Abstract: A toothbrush has a handle with an open-ended elongated slot in the body of the handle that partially defines the handle with two opposing handle portions and a hinge portion. Wherein one of the handle portions is directly joined with the rest of the handle in a cantilevered manner and the other handle portion is joined with the rest of the handle in an elastically hinged manner via the hinge portion. The handle portions have oppositely facing straight sides for engaging opposite sides of a tube of toothpaste and the hinge portion allows for swinging and positioning of the hinged handle portion with respect to the cantilevered handle portion with a manually applied force on the hinged handle portion to effect the progressive collapse of a tube of toothpaste with forced movement between the handle and the tube to thereby force the toothpaste toward the dispensing end of the tube.

Abstract: A food-handling utensil has tines with opposing sides that are provided with a plurality of smooth projections spaced along the length thereof adapted to engage and retain food impaled by the tines but only marginally inhibit release of the impaled food during handling of the food. Several exemplary embodiments of the utensil are disclosed in the form of a fork having more than two tines and with various forms of the projections, the provision of projections on other sides of the times, adapting the invention to sporks and also providing the handle of the utensil with an ergonomic grip.

Abstract: A toothbrush having a handle with a brush at one end has an open-ended slot in the handle adapted to receive a collapsible tube of toothpaste and force the toothpaste by wedging action from a closed end of the tube toward a dispensing end of the tube as the tube is pulled through the slot. The slot has a configuration that is adapted to partially define the handle with a stiff resiliently-hinged handle portion and an opposing relatively rigid handle portion wherein the hinged handle portion is operable to swing outward and inward of the handle and by squeezing action on these handle portions vary as well as maintain the width of the slot and thereby control and assist in forcing the toothpaste by wedging action to a desired degree toward the dispensing end of the tube as the tube is pulled through the slot.