Brush & Rinse - Mind that gap between concept and reality...

Brush & Rinse is a great idea from Amron Experimental (which got to me, as things often do, through Gizmodo) where the careful shaping of an otherwise normal toothbrush creates a fountain for rinsing when held under the tap as shown. Yes, a great idea indeed - but my mechanical engineering instinct screams that this particular one is only an idea until proven!

As a product designer, I've encountered quite a lot of great ideas - but as a mechanical engineer, I've also recognized that many concepts suffer the fatal flaw of oversimplifying reality. In reality, things don't always line up, move smoothly, fit snugly, or in any way work as perfectly as they do in the metaphorical light bulbs over designers' heads. In this case, there's such a huge number of variables in the water stream of bathroom faucets - width, speed, aeration, consistency, and on and on - that a single geometry seems highly unlikely to work in all cases.

But, maybe it will work (I'm not a fluids guy, personally) - there are ideas that have, and ideas that will. Just don't hold your breath...