Turning a concept into a manufacturable product

With the help of a UK engineering company, an inventor has transformed his product concept and prototype into a manufacturable product. Dean Palmer reports A novel two-piece door safety device has been developed that is markedly different from other door safety products in that it fits over the door hinge and prevents fingers from being shut in the hinge side of the door. Nigel Hall's invention, the 'Olliedoo Wedgie', is about to be launched on the global market and another two are about to be developed. But getting there hasn't been easy. Hall carried out all the necessary market research for the door safety device and even managed to produce a working prototype. He then had some design work carried out by a graphic designer which set out the aesthetics of the product, but finding an engineering company that could help transform this concept into a product that could be manufactured economically was proving difficult. However, after a meeting at the Institute of Directors in London, Hall was persuaded to go and talk to HBC Engineering Solutions based in Sheerness, Kent. [HBC company profile here] Graeme Pomfret, product development coordinator at HBC, told Eureka: "Based on Nigel's brief, we then produced a number of concepts which, together with him, we eventually reduced down through several iterations to the final design." HBC's brief was to design a flexible hook that would fit door hinges between 6mm and 10mm diameter. Options for a two-colour part were to be considered along with an interchangeable engraving pad. The device had to be re-designed to suit the injection moulding process but the aesthetics of Hall's original design concept had to be maintained wherever possible. Pomfret explained further: "We used our analysis tools to evaluate the design concepts and made a simplified part in a manumold tool, to test the hook design on a jig. We also had SLS parts manufactured for Nigel to show potential distributors what the product looked like and to facilitate the design of the packaging. "Following testing, we went straight into tool manufacture, producing a one-impression mould tool of each part, that is capable of being expanded to four impressions. The tools were then trailed in our New Business Introduction Cell, where the tool settings were defined, before moving and handing the tool over to our manufacturing facility." Pomfret said that during the development phase of the product, Hall kept in very close contact with him, as well as Brian Stevenson, product designer at HBC and Chris Stiff, sales manager at the company. Once the project went into the realization phase (tooling), a project manager from HBC's New Business Introduction team was assigned to oversee the product into manufacturing. Pomfret added that an initial launch stock of 25,000 assemblies had been manufactured and that Hall is launching the product world-wide. The 'Olliedoo Wedgie' device also recently came second in a new product competition that was judged by Business Link Kent.