College - Author 1
College of Engineering
Department - Author 1
Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering Department
Degree Name - Author 1
BS in Manufacturing Engineering
Date
6-2018
Primary Advisor
Xuan Wang
Abstract/Summary
People tend to get frustrated when the toilet seat must be moved up or down before use. Men and women often leave the toilet seat in different positions when finished which can cause problems when men and women use the same bathroom. With gender neutral bathrooms gaining in popularity, this frustration will only increase. The objective of this project was to design and test a hands-free system to allow a user to quickly and easily open or close a toilet seat. For the product to be viable, it will have to be durable and easy to clean around, while also not detracting from the overall look of the bathroom. Furthermore, the device will need to be as simple as possible to manufacture so as to keep costs down and make it accessible to the masses. For this reason, a large portion of this report is dedicated to optimizing the design for manufacturing and assembly. Multiple different toilet designs have been considered to ensure this product will fit on as many toilet seats as possible. Many different device options have been considered but the final design includes a simple lever and pedal system. Although the design outlined in this report works, there are still a few design tweaks that need to be tested before it is commercially viable. A cost analysis was performed to estimate how much it would cost to manufacture this product and the total came to about $7. Due to the successful testing and relatively low manufacturing cost, I believe this product has the potential to sell well.
URL: https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/imesp/236