For my product improvement project, I took the BIC Atlantis ballpoint pen that I reverse engineered and made some improvements to it.
My job was to improve the pen in a span of two weeks. Some problems were that the pen could only be disassembled into two parts, its grip was too tight and difficult to take off, and the ink level could not be seen.
To improve the pen, I would make it easier to disassemble, make the design more colorful, change the grip, and also change the clipper.
Below are some of the ideas that I thought of:
This is what the pen might have looked like if I made every change listed in step 2:
My job was to improve the pen in a span of two weeks. Some problems were that the pen could only be disassembled into two parts, its grip was too tight and difficult to take off, and the ink level could not be seen.
To improve the pen, I would make it easier to disassemble, make the design more colorful, change the grip, and also change the clipper.
Below are some of the ideas that I thought of:
- Pen detaches at either the bottom or the top of the grip, making the grip easier to take off.
- The length of the clipper attached to the pen is reduced, making it easier to use and more flexible.
- The body is a transparent blue color, making the ink easier to see. The ink holder will be transparent as well.
- LED light inside pen
- Clipper is detachable
- The top of the pen rotates to click instead of pushing down.
This is what the pen might have looked like if I made every change listed in step 2:
The changes I chose to make were creating a third part by making the body detachable above the grip, reducing the length of the clipper attached to the main body, and making the ink holder transparent so that the ink level could be seen.
This is a picture of my finished prototype on inventor.
This is a picture of my finished prototype on inventor.
Here are my working drawings from inventor:
Finally, here is the presentation video for my pen on inventor.
Evaluation & Reflection:
I believe that the improvements I made to this pen made it one of the best pens that I have seen so far. The original pen was unique and great in its own way, but I made a few changes that made it have the great features that I have seen on other pens as well as having its own good features. The pen detaching above the grip was the most important change in my opinion. This made the grip easier to take off. Before, it took me almost fifteen minutes to take it off, but now it should take a few seconds, especially now that I have removed the strange grip holders. I made the grip flat instead of having the wavy design. For the ink holder, the transparency helps with being able to see the ink levels inside the pen. Finally, the reduced length on the clipper makes it more flexible and easier to use. It no longer hurts to try to clip it onto something more thicker than a few sheets of paper. I think that I had good judgement of what was necessary and what wasn't. I probably should have created a grip to go with the pen, but I designed it so that the majority of grips will work by removing the wavy design.
I believe that the improvements I made to this pen made it one of the best pens that I have seen so far. The original pen was unique and great in its own way, but I made a few changes that made it have the great features that I have seen on other pens as well as having its own good features. The pen detaching above the grip was the most important change in my opinion. This made the grip easier to take off. Before, it took me almost fifteen minutes to take it off, but now it should take a few seconds, especially now that I have removed the strange grip holders. I made the grip flat instead of having the wavy design. For the ink holder, the transparency helps with being able to see the ink levels inside the pen. Finally, the reduced length on the clipper makes it more flexible and easier to use. It no longer hurts to try to clip it onto something more thicker than a few sheets of paper. I think that I had good judgement of what was necessary and what wasn't. I probably should have created a grip to go with the pen, but I designed it so that the majority of grips will work by removing the wavy design.