Appliances of the above-mentioned type are known, for example, from EP 2 153 795 A2, In the known application appliance, the holding device is inserted into the application device.

This configuration has different disadvantages: when the holding device is inserted into the application device, there is the risk of impairment of the application device, in particular when the application device is in conventional manner made of a very soft material. This softness of the material also makes it difficult to hold the application device on the holding device in a reliable manner.

In view of these disadvantages, an object of the invention is to develop the application appliance of the type mentioned in the introduction in such a manner that the risk of impairment of the application device is reduced and the application device is reliably held by the holding device.

According to the invention, the above object is achieved in that the holding device has a receiving region with an insertion opening, the application device has an insertion region which is inserted into the receiving region, the receiving region has a first portion having a first cross section contour and a second portion which is located in the insertion direction behind the first portion and which has a second cross section contour and at least the portion of the insertion region which is located in the second portion of the receiving region has a third cross section contour which protrudes beyond the first cross section contour but can be deformed counter to a resilient restoring force and, in a deformed state, has a fourth cross section contour which is located within the first cross section contour.

In other words, there is provision according to the invention for the insertion region of the application device to pass through the first portion of the receiving region only in a state deformed counter to restoring force. If it has passed this first portion when the insertion region is inserted into the insertion opening, it expands as a result of the resilient restoring force beyond the first cross section contour, whereby it is held in the receiving region. This is because it engages behind the rear side of the first portion with the portion which expands counter to the restoring force after passing the first portion. The application device is thereby held in a reliable manner and without any risk of impairment of the holding device.

In order to further secure the insertion region against sliding out from the receiving region, an undercut is preferably provided according to the invention in the second portion of the receiving region or at the end thereof facing the first portion of the receiving region. Such an undercut constitutes an abutment with which the insertion region is in abutment or adjoins as long as it is subjected to a force counter to the insertion direction. According to the invention, there is further preferably provision for the second portion of the receiving region to have a recess in which the insertion region extends as a result of the resilient restoring force. Such a recess can readily be configured in an advantageous manner.

In order, when the insertion region is inserted into the receiving region, to prevent a build-up of pressure which could counteract insertion, according to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention a ventilation opening which is configured to ventilate the inner space of the receiving region is provided.

According to the invention, the recess may be a through-opening in this instance. In the embodiment of the invention, the recess has a dual function. On the one hand, it serves to receive the portion of the insertion region which extends into the recess as a result of the resilient restoring force. On the other hand, it serves to ventilate the receiving region. An additional ventilation opening is then no longer required.

In order to ensure a defined position of the application device on or in the holding device, there is provided according to the invention a stop with which the insertion region is in abutment in an insertion direction. This stop can secure, for example, together with the above-mentioned undercut, the application device in an axial direction on the holding device.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, there is provision for the receiving region to have a third portion which is located in the insertion direction in front of the first portion and to have a fifth cross section contour, wherein the portion of the insertion region which is located in the second portion of the receiving region, in the non-deformed state, has a sixth cross section contour which is located within the fifth cross section contour.

In other words, in this embodiment, the cross section of the third portion is larger than the non-deformed cross section of the insertion region, which significantly simplifies the insertion. In order to further simplify the insertion of the insertion region in the receiving region, the insertion opening of the receiving region preferably has a chamfer.

In order to produce the above-mentioned resilient restoring force, there may be provision according to the invention for at least the portion of the application device which is located in the second portion of the receiving region to have a resilient material. An example is TPE (thermoplastic elastomer). However, the entire application device may also be made of a resilient material, such as TPE.

The holding device may be configured integrally with the remaining application appliance. According to the invention, however, the holding device is configured as a separate component of the appliance.

The invention therefore relates not only to the complete application appliance, but also to a correspondingly constructed holding device of the application appliance.

The invention also relates to such a holding device having an inserted application device. Finally, the invention also relates to a method for inserting an application device with the insertion region thereof into the receiving region of a holding device of an application appliance of the above-explained type. According to the invention, there is provision for the step of insertion in this instance. As a result of the fact that the application device is inserted with the insertion region thereof into the receiving region of the holding device, there is a contactless mounting of the application appliance on the holding device, whereby there is no longer a risk of impairing the application device during assembly. For the insertion, compressed air is preferably used according to the invention.

According to a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention, the following steps are provided in this instance: arranging the application device and the holding device in a channel, wherein the insertion region of the application device faces the insertion opening of the holding device, and producing a gas or compressed air pulse which moves the application device in the direction of the holding device. For this configuration of the invention, it is particularly advantageous for the holding device to constitute a separate component of the application appliance since the holding device alone can be arranged more easily in the above-mentioned channel, in contrast to the complete application appliance. The invention is explained in greater detail below with additional details with reference to a preferred embodiment and the appended drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a schematic sectioned view of an application appliance according to a preferred embodiment of the invention Figure 2 shows the application appliance according to Figure 1 , but prior to final assembly, as a side view and rotated through 90

Figure 3 shows an enlarged cut-out from Figure 1 ,

Figure 4 shows an enlarged cut-out from Figure 1, but prior to final assembly, Figures 5 to 7 show various schematic cross section views, and Figures 8 to 10 show a schematic illustration of an embodiment of the insertion method according to the invention. The application appliance shown in the drawings has a holding device 10 and an application device 12. There are fitted to the application device 12 bristles, of which one is designated 14 by way of example. The application appliance shown serves to apply a liquid cosmetic substance, in particular mascara. The holding device 10 has a receiving region 16 in which in the assembled state an insertion region 18 of the application device 12 is inserted. In this instance, the insertion region 18 strikes a stop 20 which forms a limitation of the receiving region 16. The receiving region 16 of the holding device 10 does not have a cylindrical contour. Instead, it is divided into different portions which each have individual cross section contours. There is thus a first portion 22 in which the receiving region 16 tapers. In the insertion direction behind the first portion 22 there is a second portion 24. In this portion, there is a recess 26 in the form of a through- opening so that the receiving region in this second portion 24 is open to the side on the right in Figures 3 and 4. In the insertion direction in front of the first portion 22 there is finally a third portion 28 which reaches as far as an insertion opening 30. The insertion opening 30 is surrounded by a chamfer 32. The chamfer 32 is used for centring during the insertion. The insertion region 18 is made of a resilient material, in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, it is TPE. The holding device 10 has in the first portion 22 a first cross section contour Q1. In the second portion 24, it has a cross section contour Q2 which, as a result of the recess 26, is on the whole greater than the cross section contour

Q1. The insertion region 18 has in the non-deformed state a larger cross section than the first portion 22 If it is nonetheless inserted into the receiving region 16, it is deformed in the first portion 22 counter to a resilient restoring force. This deformation relaxes (at least partially) in the portion of the insertion region 18 which is located in the second portion 24 of the receiving region 16 since the insertion region 18 can extend there into the recess 26. It is thus subjected to an outward curvature and assumes a third cross section contour Q3. This third cross section contour Q3 protrudes beyond the first cross section contour Q1 of the receiving region 16, see Figure 5. In contrast, the insertion region 18 has in the first portion 22 of the receiving region 16 a fourth cross section contour Q4 which is only slightly smaller than the first cross section contour Q1 of the receiving region in the first portion 22. The insertion region 18 is at least partially with the outer wall thereof in abutment with the inner wall of the first portion 22 of the receiving region 16. According to Figure 5, therefore, the first cross — section contour Q1 and the fourth cross section contour Q4 almost coincide in this region, see Figure 5. This is because they are at least partially in abutment with each other. Figure 6 shows the second cross section contour Q2 at the location which can be seen in Figure 3.

In the third portion 28 of the holding device, the size relationships of the receiving region 16, on the one hand, and the insertion region 18, on the other hand, are such that the insertion region 18 in the non-deformed state passes into the receiving region 16 since the receiving region 16 has a fifth cross section contour Q5 within which a sixth cross section contour Q6 of the insertion region 18 is located. For assembly, the application device 12 is inserted with the insertion region

18 thereof from the position according to Figure 2 into the position according to Figure 1 into the receiving region 16 of the holding device 10. During this operation, the resiliently deformable insertion region 18 is particularly deformed in the first portion 22 of the receiving region 16, in particular pressed together. If it has passed the first portion 22, however, it can extend into the recess 26 and assumes the shape shown in Figures 3 and 5, wherein it protrudes into the recess 26. The boundary face 34 of the recess 26 located at the rear in the insertion direction constitutes in this instance an undercut, which counteracts the insertion region 18 being pulled out of the receiving region 16. The application device 12 is thereby reliably held in the holding device 10.

The assembly of the application appliance illustrated in Figures 1 to 7 is preferably carried out according to the invention as follows:

At one end of a channel, such as a hose 36, the holding device 10 is arranged. At the other end, the application device 12 is arranged. In this instance, the receiving region 16 of the holding device 10 faces the insertion region 18 of the application device 12. This state is shown in Figure 8.

Subsequently, by means of a compressed air pulse, the application device 12 is moved in the direction of the holding device 10. It thereby moves along the hose 36. This state is shown in Figure 9.

Finally, the application device 12 will strike the holding device 10 and be introduced with the insertion region 18 thereof into the receiving region 16 and move as far as the stop 20. It is consequently reliably held on the holding device 10 without it having to be touched during the assembly, for which reason there is no risk of impairment of the application device, for example, as a result of such occurrences of touching.

During the insertion of the insertion region 18 into the receiving region 16, the recess 26 is used for ventilation. The features of the invention disclosed in the above description, the claims and the drawings may be significant both individually and in any combination for the implementation of the invention in its various embodiments.