CONAIR 1875 Hair Dryer
Above is the CONAIR 1875 Hair Dyer.
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This product is a typical household appliance that was being throw away due to a burning-hair odor when operated. This hair dryer was operated most days for 6 years straight. The life span of this product is impressive and there are ways to improve the end of life treatments of this product. This work investigates the recyclability of this product and optimal operating settings to decrease its footprint in the world.
Original Part DMFA
DFA Analysis
The theoretical total number of parts for this hair dryer can be reduced substantially. There are 26 parts to this part assembly. After several design considerations, it is concluded that the multi-part polypropylene skeleton (parts 1, 2, 17, and 18) can be redesigned into a smaller, more streamlined dryer profile that uses less plastic material in manufacturing and requires fewer injection molds. This general redesign eliminates the need for a hair dryer handle. Instead of a 4-part skeleton, there need only be a 2-part conical polypropylene body. Thus, the theoretical number of parts could be reduced to 24. There are no possibilities of combing parts besides parts 1, 2, 17, and 18. The redesign will eliminate the hair dryer handle. The cooling and heating button will be relocated along with the electronics that were originally stored in the hair dryer handle. This can be mounted inside the hair dryer shaft and the heating button will be accessible from the side of the conical shaft. When in operation, the shaft of the hair dryer will heat up. However, this heat is nowhere near harmful temperatures for human users.
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