Koichi Yamaki, Kanonji, Japan; and Akie Kinoshita, Kanonji, Japan.
Assigned to Unicharm Corporation, Ehime, Japan.

Filed: 2/13/15
Issued: 7/6/21

A tampon applicator, comprising: an outer tube having a front end and a rear end, a front end opening at the front end and a rear end opening at the rear end, the outer tube housing a tampon and having an insertion section on a side of the front end, a grip section extending from the insertion section to the rear end and having a diameter smaller than a diameter of the insertion section, and a shoulder portion located along a boundary between the insertion section and the grip section; and an inner tube having a front end and a rear end, and configured to be inserted into the rear end opening so as to be movable in a front-rear direction, to eject the tampon housed within the outer tube through the front end opening, wherein raised portions are located on an exterior surface of the inner tube in a vicinity of the rear end of the inner tube, each of the raised portions has a front end, a front zone having a V-shape with a width dimension gradually increasing from an apex of the front end rearwards, and a rear zone located rearward of the front zone and having a width dimension gradually decreasing rearward, an interior surface of the grip section of the outer tube has a protrusion protruding inward from the interior surface at an edge of the rear end opening and extending circumferentially around the grip section, and the raised portions are configured to be put in slidable contact with the protrusion in a linear contact area extending in a circumferential direction of the inner tube when the front end of the inner tube moves to the front end of the
outer tube.