No-More-Fold A clothes folding machine

1. No-More-Fold A clothes folding machine Kelsea Kilmer Age 9 Lees Summit, Missouri

2. Problem Ugh! I am getting to the age where my mom is making me fold my own clothes. It’s a chore and gets into my play time. Now, I am one of those girls that goes through about 6 pairs of clothes everyday, so it is a chore equal to a family size of 8. I need a way to reclaim my personal relaxation and fun time. And besides that, this chore makes my mom grouchy because there are always clothes to fold on the weekends. I wish there was a way I could get my clothes folded faster!?

3. Possible Solution Problem Too expensive and too large. Too limited in what it will fold This has potential. With creativity and thinking outside the box on what “folded” is. • A robot that folds your clothes automatically • A small roller • An automatic turning paddle or roller on a stand (No-More-Fold)

4. Already made Why they don’t solve the household folding need Too expensive and don’t know how to make it Works only for shirts and still a lot of work Too small for big clothes • Industrial folding machines – like big clothing makers have • Folding board • Rolling stick with handle

5. My invention needs to • Fit in a laundry room or on table top • Be automatic to reduce the amount of preparation and operating time. • Fold almost all family folding needs. • Be safe. No one should lose a finger by using it. • Be energy efficient.

6. Rough Drafts

7. No-More-Fold Cylinder Design

8. Fold-No-More Paddle Design

9. My first idea came from a paper towel tube that I stuck on a lint remover roller. I found that I could lay clothes flat and then roll them up nice and flatten them out and they looked like nicely folded clothes. This was manual though, so my mom couldn’t really fold clothes faster with it. My next invention was to show how it could be made so that it could be automatic. My invention needed a sturdy, non-slippery base. I had to add a box to make the folding cylinder and the folding paddle high enough that clothes could be stacked under it for folding. I picked a box that I could store things inside that I find when folding clothes. It could be a place to put tools or things needed to keep an electric or computerized folding machine in operation. On top of this box I attached a metal paper towel holder that had a knob on the end. I poked holes in the ends of a cylinder shaped gift box to make a cylinder bigger than a paper towel tube. Clothes slip off of the cylinder, so I think it needs something to hold the

10. clothes while it is folding. I couldn’t show a sweeper arm that I imagine sweeping the clothes up to the folder and holding them while it rotates. Then an arm that pushes the folded clothes off the end of the cylinder into a nicely folded stack. I figured out that I would need something bigger to fold bigger clothes, but a cylinder would take up too much space. I made a paddle out of heavy poster board and tape. I taped the ends together and put a tube in between so that I could slide it on the paper towel holder. It was like a paper towel tube, but it was a piece of foam like a swim noodle. A flat paddle folds big or long clothes and towels more even and flatter. They stay on better during folding too.

11. No More Fold Demonstration Video