The Security and Function Improvement of suitcase based on human factors engineering Wenting Sun 1, a, Yahui Zhang 2, b

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1 Advanced Materials Research Online: ISSN: , Vols , pp doi: / Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland The Security and Function Improvement of suitcase based on human factors engineering Wenting Sun 1, a, Yahui Zhang 2, b 1 Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Northeastern University, Qinhuangdao, China 2 Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao, Northeastern University, Qinhuangdao, China a sun_wting@163.com, b zh_yahui@163.com Keywords: suitcase, security, functionality, human factors engineering Abstract. There are some problems about existing suitcases that should be solved and human factors engineering methodology is very important for suitcases design. In this paper, we use reflective materials, LED lights and so on to enhance the security and functionality of suitcase by human factors engineering ideas. And according to the improved design, we build a model and a real production. Then we evaluate the production satisfaction of people from four aspects by ergonomics. 1 Introduction With the rapid development of modern society, people have become frequently travelers and suitcase has become a necessity for that. It is more and more important that suitcases function should be innovated and improved in order to adapt to the diversity of today's travel environment. Through the investigation of the existing suitcase, suitcases have relatively large room for improvement. 2 The basic concept of the suitcase improvement design Product design should be able to improve and innovate, designed to take into account the safety, practicality, environment, social issues, as well as user acceptance of new features. And, the design should pay attention to the multidisciplinary applications, in particular, to pay attention to the human factor, in order to design a successful product [1]. Human factors engineering is the applied science developed in recent decades, which main study the relationship between man, machine and environment, and uses research in many disciplines to form their own theoretical system.we should use the concept of it focus on the needs of the people, starting the design from all angles of the human physiological and psychological. 3 Security improvements Since the popularity of the car as transport, the rate of traffic accidents caused by vehicles worldwide has been high. Pedestrian is an important part of the transportation system, and also the vulnerable groups in a traffic accident. According to statistics, in China, walk access about the death toll for the accident is 25% of the total number of deaths [2]. 3.1 Security improvement in the exterior design In many cases, accidents are due to bad weather, road lighting, poor vision, etc. We use reflective material to improve the visibility of the suitcase in the design to increase the visibility of pedestrians in traffic. Reflective material can reflect which mainly due to a high refractive index glass beads or microcrystalline lattice structure. The motor vehicle driver can identify things with the reflective material by motor vehicle lights [3]. Reflective material can effectively enhance people' ability to identify the goal and raise the alarm, so as to avoid the accidents and minimize economic losses. Rational use of reflective material in the suitcase design, can effectively improve travel safety factor. All rights reserved. No part of contents of this paper may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the written permission of Trans Tech Publications, (ID: , Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA-10/05/16,16:53:08)

2 3458 Materials Design, Processing and Applications Product design should consider the product functional requirements, including the needs of the practical, advanced and versatility; Secondly, we have to consider the shape of product, which needs to be aesthetic, innovative and unique, and we also should pay attention to customer's cultural emotion as well as their social status. The most important rule of design is to address the needs of different consumer groups [4]. The added reflective material in the suitcase can be used as a unique design element, dealing with the psychological characteristics of the different levels of consumer groups to design different styles of personalized suitcase. Fig. 1, for example, demonstrates a reflective material modeling design. Fig. 1 A reflective material design Fig. 2 A design of the LED lamp 3.2 Lighting function improvement At night, there often have some situations lack lighting for walk, causing travel security risks. In order to ensure travel safety, we install lighting equipment in the suitcase to eliminate trip hazards. LED lamps are more suitable for installation in the suitcase that they have long life, high luminous efficiency, energy security and anti-vibration characteristics [5]. Based on anthropometric data, people have best color vision area in white. So we can select the appropriate low-power white LED lights installed in the suitcase, which can illuminate the road in front of meters, to meet people' visual demand at no lights road. According to statistics, about 90% of the people are accustomed to using the right hand. That means we should install LED lights in the left part, the specific example shown in Fig. 2 (a). Due to the different size of suitcase, its pull angle is not always the same, and thus there are some differences in the size of the lamp, the mounting position and brightness requirements. In this paper, we discuss the diameter of 3.5cm low-power white LED lights how to be used in a 20-inch suitcase and the result is shown in Fig. 2 (b). In Fig. 2 (b) the angle β that is between suitcase and the ground is roughly 40deg ~ 50deg, and the angle α of LED lights' illuminated area is roughly between 130deg ~ 160deg. Use the light source as the vertex and the best intensity of illumination is within the range about 30deg. The intensity of illumination should be ensured as 50lux ~ 75lux when the distance is about 1-2 meters, and then as the distance increases, the illumination gradually decaying to 3lux~7lux. In this case, we can see the near ground clearly and at the same time the general situation of the distant road and the surrounding environment can also be observed. 4 The suitcase using function improvements In modern society, travel environment becomes complex and diverse, based on this, this article make the following improvements of using suitcase function. 4.1 Suitcase wheel system improvement Although nowadays the elevator has been very popular, but there are many buildings still have a lot of stairs. The suitcase often very heavy when people go on a trip, but when people come across the stairs the traditional suitcase wheel will lose the effect, which means they need own manpower to lift the

3 Advanced Materials Research Vols suitcase vertically, and to bear all the weight of the suitcase. It is required much more tensile force of arm to lift the suitcase vertically than just pull it that can easily cause fatigue and excessive physical load. In this part, we try to improve the mechanization level of the suitcase and change the suitcase wheel system. Fig. 3 Triangular wheel Fig. 4 Net bag design Fig. 5 The model design Usually the height and width of the stairs respectively about 18cm and 30cm, by this data, we change the traditional suitcase wheel into a design of triangular wheel, as shown in Fig. 3.Triangular wheel which is able to adapt to most of the stairs can rotate one by one with the process of climbing the stairs, and that means people can pull the suitcase on the stairs just like on the ground. When people pull the suitcase on the stairs, the angle between arm and body is roughly between 15deg~20deg and then most weight of the suitcase rely on the ground instead of people. Compare to the traditional carrying, this change effectively reduces the labor load. What' more, the wheel can also be used for the rough road by the same principles. 4.2 Suitcase measured weight functional design Aircraft has been very popular for daily travel nowadays. To ensure flight safety, there is a weight restriction of passenger baggage weight. If the baggage was over the prescribed weight, passenger would be fined. We design to add a portable electronic scale which should be as light as possible to reduce its own weight on one side of the suitcase. The electronic scale can measure weight between max 15 kg ~ max60 kg that contains aircraft predetermined weight limit range and it can also automatically add its own weight to the total weight when getting the baggage weight. It is allowed to accurately measure suitcase weight in advance by this design and then passengers can adjust the luggage weight to avoid unnecessary trouble at the airport. The electronic scale is also regarded as a suitcase handle on the one side when it is not used, or removed to reduce weight. 4.3 Suitcase function improvement for convenience People often carry some little things that not precious but used a lot when travelling. If placed these things into suitcase, it would be inconvenient for using. There can be designed a net bag on the side of the suitcase in order to hold such items instead of putting in suitcase or carrying a separate. According to Chinese body size, the usable height of hand is more than 630mm and generally the suitcase height is 510mm ~ 710mm. To reduce labor intensity need to minimize the extent of stoop, the net bag should be placed in the upper part of the side. But there also need some height for the items to keep them from exceeding the suitcase. Considering the above issues, there should leave at least 100mm of the upper free. Here we give one design in Fig. 4 4 Satisfaction evaluation of improved suitcase Based on the improvements design above, we build a model and a real production, there follows suitcase model design shown in Fig. 5. In this study, 100 people between the ages of 18 to 60-year-old were selected to conduct a trial evaluation of the suitcase and the results are listed in Table 1.

4 3460 Materials Design, Processing and Applications Table 1 Evaluation of satisfaction Practicality Security Aesthetics Convenience Comprehensive evaluation Reflective tape LED lights Triangle wheel Electronic scale Net bag (Score range: 1 ~ 10) By the above data in Table 1, the suitcase performance improvements achieved relatively good results that mean the improvements have been recognized by the user. And analysis of the results showed that each improvement has its lower satisfaction scores of four improved direction which should be further optimized in order to meet user demand better. 5 Conclusions In this paper, we discussed the basic concept and ideas of the suitcase improvement design. Then we improved the existing design deficiencies of suitcases. By following human factors engineering thinking and multi-disciplinary knowledge, the reflective materials, LED lights and so on was used to enhance the design of suitcase. And a model and a real production were built to be evaluated by people. After the ergonomics evaluation, we can assure the improved suitcase successfully achieve the improvement of safe, practical and aesthetic as we originally design. 6 Acknowledgements This project was financially supported by Northeastern University at Qinhuangdao science and technology project (No.11106). References [1] Wilpert, B. Psychology and human factors engineering. Cognition, Technology & Work, 2008, v 10(n 1): p [2] Zhang Dianye. Road traffic safety management evaluation system. Beijing: China Communications Press, [3] Ge Yue. High-tech security materials, reflective materials. China personal protective equipment, 2005, ( 5): [4] Zhao Zhihua, Ma Yu. The analysis based on the human factors. GUANGXI JOURNAL OF LIGHT INDUSTRY, 2008, 10 (10): [5] Ji Yongchun. Application and prospect of lighting LED. SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY INFORMATION, 2005 (NO.24): 3-4.

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