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Bissell 3-in-1 Lightweight Stick Vac

Aaron Pak, Alan Stoev, Jessica Ho, Sean Shitamoto

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Overview of the Product

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Figure 1. 3-in-1 Lightweight Stick Vac. Model 38B1. (Source: Bissell)

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Historical Development of the Vacuum Cleaner

  • Invented in 1860 by Daniel Hess
  • The first use of suction in a cleaner
  • New way of cleaning carpets
  • Manually powered and quite large

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Daniel Hess’s “Carpet Sweeper”

Figure 2. Daniel Hess Carpet Sweeper Patent.

(Source: Google patents)

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Historical Development of the Vacuum Cleaner

  • Patented in 1869
  • Later known as the “Whirlwind”
  • First hand-powered vacuum cleaner in the US
  • First upright, vertical-held cleaner
  • Air chamber to separate debris from air
  • Not very easy to use

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Ives McGaffey’s “Improved Sweeping Machine”

Figure 3. Improved Sweeping-Machine. (Source: Suiter Swantz)

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Historical Development of the Vacuum Cleaner

  • Invented in 1901
  • World’s first powered vacuum cleaner
  • Vacuum created by a petrol-powered piston
  • Not suitable for personal home use
  • Provided foundation for future powered vacuums

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Herbert Booth’s Cleaning Machine

Figure 4. A vacuum made for Osborne College.

(Source: Time)

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Historical Development of the Vacuum Cleaner

  • First fully automatic vacuum 2001
  • Named after the creatures on the seafloor
  • Utilized 4 new patents involving the
    • automation of the Trilobite
    • obstacle sensing technology
    • self-orientation technology
    • and innovations in wheel support
  • Led the way to the more familiar “Roomba”

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The Electrolux Trilobite

Figure 5. Booth’s vacuum cleaner operating on the floor.

(Source: Time)

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Bissell Company History

  • Founded in 1876 by Melville R. Bissell with first patented “Bissell Carpet Sweeper”
  • Melville Bissell’s death in 1889 and the first female CEO in America
  • Expanded to other homecare products: carpet cleaners, vacuums, floor cleaners, air treatment, and cleaning formulas
  • Controlled 20% of the market share in 2010

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Figure 6. Anna Bissell (Source: Bissell)

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Bissell and Its Competitors

Dyson Limited: Founded in 1991

  • household appliances
  • significant market share.

Hoover Company: Founded in 1908

  • now “TTI Floor Care North America“
  • household appliances.

SharkNinja: Founded in 1993

  • products range from kitchen mixers to vacuum cleaners.

Samsung Electronics: Founded in 1969

  • Large array of products
  • significant market share all over the world.

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Figure 9. Shark Navigator Lift Away Deluxe

Source: SharkNinja

Figure 8. Hoover windtunnel max

Source: Hoover

Figure 7. Dyson V11 Outsize

Source: Bissell

Figure 10. Samsung Jet VS90 Pet Stick

Source: Samsung

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Metrics and Testing

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FMEA Matrix

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Table 1. FMEA Matrix

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The mass we can pick up with the vacuum

  • The vacuum can pick up the highest mass when it is in handheld mode with no attachments
  • Some attachments can decrease the maximum mass it is able to pick up

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Figure 11. Graph indicating the mass the vacuum can pick up when using different attachments. Source: Shin-Yi Ho

Vacuum

cleaner

Bag of beans

Electric balance

Figure 12. Measuring the maxim mass the vacuum cleaner can pick up using a bag of beans. Source: Shin-Yi Ho

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Decibels as a function of distance from the

vacuum nozzle

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Figure 16. Graph indicating correlation between distance (ft) and measured decibels (dB) over hardwood (left) and carpet (right) surfaces. Source: Alan Stoev via NOISH SLM.

Table 2. Data collected from measuring decibels (dB) over different distances and over different surfaces (hardwood left, carpet right). Source: Alan Stoev via NOISH SLM

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Power spectral density and

amplitude vs. frequency graph

  • The frequency that humans mostly hate is 2000 ~ 5000 Hz
  • Its Motor and fan create 1000 Hz and 4000 Hz sound

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Figure 13. Frequency of Vacuum Sound While Idle Using

Figure 14. Frequency of Vacuum Sound When Get Jammed

Figure 15. Microphone testing setup

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The angle that users vacuum on different surfaces

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Figure 17. Vacuum Angle to Subject Height on Rug and Hardwood Surfaces

Table 3. Measurements and Calculations

Figure 18. Three Test Subjects using the Vacuum on a Rug

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Questionnaire Response Summary

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  • How easy or difficult is it to move around and when?
  • Describe your optimal/ideal handle and foot/nozzle
  • What annoys you about the device?
  • What do you like the most about the device?

Strengths:

  1. Very easy to move on hardwood floor
  2. Very lightweight
  3. Good cord length
  4. Powerful for its size and for a hand-held vacuum
  5. Compact and saves space

Weaknesses:

  1. Hard to move on a rug
  2. Would like a swiveling foot
  3. Foot fell off when lifted off the floor
  4. Doesn’t stay in its vertical position well

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Material Study

  • Study of material composing neck of the vacuum foot (connects with the canister)
  • Created from PVC - cheap, medium lifetime

New Material Benefits

  • Could be replaced with HDPE for slight increase in manufacturing price but longer life
    • Increase in customer satisfaction
    • Possibility to increase sale price

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Specific Section Studied

Figure 19. Vacuum foot with emphasis on connector with main canister.

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The Redesign

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Redesign Goals

  • Goals were formed from analysis of likes/dislikes of real people using the product

  • Main redesign ideas are focused on creating the most significant change without drastic change in product and need for redrafting

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  • Main problems:
    • Low vacuum stability while fully assembled and upright
    • Wear and tear causing unwanted disconnection between canister and vacuum foot
    • More challenging to vacuum higher carpets as the vacuum begins to suck up the carpet itself

Figure 20: Model 38B1 Vacuum Foot

Figure 21: Vacuum Foot Sketch

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Foot-to-Vacuum Latch

Problem:

  • Vacuum loses the ability to stay connected to the foot due to the connecting material smoothing over time
  • The joint does not appear to have been designed to last long

Solution:

  • A latch mechanism to allow the vacuum foot to stay attached to the canister
  • Ensures connection without the need of the friction connector
  • Positioned on the backside of the vacuum canister

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Latch

Figure 22: Vacuum Foot-Canister Latch

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Foot-to-Vacuum Latch (cont.)

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Push to release

Figure 23. Foot to vacuum latch mechanism

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Vertical Position Lock

Problem:

  • Fully assembled vacuum is unstable when standing upright
  • The vacuum foot pivot can continue to move and throw the vacuum off balance

Improvement:

  • A simple mechanism to lock the device in its vertical position
  • Placed on the vacuum foot
  • Stops movement of the vacuum in its vertical position, increasing stability

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Figure 24: 38B1 Vacuum

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Vertical Position Lock (cont.)

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Figure 25: Animated Side View of Position Lock

Figure 26. Top , Front, and Side view of implemented design

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Carpet-mode Button

Problem:

  • Vacuum struggles to move on carpets and rugs

Improvement:

  • Wheels that can be extended below the vacuum foot to lift it up
  • A button placed on top of the foot that changes the position of the vacuum foot above the ground
  • Utilizes common pen-clicking mechanism

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Figure 27: Carpet-mode mechanism Top and Front view

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Carpet-mode Button (cont.)

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button

fixed “position” piece

rotating “position” piece

bar

spring

wheel

Figure 28. Manual-locking mechanism used to keep vacuum at desired height

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Redesign Summary

  • Improvements
    • Foot-to-vacuum latch
    • Vertical position lock
    • Carpet-mode button

  • Main aspects of redesign
    • Improve functionality of product
    • Improve customer satisfaction

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Figure 29. Vacuum foot improvements

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References

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Questions?

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Old Design vs. New Design Comparison

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Figure 30: Vacuum Foot to canister connector

Figure 31. Top, front, and side view of all redesign elements