US 11,911,245 B2
Compact tampon applicator with two-piece plunger
Sezen Buell, Waldwick, NJ (US); Joseph Fedora, Meriden, CT (US); James McCandless, Durham, CT (US); Hassan Mohamed, Ridgewood, NJ (US); and Peter Preisner, Quinton, VA (US)
Assigned to Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC, Chesterfield, MO (US)
Filed by Edgewell Personal Care Brands, LLC, Chesterfield, MO (US)
Filed on Dec. 17, 2020, as Appl. No. 17/124,916.
Application 17/124,916 is a continuation of application No. 15/560,670, granted, now 10,898,391, previously published as PCT/US2015/059889, filed on Nov. 10, 2015.
Claims priority of provisional application 62/077,397, filed on Nov. 10, 2014.
Prior Publication US 2021/0100693 A1, Apr. 8, 2021
This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.
Int. Cl. A61F 13/26 (2006.01); A61F 13/551 (2006.01)
CPC A61F 13/263 (2013.01) [A61F 13/266 (2013.01); A61F 13/551 (2013.01); A61F 13/5511 (2013.01)] 14 Claims
OG exemplary drawing
 
6. A tampon applicator, comprising:
a barrel extending lengthwise between a plunger end and an insertion end, the barrel including a grip region, a transition region, a main body region, a plurality of petals, and an interior cavity, wherein the transition region is disposed between the main body region and the grip region, and the petals are disposed between the insertion end and the main body region; and
a telescoping two-piece plunger that includes an outer sleeve and an inner sleeve, wherein the sleeves are selectively actuable into a deployed configuration in which the inner and outer sleeves are combined into a unitary member, and wherein the inner sleeve has a stem portion with a length and a digit portion;
wherein in the deployed configuration the plunger is selectively movable in a lengthwise direction relative to the barrel a full stroke travel, which full stroke travel is substantially equal to the length of the inner sleeve stem portion.