Background Art In general, lipsticks, stick foundations, lip liners, <BR> <BR> eye pencils, etc. , are cosmetics usually used in women's beauty care or actors'makeup, which are mostly contained in cosmetic cases having assembly-type constructions which provide users with convenience and enable the users to easily keep and carry the cosmetic cases.

Further, as is often the case, most of the assembly- type cases have structures, each of which has not only a portion for receiving a primary cosmetic tool, but also another portion for receiving a secondary cosmetic tool having a use different from that of the primary cosmetic tool, which is disposed at an opposite side from the primary

cosmetic tool.

Further, as well as the cosmetic cases described above, there exist many stationery cases having assembly-type structures, each of which has a stationery core capable of moving up and down in each stationery case, so that each stationery case can be also used as a writing tool.

In each of the cosmetic cases or stationery cases as described above, it is typical that a cosmetic core or stationery core is drawn out of the case by means of a plurality of spiral grooves which are formed on an inner surface of a core-holding member or on an inner surface of a middle case of a member for elevating the core. However, it is difficult to form a plurality of spiral grooves on an inner surface of a case or a core-holding member, and especially, it is very difficult to form a plurality of long spiral grooves.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an example of the conventional cosmetic cases.

A lip liner as shown in FIG. 1, which is a kind of conventional cosmetic tool, includes an upper case 910 formed at an inner portion thereof with a plurality of linear guide slots 920, a core holding member 950 formed at one end thereof with a guide protrusion 951 for allowing the core holding member 950 to move along the linear guide slots 920 and formed at the other end thereof with a fixing protrusion 952 having a spiral protrusion 953, and a lower case 930 formed at an inner portion thereof with a spiral groove 940.

In the figure, the lip liner core 320 (lip liner pencil) is vertically inserted into an upper portion of the guide protrusion 951 and the fixing protrusion 952 formed at a lower end of the guide protrusion 951 is inserted into the lower case 930 so that the spiral groove 940 is meshed with

the spiral protrusion 953. In addition, the guide protrusion 951 is engaged with the linear guide slot 920 formed in the upper case so that the guide protrusion 951 may be moved up and down linearly.

When using the lip liner, a user firstly rotates the body 900 of the lip liner while manually gripping the upper case 910. At this time, the fixing protrusion 952 having the spiral protrusion 953 moves up along the spiral groove 940 so that the core holding member 950 moves up.

If the core holding member 950 moves up, the lip liner core 320 fixed to the guide protrusion 951 of the core holding member 950 is linearly moved up due to the guide protrusion 951 engaged with the linear guide slot 920.

The downward movement of the lip liner core 320 is the reverse of the upward movement of the lip liner, so it will not be further described below.

As mentioned above, the conventional lip liner structure includes a short spiral protrusion formed at an outer portion of the core holding member 950 and a long spiral slot formed at an inner portion of the lower case 930.

Such a lip liner structure is not only used for lip liners, but also used for other cosmetic tools or stationary materials.

Further, the lip liner core 320 located in a movement space having a diameter larger than an outer diameter of the lip liner core 320, so that the lip liner core 320 may be bent in its transverse direction by external pressure, temperature, or the like, and may be stiffened in the state of being bent. As a result, when a user moves the curved lip liner core 320 upward in order to use the lip liner core 320, an upper end of the lip liner core 320 may be caught by the linear guide slot 920 and may be even broken if the user

forces the lip liner core 320 upward in spite of the catching, so that the lip liner core 320 cannot be used.

Moreover, in order to confirm the color of a core contained in a case, a user cannot help opening a lid of the case, which causes the user to feel troublesome and inconvenient.

However, in manufacturing cases as described above, forming spiral grooves on an inner surface of the case makes the manufacturing process of the case complicated and difficult, deteriorates the productivity, and prolongs time for assembling the case.

Disclosure of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose case for stationery or cosmetics, in which a long and thin spiral groove is formed on an outer surface of an actuating rod of a core holder and a plurality of spiral protuberances are formed on an inner surface of an assembling hole of a holding tube, so that a core held by the core holder can be drawn out of the multipurpose case to as great a length as possible.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose case for stationery or cosmetics, which can basically prevent the core from being deformed, thereby enabling the core to easily move up and down.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose case for stationery or cosmetics, which can prevent a core from being cut, enabling the core to be used for a long time.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a multipurpose case for stationery or cosmetics,

which has a color indicator provided at an uppermost portion of a lid of the case, so that the color indicator enables users to confirm the color of the core closed in the case without opening the lid, thereby providing convenience to users.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multipurpose case used as a cosmetic tool, the multipurpose case comprising: a lid; an upper case; a lower case; a holding tube fixedly assembled with an upper end of the holding tube; and a core holder including an actuating rod and a core-holding means, the actuating rod extending in its axial direction and screw-assembled with the holding tube, said core-holding means being formed at an upper end of the actuating rod to support a lower end of a core, wherein the actuating rod has a spiral groove formed on an outer surface of the actuating rod, and the holding tube has at least one spiral protuberance formed on an inner surface of an assembling hole formed in the holding tube, the spiral protuberance and the spiral groove being engaged with each other.

It is preferred that: said core-holding means comprises at least two holding brackets formed at the upper end of the actuating rod to support the lower end of the core; the upper case has a movement space and guide grooves, the movement space being formed longitudinally through a central portion of the upper case, the guide grooves being formed longitudinally through portions outside of the movement space, so that the core can move up and down in the movement space and the holding brackets can move up and down in the guide grooves; and boundary portions between the movement space and the guide grooves prevent the core from being moved and deformed toward the guide groove.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a multipurpose case comprising: a lower case; a holding tube fixedly assembled with an upper end of the holding tube; a core holder including an actuating rod and a core-holding means, the actuating rod extending in its axial direction and screw-assembled with the holding tube, said core-holding means being formed at an upper end of the actuating rod to support a lower end of a core; an upper case having a movement space formed in a longitudinal direction of the multipurpose case, in which the core can move up and down; a lid covered on an upper end of the upper case, the lid having an open end into which an open upper end of the upper case is inserted, the lid having a color indicator containing space formed at an opposite side to the open end of the lid, in which a color indicator having a color equal to that of the core is contained.

It is preferred that the core, the core holder, and the holding tube have sectional shapes equal to each other, such as a polygonal shape, an ellipsoidal shape, and other shapes.

It is also preferred that the lower case has a lower opening formed at a lower end of the lower case, in which a brush can be inserted.

It is also preferred that the core has a soft solid body such as a lipstick, a stick foundation, a lip liner, or an eye pencil.

In the multipurpose case of the present invention, the core used as stationery or cosmetics can be drawn out of the multipurpose case to as great a length as possible, can be completely prevented from being deformed and cut, can be easily moved up and down, and enables a use to confirm the color of the core without opening a lid of the case.

Brief Description of the Drawings The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a conventional multipurpose case; FIG. 2 is an exploded side sectional view of a multipurpose case according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a holding tube employed in the multipurpose case shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4a is a plan view taken from a direction designated by"A"in FIG. 2; FIG. 4b is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a sectional view for showing an assembled state and operation of the multipurpose case shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a multipurpose case according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which a brush is contained in a lower case thereof; and FIGs. 7a to 7c are sectional views of lids employed in multipurpose cases according to other embodiments of the present invention.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded side sectional view of a multipurpose case according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of a holding tube employed in the multipurpose case shown in FIG. 2; FIG. 4a is a plan view taken from a direction designated by"A"in FIG. 2; FIG. 4b

is a sectional view taken along line B-B in FIG. 2; FIG. 5 is a sectional view for showing an assembled state and operation of the multipurpose case shown in FIG. 2; and FIG. 6 is a sectional view of a multipurpose case according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which a brush is contained in a lower case thereof.

In the following description, a multipurpose case 10 according to the present invention is in a vertical standing posture, although the present invention incorporates the same idea even when the multipurpose case 10 is laid on its side.

Referring to FIGs. 2 to 4b, the multipurpose case 10 according to the present invention includes a lower case 100 ; a holding tube 200 fixedly assembled with an upper end of the holding tube 200; a core holder 300 having an actuating rod 310 and holding brackets 315, the actuating rod 310 long extending in its axial direction and screw-assembled with an assembling hole 210 of the holding tube 200, the holding brackets 315 formed at an upper end of the actuating rod 310 to support a lower end of a core 320; an upper case 400 rotatably assembled at an inner cylindrical surface of the holding tube 200; and a lid 500.

The holding tube 200 fixed to the upper end of the lower case 100 has the assembling hole 210 formed through a central portion of the bottom of the holding tube 200, and a spiral protuberance 211 is formed on an inner cylindrical surface of the assembling hole 210. The holding tube 200 has an engagement groove 220 integrally formed on an inner surface thereof, so that the upper case 400 can be assembled with and held by the engagement groove 220. Also, the holding tube 200 has a fixing threshold 230 formed on an outer surface thereof, which limits the depth of the holding tube 200 inserted in the lower case 100 when the holding tube

200 is assembled with the lower case 100. Further, the holding tube 200 has an annular groove 213 formed at a portion above the fixing threshold 230 on the outer surface of the holding tube 200, so that a ring 220a can be fitted in the annular groove 213.

The ring 220a is made from rubber or silicon capable of providing air-tightness or water-tightness, which provides smooth feeling when the holding tube 200 is covered with the lid 500 and maintains the interior of the case in an airtight state, thereby preventing the core from drying, when the holding tube 200 has been covered with the lid 500.

The core holder 300 screw-assembled with the holding tube 200 includes a long vertically extending actuating rod 310 and a core holder body 312 formed integrally with an upper end of the actuating rod 310. The actuating rod 310 has a spiral groove 311 formed on an outer surface of the actuating rod 310, which is engaged with the spiral protuberance 211 of the holding tube 200.

The core holder body 312 above the actuating rod 310 has the holding brackets 315 vertically extending to hold at least two portions of an outer surface of a lower end of the core 320. The holding brackets 315 are arranged in a circumference of a virtual cylinder having a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of the core 320, thereby holding the core 320 fitted between the holding brackets 315.

As apparent from the enlarged view of the holding brackets 315 on the left upper corner of FIG. 2, each of the holding brackets 315 has holding jaws 316 protruding inward of the virtual cylinder formed by the holding brackets 315, which enable the lower end of the core 320 in the holding brackets 315 to be more firmly held.

In the multipurpose case of the present invention

having the actuating rod 310 formed with the spiral groove 311 in a shape of multiple stripes, the length of the core which can be drawn out of the case can be much increased by forming one or more short spiral protuberances 211 instead of forming a plurality of long spiral grooves on the inner surface of the holding tube 200 assembled with the core holder 300, and it is thus easy and time-saving to form the spiral groove 311 of the core holder 300 and the spiral protuberances 211 of the holding tube 200.

In the multipurpose case having the construction described above, the actuating rod 310 of the core holder 300 can have a very large length without any problem, thereby improving convenience in manufacturing and assembling the multipurpose case.

In other words, in each of the conventional cases for cosmetics or stationery, a core can be drawn out longer when a core case has a long spiral groove formed on the inner surface of the case. Therefore, both the core holding member and the spiral groove formed on the inner surface of the case must be long in order to enable core to be drawn out longer.

However, there is a limit in forming a long spiral groove on the inner surface of the case. In contrast, in a multipurpose case according to the present invention, it is easy to form a spiral groove on the actuating rod, and therefore the multipurpose case has an improved productivity.

The above-mentioned effect of the case according to the present invention can be achieved mainly by the formation of a long and thin spiral groove 311 on the outer surface of the actuating rod 310 of the core holder 300 and one or more

short spiral protuberances 211 on the inner surface of the assembling hole 210 of the holding tube 200.

It is apparent to those skilled in the art that a multipurpose case according to the present invention may have upper and lower halves symmetrical to each other.

Further, the core held by the core holder 300 has a soft solid body and may be replaced by cores of various forms. That is, either stationery, such as a pastel crayon, a solid paste, or a color pencil, or a cosmetic tool for painting liquid cosmetics, such as an eye liner, a mascara, or a lip stick may be employed as the core.

The core 320 has a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of a movement space 410 formed in the upper case 400, and a virtual circle formed by outer surfaces of the holding brackets 315 has a diameter slightly smaller than the diameter of another virtual circle formed by outer surfaces of guide grooves 420 formed at opposite two sides of the movement space 410, thereby preventing the core 320 and the holding brackets 315 from moving laterally and ensuring the core 320 and the holding brackets 315 to move only in the longitudinal direction.

In the upper case 400, the lower a portion of the upper case 400 is, the larger an outer diameter of the portion is.

However, the upper case 400 has a lower portion having an outer diameter smaller than an inner diameter of the holding tube 200, so that the lower portion of the upper case 400 can be easily inserted in the holding tube 200. The upper case 400 has engagement protuberances 401 formed on an outer surface of the lower portion of the upper case 400, which can be slidably engaged with the engagement groove 220 formed on the inner surface of the holding tube 200, so that the upper

case 400 can be rotatably assembled with the holding tube 200.

Further, the guide grooves 420 for longitudinally guiding the holding brackets 315 and the movement space 410 for longitudinally guiding the core 320 are formed in the upper case 400, according to the present invention.

Each of the movement space 410 and the guide grooves 420 has a predetermined clearance so as to prevent the core 320 held by the holding brackets 315 from laterally moving and enable the core 320 to easily move up and down.

Further, the guide grooves 420 have stepped portions 415 formed at upper ends thereof, which limit the upward movement of the holding brackets 315 for drawing the core 320 upward, thereby preventing the holding brackets 315 from escaping from the upper case 400. However, the core 320 held by the holding brackets 315 can be completely drawn out of the upper case 400.

In addition, a boundary portion between the movement space 410 and the guide groove 420 (see the portion designated by"L"in FIG. 4b) completely prevents the core 320 from being moved and deformed toward the guide groove 420.

Hereinafter, an operation of the multipurpose case 10 according the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 5.

When a user grips the upper case 400 of the multipurpose case 10 having the construction assembled as described above and rotates the lower case 100 in one direction, the core holder 300 screw-assembled with the spiral protuberance 211 of the holding tube 200 moves upward and the core 320 held by the holding brackets 315 also moves

upward along the movement space 410 to be drawn out of the upper case 400.

In this case, the holding brackets 315 holding the lower portion of the core 320 moves along the guide grooves 420 formed outside of the movement space 410.

In other words, the holding brackets 315 supported by the guide groove 420 move according to rotation of the lower case 100 and are carried upward by the actuating rod 310 screw-assembled with the holding tube 200.

Then, when the lower case 100 is rotated in an opposite direction after the core 320 is used, the core 320 having been drawn out of the upper case 400 is inserted back into the movement space 410 of the upper case 400 and restored to its original state. Then, the lid 500 can be covered on the upper case 400, so that the case containing the core can be stored.

Meanwhile, as shown in FIG. 6, the lower case 100 according to the present invention may further have an opening (not shown) for receiving a brush 110 or the like and a brush cap 120 for protecting the brush 110.

FIG. 7a shows another embodiment of the multipurpose case 10, especially the lid 500, according to the present invention. The lid 500 according to the present embodiment includes a color exposing member 600 for mounting a color indicator having the same as that of the core 320 in an uppermost portion of the lid 500, thereby enabling a user to confirm the color of the core 320 without opening the lid 500.

That is, a color indicator space 610 with a predetermined depth is formed at an uppermost portion of the lid 500, so that a color indicator made from solid material, etc. , which has the same color as that of the core 320 can be

seated in the color indicator space 610. After the color indicator is put in the color indicator space 610, an insertion tube 621 of a closing cap 620 is slightly forced into the color indicator space 610 to close the color indicator space 610. Then, the closing cap 620 prevents the color indicator from evaporating and leaking out of the color indicator space 610 and enables a user to confirm the color of the core 320 without the trouble of opening the lid 500.

Any solid body having the same color as that of the core 320, including a piece of the core cut from the core 320 held by the core holder 300, may be employed as the color indicator seated in the color indicator space 610.

It is preferred that the insertion tube 621 has an outer diameter slightly larger than the inner diameter of the color indicator space 610, thereby preventing the color indicator from leaking when the insertion tube 621 is forced into the color indicator space 610.

It is also preferred that the closing cap 620 is made from transparent synthetic resin, which enables the color of the color indicator in the color indicator space 610 to be easily confirmed.

Further, the color indicator space 610 and the closing cap 620 may be modified as those shown in FIGs. 7b and 7c without difficulty according to technologies known to those skilled in the art, which can prevent the color indicator from evaporating and leaking.

Referring to FIG. 7b, a first screw portion 611 is formed on an inner surface of the color indicator space 610, and a second screw portion 622 is formed on an outer surface of the insertion tube 621, so that the closing cap 620 can be screw-assembled with the lid 500.

In this case, a cap ring 623 may be provided between

the closing cap 620 and an upper end of the first screw portion 611 to more firmly close the color indicator space 610, thereby preventing the color indicator from evaporating and leaking.

FIG. 7c shows another embodiment of the color exposing member 600, in which an inner cap ring groove 611a is formed at an upper portion of the inner surface of the color indicator space 610, an outer cap ring groove 622a is formed at an upper portion of the outer surface of the insertion tube 621 corresponding to the inner cap ring groove 611a, and the cap ring 623 is fitted around the outer cap ring groove 622a.

When the closing cap 620 having the cap ring 623 fitted around the outer cap ring groove 622a has been inserted in the color indicator space 610, the cap ring 623 fitted between the inner cap ring groove 611a and the outer cap ring groove 622a elastically prevents the color indicator from leaking and enables the color of the color indicator closed in the color indicator space 610 to be confirmed from outside. Therefore, users can confirm the color of the color indicator without trouble of opening the lid 500 and prevent evaporation of the color indicator, so that improved convenience is provided to the users.

Industrial Applicability As described above in detail, a multipurpose case according to the present invention has the following advantages: First, in the multipurpose case according to the present invention, a long and thin spiral groove is formed on an outer surface of an actuating rod of a core holder for holding and carrying a core, and one or more short spiral

protuberances are formed on an inner surface of an assembling hole of a holding tube, so that the holding tube and the core holder can be easily manufactured and assembled, and the productivity of the case can be improved. Moreover, the case can be manufactured to be thinner and longer, so that it can be more compactly, thereby satisfying women's desire for the pursuit of beauty ; Second, guide grooves 420 for longitudinally guiding the holding brackets 315 and a movement space 410 for longitudinally guiding the core 320 are longitudinally formed through a central portion of the upper case 400. Therefore, the core is basically prevented from being deformed. Also, even when the core has been deformed, the inner surface of the movement space 410 supports at least two portions of the outer surface of the core, enabling the core to easily move up and down and preventing the life of the core from being shortened due to breaking in the core; and Third, when a color indicator is provided at an uppermost portion of a lid of the case, the color indicator enables users to confirm the color of the core closed in the case simply by viewing the color indicator, thereby providing convenience to users without opening the lid.

While this invention has been described in connection with what are presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment and the drawings, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and variations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.