Oct. 3, 2014 | By Alec
3D printing technology is above all useful as a tool for customizing objects to suit your particular needs or desires. Well, what would then be better than printing objects that help disabled people to participate in society?
With that in mind, check out these ingeniously-designed bottle openers made by the design team behind the Italian +LAB in collaboration with the +Tuo project. This bottle opener is designed to help people, whose disabilities limit the functions of their hands, open bottles without requiring a lot of strength or firm grips. People suffering from any sort or Arthritis for example, which leaves then in constant discomfort and limits the use of their hands, could greatly benefit from this 3D creation.
This bottle opener can be made with just about any regular extrusion 3D printer, and can be primed in any type of mono-material like PLA. There are two options: the single grip option, which comes in two parts and can be made with a handle that suits your particular needs (for instance to make it more smooth), while the second 'boomerang' model can be used just as it is.
Both however, can be simply used with a normal wrist rotation that hardly requires any strength. Thanks to its clever design, it won the first prize at the 3D print Exhibition at the 2013 MakerFaire in Rome. And you can make your own, or for a loved one, using this design on Thingiverse.
This clever construction was made as part of the +TUO project, a noble social design project aimed to use 3D printing to create small, useful items to make the lives of people with rheumatic diseases easier. Other creations by the +TUO project included a zip opener, keychains, wrist supports for pc users and various kitchen accessories, including a spoon holder. The project was part of the PhD research of one of the designers at +LAP, Francesca Ostuzzi, and completed in collaboration with Silvia Ostuzzi, ALOMAR (Lombardy Association for Rheumatic Patients) and professionals such as occupational therapists and psychologists.
Ostuzzi herself is part of +LAB, an innovative studio of Italian designers and 3D printing enthusiasts with links to the Politechnical University of Milan. The team works towards the very noble aim of diffusing '3D Printing culture from academies to society: we truly believe that this technology and its customizability features can have real influences in many aspects of our everyday life.'
Posted in 3D Printing Applications
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This thing does not fit many euoropean widely used bottles with 2.5mm cap diameter on the top edge. It can't grip Cola bootle caps with 3mm top dimeter. Look here http://www.thingiverse.com/make:96590 Please maesure your caps first and adopt this thing before you hit print.
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