Toothpaste Cap With Integrated Squeezing Surface
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Solution Overview
Problem
Squeezable tube dispensers often result in uneven distribution of contents due to uncontrolled flattening, requiring manual manipulation to empty completely, and existing solutions are either complex or unstable during use.
Innovation Solution
A toothpaste cap with dental care tools featuring a hollow body with a cylindrical retaining member and a squeezing member that can be used to control the dispensing of contents, providing stability and ease of use, and optionally integrating with various dental cleaning heads.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of substance
If manual manipulation is used to flatten the tube from the closed end, then complete emptying of contents is achieved, but the process becomes time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the cap and the squeezing tool into a single integrated unit. The cap includes a hollow body with a closed upper end, an open lower end, and a flat planar first sidewall that serves as the squeezing surface. This merging eliminates the need for separate squeezing tools and manual manipulation steps, allowing users to simply press the cap against the tube to achieve controlled flattening and complete emptying efficiently.
Solution Approach 2:
The cap serves multiple functions: it seals the tube opening to prevent leakage, and it provides a flat planar surface that acts as a squeezing tool to control the flattening of the tube. This multi-functionality eliminates the need for separate tools and simplifies the dispensing process, directly addressing the time-loss issue while ensuring complete emptying.
2Ease of operation
If separate squeezing tools are used, then tube flattening control is improved, but the device complexity increases and tools may be lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent integrates the squeezing function directly into the cap structure. The hollow body of the cap provides a flat planar first sidewall that serves as the squeezing surface, eliminating the need for separate squeezing tools. This integration maintains ease of operation for controlling tube flattening while significantly reducing device complexity and eliminating the risk of losing separate tools.
3Ease of operation
If the tube is squeezed without stability control, then dispensing is simple, but the tube moves on the surface causing uneven distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the cap and squeezing tool into one unit, where the cap's hollow body with flat planar sidewall provides both sealing and controlled squeezing functions. This integration allows the user to apply stable, controlled pressure to the tube while maintaining dispensing simplicity, preventing the tube from moving uncontrollably on the surface and ensuring even distribution of contents.
Data Source
AI summary
The toothpaste cap with dental care tools includes a cap for sealing an open end of a squeezable tube dispenser. The cap is formed as a hollow body having a closed upper end and an open lower end. A cylindrical retaining member is mounted, substantially centrally, to a lower face of the closed upper end within the hollow body. The cylindrical retaining member is adapted for releasably receiving and sealing a spout of a squeezable tube dispenser. The cap can have a first sidewall having a flat planar contour and a second sidewall having an arcuate contour. The flat, planar first sidewall of the hollow body is adapted for pressing against the squeezable tube dispenser to selectively manually manipulate contents thereof. Alternatively, the cap can have a substantially cylindrical sidewall and a squeezing member attached to an exterior surface thereof.