Beiersdorf files patent on integrated sunscreen-UV stamp dispenser

25-May-2020 - Last updated on 25-May-2020 at 17:33 GMT

The dispenser allows consumers to stamp their skin with a UV exposure formula before applying sunscreen from the same bottle (Getty Images)

German personal care major Beiersdorf has developed a sunscreen dispensing system that incorporates a UV exposure stamp to alert consumers when product needs to be reapplied.

Writing in its international patent, Beiersdorf said the dispenser had been configured so users could stamp their skin with a UV exposure indicator composition first, and then sunscreen. Dispensing sunscreen from one end and the UV exposure stamp from the other, a change in appearance of the latter alerted consumers when they needed to reapply sunscreen. The stamp, Beiersdorf said, either changed colour, went from dark to light or vice versa or started clear and became coloured when exposed to UV radiation.

Beiersdorf said its invention had been designed to dispense liquid, lotion and gel sunscreen formulations and worked with both squeeze and spray dispensing functions.

Adequate and prolonged sunscreen protection

Beiersdorf said whilst sunscreen was “highly effective in protecting against skin damage”, the product only worked when used correctly – sufficiently applied and reapplied when necessary.

“Due to wear and/or the initial failure to apply a sufficient amount of sunscreen, it is often not possible for consumers to know that their skin is adequately protected by sunscreen,” Beiersdorf wrote in its patent filing.

This invention, it said, aimed to help consumers know when reapplication was necessary.

Single dispensing system to ‘easily and readily apply’

Beiersdorf said that, importantly, the sunscreen dispenser had been designed in such a way to make this easy for consumers to do.

“The stamping and sunscreen dispensing functions are integrated into a single body, enabling the user to easily and reliably apply the indicator composition each time sunscreen is applied,” it said.

“…By integrating the stamp applicator at the opposite end from the dispensing outlet, the stamp applicator does not interfere with the function of the dispenser,” Beiersdorf said.

Being at opposite ends also enabled the sunscreen and stamp dispensing outlets to differ in size – perhaps larger for sunscreen application and smaller for stamping, it said. Hinged caps were also incorporated so consumers could close each side after use.

Light-sensitive dyes to monitor UV exposure

Beiersdorf said any suitable light-sensitive dye or photoactive could be incorporated into the UV exposure stamp formulation. The formulation could then be dispensed through various materials, including paper, cloth, resin sponge or sintered porous plastic.

The company said consumers could ideally use the stamp at a location that was “readily visible” and received “a large amount of sun exposure” – a forearm, for example, though other areas of the body could be stamped and monitored as well.

Importantly, it said each UV exposure formulation could be “configured based on the efficacy of the sunscreen”. With low SPF sunscreen, for example, the corresponding stamp would be less sensitive to UV radiation versus for a high SPF sunscreen.

WIPO International Patent No. WO/2020/092476
Published on: May 7, 2020. Filed on: October 30, 2019.
Title: “Dispenser with stamp applicator”
Inventor: Beiersdorf AG – KM. Nook