Pivot Kettle: The Inclusive Kettle

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The Inclusive Kettle.

A Brief Overview

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t: 07809411138e: [email protected]: www.coroflot.com/sammcclellansmD E S I G N

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Arthritis can reduce motor capability in people’shands, resulting in difficulty performing basic tasks in the kitchen, such as using a kettle. Redesigning ‘domestic water processing’ to remove exclusion due to physical impairments should not carry stigmatism. In fact, an‘inclusive’ product can carry usability benefits for everyone. The Pivot Kettle can improve people’s kitchen experience by addressing water filling, lifting, carrying and pouring. It does this by offering a non-prescriptive handle design, providing posturally neutral hand positions to relieve physiological stress.

Iterative development alongside physically impaired people provided a rich context for a relevant solution that appeals to a broad market. Furthermore, the design principles of the Pivot Kettle are ready for extension into other water products.

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A kettle is one of the most frequently used and problematic domestic products. The process of using a kettle; gripping, lifting, carrying, filling, pouring, poses a number of capabil-ity demands in relation to the sensory, motor and cognitive abilities experienced with age.

Arthritic sufferers is the largest user group with reference to the difficulties presented by the task of using a kettle as well as being one of the most common symptoms to occur in old age. With this along with the research already conduct-ed, the project took a sole focus on the motor capabilities encountered by arthritic sufferers however the final product will be easily usable by people with and without disabilities.

615,000 people have difficulty with the lifting and transporting a kettle.

Edie, 80 yrs old. User testing partcipant.

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Initial concept generation of solutions for the problems associated with arthritic sufferers when using a an

everyday consumer kettle.

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Inital Prototyping.

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Moving away from the traditonal design of a jug kettle, the Pivot Kettle introduces a set of cross handles that al-low the kettle to rotate forward whilst maintaining a strong and neutral grip when pouring. The design not only improves the pouring of the kettle but provides an in-creased number of handling postions for the user across

all stages of the task.

creating that sense of security for the user.

The handle design incorporates a rotational limiter mech-anism at each pivot point. This provides the user with a greater sense of security when using the kettle as it limit-ing the level of forward rotation. Torsion springs placed inside the rotary limiter mechanism, automatically retract the kettle back to its original position if accidently let go of. The springs open up during pouring and close back when the front handle is released. A soft close damp-ener was integrated into the design to prevent the front handle from snapping back into place and creating an

unexpected shock to the user.

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Iterative development was carried out on the design of the kettle Pow-er Base to ensure a more accurate and stable relocation of the kettle to its diocking position.

A developed handle design provides the user with a set of handles that adopt a fixed diameter through-out. Inspired by arthritic cutlery, the handle design is simple and refined. Although simple, the tubular forms do not posses any design features that already suggest a grip position. Instead, the design leaves it open for the user to explore their desired grips. This way the handles can ac-commodate a larger percentage of hand deformities, as it doesn’t al-ready suggest any particular method of holding the handles.

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t: 07809411138e: [email protected]: www.coroflot.com/sammcclellan


Model of the final design of the kettle.

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Multiple handle postions increase the users performance during every stage of using the kettle, from gripping and lifting to carrying and pouring, as well as creating an all

roundl greater sense of security for the user.

a non-perscriptive handle design, providing posturally neutral hand positions to relieve physiological stress.

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The kettle is designed for a maximum 1 litre capacity to en-sure ease during lifting, transporting and poruing. The form of the front handle is tapered and enters the kettle body at an angle. This intuitive deisgn feature is to suggest a forward pull motion.

The circular lid operates on a ‘pop’ spring mechanism, of-fering a large surface area making it easier to open for those users with decreased dexterity. The conical nesting power base is specially designed to ensure an easy relocation of the kettle to its docking postion.

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The unique form of the Pivot Kettle, yet primarily designed from the problems assciciated with arthritic sufferers, successfully responds to the principles of inclusive design, in that it can be used by those capable and incapable whilst retaining that high

aesthetical quality found in everyday consumer products.

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PIVOT.kettle

The Inclusive Kettle.

Pivot Kettle: The Inclusive Kettle

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