Introduction: Hand's Free Door Opener: a Covid-19 Solution
This is a project me and my family designed as a solution to Covid-19. We have concluded that this is the best concept for a contactless door opener rather than a Covid Hook or Arm Opener. This is a very easy project to create and TinkerCad and will need little experience to make it. There are three different designs we built.
Features:
1. Easy to Build
2. Easy to Print
3. Easy to Use
4. Good Looks
This project was meant to help stop the virus, but not to completely kill of the virus. This was a family project to help my kids learn to use TinkerCad. My two sons are going into sixth and eighth grade. These designs are NOT the right dimensions and need to be bigger. If printing, please resize. The instructions are not showing the right size to print, they are just showing the size my family made in TinkerCad
Supplies
Overall, you will need an electronic device, a TinkerCad account, and some experience in TinkerCad.
(If you are printing this, you will of course need a 3D printer, and maybe some screws :)
Link to TinkerCad: https://www.tinkercad.com/dashboard
Link to This Design: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/5hcQPL0r3H1
Step 1: Our First Design
This design is not yet complete and may be completed sometime soon. It is a more complex design, and will require a lot of testing and redesigning until its perfect. The second picture shows two clamps. These clamps are supposed to go onto a straight, mitred door handle. It does require a highly durable string to allow the pedal to open the door. The pedal has several ridges on it, giving it a good grip on your shoe. The drill template is used to put the main body of the pedal to the door. The rail is meant to be something to limit the amount of travel the pedal can go, but we are still working on that. When this is complete, it should be ready to test. Please feel free to suggest ideas on this and try to come up with improved versions of this.
Step 2: Our Second Design
This is pretty much a complete product that needs to be tested. This is meant for doors that don't have locks, but still have handles, such as the ones in bathrooms at stores. This idea/concept is a great idea because it can also be used for other reasons, such as opening the door with your hands full of items. This would be mounted to the door as the last picture shows. It will require three screws that will attach to the door. This concept has points at the edges to give grip to the rubber soles on your shoes.
Step 3: Our Third Design
This is pretty much a complete product that needs to be tested also. This is meant for doors that don't have locks, but still have handles, such as the ones in bathrooms at stores. This idea/concept is a great idea because it can also be used for other reasons, such as opening the door with your hands full of items. This would be mounted to the door as the last picture shows. It will also require three screws that will attach to the door. The reason this is different than the second design is because this doesn't have points, and also is mounted the opposite way than the other design. And also, the second one has way more shapes than this one.
Step 4: Second Design- Instructions
Start out by making a rectangle that is 49mm L, 23.5mm W, and 3mm H. Then make another rectangle that is 21mm L, 14mm W, and 3 mm H. Then add two wedges to each side of the second rectangle that are 14mm L, 14mm W, and 3mm H. This should align together as the picture shows above. Then, add 11 roofs that are 1.91mm L, 2mm W, and 2mm H and attach as shown above. Then, take a round roof and split in half. Then, resize the round roof to 49mm L, 3mm W, and 3mm H. Then attach to the main rectangle as shown in pictures above. Then, you're almost done. Make another rectangle that is 49mm L, 3mm W, and 14mm H. Also, put holes in the this rectangle that are 3mm by 3mm and equally spaced out from each other. Then group all objects together. Then you are done!
Step 5: Third Design- Instructions
Start out by making a rectangle that is 37mm L, 49mm W, and 3mm H. Then make another rectangle that is 61mm L, 2.96mm W, and 8mm H. Then attach it as shown in pictures above. Also, put holes in the second rectangle that are 3mm by 3mm and equally spaced out from each other. Then, take a round roof and split in half. Then, resize the round roof to 49mm L, 3mm W, and 3mm H. Then attach to the main rectangle as shown in pictures above. Then, you're almost done. Just add a rectangle that is 49mm L, 3mm W, and 14mm H. Then group all objects together. Then you are done!
Step 6: Printing Details
Since I have never tried printing this, nor ever owned a 3d printer, I do not know the most durable and cheap material to print it with. I was thinking of some sort of metal, but metal is fairly expensive to print and is not easy to get. I looked at craftcloud.com, which is a 3d print service website. These were the prices for both second and third designs together;
Prices*:
ABS- $13.03 w/shipping
Polycarbonate- $17.44 w/shipping
MJF Nylon PA12- $29.10 w/shipping
Alumide- $ 33.47 w/shipping
SLS Nylon PA12- $30.15 w/shipping
420/BR Steel- $82.10 w/shipping
*Prices may vary according to where you live
Step 7: Why This Is Better Than a Covid Hook or Arm Opener?
First of all, you will need to know some facts about Covid-19: People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease spreads primarily from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth, which are expelled when a person with COVID-19 coughs, sneezes, or speaks. These droplets are relatively heavy, do not travel far and quickly sink to the ground. People can catch COVID-19 if they breathe in these droplets from a person infected with the virus. So that shows it spreads from your nose, or mouth. When you cough, you are really coughing into you arm, which you are then transmitting to the door with an arm opener. So, even if its reduces the risk, it has a high chance to be contaminated. Though shoes are constantly exposed to germs and other contaminants, it shows a lower risk of transmitting the virus. Therefore, having a lower risk, makes this better than a Covid Hook or Arm Opener
Step 8: Thanks!
Thank you so much for viewing this Instructable. I am so happy to call this a possible solution to combat the spread of Covid-19. Though this virus isn't a good thing for us and the world, it has brought us together in many ways. I will need a fair amount of people to test this, so please print this out yourself or from a 3d printer. I do not know the possible risks it has, and I can't get one myself, because I don't have a 3d printer. But, please do not try standing on the pedal unless it is printed in a high, durable material. That is at your own risk. But anyhow, thanks so much and please comment down below your thoughts and opinions on this. I hope this was a nice concept idea and gave you inspiration for a new design.
Link to TinkerCad: https://www.tinkercad.com/dashboard
Link to This Design: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/5hcQPL0r3H1
Link to My Other Instructables: https://www.instructables.com/id/Mini-Lightsaber-Out-of-Spare-Parts/
Runner Up in the
"Can't Touch This" Family Contest
