From Prototype to Production | Paint Rings | LA NPDT
PaintRings
CLIENT
Tadpole, a company based in Shreveport, LA that develops new products for painting, shipping, and moving. Their flagship product, Tadpole Tape Cutter is being sold in major retail stores such as Ace Hardware, Walmart, as well as Grommet.
CHALLENGE
Our initial challenge was to convert Tadpole’s vision of the invention from a sketch into a concept design. The paint rings catch paint dripping from cans of paint to keep the floors clean. The ring had to be simple to use and easy to manufacture. We went through multiple designs while making a design and a dozen more tweaks to make the Paint Ring’s design perfect. Before we even moved to the next step – making a prototype product. Tadpole wanted us to take their design form prototype to production. One of our challenges was to select a proper material with enough elasticity and resiliency. To ensure the rings would survive a long day of painting and maintain their shape upon interaction with the paint.
SOLUTION
By creating several 3D models, we were able to finalize the design to proceed towards making a prototype product. We 3D printed several prototypes in different materials. Such as TPE and TPU to ensure they will endure the wear and tear. As well as be flexible enough to accommodate paint cans made of different materials. During product prototype development, we also created two different sized paint rings that fit both quart and gallon-sized paint cans. At the final stage, we took the product from prototype to production by adding logo graphics to the Paint Ring to make this product easy to identify. We also optimized the design for plastic injection molding.
THE RESULT
Tadpole has presented the finalized versions of the prototypes at several trade shows where the company received positive feedback. Because of product prototype development, the Paint Ring has now been transferred to a manufacturer that is going to launch the production shortly. To be notified when this product is available for purchase click this link ->.
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