Maintenance of a product is crucial for the realisation of a circular economy. Product designers can increase the feasibility of maintenance operations by considering these measures within their design.
How can a juicer be improved regarding maintainability? The juicer has been analysed and described regarding its maintainability. From there, it was determined that the cleaning of the juicer after use takes too much time and should therefore be improved. This is done through a redesign of the lid and the pulp container to allow for better discarding of the food pulp that is created during juicing.
Redesign
- The pulp container is positioned around the base of the juicer to support the collection of all the pulp.
- Because it was found that sometimes pulp comes out between the edge of the lid and the container, the lid now fits inside the container to prevent this.
- The edges between the feeding chute and the lid have been rounded to allow for better cleaning.
- The shape of the locking bar was adjusted to make sure it fits around the container properly.
- The backside of the base is redesigned to be completely round since is no longer necessary to have a supportive space for the pulp container.
Prototyping
A prototype of the redesign was created, tested and evaluated to see if it works correctly.
This prototype has been realised by the use of a 3D printer.
