Handy Umbrella Dryer

The Handy Umbrella Dryer was a product developed by my Engineering, Innovation and Design (EID) group for the module of the same name. It was a simple idea, but one with a potential that would see it outshine other more ambitious plans to emerge as a simple but well-received product at the showcase at the end of the module, seen in this picture of it and the team that designed it.

On its inception, the umbrella dryer was nothing more than a bottle to hold wet foldable umbrellas to ensure that their contents would not leak. The idea grew traction however, when we saw its potential to be something greater, a small piece of equipment that could be used to dry your umbrellas on the go, or in a hurry, incorporating a number of design features to increase its efficiency.

The final product consisted of a form fitting container, with a small fan unit and ventilation holes to increase convection and drying speed. On the base was a removeable sponge and cap, allowing excess water to be collected and removed when convenient. When turned on, it was able to adequately dry a wet folded umbrella in an hour.

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While the project is now over, the HUD is admittedly incomplete. The initial plans involved placing a small heating element at the air intake at the top, further expediting drying process, as well as humidity and temperature sensors which could be combined with a micro-controller to adjust the drying rates or turn the device off when its job was finished to save power. If given the opportunity, I would like to add these features to our product.