Flexible Squeezable Vial for Precise Dental Substance Delivery
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental treatment vials fail to efficiently deliver and evenly apply tooth whitening compositions, especially to hard-to-reach areas like the rear teeth, and lack an effective mechanism for minimizing product waste and ensuring airtight sealing.
Innovation Solution
A flexible plastic vial with a squeezable design that narrows under manual pressure, directing the contents through a channel in the applicator tip, assisted by gravity, and a resealable cap to minimize waste and maintain a hermetically sealed environment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a conventional rigid vial is used, then the vial maintains its structural integrity and sealing, but the contents cannot be efficiently delivered to hard-to-reach areas like rear teeth
Solution Approach 1:
The vial transitions from a rigid structure to a flexible squeezable structure, allowing dynamic deformation under manual pressure to direct contents precisely to hard-to-reach areas while maintaining structural integrity through elastic recovery
Solution Approach 2:
The vial is constructed from flexible material that can be manually squeezed and deformed, enabling efficient delivery of contents to difficult-to-reach areas while maintaining hermetic sealing through the flexible wall structure
2Productivity
If the vial is designed to be squeezable, then the contents can be directed efficiently to the applicator, but the sealing and airtightness may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible vial wall maintains hermetic sealing through its elastic properties, allowing squeezing for efficient content delivery while the material's continuity ensures airtightness is preserved during deformation
Solution Approach 2:
The vial material properties are selected to maintain sealing integrity across a range of deformation states, allowing the vial to transition from relaxed to squeezed states while maintaining hermetic closure
3Loss of substance
If a non-res sealable cap is used, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but product waste increases and airtight sealing cannot be maintained
Solution Approach 1:
The cap enables recovery and reuse of remaining contents by providing a resealable closure, allowing the user to close the vial after partial use and retrieve remaining product later, significantly reducing waste
Solution Approach 2:
The cap is designed with preliminary sealing features that maintain airtight closure when not in use, preventing premature exposure and contamination of contents while allowing easy reopening when needed
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables precise and efficient application of tooth whitening compositions to teeth surfaces, including hard-to-reach areas, with minimal waste and ensures a stable, airtight seal, suitable for various viscosities and applications beyond dentistry.
Implementation Method 1
by pointing the applicator tip downward and thereby the open end of the vial, gravity will assist in urging the contents, such as the tooth whitening composition gel, toward the open end
Implementation Method 2
The squeezing of the flexible plastic vial narrows the interior accordingly, which tends to urge the contents, such as the tooth whitening composition gel, toward the path of least resistance—toward the open end to pass through the channel in the applicator tip
Data Source
AI summary
Dispenser for dispensing a substance onto a substrate, such as a tooth treatment compound onto teeth, includes a vial including a pair of thin members forming a cavity therebetween in which the substance is arranged and a conduit defining an internal dispensing channel communicating with the cavity, an applicator tip arranged in connection with the conduit and including projections adapted to contact the substrate, and a cap including a cavity. The cap removably attaches to the vial and when attached, covers the applicator tip and seals the internal channel. When the cap is detached from the vial and the thin members are squeezed toward one another, the substance in the cavity is urged out of the cavity into and through the internal channel in the conduit and onto the projections to enable it to be brought into contact with the substrate.