Oral – B AdvancePower 400 Redesign

1. Oral – B AdvancePower 400 Redesign Kevin Bakey Anthony Deller Robert Peason Nicholas Rossi

2. Design Activities Assessed Customer Needs Composed and conducted a survey Evaluated and weighed needs Research and Outside Analysis Conducted tests on the Oral-B AdvancePower 400 in order to gather various metrics, such as noise, power, and battery usage Disassembled the toothbrush in order to separate all the components and understand the inner workings Examined currently existing patents to understand current brush technology in order to aid our design Reviewed the history of toothbrushes to see what has been done and what works. Compared the AdvancePower 400 against other electric brushes currently in the market Generated initial concepts Focused on the four aspects of an electric toothbrush: form, function, brush head design, and power generation, creating several designs for each aspect Compiled all the designs into a morphological chart, and selected complete concepts with Pugh charts Finalized complete design Perfected one of the generated concepts, and developed it using drawing and functional explanation.

3. Project management Our project followed a strict schedule of tasks to be completed, which were set by our project goals and needs. Time and necessary tasks were managed by using: Calendars to see where each task falls, and when deadlines need to be met DesignStructure Matrices to illustrate which tasks rely on each other Activity Networks which created paths that our workflow must follow in order to complete our project on time. Gantt Charts to provide a timeline which compiles all the tasks together, and show how long is left for our next task Our Design Structure Matrix

4. Customer needs • Using this information, we were able to revise our problem statement and focus on the most important aspects to consider during our redesign. • In our new problem statement, we determined that the most important design goal was to create a low cost, clean toothbrush. We figured that such can be achieved by lowering the amount of maintenance required for the product. This focused our design on introducing a charging stand and longer lasting brush heads. By examining our customer surveys, we were able to compile a hierarchal list displaying the weight and importance of each aspect Hierarchal Customer Needs List

5. External Search In order to best utilize our project time, we conducted a search into electric toothbrush technology which currently exists. We achieved this by Examining and testing the Oral-B AdvancePower 400 which we sought to redesign. We measured the Noise, Power and Battery Life of the brush, and dismantled the device to observe and catalogue all the components. We then composed a Bill of Materials and Assembly Hierarchy. Conducting a patent search to compile a function art matrix of patent usage in order to see which designs currently fulfill functionality we may intend to implement, as well as guide in our own design Investigating the product archaeology of toothbrushes throughout the ages. This allowed us to understand what has been used in the past, and the rationale behind such designs, further guiding our own design. Benchmarking other toothbrushes on the market and comparing them against each other. This granted us a wider perspective of the electric toothbrush market and allowed us to gauge how well our design would stand up. Benchmarking table

6. Concepts The following concepts are generated for one of four categories, form, function, brush design and power generation. We will use some of these concepts in out final design

7. Form Concepts Curved handle – This design would help get into the difficult to reach parts of the mouth, as well as reach behind teeth Easily removable battery cap On/Off switch – Rather than a button for activation, the brush will be turned on and off with a switch Ergonomic body design

8. Form Concepts Tactile Sensor A digital display to show how long the brush has been in use

9. Function Concepts Rotating motor with gears – rotates brush head Oscillating motor with gears – Oscillates the brush head Oscillating motor with piston – creates up and down bristle motion

10. Function Concepts Piezoelectric material creates vibration Small motor is housed in the brush head, reducing body size An off-center plate on the motor to vibrate the entire brush body.

11. Brush Head Design Concepts Rubber cleaning pad to scrub gums, cheek and tongue Cup shaped bristles to clean individual teeth Additional bristles beneath the moving bristles

12. Brush Head Design Concepts An outer ring of bristles rotate opposite of the inner ring Brush head is held onto the body with latches Rubber ridges between bristles to clean between teeth

13. Power Generation Concepts Brush is powered with two AA batteries Brush plugs into a standard wall outlet Brush is recharged by spinning a hand crank on the side of the body

14. Power Generation Concepts Brush plugs into a USB port, charging a rechargeable battery Brush charges its battery through inductive charging provided from a charging base Brush charges through a charging stand, which produces energy through solar panels

15. Morphological Chart

16. Morphological Chart continued

17. Criteria for Concept Selection The following criteria were used in judging our previous concepts against each other in our Pugh charts Cost – How much the feature would add to the price of the product Sanitation – How clean the feature keeps the product/How susceptible the feature makes the product to grime Durability – How resistant the feature is to failure Effectiveness – How well the feature completes its intended task Sustainability – How well the feature can be implemented continuously without harm to future production Quietness – How quiet the feature is

18. Form Pugh Charts

19. Form Pugh Charts The curved handle ranked first under both comparisons

20. Function Function Pugh Charts

21. Function Pugh Charts Including a small motor in the brush head ranked first in both comparisons

22. Brush Head Design Pugh Charts

23. Brush Head Design Pugh Charts The cheek and tongue cleaning pad ranked first under both comparisons

24. Power Generation Pugh Charts

25. Power Generation Pugh Charts The recharging stand ranked first under both comparisons

26. Final Design Of our originally conceptualized features, our final design includes: Curved Handle Tactile Sensor The motor housed in the brush head Cheek and Tongue Cleaner Additional bristles below the brush head Rubber Teeth-Cleaning Ridges Recharging Station

27. Body Final Design

28. Charging Base Final Design

29. Brush Head Final Design

30. Complete Product Final Design

31. How does it work? Final Design Each change to the original design offers the brush a particular new function or advantage Curved Handle – The curved handle allows the brush head to fit into the back areas of the mouth, thereby cleaning the teeth and overall mouth more thoroughly and effectively Tactile Sensor – The tactile sensor ring which circles near the top half of the body uses the body heat from the user’s hand in order to complete the circuit to the motor and allow the brush to run. Upon releasing the brush, the tactile sensor no longer completes the circuit and the brush turns off. This is a more intuitive way to turn the brush on and off, and costs approximately as much as a standard button to implement. The motor housed in the brush head – The motor housed in the brush head will rotate the brush a full 360 degrees, cleaning the teeth more and evenly using the brush. The brush head will have two nodes on the bottom which connect the power source housed in the body to the motor housed in the head. This setup allows for more free room in the body, and removes moving parts from the brush head, allowing it to last longer

32. How does it work? Final Design Cheek and Tongue Cleaner – A small rubber pad with grooves sits on the back of the brush head to clean the mouth and gums as the user brushes their teeth. Additional bristles below the head – These extra bristles clean the edges of the teeth which the rotating brush head may not get. Rubber Teeth-Cleaning Ridges – These ridges which lie between the additional bristles clean between the teeth for a more thorough cleaning. Recharging Station – The recharging station is a small cup-like object which the toothbrush fits into. Upon setting the brush into the recharging station, metal coils within the two objects inductively charge the lithium battery, which is wired to the tactile sensor. The recharging station itself plugs into a standard 120 volt US wall outlet This rechargeable system eliminates the need for AA batteries, creating a more sustainable design. Additionally, this eliminates the need for battery sockets, which have a propensity for accumulating grime.

33. And that’s our design! Play us out, Kevin