Project Idea: Low Box
For our project idea, as a group, we decided to go with a redesign of a toolbox. While a standard toolbox is very useful when working on a car, we have re-engineered our design to accommodate at-home projects. Our design will incorporate a new style of storage and usability. Toolbox nowadays has a very common design such as a box, a top opening lid, and slide drawers. We have decided to redesign an ordinary toolbox into more universal solutions for home or shop projects. Our new project Stretch Box will incorporate a new way of storage. It will be able to store all your common tools and hardware you use around the garage. Two of the big advantage of the stretch box over ordinary toolboxes is the amount of mobility and ease of use in small spaces. With our slim drawer roller design, you can store all your beloved tools and access them more easily when under cars.
Below are our sketches from different group members, detailing ideas we originally had
Anthony Palma
With mobility, I wanted to make a toolbox with a handle and magnets that can be used to hold tools and easily move. I drew two types of carts one with a storage/organizer bottom drawer and one with magnets on the working surface to hold bolts or other items close. On the picture on the right, I drew a second design that is closer to a common toolbox but incorporates more features. The toolbox was going to have sliding drawers but the uniqueness is the bottom drawer that can be used as a pull-out work surface. Under the surface is a lid that covers dividers or a storage area where you can place small items for later.
Cameron Wilson
On the left you can see a children’s toy I had an idea for, it incorporated an Archimedes screw to pull a ball that fell from the bottom back up to the top so they can repeat the process
and on the right you can see a hand crank flashlight I blueprinted, with numbers correlating to what would do what and how it would do that.
Owen Sowalla
After a problem was discerned that our target audience experiences (Anthony Palma, and by extension, any individual who enjoys personal repair and maintenance around the house), we landed on the idea for a toolbox which was quickly shutdown due to the unoriginality of the product. In hopes of creating a twist to keep the idea fresh but simple, I devised a mechanical solution were similar to trays on wheels, the toolbox would have a ramp/slide function where the different shelves within the toolbox and lower and slide under the car or lay on the floor next to the individual performing the work. While I originally thought the best way to do this was through a spring mechanism firing trays up ramps inside of the toolbox, I changed ideas to be strictly ramp-based where trays reach a certain level of the box based on the width of their wheels.
After discussion over a couple weeks we ended up deciding on Owen’s toolbox, and promptly began work on the website, MVP’s, and our final product, all of which you can see on subsequent pages