Man invents tape where it’s easy to find the end of the roll

By Kate Pounds via SWNS

A doctor has patented an invention to solve one of life's great frustrations - finding the end of a roll of tape.

Rajan Bhojwani, 48, has invented SeeTheTape - sticky tape wound around a dark-colored 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 his 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."

Rajan and his children, Laranya, 13, and Pranaya, nine, enjoy watching the tv series The Worst Witch together.

On one episode someone wanted a spell to help find the end of the sellotape - 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 realized 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 realized 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 sellotape is that you're trying to see a tiny thin line on a white background.

"On See-TheTape 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 has sold 30 of his first batch of 2,000.

He's forging deals with investors 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."