Med-Aide EZ-Open
By Suchy, James; Mollendorf, Joseph C.; NSF 2008 Engineering Senior Design Projects to Aid Persons With Disabilities, pp. 112-113Publication Date: 2011
Description of a medicine bottle opener designed for individuals with weak hand strength. The Med-Aide Ez-Open, which was designed by an engineering student at the State University of New York at Buffalo, aids people, especially those with arthritis, who find child-proof medicine bottle tops hard to grip, push down, and twist at the same time. The device comprises a conical polyvinyl chloride shell lined with silicone rubber to grip the lid of a medicine bottle, a main handle to which the funnel is mounted in the middle, and a bolt which runs through the main handle. Inside the main handle, and attached to the bolt joining the cone, is a nylon gear with a nylon rack running parallel to it. The rack is attached at one end of the main handle via a spring which, in turn, is attached to a rubber stopper at the end of the handle. The other end of the rack attaches to another piece of PVC tubing that slides in and out of the main handle. Pulling this secondary handle outward pulls the rack over the gear, turning it clockwise, rotating the funnel in the same direction and opening the bottle lid underneath it. A silicone sheet placed on the surface underneath the medicine bottle prevents the bottle from rotating with the opener. Total project cost was 30 dollars.
Published by: Creative Learning Press, Inc. (Website:http://www.creativelearningpress.com)
Link to text: http://nsf-pad.bme.uconn.edu/2008/Chapter%208,%20State%20University%20of%20New%20York%20at%20Buffalo.pdf
ISBN: 1-931280-15-0
