Just One More...
Kangaroo Recliner for Maternity Wards
3-D software halves product development time 
Rather than placing premature
babies in incubators, it has been found that if parents and caregivers hold
the babies, their mortality rate decreases by 30%. Approached by a neonatal
intensive care unit nurse to design a chair for what's known as kangaroo
care in the medical community, a special recliner was designed and manufactured
by Images of America (IOA) Healthcare Furniture, Thomasville, NC, to aid
this purpose.
To design the chair, IOA used recently-acquired thinkdesign 3D CAD software
from think3, Santa Clara, CA. Engineering manager Jim Austin evaluated various
commercial CAD packages on the market to see which would best suit the company's
needs. "I became interested in thinkdesign after trying out the company's
video game-based learning tutorial, The Monkey Wrench Conspiracy,
and a demo CD of thinkdesign." The new-user interface in version
6.0 offers a mini-dialog box, which allows the user to stay focused on the
model; plus a selection list browser walks users through what's necessary
or not necessary to execute certain commands. These functions greatly reduce
training time.
Austin and his colleagues began tossing around ideas and sketches on
the white board. "Then we used thinkdesign to turn those shapes into
a steel frame to form the inside of the chair. From an outside shape, we
worked backwards toward an inside shape to make it soft, inviting, and comforting--a
chair that would wrap around the adult and child. With the structural and
aesthetic attributes in place, we built a mechanism, a gas cylinder that
allowed the back and leg sections of the chair to be maneuvered independently
in an infinite number of positions. Our goal was to create a chair that
someone could sit in all day, plus provide a sense of security, allowing
them to find and safely remain in the most comfortable position.
"The design team achieved that goal in 90 days, from concept to
manufacturing, says Austin. "With thinkdesign, we saved 50% in design
time on our first project! The finished product operated just as prescribed
by the customer." --TP
|
