Toothpaste rolling assembly
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing rolling devices for toothpaste tubes are inefficient in ensuring complete extraction of toothpaste, leading to waste and difficulty in maintaining the tube in a rolled configuration.
Innovation Solution
A rolling device comprising a key with a slot for the toothpaste tube, a gear positioned around the key, and a sleeve with lobes that engage the gear for continuous rotation, allowing the sleeve to be rotated and the toothpaste tube to be wrapped around the key for efficient squeezing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a simple clip or locking mechanism is used to retain the toothpaste tube, then the device structure is simple, but the tube cannot be continuously rotated for complete toothpaste extraction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static clip structure into a dynamic system with a rotatable sleeve and gear mechanism. The sleeve can rotate continuously around the key while the gear engages with the tube to prevent unrolling, enabling both continuous rotation for complete toothpaste extraction and structural control.
Solution Approach 2:
The device is divided into functional segments: the key for initial insertion, the gear for engagement and rotation control, and the sleeve for continuous rotation. This segmentation allows each component to perform its specific function while working together to solve the contradiction between simplicity and continuous rotation capability.
2Reliability
If the tube is manually rolled and held in place, then no additional mechanism is needed, but the tube tends to unroll and toothpaste extraction is incomplete
Solution Approach 1:
The gear mechanism automatically engages with the corrugated tube as the sleeve rotates, providing self-retaining functionality. The lobes on the gear engage with the tube's corrugations to prevent unrolling without requiring external locking actions from the user.
Solution Approach 2:
The gear acts as an intermediary between the rotating sleeve and the toothpaste tube. It translates the rotational motion into controlled wrapping while maintaining reliable retention through its lobes that engage with the tube's corrugated surface.
3Ease of operation
If the sleeve rotates freely without engagement points, then the structure is simple, but the tube cannot be retained at various rotation positions
Solution Approach 1:
The gear lobes are distributed around the gear circumference, providing continuous engagement points during rotation. This ensures that the tube is retained at various rotation positions while allowing smooth continuous rotation, as the lobes sequentially engage and disengage during the rotation cycle.
Data Source
AI summary
A toothpaste rolling assembly for squeezing toothpaste from a tube of toothpaste includes a key that has a slot extending therethrough to receive an end of a toothpaste tube thereby facilitating the toothpaste tube to be wrapped around the key. A gear is positionable around the key and a sleeve is slidable over the key. The sleeve has a slot therein to accommodate the toothpaste tube when the sleeve is slid over the key. The sleeve has a pair of lobes thereon and each of the lobes releasably engages the gear for retaining the sleeve at various points of rotation about the key. In this way the sleeve can be continually rotated on the key for squeezing toothpaste out of the toothpaste tube.