ReverseEngineeringProject

AlexandraDeGroot,JuliaPrien,NatalieNickerson,and
AriannaDruecke

IntroductiontoEngineeringandDesign

May2,2016

Overview:
Thereverseengineeringprojectwasagroupproject.JuliaPrien,Arianna
Druecke,NatalieNickerson,andI(AlexandraDeGroot)wereagrouptogether.Wechose
thespritzcookiepress,madebyThePamperedChefforourproject.ClientCompanyis
alsoThePamperedChef.Thetargetcustomeristowardsanyonethatcooks,specifically
anyonewhomakesspritzorotherholidaycookies.Theproblemwiththeoriginaldesign
isthecookiedoughwasgettingstuckonthedieandnotthepanwhenonlypullingthe
triggeronce.Youthenneededtopressthetriggertwiceforthedoughtostick,which
ruinedthecookiespattern.Thecriteriaisthatthedoughneedstobepressedoutina
moreidealamountforstickingtothecookiesheet,andthepressneedstokeepasimple
look,sowhenmakingcookies,thefocusisnotonthecookiepressbuttheuniqueshaped
cookiesthecookiepressmade.Thenewcookiepresscannothavetoomanymoreparts
becauseitwouldcostmoretomanufacture.Italsocannotbehardtooperate.Themain
purposeofreverseengineeringistomakecurrentproductbetterinsomeway.The
purposeofthisprojectwastolearntofindaproblemwithanexistingproductandmake
itbetter.Also,tobeableworkinagroupandhelpteacheachothertosolvetheproblems
youwouldcomeacross.Forthisproject,wespentaboutnineweeksfindingandsolving
aproblemwithanexistingproduct.

MaterialsList:
Asourprojectrevolvedaroundthecookiepress,weneededoneforreference.
Overtheweeksofworkingonthisproject,weusedahammer,screwdriver,andasander
totakeapartthecookiepress.WealsousethesoftwareAutodeskInventortorecreatethe
revisedcookiepress.Weusedpencilsandisometric,grid,andblankpapertocreate
dimensioneddrawings.

Procedure:
Tocompletethisproject,westartedbythinkingaboutideas.Eachmember
thoughtoftenideas.Then,wecametogethertocomeupwithalistofthetopthree.The
topthreelistcontainsaminigumballmachine,thermoswaterbottle,andofcourse,the
cookiepress.Eachgroupmemberthenmadetheirowndecisionmatrix.

Fromavarietyoffactorsthateachgroup
memberjudgedby,thecookiepresshadthe
highesttotalinalldecisionmatrices.Everyone's
decisionmatriceswerescaledonetofive,five
beingthebestandonetheworst.Eachgroup
memberhadthesameresults,andthecookiepress
wonbyunanimousdecision.Afterfiguringout
whichproductweweregoingtodo,weneedto
familiarizeourselves.Wedidavisualanalysis

matrixoftheproductandavisualanalysiswriteup.

Forthevisualanalysis,wehadtodescribethe
visualprinciples(balance,emphasis,contrast,
rhythm,proportion,unity,economy)and
designelements(point,line,color,shape,
value,form,texture,space).Thecookiepress
hasspaceinsidethebarrelwhenthereisno
cookiedough.Thespaceiscontrasttotherest
ofthecookiepress,andalsoputsemphasisof
thefunctionalityofthecookiepress.Ithasa
cylinderform.Thehandlelookssoftbecauseof
thecurvedlineonthehandle.

Afterthevisualanalysis,wedidafunctional
analysis.Tosummarizethefunctionalanalysis,
themainfunctionistopushoutcookiedough
throughdiscs,whicharecalleddies,andmake
differentshapedcookies.Asforceisappliedto
thelowertrigger,itactsasaleverandpushes
theratchetforward.Aninclinedplaneslides
andgetscaughtonacatchingmechanism,andthecatchingmechanismgoesinthenotch
thatpreventstheratchetfromgoingbackwards.Also,whilegoingforward,theratchets
inclinedplaneforcesthecatchingmechanismtomovedownbytheretractingofthe
releasepin.Then,aspringsforceforcesthetriggertoreturntothestartingposition.To
movetheratchet,thereleasepinisdepressedandallowstheratchettomoveanyposition
theuserwants.Wealsoreadconsumerreviewsoftheproducttotryanddeterminethe
mainorbiggestissuewiththeproduct.Whilereadingcustomerreviews,wesawthat
someofthecustomerreviewscouldbeusererrorandnotproducterror.Wedecidedto
conductanexperimentinwhichwewouldusethecookiepresstomakecookies.While
weconductedtheexperiment,weobservedthatweneedtopullthetriggertwiceinorder
togetthedoughontothepan,buttheproblemwasthattheshapeofthedoughwas
distorted.Thefactsthatthecookiepressdidntbreakandthatwegottogetcookiesare
thingsthatwentwellwiththeexperiment.Thecleaningoftheproductwentwell.There
wasacoupleproblemswithcleaningthecookiepress.Theratchethasverysharp
notches.Thepartthatholdstheratchetisalsohardtoclean.Wedidntwantwatertoget
inthemechanismsinthebodycasing,whichmadeitchallenging.

Thenwedidaproductdisassembly.Fortheproductdisassemblywehadtoname
eachpartandwhattheirfunction,quantity,material,textureand/orfinish,andwhich
otherpartstheyinteractedwith.

Part
Name
Die

Barrel

Holdsthedough

(clear)
plastic

Smooth,shiny

Screwedontobottomringand
bodycasing

Holdsthedieonthebarrel

Pressesdieagainstbarrel

Pushesdough

Smooth,matte

Connectstoratchet

Ratchet

Connectedtoplungerto
pushdough

(white)
plastic
rubbery
plastic
Stainless
steel

Smooth,shiny

Bottom
Ring
Plunger

Smooth,shiny

Ispushedbythetriggerandgoes
throughmanybodycomponents

TopKnob

Makesanicegripfor
movingtheratchet

(white)
plastic

Smooth,shiny

Coversendofratchet

Body
casing

Holdsthereleasepin
mechanism

(white)
plastic

Smooth,shinyon
outsidefaces

Connectstobarrelandtrigger
assembly

Inside
Cover
Plate
Release
Pin

Keepsthereleasepinin
place

(white)
plastic

Smooth,shiny

Holdsreleasepininbodycasing

Holdstheratchetinposition

Stainless
steel

Smooth,shiny

Heldbybodycasing,releases
ratchet

10

Spring

Bringsthereleasepinback
toitsoriginalposition

Stainless
steel

Shiny,smoothlines

Pushesagainstreleasepin

11

Trigger
Assembly

Transferstheforcefromthe
usertomovingtheratchet

White
plastic,
rubber,
metalrivets

Smoothorgrippy
(triggergrip),shinyor
matte(triggergrip)

Pushesforwardratchetand
attachestobodycasing

Part#

Qty

Function

Material

Doughispressedthroughto
makecoolsshapes(many
similarones)

(white)
plastic

Texture
andFinish
Smooth,shiny

InteractionwithOtherParts
Heldagainstbarrelbybottomring

Ourideastoimprovethisproductweretomakethecookiepressoutofdifferent
material,ormakesomekindofsweeperarmorabetterplunger.Wealldecidedthatit
wouldbemoreefficienttomakesomethingtocutthedoughoffofthediesorpushout
moredoughatatime.Wepickedthisproblemtosolvebecauseinordertogetthecookie
doughonthepanwehadtopullthetriggertwice,butthenthecookieswouldget
distorted.First,wewantedtomakeasweeperarm,butwequicklyrealizedthatitwould
costmoretoaddasweeperarm.Asanalternative,wedecidetomakethenotchesonthe
ratchetbigger.Thatway,whenpullingthetrigger,theplungerwouldpushoutmore
dough.Also,itwouldntpushouttoomuchdoughliketwotriggerspullswould,andit
wouldgivemoredoughthenonlyonetriggerpullwould.

Aboveareafewofourdimensioneddrawings,becausethatwasournextstep.
Wesketchedeachpartofthecookiepressandfullydimensionedit.Forthesepartswe
sketchedweensuredweputinthechangesweweremaking,likethenotchlengthandthe

simplificationsinotherareas.Thesesketcheshelpedprepareusforour3Dmodelingin
thenextstep.

NextwecreatedeachofthepartsofthecookiepressonAutodeskInventor.There
weremanydimensionsonsomeoftheparts,andsomewereverycomplex.Hereare
somefinishedones.

Oncealloftheindividualpartsweredone,weassembledthemintoonebig
assemblyfile.

Fromtheassemblyfile,we
madeananimationandanexploded
viewofthecookiepress.The
explodedviewisabove.

Thefinalstepwastomake
technicaldrawingsofeachpart
throughInventor.

Wealsodidapresentationto
theclassonourproject.

ConceptsCovered:
Thisprojectcoveredmanydifferentproblemsolvingconcepts,andalsotheconceptswe
neededtoknowtobeabletosolvetheproblemsweencountered.Wereviewedskillslike
usingdecisionmatricesandbasicisometricsketching,aswellasdoingtechnical
drawingsbyhand.Wealsousedmanyofthe3Dmodelingskillsandtechniquesweve
learned,aswellasdoingcomputertechnicaldrawings.Alloftheseskillshelped
complementtheproblemsolvingconceptsthisprojectemphasized.

Summary:
Welearnedthatthereismoretoaproductorcompanythanjustcreatingnewor
improvedproducts.Thereisalotofplanning,testing,andproductcreation.Overthree
weeks,wehavedoneanumberoftasks.Wemadeavarietyofanalysesanddocuments
including:decisionmatrices,avisualanalysischart,afunctionalanalysis,andaproduct
disassembly.InAutodeskInventor,wemodeledpartsandmadeaworkingassembly,
technicaldrawings,andlabeledisometricdrawings.Itwasverydifficulttomakethe
partsofthecookiepressinAutodeskInventor.Toovercomethisdifficultywestopped
andlookedatthepartindifferentwaystofindthemostefficientwaytomakethepart.
Anotherdifficultywasfindingpatentsforthecookiepress.Inordertosolvethisproblem
wephysicallylookedonthecookiepressboxforanycluesornumbersthatarerelatedto
theU.S.PatentOffice.Wenoticedanumberontheboxthatwasntthebarcodenumber,
sowedecidedtosearchthatnumber.Throughourresearch,wediscoveredthatthis
particularcookiepressisstillpatentpending.Also,wecannotbecompletelysureifour
decisiontolengthentheratchetnotcheswillfixtheproblem.Inordertoclaimthatas
true,wewouldneedtodoalittlemoreresearchaswellascreateandtestaprototype.We
didagoodjobpayingattentiontodetailtoensureournewversionofthepressatleast
startedthesame,butwecouldhaveimprovedouroverallgroupcooperation,particularly
whenpeopleweregone.Ifweweretodothisprojectagain,wewouldmakesurewefully
confirmedthechangesweweremakingtotheproductbeforecontinuingtoavoid
confusion.