Site Navigation
¤ Introduction ¤¤ Product Summary ¤
¤ Design Process ¤
¤ Product Design ¤
¤ Market Research ¤
¤ Financial Data ¤
¤ Future Directions ¤
¤ References ¤
¤ Site Map ¤
| Product Summary |
|
Problem Statement When parents accidentally leave the stove unattended, there is an opportunity for children to burn themselves. In fact, it is extremely easy for an unsupervised child to reach up onto the stove top and burn themselves. Our product, Stove-Top Wonder will potentially solve this problem and many more. Solution Our solution is a wall-like barrier that surrounds the stove area. It is known that 80% of children 0-5 years of age are burned by a hot solid object (oven doors, stoves and radiators) of those 70.5% occurred when a child climbed up against a stove, kitchen counter top or table and reached for something hot. Our barrier would reduce stove related burns significantly. Design The design for our product is very simple. We would start by taking two pieces of Plexiglas® 21 inches long and 10 inches tall and attaching them to tracks that are 3 inches wide and ½ inch tall to create two twin barriers for the side of the stove. We would attach the two barriers to the stove or the counter by using single sided industrial Velcro that will adhesively attach to the stove. We would also add a piece of track of similar dimensions to the top of the left barrier. We would then take another piece of Plexiglas® 30 inches long and 9¾ inches high and attach one long hinge down the side to create a door. We would attach the other end of the hinge to a piece of Plexiglas® 3 inches long and 9 15/16 inches tall. This piece would be allowed to slide in between the two pieces of track on the left side and we would install a small barrier on the top rail to prevent it from sliding out. A latch lock would be added in order to prevent a child from being able to open the door. 
[Figure 1: Door opening of the Stove-Top Wonder] Uses Our product would only require the lift of a latch to open and the door would slide out of the way to minimize the inconvenience. At the same time, it protects children from harmful stove burns and can be installed on the stove, or even on the adjacent counter for more versatility. Our target market would be parents concerned about protecting their young children particularly our target age group of children under 5 years of age. Our production costs would include raw materials, labour, distribution and development and would come to a total of $26.00-$28.00. Our proposed retail price is $34.99. Future Plans The future plans for this product consist of approaches that will lead to the improvement on the design. We additionally hope to be able to create a strong marketing campaign for the device, which will hopefully have the added effect of increasing awareness of stove-related safety issues in general. Finally, as our operation continues to grow, we hope to be able to offer more customizability to our customers, such as integrating our product more so with the form of specific kitchens, or through a more flexible outlook on the aesthetics of our design. This product is the definitive defense against child stove burns. But most of all it is safe, and that's what counts. |
Shad Valley Waterloo | Main Project Home | Final Report