Pringles Chip Send Off

By:

Susmit Sukthankar

Matthew Fagerson

Problem Statement

• The USPS handles packages without care, and as a result, the contents of these packages are sometimes damaged. We need to find a way to reduce, absorb, and dispense the shock the packages are exposed to.

• We will use the 12 step design process to evaluate, design, and develop a way to ship a Pringles chip from Fremd to Conant, or vice versa, without the chip breaking.

Research

The USPS• The United States Postal Service

(USPS) employs roughly 700,000 people who work to ensure that 213 billion pieces of mail are delivered to 146 million addresses each year.

• It operates as a business, with total revenue in 2006 of $72.8 billion. It is governed by a board of governors made up of the postmaster general, the deputy postmaster general and nine governors who are appointed by the president.

Research

Shipping and Processing

• At the mail processing plant, machines separate mail by shape and size. They also orient the packages so their addresses are right-side up and facing the same direction.

• A unique fluorescent bar code is imprinted on the back of each piece of mail. An optical scanner scans the address, and then a bar code representing the specific address is sprayed on the front of the envelope.

Research

Pringles• Pringles have only about 42%

potato content, with the remainder being wheat starch and flours (potato, corn, and rice) mixed with vegetable oils and an emulsifier. They are baked.

• Their consistent saddle shape is mathematically known as a hyperbolic paraboloid.

Calculations

mass m= 1 kg height of h = 5 mvelocity v = 9.899494936611665m/s. kinetic energy = 49 J.distance traveled after impact is d = .1 m Average impact force = 490 Newtons.

Possible Packing Material

Research

Loose Fill

Paper

Corrugated fiberboard pads

Foam structures

Molded pulp

Inflated Products

Brainstorming Ideas

The Decision MatrixIDEA Weight of

Package(lbs.)

Sturdiness Size (Volume in³)

Cost to Purchase Materials

Total

Box 4 3 5 5 17

Torus 

4 4 3 5 16

Four Cylinders

5 1 3 2 11

• Each Number value ranges on a scale of 1-5.

• The meaning behind each number for each criteria may be different.

• In the end, we concluded that a box solution would be the most viable.

Testing our Box

• Each textbook weighs approximately 3.5 lbs. each

That means that our box can take over 56 lbs. of weight upon itself without being crushed.

• Both teams tested our designs and gathered data on how well the boxes stood the tests

Video

Our Final Prototype

• Composed of : • 1 cardboard box.• 1 bag of cotton.• 1 3rd Gen. IPod Nano

case.

THE END

THE CAKE IS A LIE

Bibliography

• http://people.howstuffworks.com/usps.htm

•July, 2010

• http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7490346.stm

May 10, 2008

• http://www.packagingknowledge.com Dec. 9, 2010

• http://www.mnre.gov.in/ 2010