Clamp It UP! - - - Created by Gabriel Nagy - - -

My name is Gabriel Nagy. A Biomedical Engineer and Physics double major. If you are curious about my work, contact me at: gnagy3@elon.edu!

Also, I would love to give a big thanks to my Engineering professor and Kickbox Sponsor, Dr. Bethany Brinkman, Associate Professor of Engineering.

My Motivation

1 year ago, I was moved to action because a wheelchair-bound friend of mine had personally come to me, knowing I was an engineer, to seek assistance with her problem. She would always be soaked no matter how much she prepared to go out in the rain. My solution? It was to find a way to attach objects such as umbrellas to her chair which could be passively used without taking up her hands. However, by the end of the fall, I feel like I failed because I could not deliver on my request...

This Spring Semester, I got sponsored for the Elon Kickbox project. This gave me the funding, guidance, and provided a path of consistency that I needed to finish this. My project, "Clamp It Up" was born, and now I'm ready to not only help my friend, but anyone else who needs it.

PROTOTYPES

My first prototype! It was inspired by cinematography, and I thought it could be a good option for when the umbrella's handles don't match the clamp size. However, I quickly learned that attaching it to a handlebar is much too complicated!

Here is the second attempt! I hoped that because of how the clamped was made I could easily fit my studio umbrella into it: it didn't work. Plus, because of its design, one it was put on, it would not be taken off without a screwdriver and maybe a drill. That defeats my requirements for what I was looking to make. One thing which stuck with me was the clamps anti-slip grip. It is very well made, and I hope to implement something similar later.

Finally, my third idea for my clamp project. It fits many of the needs for this project. It is intuitive, easy to remove and use again, and quite sturdy. So, now with this double-sided clamp as my new focus, I set off to tinker and test it!

Wait a minute! TESTING! TESTING!

As with any product that will be used often by people, testing is an essential part of the process to ensure safety. I would rather be banged upside the head by an umbrella than the people I give my tool to!

The results from this test proved somewhat satisfactory, and I found that the clamp + fully opened mid-sized umbrella can withstand 13 mph of wind before rotating along the bar. An issue though, is I've seen winds at Elon > than 13 mph, and to ensure this is a safe design, I will improve it.

My "Final" Prototype, sporting the addition of a wing screw meant to add a high frictional force

I put "final" in quotations because as a creator, there is always more improvements to be made!

All in all, my "final" prototype is a double-sided clamp, that is intuitive to use, quick to put on/take off, and serves its purpose on more than just a wheelchair! From this whole process I have found the act of creation to be fun, and learned the importance of playing. Play with your design, see what breaks, or see what extreme ideas you can come up with, and learn from them.

I had to get quite an arsenal of tools and materials to get this job done!

In the beginning, I used a caliper to measure the specifics of certain elements of my clamp and even some screws before I found a numbered set of them.

In the center is a tapping kit, which is meant to be paired with a hand drill. They were used to create the hole and threads in my clamp which I put my screw into to give it more friction.

Somewhat offscreen in the bottom are bundles of materials such as wing screws, and bolts which I thought I would use, but did not.

Now What?

As I said before, it is the "final" prototype. So, it could always be a bit more perfect. If I had to improve this further it would be in the rubber gripper that comes with my current clamp. It doesn't provide as much friction as I know it could. That would involve replacing the orange gripper now, and potentially gluing in a new one: finally drilling a hole into it to allow for the friction screw.

I may also make a CAD file, basically meaning that I would make a 3D model of my project. That means in the future, I can just electronically update the design and easily make it in the Maker Hub. This would also allow me to somewhat mass-produce it as I have the file just waiting to be sent to a 3D printer!

My Guidance, My Support, and My Thanks

I would like to write a thank you to everyone who supported me. That includes the person who accepted me to do an Elon Kickbox, Dan Reis, who kept me accountable and on track with weekly meetings, my sponsor, Dr. Brinkman, I also want to appreciate the funding Elon provided me and others for our Kickboxes, and most importantly, Ella Nutt, the student and friend who first requested for me to fix a problem.