Journey

Every Year the organization FARE (food Allergy Research and Education) puts on a contest called FARE innovation tank. Modeled after the wildly successful show "Shark Tank" This contest challenges young inventors to come up with a solution related to problems with having a food allergy. Knowing that one of the hardest things to do if you have a food allergy is remember the Epi-Pen, I decided to base my project off of this problem. It took me about a month to come up with an idea and a prototype. I then submitted a video of me explaining the problem and my solution to FARE. After 2 weeks I was informed that I was not selected to compete in the finals in Washington D.C. Although I was disappointed that I had not won, I still believed in the invention and started working on the next prototype immediately.

My idea was to somehow attach the Auvi-Q to the back of a phone. The reason for this was simple. An Auvi-Q you hope to never use in your life but a phone you use constantly. This is the reason that while you can go weeks without noticing that an Auvi-Q is missing most people can only go a few minutes without realizing they lost their phone. A quick google search let me know that among the few accessories to carry an Auvi-Q a way to attach it to a phone case was not one of them. It was time to continue to build prototypes.

The Prototype I submitted to FARE was not a very good one. It had taken me only 1 day to make and it was made out of an old sock cut in half and some super glue which I put around the edges to secure the case to the phone. Although it felt good it lacked the ability to be versatile and it felt like the Auvi-Q could fall out at any moment. On the 2nd day of using it the super glue failed and the sock case ripped in half letting the Auvi-Q tumble to the ground. Luckily the great thing about a terrible prototype is that the next one can't be any worse.

Research suggested that in order to create a functional prototype that also looked good, needed to use moldable plastic. I ended up using InstaMorph Moldable Plastic (credit here: https://www.amazon.com/InstaMorph-Moldable-Plastic-12oz-White/dp/B003QKLJKQ). This allowed me to make many mistakes and redo it over again until I got my desired prototype. Unfortunately the plastic tended to get hard within the first 15 seconds of me molding it which made it virtually impossible for me to get the exact dimensions right. The Final result was a prototype that had a lot of durability but dimensions that were twice as big as the Auvi-Q and no way to even open the case.

Learning from my last prototype I decided to make the new one out of a material that was both hard and soft, to protect the Auvi-Q and to get the dimensions tighter. Foam was the only material we had in the house that accomplishes both of these requirements. After gluing it to my phone for a week it finally started to come apart off of my phone and I quit using it after 8 days. Overall it was a well balanced prototype that I looked back on for future prototypes.

1 - People like their phones thin.

2 - The material has to be durable enough to withstand a fall

3 - Because it looks bad it has to be removable entirely

4 - It has to be simple and not complicated

5 - It has to be extremely secure (the Auvi-Q costs hundreds of dollars)

6 - It has to take up as little space as humanly possible

After experimenting with a couple of prototypes I knew this was an idea worth pursuing. I realized the next logical step would be to get a patent. I researched how to get a patent for months reading different books and looking at many different articles. In the end I decided the provisional patent was the protection I wanted. A provisional patent gives you the legal rights to an invention for 1 year and then after that year you have to either discard the idea or apply for a full patent. After talking with a patent attorney I began to write the patent on my own. Because most of it was in legal jargon it took me some time to get used to it. However After about 3 months I submitted and received documentation that the USPTO had received and verified my patent.

While scrolling through some articles, I found a variety of products that utilized a zipper as a means of securely fastening something inside of a case. I wanted to try an replicate this idea because security was an extremely big issue for me. Ultimately I decided against it because of the problems with both bulkiness and it not fitting well with the rigid plastic.

This was my most promising idea yet. The snap fit prototype utilized 2 holes on either side of the case to securely clasp the top cap into place. This had many advantages over other prototypes but the most noticeable one was its ability to conform with the already existing case.

This was a wild idea I had that was almost immediately shut down. The magnets actually stuck onto the case really well and the auvi-q was definitely secure, but phones and magnets don't go together and soon after testing it the phone displayed a warning message effectively dismissing the idea.

Low and behold this is my current prototype. This one I am particularly proud of because it utilizes a mechanism that I have not seen with any other product. It also combines essentially 3 other prototypes into one in order to make it as secure, form fitting, and sleek as possible. wrapping a tight cloth around the phone and using the phone as the actual security that clamps the auvi-q to the phone case makes it so the only way the auvi-q falls out is if the phone itself falls out. This is the current form of the product , and the most promising prototype by far.

yet to be decided. Currently working on a final prototype that I can market test.