During the Summer of 2011, we took an injected plastic version through tooling and initial mold tests. The results were passable and the product functioned relatively well after iterative tooling modifications. However, we were not satisfied with the product quality or the accumulative thickness of the plastic pieces when stored. We made the tough decision to abandon this approach and explore other material options.
We are currently exploring various manufacturing techniques to figure out which one will be the most effective way of executing the concept. Firstly, we are working closely with cut and sew manufacturers to explore how we can layer waterproof fabrics, stiffener material and foams to achieve the specified performance. One important activity with soft goods is to balance out achieving the desired performance with labor, material, time and complexity involved. In the case of Unhampered, some approaches require too much time to manufacture (mostly due sewing through the stiffening boards). Other approaches required too much fabric due to layering and are therefore cost prohibitive.
Going forward, we will be exploring other processes in parallel, such as die-cutting sheet plastic.
The boil buoy’s engineering work has been finalized. Our engineers were exploring all of the aspects of the sound that the Boil Buoy could produce. They looked into the decibel levels (loudness) along with the tone of the sound produced. The engineers needed to make sure that the decibel level was loud enough for a person to be properly notified when the water reached a boil.
The two major scenarios of when a person is boiling water are when the lid is on and when the lid is off. At first, they wanted to make the chirp loud enough so that even with the lid on, the noise wouldn’t get drowned out. When they increased the volume for this scenario, they noticed that when they took the lid off it was way too loud. So rather than having the chirp be alarm-like, causing ringing in the users ear, they believed that it was necessary to reduce the volume for the user’s sake. More people would rather leave the lid off when boiling water than have ear damage.
Knowing what decibel level the Boil Buoy would be, enabled us to know what circuit board and battery will go into the product. Having this knowledge, we then received quotes from our manufacturers, agreed on the price of all the parts, and we will now start the tooling phase of the product development process.
8 Comments
M Cavada | 12/14/2011 2:48 PM
Was a silicon covered push/on-push/off switch considered for dual loudness capability?
Clinton | 12/14/2011 3:27 PM
IMO “let them leave the lid off” is not a good fix.
While it may be true people would choose leaving the lid off over having a deafeningly loud alarm, my concern is that they won’t be willing to change their cooking habits in order to use the Boil Buoy in the first place.
So, I think other options besides “change how you cook so you can use our product” need to be explored – if Quirky want’s this to sell.
M Cavada’s dual switch would work well.
So would two sources of sound; the first being the low decibel alarm, with the second being mechanical.
Perhaps the shape and materials causing Boil Buoy to produce a sound when it begins to bounce against a pot lid (for example, metal tipped fingers that clack against a lid).
Jason Hennessy | 12/14/2011 3:37 PM
Imo most people want this to work with lid on. It saves energy.
Maybe if there were a way to cycle the sound with intermittent bursts?
A loud burstting sound for 1 second followed by 10 seconds of lower setting, then another loud one second burst followed by another ten seconds on a lower setting etc…. Gives the person a chance to go remove the product and stop the alarm.
Maybe we can post this on forum or hold a community brainstorm to try and resolve this? Maybe with our collective thinking caps on we can find a way. That’s Quirky!
Megan | 12/14/2011 4:35 PM
I don’t think leaving the lid off is that big of a deal. The only reason I prefer the lid on is that the water is quicker to boil.
Andrew Agate | 12/14/2011 5:03 PM
For Unhampered, have you considered bamboo and hemp clothe?.
J.Andre. | 12/14/2011 5:06 PM
awesome…. love these updates.
priceless.
.
could it be possible to have hi/lo audio switch on boil buoy? then people could pick what works best for them…..
Andrew Agate | 12/14/2011 5:10 PM
For Boil Buoy, would adding a light sensor be out of the question? That way you could have two different volumes as it would know whether the lid was on or off due to the absence or presence of light.
Thrifty | 12/15/2011 9:54 AM
unhampred, look into water jet cutting its cheaper and faster than die cutting, and items can be cut from stacked sheets. can be done from CAD Drawings via e mail. look for gasket cutting companies with water jet facilities.