We’ve all been there, shouting in frustration while searching around and around a roll of sticky tape, desperately trying to find the end.
Now, a doctor has patented an invention to solve this most irritating of problems.
Rajan Bhojwani, 48, has invented SeeTheTape – sticky tape wound around a dark-coloured cardboard inner, rather than a conventional white one.
He was inspired by a technique he uses every day in his job as a consultant ophthalmic surgeon – an eye surgeon – to see scratches in eyes.
And after prototypes were successfully tested by partially sighted people, the £1.49-per-roll invention is now on the market.
Rajan, a dad-of-two, from Nottingham, said: ‘This is one of the most common problems in the world – and I’ve solved it.
‘I’m really proud of this. It’s such a simple idea and will make a real difference to people’s experiences of using sticky tape.
‘Most people find it hard to see the end of the tape and this will make it much quicker for us all to use it.
‘It will make a huge difference for people with limited vision who find it even harder to see the end.’
Inspiration for the idea struck Rajan while watching The Worst Witch with his children, Laranya, 13, and Pranaya, nine.
On one episode someone wanted a spell to help find the end of the sticky tape – and it got Rajan thinking.
He was spurred on when a partially-sighted patient gave him a Christmas present in 2019 which struck up a conversation about finding the end of the tape.
Rajan realised a technique he uses at work could help.
He uses a process called scleral scatter to see fine details such as small scratches in patients’ eyes.
This involves trapping reflected light in a curved see-through surface which creates a glow and reveals scratches or defects to show up, against the dark part of the eye: the pupil.
He realised mounting see-through tape on a dark roll uses the same principle and makes the end of the tape always visible.
He said: ‘The difficulty with trying to see the end of normal sticky tape is that you’re trying to see a tiny thin line on a white background.
‘On See-The-Tape, the light passing through the see-through curved roll of tape is absorbed by the dark background, making the fine edge more visible.”
Rajan consulted a patent lawyer and had some prototypes made two years ago.
During tests with partially sighted people, one man who couldn’t find the end of conventional tape after a minute found it in 18 seconds on Rajan’s tape.
And a nurse who took 30 seconds to find the ‘normal’ tape end got Rajan’s in five seconds, he says.
He started selling them on his website SeeTheTape.co.uk last month, and hopes to see it for sale in shops soon.
He said: ‘I’m glad I’ve been able to use my expertise to make life easier for others.’
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