Saturday
Apr232005
Toothbrush With Built-in Toothpaste Squeezer
Saturday, April 23, 2005 at 1:46AM
Here's a quickie: When my toothpaste tube is almost empty I always want to squeeze every bit out in order to save money, save resources, and because I'm just thrifty that way. Anyway, I usually want to do this when I'm about to brush my teeth, but at that moment I often don't have anything handy to squeeze the last bit out. I've tried using the handle of my toothbrush, but it's got rubber on it and doesn't slide well. Then I thought - why not make a toothbrush that has a built-in squeezer? My first thought regarding the design is to split the handle so that there's a slot the tube could slide into. Something like this (note: I'm having trouble getting my patented AsciiVision (TM) diagram to show properly):
In addition to the advantage of using all of the toothpaste, such a brush would be convenient (the feature is available when and where you need it), and it would use less plastic when manufacturing the handle.
P.S. Here's a FAQ on recycling toothpaste tubes, and a brief justification for using up all the paste.
+---------------------------------+
| |
| side front |
| view view |
| |
| +--- ++--+ \ |
| +--- |ooo| | |
| +--- |ooo| > bristles |
| +--- |ooo| | |
| +--- |ooo| / |
| | || | |
| | || | \ |
| | || | | |
| | || | | |
| | || | > handle |
| | || | | |
| | || | | |
| | ++--+ / |
| |
| ^ |
| | |
| slot for sliding |
| tube into |
| |
+---------------------------------+
In addition to the advantage of using all of the toothpaste, such a brush would be convenient (the feature is available when and where you need it), and it would use less plastic when manufacturing the handle.
P.S. Here's a FAQ on recycling toothpaste tubes, and a brief justification for using up all the paste.
Reader Comments (10)
Look at my patent # 6,749,088......great minds think alike!
Send me an e-mail at mholevas@att.net and I will send you the latest picture on it.
I'm very pleased that you got your patent. It's such a good idea!
im 12 years old and i thought of something better...dont mean to be harsh...but my idea is better...
Hi Anonymous. An FYI: Your comment doesn't convey anything useful, other than attitude. I'd welcome something of substance, such as ... the actual idea? :-) I'm not sure whether your post is a joke or not, but I'll leave it just in case.
This is a pretty neat idea, but instead of doing what you explain here in this, why wouldn't someone just have a basically hollowed out head and neck of the toothbrush then be able to screw in the toothpaste. And have the toothpaste come out through little holes underneath the bristles.
Why not! I can see the pluses and minuses of each approach, Alex. Thanks for reading.
What I found very effective is to use the heavy duty squeezer used for artist's oil paint tubes, - I think they are called wringers.
The industrial grade one is made of steel, a bit heavy, but always squeezes to the last drop.
It may be a good innovation, though I'm not sure about its necessity. It's not we find it hard to put the toothpaste on our toothbrushes, right ? Then again, it may be a preference.
Thanks for the good idea!
A great point. I was just playing around with it. I think there's a natural human drive to make life more comfortable, and to do less work. I don't think it's good for us to put too much energy into this direction, though. Thanks for writing.