Brush applicator for a liquid container

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to a brush applicator, more particularly to a brush applicator that is adapted to be installed on a liquid container.

2. Description of the Related Art

A considerable number of brush applicators designed for use on a liquid container have been disclosed. The manufacture of such conventional brush applicators is a cumbersome, labor-intensive process due to the large number of components requiring assembly. Furthermore, a liquid discharging portion of the conventional brush applicator is made of a metal material, which can easily injure a user\'s lips during an application process.

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a brush applicator for a liquid container that can overcome the aforesaid drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the present invention, the brush applicator is adapted to be mounted to the liquid container, and includes a brush unit, a hollow holding member, and a liquid discharging member. The brush unit includes a bristle-mounting seat and a plurality of bristles mounted on the bristle-mounting seat. The liquid discharging member is in the form of a single piece and includes a base portion adapted to be received in the liquid container, and a tubular portion extending from the base portion through the bristle-mounting seat into the bristles. The liquid discharging member defines a fluid path extending through the base portion and the tubular portion. The hollow holding member is sleeved fittingly on the bristle-mounting seat and the base portion, and has a constricted open end for extension of the bristles therethrough.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, the preferred embodiment of a brush applicator 10 according to this invention is mounted to a liquid container 4, and is enclosed by a cap 5 that is removable from the liquid container 4. Because the feature of the present invention does not reside in the specific configuration of the liquid container 4 and the cap 5, the present invention should not be limited to the particular configurations of the liquid container 4 and the cap 5 disclosed herein.

The brush applicator 10 includes a brush unit 7, a liquid discharging member 6 and a hollow holding member 8. The brush unit 7 includes a bristle-mounting seat 71 and a plurality of bristles 72 mounted on the bristle-mounting seat 71. The liquid discharging member 6 is in the form of a single piece, and includes a base portion 61 adapted to be received in the liquid container 4, and a tubular portion 62 extending from the base portion 61 through the bristle-mounting seat 71 into the bristles 72. The liquid discharging member 6 defines a fluid path 65 extending through the base portion 61 and the tubular portion 62. The hollow holding member 8 is sleeved fittingly on the bristle-mounting seat 71 and the tubular portion 62, and has a constricted open end for extension of the bristles 72 therethrough. The bristle-mounting seat 71 is sleeved on the base portion 61 of the liquid discharging member 6 and abuts against an upper surface 63 of the base portion 61. The liquid discharging member 6 is fabricated from a plastic material. Moreover, the liquid discharging member 6 further includes a flange 64 extending radially outward from a lower end of the base portion 61. The hollow holding member 8 has a lower end abuts against the flange 64. The hollow holding member 8 further includes a limiting member 82 that extends radially inward from an inner surface of the hollow holding member 8. The bristle-mounting seat 71 having a bottom surface abuts against the limiting member 82.

To assemble the brush applicator 10, the brush unit 7 is first sleeved onto the liquid discharging member 6. That is, the bristle-mounting seat 71 is sleeved on the tubular portion 62 and is slid downward until the bristle-mounting seat 71 is disposed on the upper surface 63 of the base portion 61. As a result, the tubular portion 62 is centrally buried inside the bristles 72. Thereafter, the hollow holding member 8 is sleeved over the bristles 72 and is further directed downward until the bristle-mounting seat 71 is pushed to move past the limiting member 82 and abuts against an upper surface of the limiting member 82 of the hollow holding member 8. Consequently, the hollow holding member 8 is disposed on the flange 64 of the liquid discharging member 6 to thereby integrally secure the liquid discharging member 6 and the brush body 7. The hollow holding member 8 surrounds the bristles 72 in a tightly bundled manner such that the bristles 72 protrude outwardly beyond the constricted open end of the hollow holding member 8 in a constricted state.