toothbrush design p roject

Toothbrush Design Project

February 20, 2013

David AlvaradoEthan KruderKirk Santure

Jessica Spoll

Initial Problem Statement Customer Needs Assessment◦ Hierarchal Customer Needs◦ Pairwise Comparison Chart◦ Weighted Hierarchal Customer Needs

Revised Problem Statement External Search◦ Product Dissection◦ Patent Search◦ Product Archaeology◦ Benchmarking

Concept Generation◦ Morphological Charts◦ Pugh Charts / Concept Selection

Final Design

Design Process

Task Days Needed Dates

Start 0 1/9

Team Assessment/ Introduction 3 1/9 to 1/11

Visual Inspection and Market Research 2 1/16 to 1/18

Customer Needs 7 1/18 to 1/25

Product Dissection 3 1/23 to 1/25

Patent Search 2 2/1 to 2/2

Concept Generation 3 2/8 to 2/11

Morphological Charts 2 2/11 to 2/13

Pugh Charts / Concept Selection 3 2/14 to 2/17

Solid Model of Design 1 2/17 to 2/18

Final Report 7 2/18 to 2/25

Presentation Preparation 3 2/17 to 2/20

Project Due 0 2/25

Project Management

1.Portable 1.1 Lightweight 2. User-Friendly 2.1 Low Noise 2.2 Comfortable Grip 2.3 Bristle Design 2.4 Left-hand Accessible 2.5 Rechargeable Battery 3. Durable 3.1 Strong Material 3.2 Sustainable motor 3.3 Battery Life

Hierarchal Customer Needs

Revised Problem Statement:

Our mission is to redesign an electric toothbrush so that it is sustainable and consumer friendly. According to the customer assessments, it is important that the toothbrush have a rechargeable battery and be somewhat lightweight. It is also important that the bristles be uniquely designed to be better at cleaning teeth and increasing dental hygiene. Our design will also aim to improve the grip, and to make it more ergonomic and user-friendly.

To aid our redesign process, we collected external research:◦History of electric toothbrushes on the market◦Cost of other products on the market◦Patented features already in existence

We completed benchmarking tables with information about features of other electric toothbrushes on the market:◦Battery life◦Noise level◦Bristle Design◦Grip

External Search

Feature OralB (our toothbrush) Crest Spinbrush Colgate Motion Phillips Sonicare

Battery life / Power 41 days – batteries 53 days - batteries 65 days - batteries Rechargeable battery

Noise level 70 dB 22.25 dB 86 dB Very loud (unknown specifics)

Bristle design Small oscillating circle Blue color signal bristles Small oscillating circle plus large brush

Larger brush head for whitening and removing plaque

Cost 16.99$ 14.90$ 6.99$ 99.95$

Grip/Comfort Blue rubber grip Varied color rubber grips Green rubber White and light blue plastic

Benchmarking Charts

Feature OralB (our toothbrush) Crest Spinbrush Colgate Motion Phillips Sonicare Category Weight

Battery life / Power 1 2 3 5 40%

Noise level 3 5 2 1 10%

Bristle design 2 3 4 5 35%

Cost 5 4 5 1 10%

Grip/Comfort 3 3 2 4 5%

Total score (weighted) 2.05 2.9 3.4 4.15

Rank 4 3 2 1

These charts helped us determine which features made other existing toothbrushes successful, and thus were used to help us with our concept generation.

Brush Head Design

Dual action head Outside spins clockwise, inside spins counter clockwise

Split head design

Inner circle of bristles oscillate

Intricate bristle design rotates clockwise

Inner and outside section oscillate independent of each other

Human Factors and Body Design

Grip has space on back for fingers

Grip design provides space for thumb and index finger

Toothbrush shape is wide in the middle and tapered at the ends

Finger grips on the side enhance ability to grip toothbrush

Basic electric toothbrush design with a curved grip and square bottom

Design similar to non-electric toothbrush, very skinny and easily fits in your hand

Energy Mechanisms for brush head

Conveyor belt system constantly spins head in one direction

Drive shaft system, the wheel on the bottom will rotate causing the brush head to spin

Motor with a piston that fires vertically causing the brush head to oscillate

Servomotor will spin the head and then return to its original position

Magnetic drive shaft, magnets will push and pull drive shaft connected to brush head

Pulley system will allow cables to twist brush head

Power Generation and Power Accessories

USB charger, plugs into outlet and bottom of toothbrush

Multiple battery packs that can be easily removed and put on charger

Charger that is powered by solar panel

Charger is connected to hamster wheel for unlimited power source

Charging station allows for storage and charging of battery

Charging basket provides a place to wirelessly charge toothbrush and store toothpaste

Morphological Chart

Concept Selection and Pugh Charts

Brush Head DesignIteration 1 Iteration 5

Sustainability Portability User-Friendly Sum Rank Sustainability Portability User-Friendly Sum Rank Weighting 0.262 0.126 0.611 Weighting 0.262 0.126 0.611

Concepts Concepts1- - - 0 6 1- 0 0 0 22- 1 0 0.126 5 2- 1 -1 -0.485 43- 0 1 0.611 2 3- -1 0 -0.126 34- 0 -1 -0.611 7 4- 1 -1 -0.485 45- -1 1 0.485 4 5- - - 0 26- 0 1 0.611 2 6- 0 1 0.611 17- -1 -1 -0.737 8 7- 0 -1 -0.611 58- 1 1 0.737 1 8- 0 -1 -0.611 6

Iteration 2 Iteration 6Concepts Concepts

1- 0 1 0.611 2 1- 0 0 0 22- - - 0 3 2- 1 -1 -0.485 33- -1 1 0.485 4 3- 0 0 0 24- 0 1 0.611 2 4- 1 -1 -0.485 35- 0 1 0.611 2 5- 0 1 0.611 16- 1 1 0.737 1 6- - - 0 27- 0 0 0 3 7- 1 -1 -0.485 38- 0 0 0 3 8- 1 -1 -0.485 3


1- 0 0 0 3 1- 0 1 0.611 22- 1 -1 -0.485 4 2- 0 0 0 43- - - 0 3 3- -1 1 0.485 34- 1 0 0.126 2 4- 0 1 0.611 25- 0 1 0.611 1 5- 1 1 0.737 16- 0 1 0.611 1 6- 1 1 0.737 17- 1 0 0.126 2 7- - - 0 48- 1 0 0.126 2 8- 0 0 0 4


1- -1 1 0.485 2 1- 0 1 0.611 22- 0 0 0 4 2- 0 0 0 43- -1 1 0.485 2 3- -1 1 0.485 34- - - 0 4 4- 0 1 0.611 25- -1 1 0.485 2 5- 1 1 0.737 16- 1 1 0.737 1 6- 1 1 0.737 17- 1 0 0.126 3 7- 0 0 0 48- 1 0 0.126 3 8- - - 0 4

Iteration 1 Iteration 5Sustainability Portability User-Friendly Sum Rank Sustainability Portability User-Friendly Sum Rank

Weighting 0.262 0.126 0.611 Weighting 0.262 0.126 0.611Concepts Concepts

1 - - - 0 4 1 1 1 -1 -0.2 32 1 -1 1 0.747 2 2 1 1 1 1 13 1 1 1 1 1 3 1 1 1 1 14 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 -1 -1 1 0.223 3 5 - - - 0 26 -1 -1 -1 -1 5 6 0 0 0 0 27 0 0 0 0 4 7 1 0 -1 -0.3 4


1 -1 1 -1 -0.747 3 1 1 1 1 1 12 - - - 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 13 0 0 0 0 2 3 1 1 1 1 14 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 5 0 0 0 0 26 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 6 - - - 0 27 -1 1 -1 -0.747 3 7 1 1 1 1 1


1 -1 -1 -1 -1 3 1 0 0 0 0 42 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 -1 1 0.75 23 - - - 0 2 3 1 1 1 1 14 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 -1 -1 -1 -1 3 5 -1 0 1 0.35 36 -1 -1 -1 -1 3 6 -1 -1 -1 -1 57 -1 -1 -1 -1 3 7 - - - 0 4

Iteration 4Concepts

1 -1 -1 -1 -1 22 -1 -1 -1 -1 23 -1 -1 -1 -1 24 - - - 0 15 -1 -1 -1 -1 26 -1 -1 -1 -1 27 -1 -1 -1 -1 2

Concept Selection and Pugh ChartsEnergy Mechanism for Brush Head

Iteration 1 Iteration 5


Concepts Concepts1- - - 0 4 1 -1 1 1 0.475 12 1 1 1 0.999 1 2 1 0 0 0.262 23 0 1 0 0.126 3 3 -1 1 1 0.475 14 0 -1 1 0.485 2 4 0 -1 -1 -0.737 55 1 -1 -1 -0.475 7 5- - - 0 36 -1 0 0 -0.262 6 6 -1 1 1 0.475 17 1 -1 -1 -0.475 7 7 1 -1 -1 -0.475 48 0 -1 0 -0.126 5 8 1 0 0 0.262 2


1 1 0 0 0.262 2 1 0 1 1 0.737 12- - - 0 4 2 1 -1 -1 -0.475 63 1 0 1 0.873 1 3 0 0 1 0.611 24 0 -1 -1 -0.737 7 4 0 -1 0 -0.126 55 1 -1 -1 -0.475 5 5 1 -1 -1 -0.475 66 0 0 0 0 4 6- - - 0 47 1 -1 -1 -0.475 5 7 1 -1 -1 -0.475 68 0 1 0 0.126 3 8 1 1 0 0.388 3


1 0 1 1 0.737 1 1 -1 1 1 0.475 12 0 0 1 0.611 2 2 -1 1 1 0.475 13- - - 0 5 3 -1 1 1 0.475 14 0 -1 0 -0.126 6 4 0 -1 -1 -0.737 55 1 -1 -1 0.475 3 5 1 -1 -1 -0.475 46 0 0 0 0 5 6 -1 1 1 0.475 17 1 -1 -1 0.475 3 7- - - 0 28 1 1 0 0.388 4 8 -1 1 0 -0.136 3


1 1 1 1 0.999 1 1 0 1 1 0.737 12 1 -1 1 0.747 2 2 1 0 0 0.262 23 0 1 1 0.737 3 3 1 0 0 0.262 24- - - 0 6 4 0 -1 -1 -0.737 65 1 -1 -1 0.475 4 5 1 -1 -1 -0.475 56 0 0 0 0 6 6 0 1 0 0.126 37 1 -1 -1 0.475 4 7 1 -1 -1 -0.475 58 1 1 0 0.388 5 8- - - 0 4

Power Generation

Iteration 1 Iteration 5


Concepts Concepts1- - - 0 4 1 1 1 1 1 12 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 13 1 -1 -1 -0.475 5 3 1 1 1 1 14 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 0 -1 -1 -0.737 6 5- - - 0 46 0 0 1 0.611 2 6 1 1 0 0.388 37 0 1 0 0.126 3 7 0 1 1 0.737 28 -1 -1 -1 -1 7 8 0 0 -1 -0.611 5


1 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 1 0 0 0 0 22- - - 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 13 1 -1 -1 -0.475 3 3 1 -1 -1 -0.475 34 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 5 -1 -1 -1 -1 46 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 6- - - 0 27 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 7 0 0 0 0 28 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 8 -1 -1 -1 -1 4


1 -1 1 1 0.475 2 1 0 -1 0 -0.126 42 -1 1 1 0.475 2 2 1 1 1 1 13- - - 0 3 3 1 0 0 0.262 24 1 1 1 1 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 5 -1 -1 -1 -1 66 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 6 0 0 0 0 37 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 7- - - 0 38 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 8 0 -1 -1 -0.737 5


1 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 1 1 1 1 1 12 -1 0 0 -0.262 2 2 1 1 1 1 13 0 -1 -1 -0.737 3 3 1 1 1 1 14- - - 0 1 4 1 1 1 1 15 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 5 0 0 0 0 36 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 6 1 1 1 1 17 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 7 0 1 1 0.737 28 -1 -1 -1 -1 4 8- - - 0 3

Body Design and Human Factors


We averaged the rankings from each iteration to get the top ranked concept in each category to get our final design.


• For the head we have an alternating rotation of the bristles. Outside bristles rotate in the opposite direction of the inside bristles.

• The body features an ergonomic handle built for comfort.

• It comes with a charging base that can be plugged into the wall.

• The toothbrush is powered by a servomotor which spins the head of the toothbrush.

Final Toothbrush Designand How it Works

Concluding Remarks

toothbrush design p roject

Documents

body design grip

fingers grip design

intricate bristle design

customer needs7118

customer assessments

concept generation328

comfortable grip

bristle design234535