Walking Stick Holder
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 2019
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Background:
This project was proposed by the engineering director at Stannah. Those that have ever used a walking stick or crutches will be well aware of the inconvenience caused when they end up falling on the floor. Whether around the home or out and about, a simple solution is needed to prevent walking aides from falling over.
Some products already existed on the market but they are all large ugly contraptions and most of them rely on the user finding a hanging point.
This project was handed to me to work on alone in 2018
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Project Scope:
1 product to be sold into UK, Europe and US markets
Product and package design
The final product included 4 parts. A single stick clip and 3 steel discs. All contained within one small package with install instructions shown on the back.
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The product was built around a single neodymium magnet that was secured to the stick with a clip. The beauty of this solution is that we found most places where the product was used there were already ferrous materials that could be used to attach to. From radiators in hallways to fridges, and car doors. For any other locations sticky backed steel discs are included.
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By far the most challenging aspect of this project was designing a single clip that would work for such a wide range of stick diameters.
It was discovered that the grip strength of the plastic moulding alone was not sufficient on smaller diameter shafts and so a foam insert is used to increase grip.
The plastic moulding was optimised for injection moulding and adjustments were made to reduce tooling actions and hide split lines.
By far the most challenging aspect of this project was designing a single clip that would work for such a wide range of stick diameters.
It was discovered that the grip strength of the plastic moulding alone was not sufficient on smaller diameter shafts and so a foam insert is used to increase grip.
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FEA was used to optimise the arms to allow for the maximum amount of flex without failure
Packaging design proposals included a smaller alternative design for the Lifta brand that incorporated a cut out that allows shoppers to check the diameter of their walking stick was within the working range of the product.
(below) the original plan for tooling design. This was used for guidance for developing other design options without increasing the complexity of the tooling
The original product proposal was built around a 2 piece design, each part with its own neodymium magnet. A clever cam design was used to make releasing the stick easier. by twisting the stick part A would retract from part B