Binocular Holder

Kris Gillhespy

Summary:

The purpose of this design project is to reduce damage to a set of binoculars that are used on the Sheriff Department’s boat. The current binoculars are placed on the center console and they frequently land on the deck of the boat. The device will be a binocular holder. This holder will have to hold the binoculars throughout a turbulent boat trip; the separating factor from a purchasable holder is the fact that the binoculars will be able to be removed and replaced with a single hand. Other requirements include the size of the device and the safety of the device. The size has to be small to reduce cost and also increase safety. The safety of the device is important because with turbulent rides the operator may lose balance and fall into my device. There were several concepts considered. The main part of the device that varied was the way in which the binoculars were held. Considered were two spring systems, one with an interior spring and the other with a set of exterior springs. Another considered design was a weighted constraint. This contains a weight that simply presses down on the binoculars to hold them down. Other designs contained different types of clip sets. One included a single horizontal clip and the other contained a set of two vertical clips. The final design went after is the spring system that included a set of two exterior springs. The two springs produce a moment that causes the top plate of my device to create a compression on the binoculars. The final results of the binocular holder are successful. The device holds the binoculars well but they have not been tested on a rough boat ride.