Washer and Dryer Compatible Steamer By: Corey Frazier, Isaac Blackman, Adam Harbeson, and Jon Goley

Start-up and Initial Thought Process  Picked Idea for Improvement  Realized Safety Hazard  Decide to scrap excess dryer heat and use steam instead Idea & Design by Charlie Christensen Phillips

Initial Design  Attached Steamer to side of dryer as a permanent attachment/accessory  One Shell design  Heating Element on bottom  Power and water box attached to the front

Initial Problems  Can’t permanently attach steamer to the dryer.  One Shell design does not dissipate heat in a quick manner.  Heating element could not handle volume of water.  Initial design was a heat hazard.

Problem Solutions  Decided to use magnets instead of screws to attach steamer to the side of the dryer.  Created a two shell design, that used air to insulate.  Created a stand to elevate the steamer off the ground.

Compare to Competition  Homedics PS – 251 Prefect Steam Deluxe Garment Steamer  One of the best steamers on the market  Very short time to steam – 45 seconds  Longest steam time – 45 minutes  Great starting point to base design on

Performance Test of Homedics Printed Time for an amount of steamActual Time for an amount of steam 5 minutes2.5 minutes 15 minutes11 minutes 30 minutes24 minutes 45 minutes39 minutes Time to first steam 45 seconds

Breakdown of Steamer Design

Manufacturing of the Steamer Design 1  Building the outer shell of the steamer was the first step.  Then the main water reservoir was built.  Next, the heating chamber that contained the heating element was needed.  The last step was to create the base that the steamer would sit on, for the prototype it was made out of wood.

Step 1: The Outer Shell  This consisted of making a 3D model in SolidWorks(CAD) of the flattened outer shell and then bending it up using the sheet metal function in SolidWorks.  Then the 3D model was taken to FirstBuild and mocked up.  For final manufacturing plastic may be used to cut down on weight.

Step 2: The Main Water Reservoir  This was also done in SolidWorks. This time it was one complete solid piece that was to be make out of plastic.  Not have access to injection molding and being that it would take to long to 3D print this early on we decided to make it out of pieces of acrylic instead and used a solvent to put them together.  The final product should be made out of one solid piece of plastic to insure a water tight seal. Injection molding would probably be the best option.  A cutout can be seen of this reservoir as show by the arrow

Step 3: The Heating Chamber  Since the heating chamber is exposed to high temperatures the only way to ensure no melting or heat transfer occurs a thermoset plastic would need to be molded.  We used the heating chamber off of an existing steamer that we purchased at the beginning of the project. This also contained the heating element that we used.

The Prototype  Finished and Working Prototype  Wooden Base that would be later 3d printed  Time to produce steam was 45 seconds

Problems with the Prototype  Tight fit inside the box  The water reservoir was too tall and created too much head (pressure) into the heating chamber, causing it to flood.  Heat was getting trapped under the reservoir.

Changes from the Prototype  Turn the reservoir sideways  Increase the length of the box  Added feet under the reservoir to allow air flow  Added an internal slope on the bottom of the reservoir

Manufacturing of the Steamer Design 2  Building the outer shell of the steamer was the first step.  Then the main water reservoir was built.  The final heating chamber that contained the heating element was designed.  After this the control box was designed and made that would contain the on/off switch and filling funnel.  The last step was to create the edge guards on the outer shell to make the steamer look more like a finished project.

Step 1: The Outer Shell  This consisted of making a 3D model in SolidWorks(CAD) of the flattened outer shell and then bending it up using the sheet metal function in SolidWorks.  Then the 3D model was taken to FirstBuild and mocked up.  For final manufacturing plastic may be used to cut down on weight.

Step 2: The Reservoir  The reservoir was remodel in Solidworks  The first attempt was to 3D print the reservoir.  Made the new design out of acrylic.  3D printed the feet and attached them to the reservoir.

Step 3: Heating Chamber  The finalized heating chamber was modeled in Solidworks.  The heating chamber has to be made out of a thermoset plastic.  We don’t have access to a molding machine, and we couldn’t make a working heating chamber with our resources.  The design for the chamber was 3d printed for show.

Step 4: The Control Box  The control box was modelled up in SolidWorks and then 3D printed.  Slot for the control switch.  Cup for catching water.  The control box should also be molded instead of 3D printed in final manufacturing.

Step Five: The Edge Guards  The final part on the steamer the outer shell guards were designed in SolidWorks and 3D printed.  The shell is broken up into 30 pieces  There are a lot of small pieces in building the edge guards so injection molding would be best to final design purposes.

Final Construction of the Steamer

Performance Test

Bill of Materials

Secondary Design: Steam Chamber Idea by Jarvis

Secondary Design: Steam Chamber