On The Fly.....
Nalgene's OTF water bottle
Nalgene's OTF water bottle
The OTF was one of those rare opportunities to do both mechanical design as well as industrial design. It is the fastest developed product in my career: ten days from start of design to hand off. That's right, ten long days from sketch to design hand off. The short time was spent not only to develop the look and feel but to create the CAD, physical parts, and prove to the team that it would not leak.
The only way to get a project done this fast was to have full design control. I had full decision rights, and the the ability to prototype daily. Concepts were drawn using Alias Sketch Pro on a tablet, then imported into SolidWorks and rendered in BunkSpeed to keep the team in the loop. Because of the mechanical nature of this design, I had all parts prototyped to make sure that the form followed the function. Prototyping was done using a combination of soft materials using a Polyjet 3D printer, SLA and hand bent metal parts (a paper clip and a "T" pin).
Despite the time challenge, the design is another success in of Nalgene's reputation for tough leak proof bottles that are easy to use and easy to clean. A loop was needed for handling reasons, as well as a way to communicate the Nalgene brand. A angled spout was incoperated to add drinking as well as provide a seal that was perpendicular to the axis of rotation. A hidden compression spring was incorporated into the over mold to allow the lid to pop up when the button on the front is pushed. To secure the lid and make sure that the bottle would never be opened by accident, a simple wire bail was used to secure the lid down .
The only way to get a project done this fast was to have full design control. I had full decision rights, and the the ability to prototype daily. Concepts were drawn using Alias Sketch Pro on a tablet, then imported into SolidWorks and rendered in BunkSpeed to keep the team in the loop. Because of the mechanical nature of this design, I had all parts prototyped to make sure that the form followed the function. Prototyping was done using a combination of soft materials using a Polyjet 3D printer, SLA and hand bent metal parts (a paper clip and a "T" pin).
Despite the time challenge, the design is another success in of Nalgene's reputation for tough leak proof bottles that are easy to use and easy to clean. A loop was needed for handling reasons, as well as a way to communicate the Nalgene brand. A angled spout was incoperated to add drinking as well as provide a seal that was perpendicular to the axis of rotation. A hidden compression spring was incorporated into the over mold to allow the lid to pop up when the button on the front is pushed. To secure the lid and make sure that the bottle would never be opened by accident, a simple wire bail was used to secure the lid down .
This has been a great sale success for Nalgene and reviews from users are great! Google "nalgene OTF review" and read for yourself!
