Concept Process
In order to develop the best toothbrush concept possible, we first had to gather data to improve our design. We looked both externally and internally--gathering data from existing designs and patents as well as dissecting our own toothbrush. Once we had this data for our own toothbrush, we could benchmark it against our competitors' toothbrushes to see where we stand in the market. We then generated concepts and stacked them against each other to find the best aspects of each to continue into our final design.
External Research:
Benchmarking
Our first ideas for concept generation for our toothbrush redesign came from comparing our toothbrush with its competition. While SpongeBob lead in appeal and energy efficiency, our current toothbrush was at or below average when compared to competitors in ease of operation, ease of holding, and cleaning technology. From this data we narrowed the focus of our concept generation search. We decided to adopt the single-button on/off switch found in many of our competitors’ products in order to increase ease of use. For a higher ease of holding, we matched the rubberized grips found on some toothbrushes belonging to our competition. Click on the thumbnail for a larger view of our House of Quality.
Literature Search
To increase the cleaning technology of our toothbrush we searched through other technology currently on the market. We found the Oral-B Pulsar toothbrush, and decided to adapt its vibrating bristle technology for use with our toothbrush redesign. Click the link above for more information.
Patent Search
For more insight on how we could implement our design ideas, we searched through existing US patents:
- Patent # 7003839: "Interdental Treatment Device with Vibrating Head Part"
- We found this patent to be the most useful in implementing vibrating bristles in our toothbrush redesign. It describes using a tiny "eccentric" or off-set weight in the head of the toothbrush to produce vibrations. This mechanism is similar to that found in a cell-phone for its vibrate feature. With these vibrations in the brush head, the cleaning action will involve the rotating brush part as well as stationary bristles which will vibrate against the teeth. With both of these methods, our toothbrush will provide superior cleaning.
- Patent # 6154912: "Water-proof Electronic Sound and Light Toothbrush"
- Patent # 6199239: "Toothbrush with Audible Reminder Mechanism"
- These two patents allowed us to further increase our product's lead in appeal by adding a speaker that plays the SpongeBob theme song. The theme song would play for two minutes and help ensure that the children brush for the dentist-recommended time. From the first patent, we learned how to ensure the speaker assembly is waterproof by using a sound-permeable film that keeps water out. From the second patent, we learned a method for playing music through a single speaker with a programmable electronic music chip. This knowledge allowed us to design our toothbrush to play the SpongeBob theme song while it is powered on.
Product Dissection
In order to gain knowledge about how the SpongeBob toothbrush worked, we had to get a look at its internal components. This could only be accomplished through a destructive dissection of the product. Please visit our Product Dissection Page for more detailed information.
Concept Generation:
Before we could start creating new designs for our toothbrush, we had to break down its function into individual parts. This allowed us to understand exactly what functions the toothbrush needs to perform so we could redesign their implementation as needed. Click on the thumbnail below to see a full scale picture of the functional decomposition.
We then took the subsystems defined in the functional decomposition and broke them down further to brainstorm new ideas. This allowed us to think outside the confines of our current design and generate new ideas. These ideas did not have to be entirely feasible because their purpose is to stimulate our thought in coming up with a new design. Our brainstorming results are below:
| Energy to Clean |
Energy to Hold |
| Energy Source |
Energy Translation |
Cleaning Motion |
Energy Source |
Application to Teeth |
Manual |
DC Motor |
Rotation |
Manual |
Arm movement |
Solar |
Turbine |
Vibration |
Robotic |
Robotic arm |
Chemical |
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Pulsating |
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Nuclear |
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Thermal |
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Electrical
-Battery
-Fuel Cell
-Wall Outlet |
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Hydraulic |
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Pneumatic |
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Concept Pictures
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Concept 1 (by Lisa) This concept was designed to improve the cleaning ability and overall size of the toothbrush. The original toothbrush head was replaced with a mechanism that features both a rotating brush head and vibrating bristles. The size of the toothbrush was changed in a few ways. The width of the toothbrush was decreased by using 1 AA battery instead of 2. The toothbrush was also made easier to hold by adding rubber grip to the handle. For aesthetics, the designs on the original concept were basically unchanged. SpongeBob graphics and colors will be on the casing. The on/off button has been changed into the shape of a star to be more appealing for little children. |
Concept 2 (by Matt) This toothbrush redesign was an effort to improve the appeal, cleaning technology, ease of use, and ease of holding of the product. For its design, the SpongeBob decals were retained, but the toothbrush was slimmed down by removing empty space and shortened the neck of the toothbrush, improving appeal. Furthermore, a speaker was added at the bottom of the brush that plays the Spongebob theme song while the product is on. For better cleaning a strip of vibrating bristles was added on each longitudinal side of the toothbrush head outside of the the pre-existing square block of bristles. To eliminate confusion and enhance ease of use, the two-button on/off switch of the toothbrush was replaced with a single button model. To make the toothbrush easier to hold, rubberized grips were added on the side to allow the product to conform more easily to the hand. |
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Concept 3 (by Chris) This concept features improved cleaning. This is possible with a rotating brush head as well as a vibration mechanism for a second set of bristles. It was also made easier to operate for children by reducing the width of the handle by stacking the batteries vertically and changing the switch mechanism. Instead of having two buttons, there is just one on/off button. The toothbrush is also easier to grip since rubber grip material has been added to the toothbrush handle. For appearance, there are SpongeBob characters and graphics on the handle. The toothbrush will also be made in bright colors. |
Concept 4 (by Lauren) I chose an indented rubber handle for a more effective grip. The head of the toothbrush contains vibrating and rotating bristles of different sizes for a deep clean. I also chose to place a tongue cleaner on the back of the head for a whole mouth cleaning. The batteries are placed vertically to make the product thinner. The character and music system is to appeal to the young consumer. The music will play for a period of time to ensure that children brush for the recommended time. |
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Concept Selection:
In order to continue with our final design, we had to figure out which aspects of our concepts would be continued. To figure out which aspects were best, we used a selection matrix to compare our concepts with each other. Click on the thumbnail to see a larger view.
From this comparison, we were able to see that Concept 1 ranked highest in Ease of Use. We decided to adopt its one-button, star-shaped button. From Concept 2 we decided to continue with the music contraption and the 2-battery, vertical alignment design. The second battery gives us plenty of extra capacity to run the extra music device. From Concept 3 we adopted the general size and appearance. This includes the slimmer handle and the SpongeBob graphics. Concept 4 had the best cleaning out of all the designs since it incorporated a tongue scraper along with the rotating and vibrating bristles. We also continued the rubber grips in this design and the potential for a very lightweight product. We plan to incorporate all this and stay as close as possible to the original price of the SpongeBob SquarePants toothbrush.
This website was made for ED&G 100 at Penn State
