Deskpal - bpma Student Design Award entry

2. Design
Deskpal is a small gadget that helps to tidy mess; it creates organised mess. The product was inspired from the smaller version,
found by the dozen on china wholesale sites. These versions have much smaller rods that stick up, allowing only pencils to be held. With
this improved device it is taller which allows larger objects to be sorted along with all the other traditional desk stationary items. Given the
larger form factor it brings in the opportunity for advertisement and promotion, these can be displayed on the bottom and all sides. This is
a product that can promote a large amount of companies, and it is not just limited to stationary companies and this is something to
be emphasised – this is a product that would be useful at the work office and home office which makes it a great platform for promotion.
After investigating current
situations, it was clear to see
a number of key features
to include during design
implementation:
•Mininalistic single unibody
design
•Simplistic, cost effective
manufacturing methods
•Multiuse construction
Market Viability
One of the key factors that has driven the design of the product is the specific category – pens. As
there is simply no category for the desk tidy to slot into I found alternative ways of looking at the
market. It was obvious to see that a large amount of pens were chosen as promotional items and this
is because they are such a useful product. Currently there is no promotional item that offers a solution
to storing these pens along with other stationary items and this is where DeskPal comes in.
Obviously there are a large amount of pens on the market and this was taken into account by adding
internal bands that are around the internal protruding tubes. This allows pens of any size to be slotted
in opening up to a large majority of different shapes and sizes – it’s almost universal.
Material & Manufacture
The chosen material for DeskPal was Silicone rubber, this is because it has extremely good grip properties,
andthiswouldbeneededtoverticallyholdtheinstruments.Additionallyithasflexibility,thisisalsoextremely
importantbecausealthoughtheaveragependiameterhasbeentakenintoaccounttherearemostdefinitely
pens that are thicker than this average and to accommodate for these objects the flex is needed. Liquid
silicone rubber is a very low viscosity silicone which enables it to be injection moulded. Liquid in the name describes the difference in consistency
when compared with gum based silicone products. In its raw uncured form, LSR is mixed using two parts liquid, after the mixing process it is then
heated; this accelerate the curing process. Making it dry quicker and reducing production time. The advantage of using LSR is that it can easily be
injectionmoulded,whereasthetraditionalgumbasedsiliconeiscompressionmoulded–thismeansamuchhigherqualityproductisproduced.There
is a large range of different hardness’s available; LSR’s hardness is measured using the durometer scale, specifically the Shore A 30 for my product.
Stationary Ergonomincs & Anthropometrics
Stationary Ergonomincs
After the basic concept was discovered, it
was time to get into more detail about what
types of object the tidy would be able to
actually tidy. A datasheet was produced
of the most popular pieces of stationary
currently existing on the market, an average
size was devised. After discovering there
was a large difference between the smallest
diameter and the largest a new design tweak
needed to be implemented. This is where
the four inner spikes gained 2 rings each.
These protruded slightly more than the spike
itself and allowed for even smaller objects to
fit in perfectly. This now solved the problem
of the eradicated average.
Stationary type Dimensions
PEN - Parker Jotter
PEN - Pentel
PEN - Sharpie Stainless
PEN - uni-ball gel
PENCIL - STAEDTLER HB
PENCIL - HB RED
PENCIL - uni-ball Kuru
PENCIL - Derwent
SISSORS - Staples
SISSORS - SureSafe
SISSORS - Westcott
SISSORS - School Sissors
RULER - Q Connect
RULER - Helix
RULER - Helix Folding
RULER - Flexi
17.7 x 3.7 cm
14.8 x 2.6 cm
13x x 3.4 cm
14.6 x 1.3 cm
15.8 x 2 cm
16.2 x 1.6 cm
14.6 x 1.3 cm
16.4 x 1.2 cm
8.2 x .8 cm
15.7 x .6 cm
17 x .8 cm
15.7 x .7 cm
33.2 x 3.8 x 0.6 cm
16 x 3 x 0.2 cm
33.2 x 6 x 8 cm
34.8 x 5.7 x 0.3 cm
18 g
8.2 g
19 g
9 g
5.5 g
8 g
9g
8 g
43 g
52 g
48 g
39 g
21 g
9 g
42 g
20 g
Weight The perfect width for precise
measurements was 51mm,
combining this information
with a general idea of the
products scale, this finalised
dimensions. There needed
to be some form of grip.
After materials research,
and looking into charts
regarding grip it was clear
to see that silicon was the
perfect material. This would
provide grip to the product
and with the anthropometric
data a set width had
also been discovered.
Costing
In order to receive a quote a large amount of information was needed along with the modelling files which is to be expected when dealing with
quantities of 100,000 pieces. Upon submitting this information I received a call a few days later from Protomould. They explained to me that my
design was too large for their machine because too much LSR was being used in each individual piece. This was then modified and an updated
part was sent over. I then received another call, presumable because I hadn’t stated I was a student in order to get a quick reply in which I was
told that the tooling cost would be £7,556. On top of this an extra £193,000 is needed in order to manufacture 100,000 pieces. Then £333 is
needed in order to setup the lot of production.
This leads me with a final price of £200,889, which is £2.00889 per piece assuming 100,000 are manufactured. This quote assumes that the de-
cals have been modified into the design of the mould when injection moulding and that no printing onto the product is required. This means that
every time the product is obtained by a new company for their specific logo a retooling cost of £7,556 is payable. It would be a cheaper alterna-
tive to standardise the injection moulding and to print onto the product. I received a quote form a silicone printing supplier on Alibaba of £4782,
which was one of the only printing services I could find that would give me a quote as they normally only printing on silicone wristbands. I was
told it was considerable more due to the complex nature of 5 locations of branding and because of the angles of the printing.

3. GA
17
9
60
60
17 R4.50
10
38.50
7
20°
12.80
27.10
50
+
-
0.03
0.03
R2
R1.50
R1.50
R1.50
R1.50
R4.50
3 3
51
+
-
0.03
0.03
R7.05
R7.05
51
R7.05
51
R7.05
51
+
-
0.03
0.03
TRUE R2
DIMENSIONS ARE IN MILLIMETERS
DEBUR AND
BREAK SHARP
EDGES
MATERIAL:
REVISION
TITLE:
DWG NO.
SCALE:1:1 SHEET 1 OF 1
A3
Liquid Silicone Rubber (LSR)
6
GA
DeskPal
ProtoLabs Advise Global
Tolerance of 0.025mm +/-