Dog bowl Product Design Project

[Tan91]

I am a final year Industrial Design student at Loughborough University. For my final year project I have decided to look into designing an effective offshore dish for the sailing and boating market.

It was during the summer when I spent a week sailing in the solent that I was first introduced to the concept of eating from a dog bowl whilst underway. This proved to be an effective solution for many reasons, including:
- A great natural handle/hand grip (in a normal bowl you would have to hold it in your hands and it's hot!)
- Deep with high sides
- Unbreakable
- Rubber bottom surface to prevent sliding
- Can separate foods (in a cat dish type product)

However, users still face a psychological obstacle when eating from a dog bowl. Other issues such as food insulation indicate an opportunity for a redesign of the dog bowl for the sailing world.

I am in the process of discussing this project with my tutors who have encouraged me to continue researching this idea. I am interested to gain an insight into the whole process of storage/preparing/cooking/eating and washing up whilst underway. Is there an opportunity to broaden this idea to make it easier for people whilst sailing? What are your current problems with preparing and eating whilst sailing and what are your solutions?

I would appreciate any insight from those who can identify with this idea. Thanks in advance.

 

[jwilson]

Test rig for food-slops-out-of bowl factors for various bowl shapes, also varying degrees of wind chill for different bowl depths

 

[stevebrassett]

I wouldn't object to eating out of a dog bowl.

As long as the dog wasn't first.

 

[l'escargot]

Have a Google for non spill dog bowl. It has a rim around it. Incorporating similar could save on depth.

 

[dylanwinter]

how hard are they to clean?

do they stack?

D

 

[sailorgirl]

Locker space they occupy? My "at sea plates" sit on their side in the locker so minimal space
Do they fit in the sink? Mine don't completely have to end for end them despite having a relatively large diameter galley sink
How durable is the plastic? Good quality melamine is great as cutlery barely marks it but I hate scuffed plastic plates - can't bear to think what bugs are lurking in the grooves.
Can food be kept warm when something happens (eg a sail change is called) or crew are off watch
Lids? Bowls with lids can do double duty as useful storage for leftovers etc

 

[phanakapan]

Similar to Sailor girl, but anyway...
Storage- stack? nest? flat or 'on end'? and will they rattle/chink/ding/clunk?
Stay put power- especially when serving up more than one or two people, in big seas
Ease of holding/having on knee- too hot to hold? food going cold quickly?
Suitable for both sloppy stews (hold one hand, use spoon,- or spork!- no spillage) AND 'knife and fork' dinners like- erm -Fray Bentos pies (guilty secret!)
Easy to clean- in a very small washing up bowl with minimal water- no separate rubber ring to trap dirt/germs


We currently have a 'normal' melamine set of plates/bowls/side plates, which we use in port or VERY calm seas; they are getting a bit chipped up now though (into our 3rd year of cruising); and mostly use fairly large deep 'pudding basin' shaped enamelled metal bowls at sea- they have plastic lids for storage. I tend to cook things like currys/stews/pasta which can all be eaten one-handed while you hold the bowl in the other.They do slide about like billy-o when serving up though. Tried some metal dog bowls with rubber rings- they still slipped, slopped stuff out quite easily, trapped dirt in the rubber rings, and were such thin metal that you couldn't have them on your lap/hold them comfortably, and the food got cold very quickly, so we deep sixed them.
I suspect a combination of the dog bowl idea and the sort of plates used in old peoples homes for those of limited physical co-ordination might work.
Good luck- I was only musing to myself a coupla hours ago that the single most annoying thing about our journey so far was trying to serve up hot sloppy food at sea then eat it safely.

Hmm- afterthought- what if they had a lid made out of silicone or suchlike that you could take off and clip on the bottom as well to provide an insulated mat/non slip base?

 

[sarabande]

as part of your literaturemarket search, you might check out "insulated gastronorm".


These are industry standard storage containers with varying qualities and sizes.


I like the idea of a dog bowl, but space storage is a premium, so the bowls must 'nest' neatly, like plates used for disabled people.
http://www.completecareshop.co.uk/categories-disability-aids/21/plates.html

 

[alant]

I am a final year Industrial Design student at Loughborough University. For my final year project I have decided to look into designing an effective offshore dish for the sailing and boating market.

It was during the summer when I spent a week sailing in the solent that I was first introduced to the concept of eating from a dog bowl whilst underway. This proved to be an effective solution for many reasons, including:
- A great natural handle/hand grip (in a normal bowl you would have to hold it in your hands and it's hot!)
- Deep with high sides
- Unbreakable
- Rubber bottom surface to prevent sliding- Can separate foods (in a cat dish type product)

However, users still face a psychological obstacle when eating from a dog bowl. Other issues such as food insulation indicate an opportunity for a redesign of the dog bowl for the sailing world.

I am in the process of discussing this project with my tutors who have encouraged me to continue researching this idea. I am interested to gain an insight into the whole process of storage/preparing/cooking/eating and washing up whilst underway. Is there an opportunity to broaden this idea to make it easier for people whilst sailing? What are your current problems with preparing and eating whilst sailing and what are your solutions?

I would appreciate any insight from those who can identify with this idea. Thanks in advance.

Often used on ocean trips, with all those factors in mind.
My 'crew' were extremely amused when I insisted buying for one passage, but the aluminium dog bowls were perfect for eating at sea. Easy to clean as well, which is paramount.
Also easy to 'nest'.

 

[johnalison]

We have disposed of most of our old melamine stuff because it seems to discolour with use and generally look tatty and unappetising. However, it could well be useful for cockpit use for some people. The modern consumer has become more sophisticated in choosing boat gear, so any new product needs to look distinctive as well as practical and is most likely to be successful if part of a co-ordinated range.

 

[Marsupial]

OK here are a couple of elements I would like to see incorporated into the design that have not been mentioned in this thread.

Being a fussy guy I don't like to see food wasted, the bane of my life is the nuttella jar - exactly how do you get all the nuttella out? with that in mind I would like to see the radius of the bottom conform to the radius of the cutlery that will be offered for sale along with the bowl/dish/plate so you can easily get at everything in it. so bowl and cutlery fit together

Keeping the food hot or cold while some sailing crisis is dealt with requires a lid of some sort - but what to do with the lid when want to eat the contents?

Below deck - chuck it in the galley

On deck in the cockpit under way perhaps it could fit underneath the bowl and have a handle so you could hold the bowl with one hand and eat with the other but the hot contents would be insulated from your hand. think about it you may get my drift. think upside down saucepan lid with a bowl on top

so lids and bowls to be stackable

would it be possible to make one you could cook in? so it takes the place of saucepan?

gas electric induction?

that's it from me the nurse has just arrived with my medication

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I can save you the trouble as I have already designed the perfect sailing food bowl (for me anyway).

I had a set of these made by a local wood turner. They are almost identical, but each of the six has a different wood pattern and it is therefore easy to identify your own.

1. They are the right size to hold a main meal, or a salad, or a desert.
2. As they are wooden they can be sealed with oil and are therefore easy to wash up. You can just wipe them out with paper if you are short of water.
3. Leaving them to dry in the sun has a bleaching and cleansing effect.
4. They are stackable.
5. The rim underneath means they can be held in one hand, even with very hot food in them.
6. The low centre of gravity makes them impossible to topple over.
7. If you want to make them non-slip you can let an o-ring unto the base. I don't bother as we have non-slip mats.

 

[donaldson]

I think you are trying to re-design the skillet. Your project should really be to produce a skillet with a heat proof and non slip base or separate board, at a more value price than this http://www.johnlewis.com/greenpan-venice-skillet/p347105

 

[apward]

I think you are trying to re-design the skillet. Your project should really be to produce a skillet with a heat proof and non slip base or separate board, at a more value price than this http://www.johnlewis.com/greenpan-venice-skillet/p347105

The solution is....

Food served in plastic pouch's. Warms your hands. Can be zipped closed and put down without spillage to deal with urgent trimming e.t.c. doesnt spill. Only needs a spoon. No washing up. Waste packs small and light. Cooking is simple just heat in boiling sea water. Reduced use of drinking water.

Job done.

If you want a nice sit down plated meal. Wait till you arrive in port!

 

[daveyw]

would it be possible to make one you could cook in? so it takes the place of saucepan?

That's called a saucepan! How many single handers eat straight from the saucepan?
Like the idea of a pouch. Like these? http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reusable-Fo...TF8&qid=1381352084&sr=1-6&keywords=food+pouch

 

[oldvarnish]

How many single handers eat straight from the saucepan?

Some of us prefer it straight from the tin

 

[Marsupial]

Some of us prefer it straight from the tin

exactly!!

but hey this is a design project, the market is tiny so it will never see production - but as a device for stimulating the design process its fascinating.

the longest single non stop trip I have ever undertaken was 10 days - and something like what the op propose would have been useful some of the time.

 

[michael_w]

I've been using a dog bowl for offshore grub for years. For amusing visitors I wanted a plastic one with "DOG" written on it. Alas, only the earthenware sort are so embellished.

 

[alant]

I can save you the trouble as I have already designed the perfect sailing food bowl (for me anyway).

I had a set of these made by a local wood turner. They are almost identical, but each of the six has a different wood pattern and it is therefore easy to identify your own.

1. They are the right size to hold a main meal, or a salad, or a desert.
2. As they are wooden they can be sealed with oil and are therefore easy to wash up. You can just wipe them out with paper if you are short of water.
3. Leaving them to dry in the sun has a bleaching and cleansing effect.
4. They are stackable.
5. The rim underneath means they can be held in one hand, even with very hot food in them.
6. The low centre of gravity makes them impossible to topple over.
7. If you want to make them non-slip you can let an o-ring unto the base. I don't bother as we have non-slip mats.

Very pretty, but doesn't have the benefit a dog bowl has, which is a broad base, to prevent tipping when a yacht heels suddenly.
The small bases on your wooden bowls, don't appear to make them particularly stable, if placed on anything other than a level surface.

PS, you can get 'big' dog bowls, which will satisfy most sized belly's.
PPS Eating direct from a tin is ok, when single handed, but if you have a whole crew to feed, not sure passing the tin around has much appeal!

 

[Pye_End]

I find a curvy bowl like that goes straight over the fiddles when heeled. The bowl needs to be virtually straight sided, or maybe if the rim of the base was the same diameter of the bowl it would then sit more securely. Preferably melamine for cleanability and its thermal properties.

To the OP - please make the ultimate bowl - I would buy it.