05 January 2024

Inventions in Everything: A Better Lip-Balm Dispenser

The winds of winter have returned. Combined with the cold, for many that state of affairs provides the main reason to stay inside, where it's both warm and cozy. For outdoor enthusiasts however, winter brings with it the opportunity to engage in many of their favorite activities.

But there are problems that come with exposure to the cold and dry winds of the season. One of the most irritating is chapped lips, whose negative effects can last for days after coming in from the cold.

That's not a new problem. Previous generations of inventors have developed methods of protecting lips from drying out and going through the painful peeling that comes after they've been exposed to cold, dry winds. Perhaps the most popular invention to prevent your lips from becoming chapped are lip balms, where the ChapStick brand has pretty much defined the basic form factor of a lip balm dispenser.

Improving that form factor is the subject of this edition of Inventions In Everything, in which the IIE team has found a patent that identifies its shortcomings. Here's the invention background from U.S. Patent 6,283,658:

Lip balms are often used to soothe and heal lips that may become dry or chapped under a variety of circumstances including those encountered in athletic, outdoor activities, such as skiing, sailing, and other environments where dry air comes in constant contact (such as by a breeze or wind) with the lips. Lip balms often comprise a paraffin-like substance which adheres to the lips when drawn over them. Additional emollients or moisturizing additives may even be included in the lip balm, as may UV protective chemicals and the like. By providing a polar or hydrophobic barrier to the elements, moisture is retained in the lips. Additionally, lip balms protect the lips from such harsh environments.

Currently, lip balm dispensers often include a threaded rod or screw that serves to turnably eject the stick of lip balm. The lip balm may have a central channel or circular cavity into which the threaded rod fits and in which the threaded rod turns. As the threaded rod turns, as by a thumbscrew or wheel, the lip balm is selectively ejected from the dispenser.

A cap is generally used to cover the end of the dispenser in order to prevent the drying out of the lip balm. The cap often is spaced away from the end of the dispenser so that a margin of lip balm may be exposed for easy application to the lips. However, the cap is often lost as it is easily disassociated from the dispenser.

Additionally, the dispenser as a whole with its cap may be difficult to manipulate, particularly under inclement conditions such as ski slopes or the like where the hands of the user are often encumbered by gloves or mittens. The disassociatable cap to the lip balm dispenser requires two (2) hands to use or very dexterous one (1) hand. Such one-handed use is often precluded by the presence of mittens or gloves.

Additionally, present lip balm dispensers often have no lanyard ring or tactile side indicators regarding orientation of the dispenser. Furthermore, hand or fingerholds are generally absent from such lip balm dispensers. Aesthetic designs are often absent, preventing the lip balm dispenser from acting as an attractive or fashionable accessory to a person's outfit or clothing.

It would be an advance of the art to overcome these shortcomings and to resolve these disadvantages in a manner that is both useful and attractive, making the use and carrying of a lip balm dispenser easier and more fun.

The inventors provide an illustration of the easier and more fun-to-use and carry lip balm dispenser they've devised on the cover sheet of the patent.

U.S. Patent 6,283,658 Cover Sheet Illustration

We searched for where to buy lip balm with the form factor described in U.S. Patent 6,283,658, and found something unique. You can buy lip balm dispensing holders that have one or more of the features described in the 1999 patent, but not anything that fully embodies all its innovations.

That outcome was driven by cost, as it proved to be too tough to beat the stripped-down economy of the basic lip balm dispensing product that has become so well-established in the marketplace over several decades. At least, not with a more expensive-to-produce dispenser that includes all the innovations presented in the patent. But because those innovations are useful, several have found their way into other products. As such, we consider U.S. Patent 6,283,658 to represent a partially successful innovation by its inventors, Carlos Irwin Estevez and Rodger D. Thompson.

One of whom you likely know much better by the name Charlie Sheen.

That revelation might be surprising, but perhaps shouldn't be. If there's one thing we've learned from other examples of inventors who are better known for other things they've done, it's that genuinely creative people are almost always creative in more than one way.

Inventions in Everything: The Archives

Ready to sample more of the most creative designs and patents the Inventions in Everything team has explored? Our archives celebrate inventions ranging from the whimsical to the inspired in reverse chronological order!

at