Pro-Club Fitter

A few years ago we were contacted by a rotational molder to assist one of their customers in fully developing a production design for a POP display cart for Ping shown here. This brief case study will explain how the design was developed and some of the product details that made this a highly successful promotional item for Ping.

When we were first introduced to the project, a number of CAD renderings illustrating the general concept were shared with our design team. These renderings showed different design variations and features for the cart, without any considerations for manufacturing. Their primary purpose was to illustrate overall appearance.

A very simple orthographic layout was also provided to us as a guide for defining overall size and proportion.

In addition to reviewing the renderings, our staff was apprised of the product’s functional requirements and problems with previously manufactured carts. Some of these problems are listed below:

• The door latch as unreliable looked sloppy and was difficult to install
  
• Club head recesses were too shallow could not be used for left and right handed clubs
  
• Wheel wells were difficult to fill during molding and axels frequently bent
  
• Applied graphics was costly and peeled off 
  
• Assembly of the club shaft tubes was very difficult and sloppy 
  
• Lighter colored trim was difficult to apply and line up with the rotationally molded body
  
• Storage compartments on the inside of the door were difficult to assemble and looked sloppy.
  

Well before any CAD modeling was started, our staff explored numerous ideas in sketch form. These concepts illustrated details pertaining to function, production and assembly based on rotational molding.

3D solid modeling CAD layouts of the entire cart were then created. The early layouts unveiled critical prominent features which would have a major affect on tool. On such detail was the lower wheel cover as shown in these illustrations.

Other features such as inner compartments in the door were also developed.

These simplified geometries were then further refined to a much higher level of detail over the course of many weeks of tedious work. Every feature in all parts was detailed to a level which would enable a tool maker to cut production tooling directly from the CAD files.

These pictures show the overall assembly of the cart

Individual parts within the assembly were designed to include critical features for production and molding. Each part was designed to comply with appropriate:

The following CAD images will illustrate product features throughout the cart assembly

Molds were cut directly from the CAD files after they were released for production tooling. There were no prototypes or models made to verify the design, so every detail had to be 100% correct, and they were.

The final design was a major improvement over any of the previously designed carts. It also elegantly captured all of the major aesthetic characteristics proposed in the original renderings. The following pictures will reveal the overall design and product details.

• The door latch was improved in both durability and appearance with this subtle recessed design detail.
  
• Club head recesses were made deeper and designed for either left or right handed clubs
  
• Wheel wells were improved. They were more rigid and easier to mold. In addition, the axel as designed with much better support and structural integrity.
• Graphics molded into the part with Mold In Graphic which eliminated problems of peeling and cost.
  
• The design of the club shaft tubes to the main body was significantly improved aesthetically and structurally will also simplifying assembly.
  
• Superfluous trims and unnecessary parts were intentionally omitted from the design, thus eliminating alignment problems.
• The storage compartments were dramatically improved in appearance, function, organization and ease of manufacturing.

Ultimately the final product was a major success as depicted in these photos: