CA1330331C

CA1330331C - Process for producing cosmetic cards packed with powdery solid cosmetics

Info

Publication number: CA1330331C
Application number: CA000567906A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Yumio Tanaka; Toshinobu Nozue
Original assignee: CHANSON COSMETIC INC.
Current assignee: CHANSON COSMETIC Inc
Priority date: 1987-05-28
Filing date: 1988-05-27
Publication date: 1994-06-21
Anticipated expiration: 2011-06-21
Also published as: GB8812829D0; GB2205744A; GB2205744B; AU1635188A; KR880013546A; FR2615708B1; IT1215718B; IT8819091A0; ES2006955A6; KR960013566B1; AU615442B2; FR2615708A1; JPS63294805A; DE3800382A1

Abstract

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE

Cosmetic sheets packed with solid cosmetics are produced by providing a sheet of card-like synthetic high polymer or a metal, having a plurality of recesses, each of 0.1 mm to 3 mm depth, mixing together a powdered cosmetic material with 10% to 30%
by weight of binders, mixing in a volatile solvent to cause the mixture to be in a fluidised state, substantially filling the recesses with the fluidised mixture and evaporating the solvent to dryness. The process of the invention enables one to produce very thin cosmetic cards packed with powdered cosmetic material.

Description

Background oE the Invention: ~33331 Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a process for producing very thin cosmetic cards, without any pressing operation, on which powdery solid cosmetics are placed in prearranged cavities.

Description of the Related Art:
So far, cosmetics as merchandise have mostly been offered in a solid form which is packingly placed in the inside of a hollow vessel.
The packing of cosmetics in said vessels has commonly been performed by mixing and agitating the cosmetics with a binder and by compactly packing the`
mixture into the vessel, followed by applying pressure onto the mixture.
So far known vessels for packing with cosmetics have been prepared to contain the cosmetics usually to a thickness of 3 to 5 mm or more. A thinner container ~ ~
carrying a thinner layer of cosmetics in their cavities ~;;- ;
(designated hereinafter as cosmetic card) did not appear excluding in exceptional cases.
Thus, a cosmetic card as commercial article in which a cosmetic is placed in a very shallow cavity did not appear previously. The reason is that that kind of articles were demanded scarcely but more basically the previous pressing operation was not sufficiently useful to produce said product 50 as to afford at least necessary - ~ 330~3~

qualities to the cosmetic.
More particularly, when the cosmetic card which is packed with solid cosmetic is prepared by the conventional pressing process, strength of the solid is decreased with the decrease of thickness of the solid layer. The pressing treatment does not suffice to give an appropriate strength to the solid. Further, the pressing is also difficult to apply if the thin and broad layer of the cosmetic is sufficiently levelled before the pressing. For illustration, if a certain cosmetic placed in a cavity on a cosmetic card is so pressed as to produce such a degree of hardness (or rather softness) that allows ordinary application of a puff, a cosmetic tip or a brush, the layer of the cosmetic material might be readily broken while being used or carried. On the contrary, if the cosmetic material is pressed to such a hardness as not to be broken while being carried, the resulting cosmetic layer will be too hard to apply a puff, tip and brush. In either case, the cosmetic is prepared unappropriately to the practical use. The amount of the binder may be increased to dissolve the problem of peeling and breakage of the cosmetic material from the vessel. But, on the other hand, an increased amount of binder will result in increased hardness, which in turn causes difficulty in treating the cosmetic with a puff and also in applying it to facial skin.
As long as the pressing process is applied, a layer of cosmetic prepared in a very shallow cavity i ~ ~ v ~ 3 1 of a card-like container is not for the practical use except for some exceptional cases.
Make-up cosmetics composed of eye-shadow, cheek rouge, foundation and others in a single case are nowadays available in variety. These materials assume almost 20 to 30 times of repeated uses for each color. They are prepared by the pressing process, but there has occurred no particular problem because of their relatively long and abundant application.
However, recent trend of demanders is of a manifold character and requires rather frequent changes.
Most customers desire to hold a variety of such cosmeticZs, ;~
sometimes wish to purchase small quantities of the cosmetics of so-called adventurous colors which are only . .
unusually used. These demands of users cannot be met ~ ~ ;
by the previous cosmetic prepared by the conventional -pressing process in which each cosmetic article is supposed to be used 20 to 30 times. More probably, customers may be discouraged from buying such cosmetics on account of their prices or the articles purchased may be abandoned after a few repeated uses.

Summary of the Invention:
The present invention has been made from the scope mentioned above. It aims at substantially providing a card-shaped container of cosmetics which holds a relatively small amount of the cosmetic and permits the cosmetics to be carried for use.

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Another object of the present invention is to provide a process in which said cosmetic card can be readily prepared.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a process for producing cosmetic cards which are suitable for color samples of cosmetics.
Formerly, color samples of cosmetics were prepared either by printing on paper to show the tone of color or from commercial products themselves, and consumers were requested to respond with respect to their color.
These preparations of color samples required a high cost in the former and evoked psychological hesitation ~
in the latter with which a plurality of people used a ~-single and same sample. In this connection, however, the mentioned cosmetic cards provided by the present invention which can be consumed in a few uses will completely solve the above-mentioned problem. The -~
cosmetic samples which the present invention can produce as of a small quantity and of a light weight in the form of a card permit themselves to be delivered and distributed rather freely, for instance in the form of a direct mail.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above drawbacks and to produce very thin cosmetic cards packed with powdery solid cosmetics.
In accordance with the invention, there is provided a process for producing cosmetic sheets packed with solid cosmetics, comprising providing a sheet of card-like thickness, constructed from a material selected from the group consisting of synthetic high polymers and metals, having a plurality of recesses, each of 0.1 mm to 3 mm depth, mixing together a powdered cosmetic material with 3~ to 50%
by weight of binders, mixing in a volatile solvent to cause the mixture to be in a fluidised state;

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substantially filling the recesses with the fluidised mixture and evaporating the solvent to dryness.
The card-like vessel above which provides cavities for accommodating the cosmetic material, as suggested from its usage, should be formed preferably in the form of as thin and flat plate as possible. In addition, since the cavities are supposed to ~
accommodate cosmetics containing volatile solvents, --materials such as paper, cloths and unwoven tissues `
are not suitable to form the cards. Suitable `
materials from which the cards are made generally -`~
include synthetic high polymers such as polyethylene, - vinyl chloride, polystyrene, polypropylene, ABS, acryl and polyamide, polyethyleneterephthalate, polyacetal, -15 polycarbonate, melamine, fluorine, urea and epoxy -~
resins; or metals such as aluminum, copper, iron, stainless steel and brass, and composite materials thereof. Particularly those card-like vessels which are prepared by attaching a framework made of a synthetic resin and having one or more penetrating openings onto a metal plate by means of adhering or melting are favorably employed to produce the products of this invention in a large scale~ inasmuch as these products can hold sufficient mechanical strength and do not require any further treating operation such as cutting.
Furthermore, preferred for the sake of convenience is the acrylic plate of which one side is 1~3~31 plated with aluminum by the adhesion by vacuum evaporation to produce a resinous mirror and is cut to form cavities to fill cosmetics.
According to the process of the present invention, the cosmetic in a cavity shrinks on drying to a half of the original depth. This defect is improved as follows. A synthetic resinous frame with an opening fitted to the cavity is placed on a card with the opening opposite to the cavity, and an appropriate amount of cosmetic is placed. This is thoroughly dried. The frame is removed to obtain a levelled surface. This method of applying cosmetics permits the cosmetic cards to be made further thinner, if a certain amount of cosmetic is to be contained in the cavity.
The cosmetics to which the present invention is applied may be any cosmetic so long as it is of a usually employed powdery solid. It may be one for eye-shadow, cheek rouge, or foundation, and not restricted by its use. The cosmetic itself may be composed from powders of common usage in the field of cosmetic industry, irrespective of hydrophilic or water repellent. The materials include, for example, fillers such as talc, kaolin, mica and sericite; white pigments such as titanium oxide; iron oxide of red, yellow and black colors, ultramarine, prussian blue, chromic pigments organic pigments (such as D & C Red No. 30, Phthalocyanine Blue, Ext D & C Yellow No. S and others), pearl pigments such as titanium-mica pearl, titanium-mica-organic pigment -~-. . , : : , ' . ' ~ , ~33~331 pearl, titanium-mica-iron oxide pearl and titanium-mica-prussian blue pearl; organic powders such as nylon powder, acrylic powder, silicone powder and polyethylene powder, and those ones which are produced by treating the above-mentioned powders with silicones -(methyl hydrogen polysiloxane, for example), metallic soaps and amino acids (such as acyl glutamic acid) to endow the water repellent property.
The binders to be mixed to the cosmetics of this invention may be anyone which is usually employed in the field of cosmetic industry. They include hydrocarbons such as liquid paraffin, squalane, vaseline, microcrystal wax and ceresine; higher fatty acids such as stearic, oleic, palmitic and myristic acids; higher alcohols such as cetyl, oleyl and stearyl alcohols; esters such as isopropylpalmitate, isopropylmyristate, 2-octyldodecylmyristate; glycerides such as monostearic, 2-ethylhexanetriglyceride and coconut oil aliphatic acid triglyceride; silicone oils such as dimethyl polysiloxane and phenyl-methyl polysiloxane; surfactants such as sorbitan sesquioleate, polyoxyethylene cetylether, polyoxyethylene oleylether phosphoric acid and diglycerol monolaurate; and natural oils and fats such as lanolin, lecithin, bees wax and batyl alcohol.
These binders are added in an amount of 3 to 50~, preferably 10 to 30%, by weight of cosmetics. When the binder is added in an amount less than 3% by weight, the mixture LS more apt to be peeled from the vessel and ~ 33~331 broken and, on the other hand, when it is used in an amount more than 50~ by weight, it becomes difficult to take the cosmetic out of the card using puffs, tips and brushes.
The volatile solvents to be used in the present invention for the purpose of achieving better packing of the cosmetics into the cavities on the card-like vessel may be any of ordinary volatile solvants. Particularly preferred among them are ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, hydrocarbons having a boiling point between 100 and 200C
approximately, silicone oils of boiling points between 100 and 200C approximately, cyclic silicones and water, but hydrocarbons of the boiling points between 150 to 200C
approximately and tetramers of cyclic silicone are more `
preferred because of their speed of evaporation, inflammability, viscosity, dissolution capability and their odor.
Suitable viscosity of solvent is about 0.5 to 10 cs to give an adequate fluidity to the cosmetics.
A viscosity higher than 10 makes it difficult to pack a cavity with the cosmetic and to obtain a levelled sur~ace.
On the other hand, when the viscosity is lowered by adding more solvent, it takes more time before being dried, results in a worse working condition and a less net amount of the dried cosmetic, though the packing and levelling become easier. Considering these effects, a viscosity less than 200 cs and use of a solvent in a 0.5 to 3 times as much amount as cosmetic are mostly recommended.

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In this invention the depth o~ cavities which are packed wi~h cosmetics are made to about 0.1 to 3 mm, because a thickness of dried solid cosmetics of approximately 0.01 to 1.5 mm is desired. If the thickness exceeds 1.5 mm, the solid cosmetics are more fragile against breaking force, while a thickness less than 0.01 mm does not contain a necessary minimum amount of the cosmetic material. On the other hand, if the opening area of cavities is too large, the solid cosmetic may be less resistive against breakage. Thus, an area less than 50, preferably 30, cm is recommended.
The solid cosmetics prepared by the process of this invention, as they are in cavities, exhibit suitable resistance against breakage and excellent properties as cosmetic, as is experimentally shown in Examples to be described later. The reason is that the solid cosmetics packing the cavities hold more empty spaces, hence smaller density, than those prepared by the pressing process. Therefore, they are better transferred to puffs and brushes and spread better over skins uniformly. The fluidized cosmetic flows well into small cavities, and is believed to result in getting wet mutually with the inside wall of the cavities, increasing the adhesion force. According to the present invention again, a thicker layer of a cosmetic material has an inclination to reduce the resistance against breaking force, and this is presumably due to the weaker adhesive capability of the cosmetic particles to each other, owing ~3~3:~

to the low density (usually 1 : 0.7 to 0.5). Also from this point, the above-described depth is approved of the cavities on the cosmetic cards which are produced by the process of the present invention.
In the present invention, the drying operation which is carried out after cavities on card-like vessel are packed with the fluidized cosmetics may be performed in accordance with commonly employed drying operations.
However, use of a far infrared ceramic heater is particularly preferable in the effectiveness and anti-explosive nature.

Brief Explanation of the Drawings:
Fig. 1 is a flow chart demonstrating the procedure of the process which the present invention proposes.
Fig. 2 is a slant view of the card-like vessel employed in this invention.
Figs. 3(a), 3(b) and 3(c) show the cross sections of Fig. 2 along the lines A - A, B - B and C - C, respectively. ....r Fig. 4 is a magnification of the cavity for cosmetic on a card-like vessel.

Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments:
In the following, the present invention will be described on the basis of the embodiments thereof with reference to the accompanying drawings.

- 133~31 Fig. 1 is a flow sheet of operations according to which this invention is executed. Actually in this invention, first predetermined cosmetics are prepared.
Raw material powders and a binder are mixed and agitated, transferred to a crashing machine such as hammer mill to get homogenized. A volatile solvent in an amount necessary and sufficient for fluidi~ation is added and mixed. The mixture is then poured into cavity 2 on the card-like vessel 1 in Fig. 2, until it fills up the cavity, and dried by removing the solvent either at room temperature or by heating, to obtain products of the cosmetic cards.
Concerning the above statement, the amounts of cosmetics per a single application are usually 5 t`o 20 mg of eye-shadow, 10 to 25 mg of cheek rouge and 150 to 300 mg of foundation. In this example, amounts of cosmetics appropriate to 2 or 3 times of application were supposed, and vessels for cosmetics shown in Fig. 2 were prepared of aluminum and plastics~ In Fig. 2, the card-like vessel 1 has a thickness of l mm, depth of the cavities is 0.7 mm, and the areas of the cavities for foundation 2, cheek rouge 3 and eye-shadow 4 are about 30, 2 and 1.5 cm , respectively.

Embodiment 1 The cosmetic for foundation of the composition described below in an amount of 100 parts by weight was mixed with 200 parts by weight of a volatile solvent ~33~33~
(cyclic sillcone, a tetramer). Cavity 2 on a card-like vessel 1 of aluminum was packed with the above mixture which was then dried with a far infrared ceramic heater for 15 min. at the ambient temperature 80C.
The depth or thickness of the cosmetic for foundation in the cavity 2 was varied as described in Table 1, and the dropping test was conducted for each sample. Results are also included in Table 1. Criterion for the dropping test is usually 5 or so. In the present tests, those samples having a less than 1.5 mm thickness met the criterion (see Table 1). When the area of cavity was reduced to 1.5 cm2, the same tests for the drop resistance proved better results (see Table 2). The test for resistance against breakage was conducted by dropping the card-like vessel repeatedly from a height of 50 cm onto a glass plate and the number of repetitions at which the sample cosmetic was broken was noted.

tParts are expressed by weight) Red iron oxide 0.~ part Yellow iron oxide 0.1 part Black iron oxide 2.0 parts Silicone treated titanium oxide 10.0 parts Silicone treated sericite20.0 parts Silicone treated talc 27.5 paxts Amino acid treated mica 15.0 parts Nylon powder 5.0 parts Zinc stearate 2.0 parts Sorbitan sesquioleate 1.0 part Liquid paraffin 5.0 parts .

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Microcrystalline wax 0.5 part Monostearic acid glyceride1~0 part Octyldodecanol lO.0 parts Butylparabene 0.1 part Table 1 (30 cm ) _ Number of Molded Weight Molded Thickness Repetitions (g) (mm) before Broken ~ ::
..
0.167 0.06 20 or more :
0.333 0.11 20 or more 0.834 0.28 19 1.340 0.45 18 2.013 0.68 17 2.834 0.96 13 3.671 1.24 10 4.320 1.46 8 .997 1.69 6 ` ~:

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Table 2 (1.5 cm ) _ _ Number of Molded Weight Molded Thickness Repetitions (g) tmm) before Broken _ I :
0.007 0.04 20 ox more 0.017 0.11 20 or more 0.050 0.34 20 or more :
0.067 0.45 20 or more 0.100 0.68 20 or more :~
0.150 1.01 20 or more ~: :
0.183 1.23 18 0.216 1.46 14 0.250 1.69 10 . , . ~

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Comparison Example 1 The foundation cosmetic of the same composi~ion as that in Embodiment 1 was placed in the cavities (30 cm and 1.5 cm2) on the same card-like vessel and the pressure (30 kg/cm2 and 8 kg/cm2, respectively) was applied to packing and solidifying. Results of the dropping test on these cosmetics are shown in Tables 3 and 4O

Table 3 (30 cm2) Pressure 30 kg/cm2 Number of Molded Weight Molded Thickness Repetitions (g) (mm)before Broken .,. ... ___ 0.250 0.05 0.550 0.10 1 1.500 0.28 2.500 0.47 3.500 0.66 2 5.500 1.03 3 6.500 1.22 4 8.000 1.50 5 9.000 1.69 6 _ Table 4 (1.5 cm2) Pressure 8 kg/cm2 ..
. Number of Molded Weight Molded Thickness Repetitions (9) (mm)before Broken 0.010 0.04 1 0.030 0.11 1 0.080 0.30 2 0.130 0.~9 3 0.180 0.69 4 0.250 0.94 4 0.300 1.13 8 0.400 . 1.50 12 0.450 1.69 13 ... _ _ .

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On the other hand, each 1.5 g of the cosmetic placed in the cavity of 30 cm area was pressed with pressures 30, 40, 50 and 60 kg/cm . Products by a pressure larger than 50 kg/cm could not be applied with a puff and badly spread on skin, revealing to be of no practical use. When pressed with a pressure of 40 kg/cm , result obtained was not much different from ~hat of 30 kg/cm2. With any pressure applied, practical resistance against breakage could not be obtained.
Hardness of the cosmetics prepared in Embodiment l and Comparison Example l (estimated with a constant pressing load MKS Shore hardness tester 180A
produced by Marubishi Scientific Instruments Manufacturing Company) expressed in Shore A hardness was 6 for Embodiment 1 and 25 for Comparison Example, exhibiting about 4 times as much difference.

Embodiment 2 To 100 parts by weight of an eye shadow cosmetic having the composition below was added 150 parts by weight of a volatile solvent isoparaffin (light liquid paraffin ISOPAR H produced from Exon Chemical Company). The mixture was then placed and dried in a cavity 4 (1.5 cm2) on a card-like vessel 1 which is prepared by adhering ;;;
a polypropylene framework with a penetrating opening onto an aluminum plate.
In the same procedure as in Embodiment 1, isoparaffin in the mixture was dried by evaporation, * Trade mark 133~33 ~

to obtain a cosmetic for eye shadow. To this product of Embodiment 2 and to that of Comparison Example 2 described below, the same dropping breakage test was conducted as to Embodiment 1 and Comparison Example 1, obtaining almost comparable results as those with Embodiment 1 and Comparison Example 1 (see Table 5).
In Embodiment 2 thickness of the cosmetic was 1.6 times as much as that in Comparison Example 2 using the pressing method.

(Parts are expressed by weight) Phthalocyanine Blue 1.5 parts Ultramarine 0.5 part Titanium oxide 2.0 parts Mica 20~5 parts Mica titanium 21.0 parts Ultramarine treated mica titanium 30.0 parts Zinc stearate 4.0 parts Tri(capryl-capric acid)glycerine 10.2 parts Pentaoleic acid decaglyceryl 4.2 parts Methylphenylpolysiloxane 6.2 parts Perfume 0.1 part Comparison Example 2 The cosmetic for eye shadow in Embodiment 2 was placed and solidified in a cavity on the card-like vessel in Embodiment 2 by applying a pressure of 8 kg/cm2 in the same manner as in Comparison Example 1.

` 1 33~331 Table 5 Mblded E~bodiment 2 C~rison ~ odiTent 3 Conparison Thickness Exam~le 2 ~ mple 3 0.3 mm 20 2 16 1 1.5 mm 12 5 6 Embodiment 3 To 100 parts by weight of cosmetic for cheek rouge having the composition below was added 300 parts by weight of ethanol as a volatile solvent. A cavity 3 (2 cm ) on a card-like vessel 1 made from vinyl chloride was packed with saïd mixture prepared above and the~ ~
mixture was dried. `'`
Irradiation of the mixture with an infrared -~
lamp for 30 minutes evaporated the ethanol, to produce dried cosmetic for cheek rouge. The dropping breakage -~
test was conducted with the cosmetics of this Embodiment 3 and Comparison Example 3 below in the same manner as it was done with those of Embodiment 1 and comparison Example 1. Results are shown in Table 5 above.

(Parts are expressed by weight) D & C Red No. 7 1.2 parts Red iron oxide loO part Yellow iron oxide 0.1 part Silicone treated sericite37.7 parts Silicone treated talc 35O0 parts Polymethacrylic acid methyl powder 15.0 parts ~ .

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Aluminum Stearate 3.0 parts Vaseline 1.0 part Dipentaerythrite ester of carboxylic acid 0.5 part Squalane 1.0 part Cetyl octanoic acid 1.0 part Octyldodecyl myristate 0.5 part Lanolin 0.3 part Comparison Example 3 In the similar way as in Comparison Example 1, the cosmetic for cheek rouge appearing in Embodiment 3 was placed in a cavity on the card-like vessel in Embodiment 3 by a pressure of 15 kg/cm .

As has been described in detail, the process for producing cosmetic cards of the present invention . :~
permits to provide cosmetics advantageously in the form ~ ~ :
of a card which contains a rather small amount of cosmetics and is convenient for a bearer to use and also to prepare the cosmetic cards with ease.
Further, the cosmetic cards produced by the process of this invention can be utilized with benefit as useful color specimens and, therefore bring about very high utility.

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Claims

1. A process for producing cosmetic sheets packed with solid cosmetics, comprising providing a sheet of card-like thickness, constructed from a material selected from the group consisting of synthetic high polymers and metals, having a plurality of recesses, each of 0.1 mm to 3 mm depth, mixing together a powdered cosmetic material with 3 to 50% by weight of binders, mixing in a volatile solvent to cause the mixture to be in a fluidised state, substantially filling the recesses with the fluidised mixture and evaporating the solvent to dryness.

2. A process according to claim 1, wherein said synthetic high polymer is selected from the group consisting of polyethylene, vinyl chloride, polystyrene, polypropylene, ABS, acrylic and polyamide, polyethyleneterephthalate, polyacetal, polycarbonate, melamine, fluorocarbon, urea and epoxy resins.

3. A process according to claim 1, wherein said metal material is selected from the group consisting of aluminum, copper, iron, stainless steel and brass, and composite materials thereof.

4. A process according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said recesses for accommodating the cosmetics occupy in total an area of at most 50 cm2 of the sheet area.

5. A process according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said recesses for accommodating the cosmetics occupy in total an area of about 30 cm2 of the sheet area.

6. A process according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said powdered cosmetic material is mixed with 10 to 30% by weight of water.

7. A process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said volatile solvent is selected from the group consisting of ethyl alcohol, isopropyl alcohol, hydrocarbons having a boiling point between about 100° and about 200°C, silicone oils, having a boiling point between about 100° and about 200°C, cyclic silicones, water and mixtures thereof.

8. A process according to claim 7, wherein said volatile solvent is selected from the group consisting of hydrocarbons having a boiling point between about 150° and about 200°C and tetramers of cyclic silicone.

9. A process according to claim 1, wherein said sheet is constructed from an acrylic resin plate of which one side is plated with aluminum by vacuum evaporation to produce a resin-backed mirror which is cut to form recesses within which to fill the cosmetics.

10. A process according to claim 1, wherein a synthetic resin frame member with a plurality of openings corresponding to said recesses is placed on said sheet with a respective one of said openings opposite a respective one of said recesses, an amount of said fluidised mixture is placed in said recesses, the solvent is evaporated to dryness and the frame is removed, to obtain a levelled surface.

11. A process according to claim 1 or 10, wherein evaporation is caused by a far infrared ceramic heater.