Flexible Vial Applicator for Even Gel Dispensing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing dental applicators for tooth whitening and other treatments face challenges in efficiently delivering and evenly applying high viscosity gels to teeth surfaces, particularly in accessing rear teeth without manual dexterity and in providing an airtight seal for stability and minimal waste.
Innovation Solution
A flexible plastic vial with a squeezable design that narrows under manual pressure, directing the gel through a channel to an applicator tip, assisted by gravity, which allows for precise application and resealing, made from materials like polypropylene and silicone for durability and comfort.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional glass ampoule is used for tooth whitening solution, then the solution is hermetically sealed for stability, but the high viscosity gel cannot be evenly applied to teeth surfaces and hard-to-reach areas
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator is divided into distinct segments: a flexible squeezable body containing the gel, a separate applicator tip with multiple delivery openings, and a cap with sealing mechanism. This segmentation allows the hermetic seal to be maintained in the body while the tip provides controlled delivery to hard-to-reach areas.
Solution Approach 2:
The applicator body is designed to be flexible and squeezable, allowing dynamic control of gel flow. The user can manipulate the flexibility to push gel through the channel and onto the applicator tip, enabling precise application to various tooth surfaces including hard-to-reach areas.
2Ease of manufacture
If a rigid container is used for tooth whitening gel, then manufacturing is simple, but manual squeezing pressure cannot be applied to control gel flow for precise application
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator body is constructed from flexible materials such as silicone or elastomers, allowing it to be molded into a squeezable form. This flexible shell enables manual compression to control gel flow while maintaining manufacturing simplicity through injection molding or similar processes.
3Quantity of substance
If the applicator opening is large to allow gel flow, then high viscosity gel can pass through, but the gel cannot be precisely applied and will waste product
Solution Approach 1:
The applicator tip features multiple small openings distributed across its surface, each sized to allow controlled gel passage. This local quality distribution enables precise application to specific tooth surfaces while preventing excessive gel flow and waste.
Solution Approach 2:
A narrow channel acts as an intermediary between the gel reservoir and the applicator tip openings. This channel controls gel flow rate and directs the high viscosity gel precisely to the tip, preventing waste while ensuring adequate supply to multiple small openings.
4Ease of operation
If the vial is open to allow gel dispensing, then application is possible, but the gel loses stability and may contaminate
Solution Approach 1:
The cap is pre-designed with a sealing mechanism that engages with the applicator body. When not in use, the cap is placed over the applicator tip or stored with the applicator, preliminarily sealing the gel to prevent contamination and maintain stability before the next application.
Solution Approach 2:
The sealing function is extracted as a separate cap component rather than being integrated into the applicator body. This allows the gel to remain sealed during storage and transport, with dispensing capability activated only when the cap is removed for application.
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 efficient, even distribution of tooth whitening compositions and other gels to teeth surfaces, including hard-to-reach areas, with minimal product waste and an airtight seal for stability, suitable for various dental and cosmetic applications.
Implementation Method 1
The vial is partly flexible to narrow an interior volume under manual squeezing pressure so that when the open end of the vial is open and no longer plugged by the mating structure, contents (such as a gel) within the interior volume are urged out of the interior volume to pass though the channel in the applicator tip as the flexible portion of the vial is flexed under the manual squeezing pressure.
Implementation Method 2
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.
Data Source
AI summary
Dispenser that dispenses a substance onto a substrate, such as a tooth treatment compound onto teeth, includes a vial including a cavity containing the substance and a projecting portion extending outward from the base. An applicator tip is engaged with the conduit and includes an internal passage communicating with the cavity, and an applicator portion situated forward of the conduit and that includes a plurality of spaced-apart projections at a distal application surface, preferably crenellated fingers. A cap is removably attachable to the vial and when attached, the applicator portion of the applicator tip is accommodated in a cavity of the cap and a sealing stopper extends into the internal passage to thereby seal it. When the cap is removed from the vial and the base is squeezed, the substance is urged out of the cavity through the passage of the applicator tip and onto the projections.