OH 4 Industries had a simple slogan, “We make cup holders.” A family friend begged one of the founders to create a viable wheelchair cup holder. When presented to the design team, everyone thought it was a fool’s errand. Thinking of the number of different designs it would take to accommodate the wide variety of wheelchairs and scooters, they decided to try, despite the projected costs.
Slowly everyone gathered data, starting with the current options. One cup holder was made of cheap plastic and broke easily. Another attached from the side, causing it to crash into a doorway when someone went through. The last model attached easily, but once a cup of coffee was placed in it the cup holder fell to the floor (along with the coffee). OH 4 Industries realized there was definitely a market, and people deserved a better product.
One of the key designers began collecting measurements from armrests of scooters and wheelchairs. He noticed that although they all appeared different, the width only varied about an inch, and the height of the different armrests only had a variance of about one and a half inches. The window was small enough that a single design might work.
During design, the position was easily agreed to be in the most natural of places, mounted on the armrest. Using flexible plastic for the cup holder, would make it better, not rigid like the current models. A superior grip became the next issue, and everything from heavy duty rubber bands to plastic zap strap mechanisms were explored. After consulting physical therapists, Velcro straps became the obvious, simple answer. The final question was how to account for the variance in armrest height. Some sort of insert was needed. In the same building was a custom gasket manufacturer, who advised the team to include adhesive foam pads at low costs.
After months of research and planning the team finally had its finished product. Testing was so successful it was rumored to be a universal cup holder. It worked on wheelchair, scooter, stadium, office chair, and even airline armrests. The ”Nearly” Universal OH was born. Keeping an eye on costs, but also wanting to use recycled materials, a regrind tolerance of 15% was found to be suitable, and partially recycled packaging would be used.
Impossible gave birth to the “nearly” universal, and OH 4 Industries was able to condense their product line into one easy to use product, allowing for a change of slogans, “OH 4 Industries – We Make a Great Cup Holder.”
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OH 4 Industries
We Make a Great Cup Holder
http://www.oh-4.com
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