Better design wins award
Page 96
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• WORKSHOP ecuipment features among 1990 British Design Awards announced py the Design Council. One reflects the efforts of Sheffield's Ernest H Hill to design its way out of trouble.
The winning award is the company's Model 950 heavy-duty plastics lever purr p that costs less to manufacture than its metal predecessor and sells at around £20 compared with metal one which was on sale at £32 till around the middle of 1988.
Sales of the traditional lever pump were plummeting in the face of cheap imports. Now the company is exporting and winning markets from these foreign rivals.
I larry Knowles, who is managing director, and joined the company as md two years ago, halfway through the development programme, told Workshop the background.
"Founded in 1641, the company is still privately owned by the Hill family and it was the decision of Ernest H Hill — then rnd and now chairman — to take the risk of investing in design to fight the competition rather than abandon the market," he says.
The Model 950 is used manually to pump lubricating oils up to a viscosity of SAE 90, primarily in garages and maintenance workshops. It is manufactured in polypropylene, with polyethylene piston and valves and nitrile seals. About a third of a litre is dispensed on each stroke.
The pump features a telescopic uptake pipe to suit 100 or 205litre drums and storage tanks up to 900mm (36 inches) deep and has an anti-drip nozzle: a locking ring provides alignment of the spout through 360°.
The original shape was developed by Michael Chandler, now of the Ealing-based Arnica] Design Group. Considerable development work was then carried out by Ernest Hill's own design team led by development manager Roy Lowbridge.
The company built its own test rig to establish life expectancy. After 250,000 cycles the pumps were still working but needed strengthening in certain areas.
"The strengthened pumps were tested for a further 250,000 cycles — equivalent to pumping 22,000 gallons," says Knowles.
Ernest Hill now has quality assurance to BS 5750: Part I.
Circle Turbo 50 for further in formation from Ernest H Hill.
York Thcrmostar (UK) won an award for its moveable bulkhead which provides up to three compartments of varying size for frozen and chilled foods and is claimed to be virtually 100% efficient in stopping thermal transfer.
The bulkhead allows the temperature of each side of the partition to be controlled within 1°C. It is easy to move. says York Thermostar, and can be fixed in any position along the length of the trailer. Circle Turbo 51 for more information.
NextBase won an award for Autoroute Plus — a desk-top mapping system containing more than 33,000 place names and 67,000 miles of road from which to select best routes. NextBase is on Turbo 52.