Sears purchased and branded electric chipper shredders from Flowtron, a manufacturer of home care products.  This product and a smaller, portable chipper shredder, also designed by Robert DeFelice & Associates (RDA), were sold at Sears stores throughout the United States.

 

Flowtron asked RDA to redesign an electric chipper shredder that Flowtron was manufacturing for Sears.  Our sleek redesign solution included a larger blow molded hopper for leaves and small brush and an injection molded hood over the electric motor.  The hopper's large opening was easier to load and was carefully designed for convenient sweeping of leaves and debris into the hopper when the chipper-shredder was tilted backward with the hopper's rear lip on the ground  A steel side chute was  ergonomically angled for inserting branches up to 2" diameter for chipping.  Comfortable, tubular steel handle allowed easy pushing across lawn and smooth surfaces.  All features were easy to clean and maintain.  The side discharge chute accommodated a fabric bag. Wheels were COTS.

 

We provided a complete package of handsome styling, mechanical engineering for the low cost, blow molded hopper, injection molded motor cover, tubular handle and chipper chute, and DFMA manufacturing documentation.