Gumball Dispenser Design Brief
12/11/03
Shaun Eiler
The investigation part of designing is one the most important steps. The investigation helps to organize thoughts, and to help you think of questions that will help you along the way to a successful design. The following list is made up of questions that I considered while I was doing my research:
What type of dispenser do I want to build?
What material do I want to use?
What simple machine do I want to use?
How can I make a dispenser that will reset?
What can be done to make this dispenser appealing to the consumer?
How much should consumers pay for a dispenser such as this one?
How big should this device be?
How should this device be assembled so that small parts will not end up mixed in the product, or adhesives such as glue will not end up on the product?
Should there be an age limit to this product?
How can the dispenser be built so that it resets itself each time?
Where will this device be mounted at?
The possible solutions portion of a design brief is meant to give the designer an idea of what the best solutions to the problem could be. Each of these solutions must be workable but they may also contain a wide variety of other factors. The following is a list of possible solutions that I came up with for the making of a dispenser.
The use of a screw to dispense the object
The use of a lever
The use of an incline plane
The use of a wheel
The use of a pulley
Dispenser could be made from such materials as wood, foam core, metal, cardboard, or plastic
Objects to be dispensed could range from pencils, straws, gumballs, to just about any other object
Dispenser should be light weight and small
It must be made to accommodate every age group
It must be durable
It must be user friendly
Aesthetics must be appealing to the consumer
Can be mounted on a wall, pole, or any other object that is fitting
It should be inexpensive so anyone can purchase this product
Product must be smooth to ensure user will not encounter splinters
The chosen solution is the solution that was better then any of the other solutions that were thought of. It is the solution that meets all the criteria and specifications. My chosen solution was better looking and worked much better then any of my possible solutions. The following design is my chosen solution:
Suckers are going to be the object to be dispensed
A lever will be used to dispense the suckers
The dispenser will be made from wood
There will be no color added to the device it will be left as the wood finish
Rubber bands will be used to make the dispenser reset
It will be fastened together by the use of nails
The bottom will fall out to allow the suckers to be removed
It can be mounted on a wall or pole to allow for easier use
This dispenser will range any where from $5 to $10
The testing portion is also a very important part. It determines whether or not the chosen solution actually works. To test my dispenser I first put suckers into it. Next I pushed the lever down to dispense a sucker. After the sucker was dispensed I released the lever and the device reset itself for the next use. The best way to test how the machine works is to actually put suckers in and operate it. I also wanted to not only test how it worked, but also how it looked. It is important for consumers to like the way a product looks, this could be one of the main things that catches their eye. I surveyed some people in order to see what types of aesthetics they look for. Most people said color is the main thing. Colors such as red, blue, green, and purple seemed to be the most popular. When the people being surveyed found out that the product was going to be made out of wood, they said they would rather have it left just as a wood finish. After the survey I found that it would be better for marketability if the dispenser was left without color. The following is a list of strengths and weaknesses I found during testing:
Strengths
Aesthetics are good
Outside is durable (in the case it would be dropped)
Simple to use
Works great
Can be used to dispense a number of different items
Weaknesses
Candy compartment could be bigger to hold more suckers
Bottom panel that falls out, had to be sanded down because it was rubbing against the walls, and therefore was not resetting very well
Rubber bands are a good idea to make the machine reset, but they will have to be replaced every now and then
The developmental work of a design brief is how the chosen solution was produced or made. I started out by cutting 5" x 5" squares of wood. The edges were then sanded to ensure there would be no splinters. Next holes were drilled into the wood where the nails were going to be inserted. After this, the hinge was assembled to the back and then the drop panel. The fasteners that are used to hold the rubber bands were next added to the drop panel and the front piece. A groove was cut into the front piece to allow for easier opening. The groove was sanded down to ensure it would be smooth. Next, the walls were assembled to the back and the front using nails. The drop panel was sticking so it had to be sanded down to allow for clearance. After it was sanded, it fit smoothly into its proper place. Next, the rubber bands were placed into their fasteners. A hole was then drilled on the end of the drop panel. A doll rod was then glued into the hole to act as the lever. The wood used was cheap so that the cost of this product would not be high. The look of the dispenser turned out to be pretty good. No finish or paint was added to the surface.
I think this product turned out very well. It works good, and for the most part it looks good. If I was to make more of these, I know that they would turn out much better. There are some rough spots on mine such as a few uneven edges. There is also excess glue where the rod was inserted at. One of the edges split where the nail was driven into, but all these things could be fixed with a little work. For the most part, the dispenser did what it was supposed to do. I would have made the candy compartment bigger if I was to do it again. It doesn't hold as many sucker as i would have liked it to. This could become annoying after awhile because the user will have to refill it often. I feel that this product is appealing to the audience. One thing I would change is the use of rubber bands to reset the machine. They are practical and inexpensive, but they do tend to break. Users would also have to be replacing rubber bands all the time on top of the problem of refilling the candy compartment. Overall, I think this product does its job and looks good.
I feel that I used my time affectively. Although, this was the second dispenser that I built. I started out by building a gumball dispenser. The first one was poorly designed and did not work very well. It was very awkward to use. The gumballs became easily lodged and would sometimes fall off the ramp. The lever was horrible on my first one, it had to be pushed down and then pulled backwards to even get it to work. The majority of my time was spent working on the gumball dispenser because it had so many problems that I had to keep going back and redoing things. The second one I built works much better. I did not spend as much time on this one as I did the second one. I had a better design and better quality of work, therefore, everything went much smoother this time around. Some of my strengths include; ease of use, easy to refill, aesthetically good, and durable. I think that each of these play a big roll in whether or not a consumer will like a product. Overall, I would say even though the first dispenser turned out horrible, the second one turned out pretty good and does the job it was designed to do.
