27 th Hwa Chong Projects Day Category 3 Inventions Group : Lim Ming Han ( Leader ) Tan Wei Heng Wang Yiwei Noel Kwan Mentor : Ms Boey

Lim Ming Han ( Leader ) : Idea for project, compiling, slides design of project and arrangement of meetings ups / etc. Tan Wei Heng : Pictures, research of project and information on comparison with other food/fruits cutters available in market. Wang Yiwei : Main designer of project ( Name, slogans, etc. ) and information on project ( How it works, etc. ). Noel Kwan : Idea of main features for project ( Materials,etc. ), limitations of project and presentation Format for members. All members have edited & viewed the slides.

The V2 Onion Box -- A fast, efficient and intelligent box! Firstly, why name it V2 ? Have you ever wondered how you slice an onion ? Well, the most common way / version is CUTTING it ! So, with this clever and easy to use Onion box, it saves time cutting onions and one big factor is - It does not make you tear ! That’s why its "Version 2", the fast and clever version of cutting an onion ! The Version2 Onion Box ! _ Cut it fast _

The actual reason why you tear when you cut onions Why do we tear when we cut onions? A certain enzyme is released by the onion that mixes with the air to form another compound gas. The compound gas diffuses through the air and eventually reaches the eye, where it activates senses in the eye, creating a stinging sensation. Tear glands then produce tears to dilute and flush out the irritant.tears

The Magic Box! Firstly, in order to successfully cut an onion submerged in water, we need to have a box to contain the water and the onion itself ! We have a transparent square plastic box - Like a Tupperware! The Box is able to fit fully-grown onions - About the size of 10cm or more. Next, The box is waterproof and transparent. To prevent the onion from causing your eyes to tear, we have found a two good solutions to it - Either cut the onion with very sharp blades or cut it in water. Using Sharp blades is possible but as our idea targets to mainly housewives, and children might be playing in the house and may get injured if they come in contact with the blades. Therefore, we decided that the onion will be cut in the water.

The Double Lids and Blades ! All Boxes has Lids ! However, ours is quite special ! Firstly, The lid on top of the box is made of plastic ( Like the cover a of Tupperware). It can be removed to pour water and for placing a onion in. The lid of the box has many thin slids so as to insert the "second" part of the box -- The Double Lid as we call it ! The Double Lid is mainly a piece of thick plastic attached with blades - Depending on how many you want. If you want your onion to be cut into 3, simply remove some of the blades by pulling it out ! Now, we have thought that it would be quite dangerous to do that. Therefore, every blade has a piece of plastic at the tip so that you would not cut yourself accidentally while removing the blades. The removal of blades can be done by directly pulling it out with some force. In addition, the sides of the blades are made blunt and will not injure/cut anyone !

Next, back to the lid of the box and cutting of onions.If you want your onion to be cut to very thin, you can use all the blades on the double lid and insert it to all the slids on the box itself. If you only want your onion to be cut into 3 pieces, simply put the 3 blades on the Double Lid ! In simple words, you will only be using 3 blades and occupying three slids on the lid on the magic box! At the same time, while cutting your onions, you can wash you onion in the water! You can re-use the water to cut several onions if you need them for cooking in a go. At the side of the box, there is a movable part that allows you to move it up and make a "hole" in the box to drain water easily. ( Dont worry ! Your sliced onion will not be drained away ! ) The Double Lid is normally stored together with the box itself.

Our Target Group Housewives Housewives will consider buying the Onion Box as they need this the most as they cook the meals for a family. Additionally, the Onion Box is cheap to produce and this contributes to the factors why Housewives will buy it – Partly because they are “Kaisu” as the onion cutter’s price is cheap - Around $8 - $12 !

The V2 Onion Box can be used to cut other round fruits also or food products due to its shape. An apple, orange and many other fruits/food products can be cut using the V2 Onion Box too! Why ? Our idea of this is to make the cutting of onions more convenient and less irritating as we know that it can be quite irritating, troublesome and uncomfortable to tear when you are cutting something !

Other Onion Cutter Product : The Vidalia Onion Slicer > Is used to slice many fruits and other food products. However, it is not as effective in the prevention of tearing when cutting onions as when you open the lid to retrieve the cut onions, the enzymes emitted by the onion will still mingle with the air and cause tearing.

The Onion Slicer > is another tool used to slice onions. It cuts onion at an incredibly fast rate however, it is very costly to be used at home. Cost ranging from $470 to $500, many housewives find this machine a waste of money and would not consider using this product at home.

The Vidalia Onion Slicer The Onion SlicerThe V2 Onion Box Advantages-Effective in cutting onions and other food products fast. -Considered Portable. -Safer than cutting using bare-hands. -Cut Onion fast, quick and into thin, accurate pieces. -Safer than cutting using bare-hands. -Prevents tearing using sharp blades. -Able to cut other food products. -Portable and light- weight. -Prevents Tearing. -Safer than cutting using bare-hands. -Considered fast in cutting onions. - Able to cut other food products. Disadvantages-Does not prevent tearing effectively -Takes a long time to wash it’s compartments -Very costly -Too Big and Bulky - Blades are too sharp and might injure someone -Onions might not have been cut properly Special Functions -NIL-Able to prevent tearing

The V2 Onion Box is made of plastic. Therefore, it has limitations of being an onion cutter. Estimated Limitations : Durability : Tupperware – Livelong if handled properly Blades – 1 Year – If handled properly. Onion Cutting Time ( Per Onion ) – 5 seconds onwards.

Wei Heng : Overall, I experienced high and lows during the whole project. There were some disputes originally on the idea of the V2 Onion Box and some objected violently. However, after doing researches on the idea, we realized that our idea is realistic. Noel : I feel that although initially some people in my group have been not very supportive of this idea, but they were willing to try it out and improve on the project. It was much easier because of that as we each got to voice out our views, so everyone participated. I also learnt that teamwork is vital for the success of a team as only by cooperating we can complete something.

Ming Han : I feel that doing an invention is a very interesting project to do. We have a chance to present our ideas of inventions we thought of to solve problems in the modern world and increase convenience for others. I had also learnt more on how teamwork is important for success, just like how Noel felt. Wang Yiwei : I think that making an invention with my classmates is very interesting as we can express our ideas to each other. We can also make the mankind’s life better by inventing an invention that can help them in their daily life. Doing this project has also helped me bond closer with my group members !

Thank you for your attention ! Group : The V2 Onion Cutters [3-026] Members : Lim Ming Han ( Leader ) Tan Wei Heng Noel Kwan Wang Yiwei Mentor: Ms Boey