Spray bottle operation redesign

Joey and I decided to do a physical redesign of a spray bottle that would be easier to use for a person with limited hand or arm use. We took the idea from the disability awareness class from the first week. Relying on more gross motor capabilities rather than finer manual dexterity gave us the idea to alter the structure of the spray lever and to fit the bottle with a simple frame with which you could more easily hold the bottle while engaging the spray.

Velcro straps, flat steel stock, nuts and a bolt and a few foam paint rollers - all from Home Depot.

It is comfortable on the wrist and the shape of the space where you can place your wrist (in between the foam pieces on the back side of the spray bottle) keeps the bottle from pitching downward when you engage the spray lever

Week - 2 - Activity Analysis Object ReDesign - Filling and Operating a Humidifier

Filling and Operating a Humidifier

1.) Unplug humidifier from wall outlet

2.) Remove inverted water reservoir from humidifier base

3.) Invert reservoir

4.) Remove screw cover/valve

5.) Move to sink area / turn water faucet on

or

/open bottled water container

6.) Fill reservoir from faucet- or -pour water from container into reservoir

7.) Replace screw cover/valve

8.) Move back to humidifier location

9.) Invert closed reservoir – replace into humidifier base

10.) Insert humidifier plug into wall outlet

11.) Reset control on humidifier base to desired steam output

Physical, Sensory, Cognitive, and Social requirements

Step one is included for the sake of safety and requires fine motor dexterity in grasping the body of the plug, a tactile response capability and muscular control and strength in the hand and arm in order to grasp it with the appropriate stregnth in order to remove it from the wall.

Step two requires motor control and tactile response ability to locate and grasp the reservoir and muscular strength to lift the reservoir clear of the base.

Step three requires cognitive, spatial, tactile and strength abilities to invert reservoir.

Step four requires spatial, tactile and strength abilities to grasp and turn the cover and cognitive awareness that the cover must be turned counterclockwise to remove it from the reservoir container.

Step five requires spatial understanding, mobility, and tactile response to position yourself at the sink area to turn the water on or to open a closed container of water.

Step six requires spatial coordination ability to hold the reservoir while either filling from the faucet or to steady it while pouring the water into it from a bottle. Arm and hand strength, dexterity and tactile response are required to lift the bottle and empty it’s contents into the reservoir.

Step seven is much like step three except it requires the cognitive understanding to turn the cover clockwise in order to close the reservoir.

Step eight requires spatial understanding and mobility.

Step nine requires tactile response ability, muscle strength in the hand and arm and spatial understanding for correct placement of the inverted reservoir, back into the base.

Step ten is the reverse of step one but a finer spatial locating ability is probably needed.

Step eleven requires fine motor control to grasp the reset switch mechanism and turn it to the proper position and the understanding of what output level of humidification is desired.

Object Redesign

The issues of safety involving the electrical plug and manipulating the reservoir could be addressed by what I, though perhaps not the manufacturer, consider slightly modifying these parts.

1.) The plug could be molded at a larger dimension, more like a bicycle grip handle to allow removal and insertion by using the hand rather than the fingers. The clearence (space) requirements of the plug would be greater unless the design could incorporate the ability of
the longer plug handle to be folded out of the way.

2.) The reservoir could have a fill cap located on the top and thereby avoid having to invert the reservoir for each filling. The removal of the caps for cleaning purposes could be accomplished by use of a keyed lever. A molded circular key with an attached handle (lever) would fit over the caps secured by the matched keyed contours of the surfaces. Loosening and tightening would be accomplished by levered (augmented) arm stregnth (pushing and or pulling) rather than by the necessity to grasp and rotate.

Week - 1 - Everyday Technology Use

A monitored week's worth of technology device usage provides some insight as to how many sensory constituents need to be operating at one time to be able to utilize the device. These include : comprehension, spatial recognition, motor control, dexterity, tactile response ability, balance, coordination of : body movements and events along a time line as well as a range of stregnth applications involving any involved body parts.

The completion of a task using a technological device is carried out fairly seemlessly as far how we integrate the use of the device. We move in accordance with it's function, doing the work required to have the device aid us. We are by custom of the way in which we make use of it, not cognizant of it's use limits when any of the above mentioned "constituents" are not fully available. It is a consequence, that designed or intended usage could become a barrier to that use when assumed in the design are only properties that an abled person has at their disposal.
The task of making every device universally usable is likely, not practical from a cost per unit- mass production perspective even if the incremental cost is small. Design trends of sleek and miniaturized are not always the functional answer for adaptive needs.

The technological devices I reqularly use require what I estimate to be a high degree of grasping ability, tactile response ability, fine motor control, cognition (spatial and reasoning) attention to task and stregnth. A loss of hearing and the inability to walk seemed to represent the least amount of barrier to using the vast majority of the charted devices. Exceptions would be: automobile, alarm clock and telephone for loss of hearing. Even though the automobile, tollbooth, UPC scanner and laser level represented the greatest difficulty for loss of vision (all scored at 5), the devices which I had scaled at the highest level of difficulty were those under the inability to use hands. None of these were scored at 5 but the level of difficulty seemed to be higher than the other catagories. Similarly, for the ease of modification, loss of hearing and inability to walk scored much lower than loss of vision and inability to use hands. I did not assign a "5" to any device for inability to use hands ( automobile scored 5 in loss of vision) however, the level of difficulty seemed somewhat higher overall.