604/285-288, 604/311US Class Current604/15CPC Class CodesA61F 13/26 Means for inserting tampons...
