Product Design and Manufacturing Process - Article Example

Name Institution Course Instructor Date of Submission Product Design and Manufacturing Process Executive Summary The product relates to the art methods and apparatus for dispensing frozen products, in particular ice cream, and involves an improved method and apparatus for transferring heat to the portion that holds the scooped ice cream. This project entails developing a heated edge ice cream scooper that is electric and battery powered. The heated edge will make it easier to scoop ice cream from a bowl and will eliminate any physical force or struggle exerted while scooping as seen with most ordinary scoopers. The invention related to a scoop provided with a heating mechanism at the edge in order to facilitate easier penetration of the heated edge into the ice cream and prevent ice cream adhering to the scoop once it is emptied. Ice cream and other frozen confectionaries are usually solidified to such as an extent that makes it hard to scoop them by ordinary ice cream scoopers. As a result, this invention of a scooper with a heated edge will make work easier as the edge will readily cut into the ice cream. In addition to the heated edge, the ice cream scooper will have the provision of improved means for controlling the degree of temperature to which the edge is heated. This will allow the scoop to form a perfectly formed scoop of ice created with no excessive melting that may result from an overheated edge. The source of heating of the heated edge will be electrical energy that will be safely connected to the heating elements within the scooping device; however, there will also be the provision of powering the edge with battery. This scooper is different from the designs of the previous art and conventional concepts. Introduction Product design and manufacturing form the preliminary backbone of business development. Companies across the globe consider product design as the ultimate introductive platform for the pragmatic implementation of new ideas generated by innovative brains. In this context, The Legends considered the significant project of developing heated edge ice cream scooper as the new upcoming idea of winning the new market interests. Primary details of the project reveal that the heated edge of the scooper makes it easier to scoop the ice from the bowl thereby eliminating any physical force involved in ordinary scooping. Furthermore, the scooper provides the means of controlling the degree of temperature to which the edge is heated. The product is believed to fetch market in the renowned countries like the United States and China. This based on the fact that the two mentioned countries have established companies that manufacture ice-creams thereby forming ready markets for the scoopers. Facts state that in the year 2011, approximately 1.53 billion ice cream gallons were produced in United States. With these tremendous productions in ice-creams, it is realistic that the dream of marketing the scoopers can come true as long as the right product promotion strategies are placed into consideration. The current state of competition in the defined markets settles on the wide market for the manual ice-cream scoopers, which lack the heating edge. Dominant players in the market include Zyliss, Jenacula, Vintage as well as M &M’s. The companies are said to produce a wide range of the ice-cream scooper models of which all of them are manually operated. It is beyond doubt that the product injection in the nearby market will win the long term interest of the customers. This ice cream scoop would be efficient in that optimize the total heat capacity of the scoop through the increase of the mass of the ice cream scoop. It also increases the amount of liquid the ice cream scoop can hold. The common practice of service ice cream entails scooping out a measured amount with a basic spoon-like tool generally referred to as a scooper that is made of metallic material such as aluminum (Swift and Booker 129). In addition, at home, ice cream parlors and other similar businesses, it is quite common to heat the scoopers by holding them under a stream of hot water or placing them into a container of hot water. Such heating methods are used to enable the scooping device to cut more easily through the ice cream and they make the undertaking of serving, simple and less of a physical strain upon the individual serving the ice cream. This practice is effective; however, it has its limitation, as it requires the scooper to be placed into the heating environment constantly and at times leads to some unattractive discoloration and in many events, leaves a slight amount of water or ice on the ice cream. Due to these limitations, the invention of an ice cream scooper with a heated edge will thus be a provision of improved means of reading cutting into the ice cream even when it is hardened by congealing. It is a common problem all over the world that the dispensing of a frozen product using the dispensing utensil requires a significant force in order to remove the same product from the frozen container. This is most evident in the case where one wants to remove frozen ice from a container using a spoon or scoop; he/she is forced to use force so as to remove the frozen ice cream. Since frozen ice cream is hard, a significant amount of force is required so as to push the utensil in question through the frozen ice. The force is required since the frozen ice cream is considered hard due to the fact that they are kept at a temperature that is significantly under the freezing temperature. To beat this problem, many attempts have been made to heat up the utensils beyond room temperature. Through the heating of the utensils, the frozen ice cream melts when it comes into contact with heated utensil thereby ensuring that the force used to scoop the product is relatively reduced. However, due to a number of factors, these methods have always proved to be unsuccessful. The primary problem has been the transfer of sufficient heat to the portion of the utensils that comes into contact with the ice (the scoop portion of the utensil). Another common method that has been in use in the recent years has been the filling of the hollow portion of the utensils used for scooping with warm water that would in turn heat up the ice cream. These types of hollow ice cream scoopers allow the heat from the liquid to be transferred from the handle to the scoop portion and thereby heating the scoop portion and ultimately the ice cream. Another key method has been the provision of ice cream scoopers that have the ability to heat themselves up through the use of electricity. These scoopers have mainly been incorporated with batteries that provide heat that goes all the way to melt the ice cream. Unfortunately, the batteries are known to lose their power quite quickly. They are also quite expensive to manufacture and puts users in an awkward position when they use them. This new product provides a new aspect of a new and improved ice cream scoop that would allow the combination of optimum heat and the thermal conductivity of the material of the ice cream scooper to enable the facilitation of the removal of the frozen ice product from the container. This is a major advantage in that there is an increase in the transfer of heat to the required portion of the scooping part or the utensil. Manufacturing process Manufacturing process of the heating edge ice-cream scooper employs the simple thermodynamics principles in heat production and the effect of the high resistive coils in heat production. The simple thermodynamic principles reveal the melting point of the ice-cream and related products, which creates a condition to be met in scooping the ice through the primary use of the heating rule. However, it must be noted that design process forms the developmental grounds for the manufacturing process which accomplishes the final task. Therefore, at this stage, assembling the required materials is quite relevant in achieving the most desirable design explained in the upper section of the design. The primal components in manufacturing the heating edge ice-cream scooper call for the provision of the power source (a battery), heating coil with high resistive value, the copper material, the silver lining and an insulating plastic or rubber handle as shown below. The first step in the manufacturing process is producing the layout. This entails following the primary shape of the spoon and identifying possible allowances for the voltage source, the electric wire runways and the space for the thin-wire heating coil (Lesko 125). The point for silver lining should be at the scooping edges to facilitate the heating impact. The shape of the spoon should be maintained to the last processes that will lead to the ultimate realization of the last product. The second stage involves melting of copper and molding it into the required shapes by introducing wood pieces in the allowances. This provides a better chance and an easier way of modifying the scooper without any problems. The molding can be performed in the molding bars to avoid irregular shapes thereby failing to achieve the required shape. The molding bars have an advantage of allowing a relatively slow cooling process to avoid any absorption of air bubbles that might lead to later fracture before the end of the manufacturing process. The required strength must also be achieved in the process such that the scooper can serve the purpose without undergoing deformation or the volumetric strain. Strain tests can be performed afterwards to confirm if the required strength is achieved by the scooper. Thirdly, keenly remove the wood pickings from the cooled scooper without damaging the scooper and subsequently file the allowances before fixing the electric components in the required spaces. Fix the battery holders and keenly fix the heating coil along left spaces at the edge of the scooper (Lesko 119). Make sure that the holder is in the right position before soldering it to ensure rigidity. Alternatively, screws can be introduced where necessary. Connect the terminals of the battery holders to the terminals of the coil and make sure it is in the required position to avoid any nakedness of the wires. Nakedness of the electric wires might lead to short circuiting thereby exposing a big danger to the users (Thompson 112). The fourth requires fixation of the switch to control the operations of the appliance. The circuit of the switch must control the flow of current from the battery terminals. This should be fixed slightly above the battery holder to ensure advanced control of the power source. The fifth step demands replacing the wood pickings in the remaining spaces before covering them with melted copper. The melted copper should be on top of the wood pickings to avoid damaging the conducting wires and plastic components. The edges of the scooper are to be partially covered with the melted copper to allow an extra space lining for the silver. The rest parts of the scooper are filed and smoothened by the industrial files before coating it with the right light paints (Lesko 123). The sixth step deploys continuous cooling and heating processes that can be achieved by making use of the hot and cold water. This is done to realize the constant shape of the scooper. The scooper is then removed and exposed to the normal atmospheric conditions for at least six hours. At this stage, if the scooper displays any cracks or foams, the body can be re-melted and the preliminary steps can be repeated. This avoids wastage of copper materials and other essential components. The conducting wires should be highly insulated to avoid leakage of currents since the copper coating is also a good electric conductor. The final process involves cutting the silver lining from the main material. The strip is flexible enough to bend around the scooper without creating any problem. Choosing the silver lining is due to the entire excellent property of being the best heat conductor. The high conductivity property facilitates a transfer of heat from the thin wire high resistive coil along the edges of the scooper. The silver lining is sensitive such that, with minimum current, the heating effect can be felt. Nevertheless, soldering of the silver lining is required to ensure rigidity of the lining before embarking on filing and smoothening processes (Chitale 67). Finally, the scooper is ready for use. The test should be carried out on its functionality before exposing the product to the consumers. In case the prototype fails, the sample is thrown away and the manufacturing process of the prototype begins again (Lesko). However, revision of the design process is significant in re-manufacturing to make sure that simple mistakes are not repeated. On the other hand, if the prototype works, the sample is said to have achieved the set objectives. Mass production can now be approved since the project is valid. Further modification can be considered in achieving the required preference based on the customers’ taste. Works Cited Thompson, Rob. Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals. New York: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print. Swift, K G, and J D. Booker. Manufacturing Process Selection Handbook. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 2013. Internet resource. Chitale, A.K. Product Design and Manufacturing. S.l.: Prentice-Hall Of India Pv, 2011. Print. Lesko, Jim. Industrial Design: Materials and Manufacturing Guide. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley, 2013. Internet resource. Read More