Skil Caulkgun: A new battery powered product for Skil’s portfolio

Relevant Keywords:

Product analysis, power tools, product development

Design Goal:

To make a design proposal for a battery powered caulk gun that can be added to the product portfolio of power tools producer Skil.

Project duration:

125 hours

Methods Used:

Product analysis

Morphological charts

3D modeling

THE PROJECT:

To kick off the project an analysis was performed of current, hand powered products and the context in which they are used, in order to understand the working principle behind a caulk gun, the most common problems encountered and the way people use the product. Parallel to this, competing products were also analyzed to identify their strengths.

The results from the analysis phase gave us the possibility to identify the strengths that a battery powered caulkgun should possess in order to differentiate itself from competing products, and a list of requirements for the final design was postulated.

The following phase delt with conceptualizing new ideas with the help of such tools as brainstorming, morphological charts and lo-fi prototyping and eventually lead to the 3D modeling of the different pieces using SolidWorks and the detailing and optimalization of the parts.

Description of final design

The rotating handle

The new caulkgun is a battery powered tool which fits within the product portfolio of Skil in terms of styling and offers the user a couple of features which are unique for this category of tools.

The handle of the caulkgun can be rotated when not in use, which allows for a more compact storage of the tool.

With a flexible tip (much like the articulation used in plastic straws) it is easier to reach those hard to seal places like for example behind the toilet seat.

Different types of interchangeable nozzles and flexible tip

The interchangeble nozzles provide the right sealant bead size every time, plus the possibility of creating more than one bead thickness without having to change a sealant tube with an already too big whole cut off the tip. A closed Nozzle is also available to keep an open tube fresh.

The head of the rack has two layers separated by springs. As the rack is pushed in by the transmission, they come together and transmit the applied force into the tube’s diaphragm, but as the rack is disengaged, the springs provide the necessary force to push the whole rack back and hence releasing the extra pressure from the tube and avoiding the sealant to continue leaking.

Section view of the rack head (in white) inside the caulk tube diaphragm (in green)

The foremost layer of the rack head has the precise measurements to fit the cavity in the middle of the diaphragm, providing enough grip between both bodies so as to keep the rack from sliping out in case the trigger is not pushed in, yet not enough to keep it from being pulled out with the hand to change tubes.

Screws are only visible from the lefts side of the gun. This is done in part for technical reasons (easier for assembly as all the screws are on the same side) but also for aesthetic reasons, as 70% of people in the world are right handed so when they use the gun, the side they will see is most of the time will be the right one with a smooth surface.