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29-741: Veg-O-Matic is the name of one of the first food-processing appliances to gain widespread use in the United States . It was non-electric and invented by Samuel J. Popeil and later sold by his son Ron Popeil along with more than 20 other distributors across the country, and Ronco , making its debut in 1963 at the International Housewares Show in Chicago, Illinois . It was also sold in Australia by Philip Kives , who purchased it from Samuel Popeil and sold it as one of

58-639: A Japanese manufacturer to produce new models in 1977 in order to immediately launch his new Japanese-made food processor in 1980 when his contract with Robot-Coupe expired. Disability research was an ongoing project because the first food processor created was not user friendly for all individuals. In 1978, Marc Harrison was a professor at the Rhode Island School of Design . He specialized in Industrial Design. Cuisinart, an American company, contacted and hired Harrison in 1978 to update

87-589: A brief stint of freelance designing in New York City. Harrison took a position teaching at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where he became instrumental in establishing the Division of Architecture and Design. Harrison influenced the subway systems in New York City, Philadelphia, and Boston. Marc Harrison was the industrial designer that remodeled the Cuisinart Food processor in 1979 named

116-518: A five-year project to research its projections on the nation. The work was to determine if the Red Cross blood programs have the ability for readily access various sites. They also had to use design technologies that accommodated donors of various ages, sizes, and physical abilities. The Red Cross patented the work of Harrison and is used throughout the country. A five-year research and demonstration program inducted Harrison as project director. This

145-411: A food processor to perform the duties of other appliances. The base of the unit houses a motor which turns a vertical shaft. A bowl, usually made of transparent plastic, fits around the shaft. Cutting blades can be attached to the shaft; these fit so as to operate near the bottom of the bowl. Shredding or slicing disks can be attached instead; these spin near the top of the bowl. A lid with a "feed tube"

174-422: A potato, is placed on the top set of blades, and then is pushed vertically down through the blades by the handle, while the user's hands are kept safely away from the cutter by the shape of the handle. The steel cutting blades are contained in a circular, cast-metal holder several inches in diameter. By rotating the top holder, the blades could cut flat slices or square strips, such as for French fries. By putting

203-496: A vacuum cleaner. In the 1960s, Albrecht von Goertz designed the Starmix MX3 food processor. Although the entire company was rebranded as Starmix in 1968 following the success of the processors, they later focused on vacuum cleaners and electric hand-dryers and the last mixer was produced around the year 2000. In France, the concept of a machine to process food began when a catering company salesman, Pierre Verdun , observed

232-424: Is then fitted onto the bowl. The feed tube allows ingredients to be added while chopping or slicing. It also serves as a chute through which items are introduced to shredding or slicing disks. A "pusher" is provided, sized to slide through the feed tube, protecting the user's fingers. Almost all modern food processors have safety devices which prevent the motor from operating if the bowl is not properly secured to

261-484: Is used tongue-in-cheek to satirize Veg-O-Matic ads: Food processor Food processors are similar to blenders in many forms. A food processor typically requires little to no liquid during use, and even its finely chopped products retain some texture. A blender, however, requires some liquid for the blade to properly blend the food, and its output is more liquid. Food processors are used to blend, chop, dice, and slice, allowing for quicker meal preparation. One of

290-486: The DLC-X. Harrison’s brain injury created a passion for industrial design and launched his career in the field. Due to his brain injury, his motor skills were damaged and it made him strive for a higher standard, designing products to make it easier on the consumer who may have a disability as he did. The design philosophy of the time was that products should be designed for those of average shape, size, and ability. Though

319-575: The Food Processor. Harrison updated the product to focus on making the machine usable for those with limited abilities with fine motor skills and eyesight, which in turn made it easier for any user to operate. These updates included larger writing on the base of the product to benefit those who have vision impairments, and larger handles and buttons. These updates were created so that the food processor could be accessible for all users. Food processors normally have multiple functions, depending on

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348-471: The base or if the lid is not properly secured to the bowl. A food chopper is basically a food processor of a smaller size. It is also better suited for chopping food than making smoothies. Marc Harrison Marc Harrison , (July 1, 1936- September 22, 1998) was an industrial designer and educator whose work aligned with the idea of universal design that makes products easier to use for people with disabilities as well as people without disabilities. As

377-460: The disabled and nondisabled, as well as conserving all around energy. The house was a one story of 1,100 square feet. It was the most inclusive and accessible state-of-the-art house ever created during the time. They included design tactics of complete accessibility, for example light switches were lowered to door knob height and operated by palm or fist. Sinks were deeper, at six to seven inches deeper, ideal for people in wheelchairs. The island in

406-531: The elderly, creating products that were held to a higher standard, changing the level all inventors must achieve. Harrison taught people to live on his legacy of improving products and major projects for a universal design everyone can use. He died on September 22, 1998, of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Harrison attended Pratt Institute for industrial design and graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1958. Following Pratt, he earned his Masters of Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1959. After college he took

435-458: The first electric food processors was the Starmix, introduced by German company Electrostar in 1946. Although the basic unit resembled a simple blender, numerous accessories were available, including attachments for slicing bread, milk centrifuges and ice cream bowls. In a time when electric motors were expensive, they also developed the piccolo, where the food processor's base unit could drive

464-418: The first products through his own marketing firm, K-tel . Made famous by saturation television advertising in the mid- and late 1960s, Veg-O-Matic is a manually operated food slicer , primarily made of injection-molded plastic, which held two sets of parallel cutting blades. The Veg-O-Matic is shaped approximately like an upper-case letter "H" and had an integral operating handle. The item to be cut, such as

493-401: The food processor with large and easily pressed buttons, large and easily grasped handles, and a bold readable typeface. The new design was a success. By designing a food processor that could be used by consumers with arthritis and/or poor eyesight, Harrison had created a product that was accessible to people with a wide range of abilities. The Cuisinart food processor was extremely popular with

522-420: The game for years to come, as now there are much more accessible products and design methods anyone can use regardless if they have a disability or not. Towards the end of his life, Harrison became involved with a RISD project, the "Universal Kitchen" that embraced the concepts of universal design. The design study, undertaken by RISD students, analyzed every aspect of the kitchen in order to restructure it to meet

551-510: The general public. This created new standards for new models of technology and machinery, making it accessible for all people to use. Harrison invented two prototype mobile blood-collecting systems for the Red Cross that changed the way of comforting donors of varying ages, sizes, and physical abilities by his accommodations and was later patented by the Red Cross in the 1970s. He was located in Boston’s Red Cross, and his students initiated

580-515: The intention was that these products would work for many people, the elderly and disabled found products designed by this method to be difficult to use. Harrison turned this philosophy on its head by deciding that products should be designed for people of all abilities. This was the pioneering of a philosophy that came to be known as universal design . Harrison incorporated this design philosophy into projects both at RISD and with his private consulting firm, Marc Harrison Associates. Since universal design

609-406: The kitchen was wheelchair height at 31 inches. They designed the plumbing to also not hit the knees where a wheelchair would sit. Being inclusive to people of disabilities and non disabilities, it also included regular height counters as well. Sinks were six to seven inches deep with drains at the rear, allowing wheelchair users to get their knees under them without hitting plumbing. The ILZRO House

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638-407: The large amount of time his clients spent in the kitchen chopping, shredding and mixing. He produced a simple but effective solution, a bowl with a revolving blade in the base. In 1960, this evolved into Robot-Coupe, a company established to manufacture commercial "food processors" for the catering industry. In the late 1960s, a commercial food processor driven by a powerful commercial induction motor

667-415: The placement and type of attachment or blade. Some of the more challenging tasks include kneading stiff doughs, chopping raw carrots, and shredding a hard cheese, which may require a more powerful motor. The standard accessory for chopping is called the knife blade or sometimes just blade. They often also come with a shredding and slicing blades. Accessories such as blender and juicer attachments may allow

696-494: The result of a brain injury when he was 11 years old, Harrison had to relearn basic functions such as walking and talking and thus gained inspiration for this career in industrial design. Harrison wanted to make the world more accessible for all people with or without disabilities. His work followed the idea of “ Universal Design ” in which products are designed for both disabled and non-disabled people without separate features or additions. He advocated for people with disabilities and

725-415: The slices through the machine a second time, they would be diced into small cubes. In the ads, Popeil would rapidly demonstrate this, with the now well-known catchphrase "It slices! It dices!". Sales were nearly exclusively via direct marketing, and Veg-O-Matic was one of the first products (if not the first) to bear the red-and-white " As Seen on TV " logo on the box. The "It slices! It dices!" catchphrase

754-427: Was first defined as "The design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design" it has been applied to many fields, including instruction, technology, services, and the built environment. Harrison's most famous design, which incorporated this philosophy, was the 1979 Cuisinart food processor (DLC-X). Harrison redesigned

783-587: Was produced. Robot-Coupe's Magimix food processor arrived from France in the UK in 1974, beginning with the Model 1800. Then, a UK company Kenwood Limited started their own first Kenwood Food Processor, 'processor de- luxe,' in 1979. Carl Sontheimer introduced this same Magimix 1800 food processor to North America in 1973 under the Cuisinart brand, as America's first domestic food processor. Sontheimer contracted with

812-587: Was sponsored by the International Lead Zinc Research Organization (ILZRO) . The goal of this project was building a demonstration house with experimental steel housing. ILZRO, awarded grants to RISD, the company Harrison worked for, to construct a house demonstrating their work of universal design, beginning in 1971 in Foster, Rhode Island. The experimental steel house explored building of new materials, accessibility for

841-406: Was the first to have a completely inclusive house for people with disabilities and non disabilities. It was the complete ideal for the representation of Universal Design. Harrison designed and advocated products for extreme accessibility and wanted people of all abilities to be able to use, including people with disabilities, the elderly as well as normal healthy people. This post-WWII era changed

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