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IBE Team 5 _______________________________________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
Reverse Engineering the Padded Swivel Seat Cushion
March 2016
Bill of Materials
Component Quantity Material Function Photos
Gray Fabric 1 Microfiber To protect foam pad
Foam Pad 1 Polyurethane foam
To cushion the user
White Elastic 1 Fabric, band made of rubber
To make the fabric topper
stretch and fit the foam
pad
Plastic Ring (Two Sizes)
2 Plastic To aid in the
swiveling of the seat cushion
Ball bearings 12 Chrome steel These fit inside
openings on the plastic rings so that the cushion can swivel
Plastic disk 2 Plastic These act as the base for the
swivel seat cushion
Bolt 1 Steel To hold the
plastic disks
together
NoSlip Padding
1 Jute To grip the car seat and keep the swivel seat in place
Cost and Measurements
Cost of Materials and Manufacturer
Material Per Unit Cost Manufacturer/Where to Purchase
Foam pad $35.00/ 82”x76” sheet ~$1.17/pad
http://www.foamdistributing.com
Grey fabric $4.89/yard http://www.joann.com
White elastic $8.51/6.4m $0.95/strip
http://www.walmart.com
Ball bearings $0.04 per ball bearing http://www.amazon.com
Bolt $0.31 per bolt http://www.homedepot.com
Plastic ring $0.00808/sq in ABS Plastic ~$0.20 for both
http://www.usplastic.com
Plastic disk $1.43/each http://www.usplastic.com
Measurement of Padded Swivel Seat Cushion
Foam Pad:
● Height: 1 ⅜” ● Diameter: 15 ⅝”
Plastic swivel/disk:
● Height: ⅛” ● Diameter: 15”
Bottom grip:
● Diameter: 12 ⅝”
White elastic:
● Length: 28”
Grey fabric cover:
● Diameter: 20”
Plastic ring 1
● Diameter: 4.5”
Plastic ring 2
● Diameter: 11”
Ball bearings
● 7mm
Steel bolt
● Length: ½”
What we learned:
(Problems, process of taking it apart, what we discovered about the product)
We opened the box and began the process of reverse engineering the Padded Swivel Seat Cushion. First, we took off the seat covering which was bungeed around the foam pad. Next, we pulled the foam pad apart from the plastic turntable. The foam was glued down the the plastic, but was easily removed. The turntable was two round plastic disks that were held together with one bolt through their centers. In between the two plastic discs were plastic rings with connecting ball bearings to allow the base of the swivel seat to spin. We then started try to get the bolt out of the plastic disks. This provided us with our most difficult task when reverse engineering. The end of the bolt was hammered down, so there was no way of simply unscrewing it. Using needle nose pliers, we bent back the metal so that it would fit through the hole. Once we got it round enough, we hammered it through the hole. When the bolt was out we examined the items between the two plastic disks. The ball bearings were held in a black plastic thin ring. There were two of these bearing circles that helped the turntable turn, with an inner ring containing four ball bearings and an outer ring containing eight ball bearings.
We learned a great deal from reverse engineering the Padded Swivel Seat Cushion. We saw what an efficient method of helping people turn in and out of a car seats was by using a system of ball bearings and rings in the middle of the seat. The grip material on the bottom of the seat was quite effective at keeping the seat in place while in the car. We realized that having a cushion on the bottom of the disks as well as the top would allow the seat to sit more comfortably in the seat of the car and not bend the plastic disks when the anybody sat down on it.
Application of this product to our product: After going through the reverse engineering process, we found that many aspects of
the product needed improvements. The fabric that covers the foam creates too much friction when users try to get out of the car, so a new fabric that has less grip is vital. In addition, the polyurethane foam pad is not comfortable enough for people aged 55 and up. They have expressed that comfort is a priority when looking for a product to help them get in and out of cars. Our team took this into consideration and determined that memory foam would serve as a much better material for a cushion. The plastic piece that rests underneath the foam pad is also an issue because not all car seats are 100% flat, thus it is not possible for this product to work for most people. Many cars have deep bucket seats or contoured shapes that don’t allow the flat plastic disk to fit properly.
The three main aspects that are vital to this assisted car entry product are comfort, versatility, and mobility.