Our project began with two root problems. Both highly involved the functionality of the pump needle. Sports needles have a strong tendency to break very often. Along with this, it’s unsanitary to be licking the needle or the ball.
We have built a new prototype for a new concept on how to solve our problems. The new prototype has two chambers one is for air that gets pumped into the ball and the second has the needle surrounded in foam that has a lubricating oil in it. The chamber shortens in length and pushes the needle out of the chamber where it is protected and moistened. This solves both our problems. We have reached two roadblocks in our prototype the first one is that we are not sure what type of oil to use and the second is that we don't know how we are going to compress the foam.
Our first prototype for our idea, it’s body is made of PVC and we have worked out a mechanism for a needle lock. After doing so we decided to rethink our design because creating an airtight space would be difficult. We came up with an adjusted design to get round that. The new design is an attachment that would fasten to the front of the pump. This attachment protected and moistened the needle without having to make a full pump.
We pursued our idea of telescoping. Using TinkerCad we created our new design. We started to experiment with making telescoping pieces that will fit the needs of our new design. Afterward, we printed the design gathered information on what we need to improve. We made a larger model, the model is to scale of what the final will be. The larger model will give us room to experiment with our product. We have just started printing a better model that has all of the parts that we think we will need in our final design.
We shifted gears once more to use another design. Our 3D printer didn’t have the right capabilities to print what we had desired in a detailed enough fashion. The next design includes a simple spring mechanism and one telescope piece. Along with this is another protection piece that will give ensure the needle’s safety, and the piece that will moisten the needle.
We soon after finished our final model. It includes a small foam piece wedged inside a spring. This spring contains baby oil for the proper lubrication. The needle runs through the inside of this spring and foam. The spring is attached to the needle via a crimped ending. This way, the needle is totally replaceable and separate from the mechanism.
