Measuring Cup with Built-in Leveler

For our final project in my product design class, we had to design some new product, do a short market analysis on it, and show how we decided to select the design out of a few different original concepts. My partner and I decided to do something relatively simple, that being a built-in leveler on a measuring cup. The problem that we're trying to solve is how one has to use a separate tool to scrape off the extra foodstuffs that result from scooping. We thought it should all be contained within the measuring cup and could be used with just one hand.

The following pages were scanned out of my notebook, and highlight some of our design process. We came up with two different designs and had to decide between the two, and after creating a product selection matrix and giving our criteria certain weights, we ultimately chose to go with design concept #2.

I had a clear idea of what I wanted already in my head, and this was the process of getting everything down on paper to explain to my partner and eventually the class in a presentation we had to prepare.

This first design may seem obvious, but we readily debated exactly how we wanted the user to experience the one-handed leveler tool.

This design ended up getting a better score with our product selection matrix, so we chose to go with this design.

A lot of thought went into the handle design, because the user has to have a comfy and ergonomic grip while also being able to shift their hand around to rotate their thumb and thus the leveler tool. These quick models were cut to scale out of cardboard and chronologically they go from top to bottom.

After getting a good idea of what we wanted in our design, we proceeded to cad it up in Solidworks. The idea is that the user can push down on the edge of the measuring cup(s) he or she wants to remove, and the opposite end will pop up and they can remove those measuring cups to be left with the one they want. We will be holding this cups in place with small magnets that will be embedded flush into the side of the cups.

I decided to go the extra step with our prototype design and actually prototype it through 3D printing and other means available to me through my college. The following pictures illustrate some of the process that went into creating our first prototype design.

The overall prototyping process took about 10 hours, between making the handle, making the leveler once, making another leveler again, waiting for the two measuring cups to 3D print, epoxying the whole assembly together, and sanding down the pieces to fit properly.

The profile of the handle was roughly traced off of the Solidworks model onto a piece of .5" thick plywood.

After the handle was cut out using the scroll saw...all in one cut!

The finished handle after lots of filing and sanding.

The leveler was cut out of blue clear acrylic using the same scroll saw.

The leveler mounted to the handle for the first time. Here we can see the holes predrilled for the magnets to keep the leveler in the "ready to scoop" position.

The leveler fully extended to sweep dry ingredients off of a measuring cup.

Unfortunately, the first blue leveler was actually too short to clear the farthest outer edge of the largest 1 Cup measuring cup.

The final profile of the leveler in combination with two measuring cups. The 1 Cup measuring cup was glued onto the handle using JB Weld, a strong type of epoxy, as were the magnets in the handle and leveler.

The final prototype.

After spending many hours on creating our prototype, we quickly found flaws in our design we would have never otherwise thought of. Having the tangible object in our hands also helped us to realize the best possible solutions to these problems.

We found that people held and used our measuring cup prototype differently than we expected. People held the handle at the back part, and didn't put they're forefinger in the foreword-most position as was intended. Also, people ended up pushing on the side of the "thumb-bowl" to actuate the lever movement, not placing their thumb in the middle of the hole. It turns out there was not enough traction to swivel the leveler if the user were to try and swivel the leveler as it was designed to be used. The fact that the magnets were so strong didn't help.

So in our redesigned and final manufacturable version of our measuring cup, we incorporated a lot of these improvements. Most noticeable, the shape of the leveler has changed. The width is now in line with the width of the handle to offer a comfortable grip, and the bowl-shaped thumb actuator of the leveler has been replaced by a "fork". This new design lets the user push more on the side of the actuator lever, making the swiveling movement easier and more natural.

Some other changed included a magnetic pivot so the user could remove the leveler for easy cleaning. Also, the cups now have a looser fit inside each other as this proved to be a problem with the 3D printed measuring cups used in the prototype version. The cups are held in place with a bump and groove system.