Design of Spherical handle for children's Electric Toothbrush in order to improve grip comfort and stability
Authors: Zhuang Xinyue , Wang Tiancong , Zhang Zixuan , Wang Haining 
Published: June 2023

Children's gripping ability is far less than that of adults, but the children's electric toothbrushes on the market today do not have a scientifically targeted design for children's grips. Therefore, this study aims to explore the characteristics of children's gripping styles and design a children's electric toothbrush that meets the needs of both children and parents. The research team explored the pain points in the use of children's toothbrushes through literature research and interviews, extracted design requirements, and proposed a design solution of a spherical grip. According to the proposed design solution, a corresponding model was made, and users were allowed to experience and feel the model, and finally a children's electric toothbrush that meets the expectations and needs of the two target groups was obtained. It also provides a new idea and reference for the design of children's gripping appliance.1.IntroductionWe found that many children's toothbrushes currently on the market are simply adult electric toothbrushes scaled down equivalently and do not take into account children's own gripping ability and usage habits. Based on this blind spot, we conducted literature research and design to explore how to design a tailor-made electric toothbrush for children.2.Existing product analysisThe existing electric toothbrushes for children were analyzed and focused on the brush handle design, and it was found that none of the current children's toothbrushes had a good grip comfort, and their advantages and disadvantages were analyzed in comparison.At the same time, we have integrated and analyzed the existing electric toothbrush technologies and applied them in the design session.3., User needs analysisChildren's toothbrushes are not only for children, but also for parents. Only a children's toothbrush that meets the needs of both is a design that can be implemented. We integrated the pain points from the research, the children-oriented one is the use of holding method, the parents-oriented one has three key points: information feedback, fighting resistance and habit formation.4.Design4.1 Design objectivesCombining the above research and data analysis, we set five product design goals: to make children want to brush their teeth, to brush comfortably, to brush cleanly, to develop a habit, and to reassure parents, and made a corresponding solution based on each design goal.4.2 Design optionsWe focused on the target point of "comfortable brushing" and researched children's specific gripping style, and through literature and observation of the state of children's palms while brushing, we found that the most comfortable grip for children is the spherical grip.4.3 ModelingWe first made the sketch model in adult size, then we determined the size of the child's hand by reviewing papers and turning the hand over to make an equivalently scaled child model.4.4 Modeling VerificationThe children were asked to hold both the design straw model and the commercially available electric toothbrush to simulate the position of brushing with the electric toothbrush for grip comfort comparison. collected experience and feedback. Parents were also asked to hold the adult size model for experience and comparison.We then compared the spherical grip models with slight differences in length and width proportions for the children to integrate and analyze the most appropriate shape proportions, refine the models, and finally analyze accessibility, fit, and fit to establish the final shape.5.ConclusionThis paper takes the design of children's electric toothbrushes as an example, focusing on the characteristics of children's gripping style and exploring a grip design that better fits children's gripping style. It also takes into account the common experience of parents and children, who are the two different groups of people facing children's products. Through product usability testing, the feasibility and rationality of the spherical grip shape is verified, providing new ideas and references for the design of children's gripping appliances.