Assignment 1: Bottle Opener

I joined this class a little late but I am so glad I did!

Our first assignment was using Solid Works to create a bottle opener.

My first instinct was to do an online google search on bottle openers and a certain design caught my eye.

http://www.sothatscool.com/imgs/brass-crescent-bottle-opener-1.jpg

I found this design aesthetically pleasing, so I decided to go with it and print one myself!

The dimensions were not all that difficult.  The diameter of my outer circle was 2.5in and I simply placed another circle along the same axis of radius [INPUT RADIUS].

I sanded down the edge that would catch the bottom of the bottle cap so it would fit in there better.  As soon as I printed this design, I realized my mistake.  The delrin was only 1/8th of an inch thick, making it too flimsy for the top that would be pushing down on the bottle cap to stay in place.

I decided to alter my design into something less risky that I knew would definitely push down on the bottle cap and stay there.   I also decided to keep the circular element as it would give the user better leverage than a handle.

This was my second iteration.  It kind of looks like a snake about to eat itself!  Before printing I immediately realized that the extended tail of the snake would not let me catch the bottle cap, so I cut his tail right under the bottom jaw.  

The thickness of this delrin was 1/4th of an inch, already making this design stronger than the first.  The snake's top jaw pushed down on the top edge (instead of the center) of the bottle cap and his lower jaw caught and pulled up the opposite bottom edge.  Instead of making a handle, I wanted to force the user to hold their hand perpendicular to the bottle opener, forcing their entire arm up to their elbow to become the handle, and thereby decreasing the force required to open the bottle. (referring to the equation Torque=Force*Radius)

I'm glad it was a success!