Rotating Support Leg Toothbrush for Hygienic Drying
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional toothbrush designs often lead to bacterial and viral infections due to improper storage, such as storing toothbrushes flat or upright in shared containers, which hinders drying and promotes pathogen transmission.
Innovation Solution
A toothbrush design featuring a support leg that rotates and acts as a hinge, allowing the bristles to be maintained upright and away from surfaces, with a groove for attachment to cups or edges, enhancing airflow and preventing contact with other toothbrushes, thus improving drying and reducing pathogen transmission.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If toothbrushes are stored flat on sink surfaces or in shared containers, then storage convenience is improved, but bacterial and viral infections increase due to improper drying and pathogen transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The support leg is designed to be rotatable rather than fixed, allowing it to dynamically adjust between a stored position (flat against the handle) and a functional position (extended to support the toothbrush upright). This dynamic structure enables the toothbrush to transition from a compact storage state to an upright drying state, solving the contradiction between storage convenience and infection prevention.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention adds a spatial dimension by extending the support leg outward from the handle at an angle, creating a three-dimensional support structure. This allows the toothbrush to be positioned upright away from the storage surface, utilizing vertical space and preventing contact with contaminated surfaces, thereby preventing pathogen transmission while maintaining storage convenience.
2Duration of action of stationary object
If toothbrushes are stored upright in shared containers, then drying is improved, but pathogen transmission increases due to contact with other toothbrushes
Solution Approach 1:
The support leg creates individual segregated spaces for each toothbrush by extending outward and supporting the toothbrush at an angle. This segmentation prevents direct contact between multiple toothbrushes stored in proximity, allowing each toothbrush to dry independently without pathogen transmission risks associated with shared containers.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a support leg is added to maintain bristles upright, then drying and infection prevention are improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support leg is integrated with the handle as a unified structure, where the support leg and handle form a single assembly. This merging reduces the number of separate components and simplifies manufacturing while maintaining the functional benefits of the support leg for preventing infection and promoting drying.
Solution Approach 2:
The support leg serves multiple functions: it supports the toothbrush upright for proper drying, prevents contact with contaminated surfaces, and can be rotated to a flat position for compact storage. This multi-functionality justifies the added structural element by providing multiple benefits without requiring separate components for each function.
4Ease of operation
If the support leg is made rotatable to enable flat storage, then storage convenience is improved, but manufacturing precision requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The rotation mechanism includes a detent feature that provides predetermined stable positions (flat against the handle or extended outward). This detent mechanism cushions the rotation by providing defined stop positions, reducing the precision requirements for manufacturing while ensuring the support leg remains stable in either the stored or functional position.
Data Source
AI summary
A toothbrush including bristles extended from one end of the toothbrush, a handle extended from another end of the toothbrush opposite the one end, and any of an attachment hole, arranged between the bristles and handle and configured to receive a support leg to be attached therein, and a groove are provided, either of which may improve drying and therefore decrease in transmission of pathogens via the bristles by, for example, improving air circulation to the bristles raised away from a surface via action of the end and the surface.