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Customreverseengineeringprojectwrite Up
Customreverseengineeringprojectwrite Up
JuliaPrien,AlexandraDeGroot,NatalieNickerson,and
AriannaDruecke
IntroductiontoEngineeringandDesign
May2,2016
Overview:
Thereverseengineeringprojectwasagroupproject.AlexandraDeGroot,Arianna
Druecke,NatalieNickerson,andI(JuliaPrien)wereagrouptogether.Wechosethe
spritzcookiepress,madebyThePamperedChefforourproject.ClientCompanyisalso
ThePamperedChef.Thetargetcustomeristowardsanyonethatcooks,specifically
anyonewhomakesspritzorotherholidaycookies.Theproblemwiththeoriginaldesign
isthecookiedoughwasgettingstuckonthedieandnotthepanwhenonlypullingthe
triggeronce.Youthenneededtopressthetriggertwiceforthedoughtostick,which
ruinedthecookiespattern.Thecriteriaisthatthedoughneedsneedstobepressedoutin
amoreidealamountforstickingtothecookiesheet,andthepressneedstokeepasimple
look,sowhenmakingcookies,thefocusisnotonthecookiepressbuttheuniqueshaped
cookiesthecookiepressmade.Thenewcookiepresscannothavetoomanymoreparts
becauseitwouldcostmoretomanufacture.Italsocannotbehardtooperate.Themain
purposeofreverseengineeringistomakecurrentproductbetterinsomeway.The
purposeofthisprojectwastolearntofindaproblemwithanexistingproductandmake
itbetter.Also,tobeableworkinagroupandhelpteacheachothertosolvetheproblems
youwouldcomeacross.Forthisproject,wespentaboutnineweeksfindingandsolving
aproblemwithanexistingproduct.
MaterialsList:
Asourprojectrevolvedaroundthecookiepress,weneededoneforreference.
Overtheweeksofworkingonthisproject,weusedahammer,screwdriver,andasander
totakeapartthecookiepress.WealsousethesoftwareAutodeskInventortorecreatethe
revisedcookiepress.Weusedpencilsandisometric,grid,andblankpapertocreate
dimensioneddrawings.
Procedure:
Tocompletethisproject,westartedbythinkingaboutideas.Eachmember
thoughtoftenideas.Then,wecametogethertocomeupwithalistofthetopthree.The
topthreelistcontainsaminigumballmachine,thermoswaterbottle,andofcourse,the
cookiepress.Eachgroupmemberthenmadetheirowndecisionmatrix.
Fromavarietyoffactorsthateachgroup
memberjudgedby,thecookiepresshadthe
highesttotalinalldecisionmatrices.Everyone's
decisionmatriceswerescaledonetofive,five
beingthebestandonetheworst.Eachgroup
memberhadthesameresults,andthecookiepress
wonbyunanimousdecision.Afterfiguringout
whichproductweweregoingtodo,weneedto
familiarizeourselves.Wedidavisualanalysis
matrixoftheproductandavisualanalysiswriteup.
Forthevisualanalysis,wehadtodescribethe
visualprinciples(balance,emphasis,contrast,
rhythm,proportion,unity,economy)and
designelements(point,line,color,shape,
value,form,texture,space).Thecookiepress
hasspaceinsidethebarrelwhenthereisno
cookiedough.Thespaceiscontrasttotherest
ofthecookiepress,andalsoputsemphasisof
thefunctionalityofthecookiepress.Ithasa
cylinderform.Thehandlelookssoftbecauseof
thecurvedlineonthehandle.
Afterthevisualanalysis,wedidafunctional
analysis.Tosummarizethefunctionalanalysis,
themainfunctionistopushoutcookiedough
throughdiscs,whicharecalleddies,andmake
differentshapedcookies.Asforceisappliedto
thelowertrigger,itactsasaleverandpushes
theratchetforward.Aninclinedplaneslides
andgetscaughtonacatchingmechanism,andthecatchingmechanismgoesinthenotch
thatpreventstheratchetfromgoingbackwards.Also,whilegoingforward,theratchets
inclinedplaneforcesthecatchingmechanismtomovedownbytheretractingofthe
releasepin.Then,aspringsforceforcesthetriggertoreturntothestartingposition.To
movetheratchet,thereleasepinisdepressedandallowstheratchettomoveanyposition
theuserwants.Wealsoreadconsumerreviewsoftheproducttotryanddeterminethe
mainorbiggestissuewiththeproduct.Whilereadingcustomerreviews,wesawthat
someofthecustomerreviewscouldbeusererrorandnotproducterror.Wedecidedto
conductanexperimentinwhichwewouldusethecookiepresstomakecookies.While
weconductedtheexperiment,weobservedthatweneedtopullthetriggertwiceinorder
togetthedoughontothepan,buttheproblemwasthattheshapeofthedoughwas
distorted.Thefactsthatthecookiepressdidntbreakandthatwegottogetcookiesare
thingsthatwentwellwiththeexperiment.Thecleaningoftheproductwentwell.There
wasacoupleproblemswithcleaningthecookiepress.Theratchethasverysharp
notches.Thepartthatholdstheratchetisalsohardtoclean.Wedidntwantwatertoget
inthemechanismsinthebodycasing,whichmadeitchallenging.
Thenwedidaproductdisassembly.Fortheproductdisassemblywehadtoname
eachpartandwhattheirfunction,quantity,material,textureand/orfinish,andwhich
otherpartstheyinteractedwith.
Part
Name
Die
Barrel
Holdsthedough
(clear)
plastic
Smooth,shiny
Screwedontobottomringand
bodycasing
Holdsthedieonthebarrel
Pressesdieagainstbarrel
Pushesdough
Smooth,matte
Connectstoratchet
Ratchet
Connectedtoplungerto
pushdough
(white)
plastic
rubbery
plastic
Stainless
steel
Smooth,shiny
Bottom
Ring
Plunger
Smooth,shiny
Ispushedbythetriggerandgoes
throughmanybodycomponents
TopKnob
Makesanicegripfor
movingtheratchet
(white)
plastic
Smooth,shiny
Coversendofratchet
Body
casing
Holdsthereleasepin
mechanism
(white)
plastic
Smooth,shinyon
outsidefaces
Connectstobarrelandtrigger
assembly
Inside
Cover
Plate
Release
Pin
Keepsthereleasepinin
place
(white)
plastic
Smooth,shiny
Holdsreleasepininbodycasing
Holdstheratchetinposition
Stainless
steel
Smooth,shiny
Heldbybodycasing,releases
ratchet
10
Spring
Bringsthereleasepinback
toitsoriginalposition
Stainless
steel
Shiny,smoothlines
Pushesagainstreleasepin
11
Trigger
Assembly
Transferstheforcefromthe
usertomovingtheratchet
White
plastic,
rubber,
metalrivets
Smoothorgrippy
(triggergrip),shinyor
matte(triggergrip)
Pushesforwardratchetand
attachestobodycasing
Part#
Qty
Function
Material
Doughispressedthroughto
makecoolsshapes(many
similarones)
(white)
plastic
Texture
andFinish
Smooth,shiny
InteractionwithOtherParts
Heldagainstbarrelbybottomring
Ourideastoimprovethisproductweretomakethecookiepressoutofdifferent
material,ormakesomekindofsweeperarmorabetterplunger.Wealldecidedthatit
wouldbemoreefficienttomakesomethingtocutthedoughoffofthediesorpushout
moredoughatatime.Wepickedthisproblemtosolvebecauseinordertogetthecookie
doughonthepanwehadtopullthetriggertwice,butthenthecookieswouldget
distorted.First,wewantedtomakeasweeperarm,butwequicklyrealizedthatitwould
costmoretoaddasweeperarm.Asanalternative,wedecidetomakethenotchesonthe
ratchetbigger.Thatway,whenpullingthetrigger,theplungerwouldpushoutmore
dough.Also,itwouldntpushouttoomuchdoughliketwotriggerspullswould,andit
wouldgivemoredoughthenonlyonetriggerpullwould.
Aboveareafewofourdimensioneddrawings,becausethatwasournextstep.
Wesketchedeachpartofthecookiepressandfullydimensionedit.Forthesepartswe
sketchedweensuredweputinthechangesweweremaking,likethenotchlengthandthe
simplificationsinotherareas.Thesesketcheshelpedprepareusforour3Dmodelingin
thenextstep.
NextwecreatedeachofthepartsofthecookiepressonAutodeskInventor.There
weremanydimensionsonsomeoftheparts,andsomewereverycomplex.Hereare
somefinishedones.
Oncealloftheindividualpartsweredone,weassembledthemintoonebig
assemblyfile.
Fromtheassemblyfile,we
madeananimationandanexploded
viewofthecookiepress.The
explodedviewisabove.
Thefinalstepwastomake
technicaldrawingsofeachpart
throughInventor.
Wealsodidapresentationto
theclassonourproject.
ConceptsCovered:
Thisprojectcoveredmanydifferentproblemsolvingconcepts,andalsotheconceptswe
neededtoknowtobeabletosolvetheproblemsweencountered.Wereviewedskillslike
usingdecisionmatricesandbasicisometricsketching,aswellasdoingtechnical
drawingsbyhand.Wealsousedmanyofthe3Dmodelingskillsandtechniquesweve
learned,aswellasdoingcomputertechnicaldrawings.Alloftheseskillshelped
complementtheproblemsolvingconceptsthisprojectemphasized.
Summary:
Welearnedthatthereismoretoaproductorcompanythanjustcreatingnewor
improvedproducts.Thereisalotofplanning,testing,andproductcreation.Overthree
weeks,wehavedoneanumberoftasks.Wemadeavarietyofanalysesanddocuments
including:decisionmatrices,avisualanalysischart,afunctionalanalysis,andaproduct
disassembly.InAutodeskInventor,wemodeledpartsandmadeaworkingassembly,
technicaldrawings,andlabeledisometricdrawings.Itwasverydifficulttomakethe
partsofthecookiepressinAutodeskInventor.Toovercomethisdifficultywestopped
andlookedatthepartindifferentwaystofindthemostefficientwaytomakethepart.
Anotherdifficultywasfindingpatentsforthecookiepress.Inordertosolvethisproblem
wephysicallylookedonthecookiepressboxforanycluesornumbersthatarerelatedto
theU.S.PatentOffice.Wenoticedanumberontheboxthatwasntthebarcodenumber,
sowedecidedtosearchthatnumber.Throughourresearch,wediscoveredthatthis
particularcookiepressisstillpatentpending.Also,wecannotbecompletelysureifour
decisiontolengthentheratchetnotcheswillfixtheproblem.Inordertoclaimthatas
true,wewouldneedtodoalittlemoreresearchaswellascreateandtestaprototype.We
didagoodjobpayingattentiontodetailtoensureournewversionofthepressatleast
startedthesame,butwecouldhaveimprovedouroverallgroupcooperation,particularly
whenpeopleweregone.Ifweweretodothisprojectagain,wewouldmakesurewefully
confirmedthechangesweweremakingtotheproductbeforecontinuingtoavoid
confusion.