Health and Safety Problems Caused By DIY Projects in the Home

DIY- Group 7 Chelsea Cotton Prince Obinma Jon-Eric Cook Kelvin Lei 11/17/11 ME 234

Introduction

Imagine working in a garage, cutting and sanding wood. These are common actions that people who work on home improvement projects do. One pain that we all know about working with wood is the inevitable amount of filth and debris that results. Cutting and sanding results in the fine wood chippings and saw dust that land on the ground and linger in the air that you breathe. A regular shop vacuum can only do so much, such as cleaning up what is on the floor or on the table, but does nothing about debris that is in the air. This airborne debris is harmful for the person working and eventually tends to drift away from the work space into other rooms of the house, leaving a fine layer of dust on everything.

One possible solution to this problem would be a system that would have both the functions of a standard shop vacuum as well as an air filtration system. Such a product will help promote a clean working environment and a healthier workspace for the customer with the added convenience of having both systems in one. Market

The market of our product is comprised of individuals, both men and women, who work on projects that focus on house, shop or garage improvements. Their motivation can range from saving money buy doing work themselves, or just getting enjoyment out of working on projects around the house.

According to www.understandingthemarket.com, there are around 125 million homes in the United States. Within these homes approximately of the residents would prefer to undertake home improvement projects themselves rather than hire outside help. These people are often trying to save money by improving their home or doing repairs themselves. This demographic is not likely to hire house cleaning services so they need a cleaning solution that is inexpensive and efficient.

According to www.quickfacts.census.gov, there were 129,969,653 housing units in the year 2009. Almost every homeowner owns some sort of vacuum cleaner whether it is a shop vacuum or a basic upright. While air filtration systems are commonplace in industrial shops where health and safety standards are in place, very few homeowners own one unless they have a

preexisting respiratory condition. At www.ibisworld.com, it was stated that home improvement stores in the U.S.A. generate a revenue of approximately $150,000 and a little under 25% of product/services shares are attributed to tools, equipment, paint and flooring. This is a large market with a lot of room for growth.

Needs

Home improvement projects expend lots of time, energy and materials. These lengthy and strenuous projects often result in a variety of messes, including airborne particles and floor scraps. Small floor scraps can be cleaned with any vacuum cleaner, but some cant handle such a variety of heavy duty messes. Shop vacuums are sufficient for picking up floor scraps, but most projects result with a large production of airborne particles. Processes such as sanding wood, preparing concrete, and grinding metal fill the air with debris that shop vacuums arent able to handle. Using a shop vacuum to clean the air is very impractical. It is using the device in a way that it was not designed for, creating results which are not desirable. Since the shop vacuum may not even pick up the particles in the air, it will just move around dust and other debris, making the breathing conditions in a room even worse.

Sufficient ventilation is not always possible for those who choose to do the work themselves, which is overlooking a very important safety necessity. Airborne particles can be even more dangerous than other debris, depending on the project. Not all project scenarios allow for access to fresh air, and purification can be very expensive. Our product will take important concepts from shop vacuums and air purifiers to create one superior product.

Problem Description

Many tools and processes used in home improvement projects create dust and debris. For example, sanding, polishing, cement mixing, and plastering all can produce airborne particles that can be a health hazard. In industrial shops safety standards, such as OSHA, require proper ventilation and air filtration in environments where these types of tools are used. This prevents the Figure 1: An example of the dust and debris left after completing a home improvement project.

employees from inhaling any hazardous materials that result from their work. Often times, when people work on projects in their own homes they overlook these important safety measures that are in place in an industrial shop. Home improvement projects that involve excessive cutting and sanding or concrete mixing can pose the same health risks as they would in an industrial setting. Many people are unaware of this health hazard or are unsure how to prevent it.

Anyone who works on projects in the home will likely own a vacuum because in addition to airborne messes, projects and Figure 2: A standard shop vacuum that is currently on the market. the tools used to complete them create messes on surfaces such as counters and the floor that are more apparent than the airborne particles. The use of a vacuum takes care of a portion of the problem but not all of it. While most home owners that work on large scale home improvement projects own some sort of a shop vacuum very few own an air filtration system for their work area. This is often due to the cost of an extra piece of equipment. It is also difficult to transport an additional heavy piece of equipment to the project site. In some cases the reason why the home owner does not own an air filtration system is because they are unaware that it is necessary to use one while working on messy projects.

An system is needed that will both vacuum up the mess that is left behind on surfaces from tools and projects as well as remove any dust in the air that the project creates. This system will both serve as a tool to clean up messes that home improvement projects create, and also keep the user safe from airborne particles produced by their tools. It will also cut down on the cost of buying two separate systems as well as reduce the number of items that are required to transport to the project site. Objectives and Constraints

The purpose of this list is that it will serve as a criterion for the design of our product. This list was developed by comparing factors that were found to be the most important for the customer. First off, the price of the product should not exceed $280. This price cap was chosen

because a decent shop vacuum and an average shop air filtration system each cost about $130. Therefore, having the functions of the two pieces of equipment in one unit is similar to adding the two prices together, about $260. We believe that it is not necessary for the price of our product to be significantly cheaper than $260 because the benefit of having a two-in-one is worth the price already. With that said, we will still try to keep the price of the product to the lowest as possible. In terms of weight, our product should not exceed 30lbs, which is an average weight for a regular sized shop vacuum. Our customers need to be able to operate our product as easily as a regular shop vacuum. Therefore, a lighter product would definitely be more ideal. Our customer needs to be able to replace any parts on our product when necessary. Therefore, the components of the product should be easy to access. Like most hardware equipment, our product needs to be electrically powered and compatible with the normal wall outlet voltage of 120 V. We set this constraint because some hardware equipment requires more voltage than the average household wall outlet supply. It also needs to have an electrical cord that is at least 20 ft. A couple more components that our product should also come with are wheels, hose attachments, and a muffler. Ideation

One quick and dynamic brainstorming method we used is the random verb generator. The verbs were random in a sense that they did not have any correlation to each other but they were all relevant to some degree with our product. Our product is along the line of a vacuum and an air filter system and some of the verbs that were generated are suck, clean, filtrate, protects and etc. We approached this method by having one person type on the computer while the other group members thought of verbs and spoke out loud. We came up with a list of about 50 verbs. Also, the group member who was typing came up with a good amount of verbs himself. We all found this verb generator method to be very helpful and fun. It was helpful in a sense that it gave us ideas of additional functions that we can add onto our product. For example, interchange was one of our verbs and from that verb we came up with the idea of having upgradeable parts that customers can purchase so as to better suit their projects and activities.

The morphological logical attributes list was used as a brain storming activity. We, as a group, quickly blurted out ideas and wrote them down on a giant piece of paper. This list, of

about over fifty ideas, was categorized into five columns. These five columns consisted of shape, material, market, method of use, and size. We found this technique for brainstorming to be very beneficial to our idea generation for we were able to come up with multiple, reasonably valid ideas for our design. I, as a participant, really liked the non-judging feeling that came with the quick on your toes idea generation of this method of brainstorming. I will admit a few of the ideas were a bit goofy and out of the ordinary but I think this made it feel free and open to say anything. In closing, this method of brainstorming was, in my opinion, relatively successful in allowing us, as a team, to spread our design wings and get really creative with all the aspects of a design.

The first idea that was generated from this brainstorming method was a steal, cylindrically shaped, relatively large sized vacuum that is used to suck up waste products and that is used by DIY. Now comparing this design to the original needs that we agreed uponneeds to be under $250, can be easily assembled, easy to use, and relatively safethis new idea does measure up by serving the purpose of being a shop vac that does suck up waste, have it be mud or water. This new idea is a plausible one for our design because it also is easy to design. The frame construction is one piece so the only assembly would be attaching the motor and hoses. The pricing on this new idea would be around $250 and the majority of the cost would come from the internal components.

An idea was a bullet shaped, plastic device. It is small enough to be wall mounted, and perfect for use in a laboratory. This idea met most of our requirements by being small enough to lower cost, operating perfectly safe manner, and being easy to assemble. The initial flaw we saw with this design would be ease of use. It is easy to use this design in the room it is mounted in, but becomes a hassle when needed in another room. It would become tedious to switch between functions when working in another room, and would not be low enough in cost to warrant buying multiple units. However, a remote control would be sufficient in commanding the units different functions from a distance, in conjunction with an extensive and retractable hose.

One product that we came up with is a vacuum/air filtration system with the combination of having a parallelogram shape, made of titanium, being a large backpack, and can scrub. The parallelogram shape can give this product more aesthetics points since most shop vacuums and air filtration systems on the market have a pretty round non-aggressive look. Our product will be made of titanium or at least have some parts of it composed of titanium. Its lightness and

durability is ideal for the purposes of this vacuum. It needs to be light since it is going to be worn as a back pack and durable since its going to be in an environment where a lot of construction related activities are present. Having the vacuum worn as a backpack is going to be helpful since it will be easier to maneuver compared to a shop vacuum which is conventionally pushed or pulled and the air filtration on the system will always be close to the person who is wearing it. Adding a scrubbing capability on our vacuum system would be beneficial too. This could be added on by having adjustable head attachments to the tubes. Decision Matrix

Table I: Decision Matrix Datum: Owning both an Air Purifier and a Vacuum Wtd Rating Rating 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Weighting Factor Cost Operation Appearance Safety Reliability Weight 3 5 3 5 4 2

Backpack Vacuum Dome Vacuum Cylinder Vacuum Wtd Wtd Wtd Rating Rating Rating Rating Rating Rating 0 0 1 3 -1 -3 0 0 -1 -5 -1 -5 1 3 1 3 1 3 -1 -5 0 0 0 0 1 4 1 4 0 0 1 2 1 2 1 2 4 7 -3

Our final product has changed a lot since the last time we did a decision matrix. The original product that we came up with, using the design matrix, is a dome-shaped plastic vacuum that is mounted on the wall. The vacuum would be mounted on the wall permanently and it would have a retractable hose. Also, it would have the ability to vacuum particles and filter air debris. Some of the features from this original idea carried over to our final design. They are the use of plastic as the main material of the product, the dome shape and the ability to vacuum and filter air. Our final product is unlike our original decision matrix idea mainly because it is not going to be wall mounted and it will not have a retractable hose. Ideas that were put on the final design and were not considered when using the decision matrix are the use of supports to hold the air filter head attachment, the use of a universal 5 gallon bucket, a 20 feet long power cord, and the use of wheels to move the vacuum around.

Detailed Design

Figure 3: Final design sketch with numbered components

Features: 1. Large Air Filter Attachment 2. Handle for ease of use 3. Adjustable Support Rods 4. Tall Handle for ease of use 5. Control Panel with On/Off Switch and adjustable Suction Speed 6. Exiting Air 7. 20 Foot long power cord 8. Vacuuming Hose

9. Universal 5 Gallon Paint Bucket 10. Attachable bottom bucket stand with wheels 11. Vacuum Head Attachments

Design Considerations

Design Factors: The main factors that were taken into consideration during the design process were cost, operation, appearance, safety, reliability, and weight. We determined that safety and operation were the most important factors followed by reliability and cost. The vacuum system is simple to operate with a switch that toggles between vacuum and air filter modes. The canister is made out of a standard five gallon bucket that the vacuum head attaches to. This allows the user to switch canisters in the middle of a project when it gets full, filling up as many buckets as needed to finish the project. It is light enough to move from room to room in a house by an average adult without causing strain. The vacuum motor shuts off when the canister is open to prevent injury from the fan or motor. The vacuum cost is similar to the cost of a regular shop vacuum without an air filter. The addition of the air filter adds value to the product.

Bill of Materials: Air Filter Attachment Pull Handle Adjustable Support Rods Extended Handle Control Panel Air Vent Power Cord Paint Bucket Bucket Stand with Wheels Vacuum Head Attachments Motor Total: $15.53 $2.72 $16.81 $3.36 $21.02 $14.88 $21.92 $4.81 $18.45 $10.71 $29.75 159.96

Air Filter Attachment Design:

Figure 4: Air filter attachment cross section.

The original design for the air filter head attachment was to have a square crosssectional nozzle that has the same diameter as the attachment hose (2.5 inches) so as to be attached to the hose and a larger diameter (12 inches) on the other end, which faces the open air. A prototype was made to test this theoretical design. After testing the prototype, we realized it failed to meet our expectation. We expected the air filter attachment to vacuum up all surrounding air debris that is within at least 1ft of the opening of the attachment. Instead, the air debris particles had to be extremely close to the inside of the air filter attachment to even be vacuumed. The problem with this original design is that mass flow rate through the hose and the air filter is constant and that the air speed is extremely slow at the opening of the air filter compared to the air speed in the hose because of the difference in their surface area. We can assume that the vacuuming strength is proportional to the air speed and this is the reason why the prototype air filter had weak vacuuming strength and did not meet our expectation. Our

solution to this problem is to increase the air speed at the opening end of the air filter attachment. To do this, we will have a plug attached to the opening end of the air filter so that only a 1 in. margin around the plug will be the vacuuming surface area. By doing this we will still be able to vacuum the same projected air volume in front of the air filter such as the prototype but the air speed or vacuuming strength will be greater.

Conclusion

It is apparent that there is a need in the market for a simple way to both vacuum and filter the air during and after a project is completed. A possible solution to this problem is a two in one system that is within a homeowners limited budget. This system would allow the user to easily clean up messes created while working on home improvement projects as well as address the safety issues that arise when debris from processes used throughout the project become airborne.

References

State and County QuickFacts. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/index.html>.

Understanding the Market. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.understandingthemarket.com>.

Market Research Reports & Analysis | IBISWorld US. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.ibisworld.com/>.

Shop-Vac Brand. The Original Wet/Dry Vac Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://shopvac.com>. . "Wet Dry Vac Reviews | Best Wet Dry Vacs." Product Reviews and Reports ConsumerSearch.com. Web. 10 Oct. 2011. <http://www.consumersearch.com/wet-dry-vacs>.