The TorqueMaster project was built with my high school engineering team my sophomore year of high school (1993). It was for the National Engineering Design Challenge (NEDC).
The problem that our TorqueMaster was designed to solve was the following: A person suffering from a severe injury to both hands (burns for example) need to be able to open everyday house hold item. In the contest the injury was simulated by the operator wearing socks over each hand. The device had to open the following items: a CD case, a peanut butter jar, a gallon jug of antifreeze, a trident gum wrapper, a bottle of Tylenol, a carton of milk, and many more house hold items.
Our solution was a very simple clamp and a bracket to mount it on the table. The bracket
also had a shelf to support the object being opened. By banging on the main lever on top
of the clamp, the clamp retracts with the ratchet plates. Ratchet Plate A pushes
the clamp closed, while Ratchet Plate B keeps the clamp from coming open again. The
release lever in on Ratchet Plate B.
