ruva's Box
CUSTOM MEDICINE BOX
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📍STANFORD UNIVERSITY 🌍 PALO ALTO, USA 🕔2024
ABSTRACT: The ME325 Course teaches advanced design & manufacturing methods necessary for the fabrication of injection molded plastic parts. For my final project for the course, I designed and made a custom children's pill box featuring that features a live hinge and snap fit lock created uses a mold shut-off.
Designed to be repeatedly operable by children, the resultant containers are currently used to carry a child's afternoon dose of medications.
prompt & specs.
prompt & specs.
COURSE: ME 325 - Making Multiples, Injection Molding
PROMPT : Design and fabricate a plastic part that includes at least two interacting features on Arburg injection molding machine.
inspiration.
inspiration.
A child very close to me was diagnosed with a condition that requires daily medication. One of the major pain-points for their primary caregiver was the pill boxes she used. For this project, I aimed to create modular pill boxes that met specific needs for this user.
EXISTING PILL CONTAINER IN USE
EXCERPT FROM USER INTERVIEW NOTES
design.
design.
SKETCHES
SKETCHES
TESTING & ITERATION
TESTING & ITERATION
fabrication.
fabrication.
VERSION I
VERSION I
V1 CAD, SHUTOFF IN RED
V1 CAD, IN CLOSED CONFIGURATION
V1 CAD SHOWING ORIENTATION IN MOLD
V1 CAM (COMPUTER AIDED MANUFACTURING)
V1 CAM, SIDE A CONT.
V1 CAM STRATEGY, SIDE A FINISHING
V1 CAM, SIDE B MACHINING STRATEGY
V1 CAM, SIDE B MOUNTING HOLES
V1 CAM, SIDE B FINISHING
ORIGINAL ALUMINUIM STOCK IN CNC MACHINE
V1 SIDE A MOLD
V1 SIDE B MOLD
V1 MOLDS A & B
V1 SIDE B IN INJECTION MOLDING MACHINE
V1 SIDE A IN INJECTION MOLDING MACHINE
V1 RESULTANT PIECES
EVALUATION & ITERATION
EVALUATION & ITERATION
As shown by the resultant injection molded parts, the mold was ineffective at fully filling. Increasing fill pressures and volumes led to more flashing but no complete fill. Lid was especially flimsy which rendered the snap shut ineffective. On the bright side, the live hinge was functioning well and repeated bending did not seem to impact the part. However, V1 informed my decision to use a wider hinge to perfect alignment of lid and body. Finally, there was a tiny gap between the lid and the body of the container, I realized some interference between the two would create a compressive seal. However this interference had to be optimized against the dimensional needs of the snap shut latch.
Armed with these notes, I worked to incorporate these iterations into V2.
VERSION II
VERSION II
V2 CAD, SHOWING 'DEEPER' LATCH
V2 CAD, LID AND BODY INTERFERENCE SHOWN
V2 CAD, VERTICAL SNAPSHUT IN THICK ANGLED LID
V2 INJECTION MOLDING SIMULATION RESULTS
V2 SIMULATION FILL CONFIDENCE, ONE GATE
V2 FILL SIMULATION, SHOWING FILL ACROSS ENTIRE MODEL
V2 SHUTOFF BASE LARGER & SIMPLER GEOMETRY
V2 SHUTOFF BASE WIDER FOR MORE STURDINESS
V2 SHUTOFF BASE DETAILS
CAM CHALLENGE, FINE DETAILS & TALL VERTICAL WALLS NECESSITATE USE OF LONG & THIN ENDMILLS. SLOWER MACHINING NECESSARY.
ORIGINAL STOCK IN CNC MACHINETO ENSURE ALIGNMENT, PROBE AT MIRROR ORIGINS FOR EACH STOCK
V2 SIDE A AFTER MACHINING
V2 MOLD A & B
V2 CHECKING SHUTOOFF, VERY TIGHT FIT TO ENABLE ACCURATE SHUTOFF
V2 MOLDS IN ARBURG, REMOVING COMPLETED PART OUT OF INJECTION MOLDING MACHINE
V2 FINAL PART
V2 FINAL PART
SHOWING GATE, RUNNER & FEATURE DETAILS.
SHOWING GATE, RUNNER & FEATURE DETAILS.
After optimizing pressure and fill volume requirements, the mold was able to successfully fill repeatedly. There was some flashing, most significant around the shutoff base. Manual sanding to enable mold closing was a little too excessive. However the flashing was small enough to easily be cut off during post processing.
Effective live hinge
Effective snap shut lid (closes with a very satisfying haptic and audial feedback)
final product.
final product.
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