Electric Toothbrush Project Matt, Will, Yousef, Sam October 8, 2012

Project Outline• Test and research Oral-B toothbrush• Dissection and analysis of toothbrush• Product and patent research • Surveyed customer wants and needs• Concept generation and selection • Benchmarking of Ideas

Project management• Google docs• Distributed the work load • Communicated through Email and Text

Messaging• Collaborative design effort

Consumer Needs Revised Problem

Statement

• Develop a toothbrush that is more appealing toothbrush that uses more environmentally friendly plastics. The toothbrush should also be softer and more comfortable to use.

Category WeightEfficiency of Brushing

0.24

Ease of Use 0.27Manufacturability

0.24

Durability 0.05Appearance 0.20

Sub-Category Weight Battery life 0.52Size 0.11Weight 0.37

External Search Activities • Research on other electric-toothbrushes on the

market• Product archeology • Patent search • Consumer survey• Use of Google patent search

Brush Head Design (form and function)

1. Different Size and Shape Bristles, tongue scraper on back, Rotate different directions

2. Two circular bristle heads, all the same size.

3. Three sets of bristle sizes and shapes that rotate the same way

4. One circular head that rotates

5. Flat brush with bristles on either side that rotate oppositely

Human Factors Body Design (Form)

1. Inverted cone, base comfortably molds to hand2. Flat base, slowly decreasing in size as you move up3. Circular base, uniform without4. Flat base, slowly decreases in size but not as drastic as idea 2.

Energy Mechanism for Brush Head (function)

1. Spinning shaft then a belt attaches to spin the brush head

2. When the motor opens he tube moves 180 degrees to the head component . This moves one side of the brush causing rotation

3. Motor makes a revolution to wind up spring then releases in an oscillating motion

Power Generation and Power Accessories (function)

1. Induced by Magnetism

2. Removable and Rechargeable batteries

3. (top picture)A/C Outlet

4. (bottom picture)Solar Panel that hooks into the toothbrush

5. AA battery operated

Morphological Chart

Pugh Chart for Brush Head Design (form and function)

Pugh Chart for Human Factors Body Design (Form)

Pugh Chart for Energy Mechanism for Brush Head (function)

Pugh Chart for Power Generation and Power Accessories (function)

Final Design

How does it work?• The head of the toothbrush oscillates. This occurs

because the motor drives a spring to create as much potential energy as necessary.

• The battery is removable and rechargeable. This is a sustainable object because it will not deplete or run out as long as a current is running through.

• The head of the toothbrush can be removed for cleaning.• The compartment under the head stores the battery and

the wiring.• When a consumer holds the toothbrush their number

one thought will be comfort. They will also have a great ease of use turning it on and off.

Customers Needs vs. Final Project

• We can support this through the Facebook survey we conducted• Using the survey we were able to eliminate the factors customers

don’t care about and implement the ones that they do• Important factors included: gender, bristle type, style, price

range, appearance and importance of hygiene.