This project was a short project where I was tasked with designing a portable charger for Nolii that would fit in with their family of products. A big focus of the project was making sure that the product was making sure at the end of the products life it could be disassembled easily so that the parts could be recycled as Nolii wanted to show that they are aware of environmental issues surrounding portable chargers. After researching Nolii I also found out that they like to include an additonal feature with their product to help eliminate the stresses of technology. I decided that I would add a form of cable management to mine charger.
These are some initial ideas sketches looking at different manufacturing methods and materials.
These are five key concepts that I took forward to a weighted decision matrix to help decide which to keep.
This is the decision matrix I used it helped inform my decision to take forward concept two, although I decided I would develop the cable management.
These are some quick sketches where I looked at different ways I could attach the cable to the charger when it is not in use
This is my first concept. It is two extrusions, one hard shell and one elastomer sleeve which could stretch to hold the cable. The end caps are screwed on and hold all the components together.
This is the final concept which I developed from the one shown above. It has interference fits to reduce the risk of the user taking it apart. It also has slots for the battery and PCB on the end caps to stop them moving around inside the casing. I developed the cable sleeve so that it would aesthetically fit with Noliis visual identity.
This image is inspired by a similar one created by Nolii with their own products, the colours of the sleeve are influenced by that of those Nolii currently have. The materials I decided to use were ABS and TPE. I chose these as they are both recyclable. My end of life plan is for the product to be sold with a prepaid envelope for it to be returned to the manufacturer at the end of its life so that the materials can be reused.
This image provides context and shows how the cable could fit inside the pocket.