Adjustable Garden Trowel
Fall 2020
Redesign a garden trowel to minimize wrist and hand pain for gardeners with arthritis.
Unnatural hand positions while shoveling can cause pain to people suffering from arthritis
23 percent of adults in the United States have arthritis
1 in 4 people with arthritis have severe joint pain
Ideation
I began by broadly designing easy-to-use gardening tools but ended up focusing on an adjustable garden trowel. From there I looked more into the mechanism that allows the handle to adjust and designed several different systems to test further with physical prototypes.
Prototypes
This first prototype was too fragile and hard to use. It helped me understand the basics of how this will work.
The trigger placement makes it hard to hold this model, however, more gears means more handle positions.
The button on top works well and is effective but, the handle is way too big and uncomfortable. The hole for a strap could be done better as well.
This final design is a comfortable size and the button mechanism works well. The handle attaches to the moving parts housing with screws.
Final Design
This final design allows the user to adjust the angle of the handle to whatever position is most comfortable for them by simply pressing the button on top. Adjusting the handle position can align the users wrist/hand better with the shovel blade while digging, minimizing pain.
Placing the button on top keeps it out of the way while shoveling.
The hook on the bottom prevents the user’s hand from slipping forwards while digging.
