Dissolvable Toothpaste Droplet with Bristle Embedding Mechanism
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional toothpaste tubes fail to control the amount of toothpaste applied, leading to health risks from excessive ingestion, environmental waste, and inconvenience, especially for travel and children, due to the lack of a controlled delivery system.
Innovation Solution
Dissolvable toothpaste droplets with a membrane that embeds into toothbrush bristles, providing a pre-measured amount of toothpaste that dissolves with water or saliva, eliminating the need for squeezing or pressing, and featuring extensions for secure attachment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If traditional toothpaste tubes are used, then toothpaste can be stored and transported, but the amount of toothpaste applied cannot be controlled leading to excessive ingestion risks
Solution Approach 1:
The toothpaste is divided into individual single-use droplets, each containing a pre-measured safe amount of toothpaste. This segmentation eliminates the ability to over-apply toothpaste while maintaining the benefits of traditional tube storage and transport.
Solution Approach 2:
The correct amount of toothpaste is pre-measured and packaged into each droplet before use. This preliminary action ensures that users automatically receive the safe, recommended amount without needing to measure or control the application themselves.
2Ease of operation
If traditional toothpaste tubes are used, then toothpaste can be delivered to users, but waste and mess occur due to lack of controlled delivery
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses disposable single-use droplets that are discarded after one application. This eliminates the waste and mess associated with traditional tubes while maintaining ease of operation, as each droplet is designed for immediate use and disposal.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts only the necessary amount of toothpaste into individual droplets, separating the useful portion from the waste-prone traditional tube system. This extraction enables precise delivery without the mess and waste of conventional tubes.
3Duration of action of stationary object
If traditional toothpaste tubes are used, then toothpaste can be stored, but environmental cost increases due to extended degradation time of empty tubes
Solution Approach 1:
The single-use droplets replace long-lived traditional tubes with short-lived individual units that are used and discarded immediately. This dramatically reduces environmental waste while maintaining the storage capability needed for transport and distribution.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention enables easy discarding of used toothpaste containers (droplets) after a single use. The small size and design of the droplets make them suitable for disposal programs, reducing the environmental burden compared to large traditional tubes that require extended degradation time.
4Quantity of substance
If single use chewable capsules are used, then toothpaste quantity can be controlled, but the capsules cannot hold onto the brush requiring special delivery systems
Solution Approach 1:
The droplet is designed with an asymmetric shape featuring a rounded body and a flattened tail section. This asymmetry allows the droplet to embed securely into the bristles of a standard toothbrush, eliminating the need for special delivery systems or capsule retention mechanisms while maintaining controlled quantity delivery.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of requiring the toothbrush to adapt to hold capsules, the invention inverts the approach by designing the droplet to actively embed into the toothbrush bristles. This reversal eliminates the need for complex toothbrush kit adaptations while achieving secure attachment.
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
The solution provides a controlled, safe, and convenient delivery of toothpaste, reducing the risk of ingestion, minimizing waste, and being easy to use with any toothbrush, making it suitable for various users including children and seniors.
Implementation Method 1
The outer membrane can be formed from dissolvable film strip technology
Data Source
AI summary
A droplet for delivering toothpaste to a user can be provided. The droplet can include a dissolvable outer membrane defining a volume with toothpaste inside the volume. The outer membrane can be formed from dissolvable film strip technology and include a tail or corner portion, which is configured to be embedded into the bristles of a toothbrush. In one aspect of this embodiment, the outer membrane of the droplet can form a pillow-like shape. The droplet further can include one or more extensions coupled to the outer surface of the outer membrane, where the one or more extensions can have a triangular shape, a barb shape or the like. In one aspect of this embodiment, the droplet further can include a logo, a cartoon character, a word or the like printed on the outer membrane. The plurality of extensions can form irregularities on the outer surface of the body section of the outer membrane.