Tool handle design for power GRIP

Abstract

The use of tools is still widely appreciated in industries at various levels. The range of their application varies from a simple task like hammering to a complicated, complex and precision-demanding tasks such as that of surgical scalpels. Hence, it becomes highly essential to design the tool for ‘comfort’ from the perspective of user. The aim of this study is to design a tool handle for a task involving a simple power grip such as hammer. The focus of this study is mainly confined to identify the right cross-section and profile of the tool handle, based on subjective experimentation of a group of subjects and find the approximate dimension and shape(of both cross-section and profile) which outstands in subject’s perception of comfort. In this study, a new criteria for decision making has been employed during a brief subjective analysis to find out the better cross- section shape among the various possible shapes for the handle. The shape of the profile has been reverse engineered from an existing tool handle using a CAD software which was been rated high in market. At various turns during this study, new simplified approaches were used to accomplish certain tasks which can be considered as reasonable approximation to standard methods. The final step is to evaluate the design which has been perceived most comfortable by the subjects, using a subjective analysis through hand-mapping of discomfort.