Stolskoppling

Sammanfattning: This project was carried out using a product development process for Mitab, a furniture manufacturer in Tranås. The company mainly produce products for public spaces. RAL is a chair in their collections and it is designed mainly for public spaces. There is a need to assemble the chairs with each other at different context. The purpose of this project was to develop a link between the chair seats.   The main focus of the project was to come up with drawings and pictures that visualizes a solution to link RAL-chairs together.   The project started with Mitabs need to join a specific chair model, laterally together. This need generated questions and a product development process was performed to finally result in a production friendly product.   Inspiration and knowledge acquired through studying literature, observation of product development at the company, as well as visits to the furniture fair in Älvsjö. Interviews and tests were used in order to gather information about the problem. Several concepts were developed and evaluated together with the company.   Combining functionality with a design that is compatible with the chair's design as well as a simple and clear design has been the purpose of this project. The result is a coupling seat that is hidden under the seat, and that is easy to use.   The result was a concept of linking chairs together. The coupling is hidden under the chair seat when it is not in use. Plastic and steel was chosen as material and a prototype was produced which shows the form and function of the developed concept.   The resulting drawings has led to a prototype. This prototype meets the requirements Mitab has presented at the start of the project. A cost estimate based on the concept note has been submitted and the total production cost of the chair coupling is far below the company's cost requirements.   Work that remains is to test the prototype and evaluate the sustainability of the product and to evaluate any load requirements. Further detailed cost estimations should be done to obtain a more accurate pricing.