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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):
+---------------------------------+
| |
| 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.
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