Indie Cutlery: Cutlery That Offers Independence

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Within Reach Under 18 Challenge Video of Project : youtube.com/watch?v=pnKourS3XHU Hand Clip Removing Demo Gif Utensil Removing Demo Gif One of the worst side effects of people having a hand disorder is being unable to do daily tasks. Many people with arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome require assistance to complete household activities, which can be frustrating and limiting. This device offers some freedom back to those victims. Using the cutlery, people with low hand dexterity can still eat independently, helping them return to a normal life. I started my project by researching the most common problems that people with these diseases face. I visited Credit Valley Hospital where I spoke to medical professionals who were very helpful and answered all of my questions. They told me that some patients could not eat meals without a helper during the whole process, which I felt was an important problem that I could solve. I wanted to design a system that lets a patient pick up, use, and put away cutlery without any assistance. I looked up preexisting cutlery for people with this condition and found a product by Patterson Medical. While it is a very innovative and thoughtful design, I felt that there were a few areas for improvement. People can not put on and remove the holder unless they have reasonable hand dexterity, and they cannot replace the utensil easily either. My design solves both of these problems. I started by making some thumbnail sketches that resembled chicken scratch. I decided to make a device that can clip onto the user’s hand with friction, without troublesome straps, buttons, or zippers. The user could insert a variety of utensils in the device. I moved on to the whiteboard and figured out how to remove/insert the clip device and cutlery using holders. The user would use one holder to remove/insert the clip device and another to remove/insert cutlery, both secured onto a kitchen countertop with appropriate mounting holes. After I was happy with my rough design, I moved on to CAD. Using Autodesk Inventor, I designed three components: The Hand-Clip, the Clip-Remover, and the Utensil-Remover. While designing, I measured different cutlery sets with my caliper to ensure that my Hand-Clip could hold most utensils. I printed the components at my local library. Please excuse the poor print quality, as I get charged by the print time. I tested my cutlery system, as you can see in the video. I was happy with the results and felt that it was significantly easier to use my system. However, I did find some areas of improvement. I added fillets to the utensil entrance to make it easier to insert the utensil. Also, I added a roof to the cutlery holder, which improves the robustness of the cutlery holder. I have made a mock roof with foam board on the current 3D printed model. All of these design updates are in the latest CAD files uploaded to this project. I feel that my cutlery design could make a lot of people’s lives easier, but anyone's dexterity disorder is different and unique. Therefore, a universal hand tool is not the best option. Instead, people with this condition should have custom hand tools designed and printed for them. This would be a better solution, not just because it would employ a lot of designers.