Smart rubber cover for the personal gas detector
Case
Electronics
A personal gas detector is an expensive but vital piece of protection. SG Safety (Vestteknikk) has produced a practical rubber cover for the popular device, giving the user extra protection against damaging blows and malfunctions.
Application
Electronics / electrical equipment
Gas control
Offshore
Infrastructure
Mining / mineral extraction
The challenge
SG Safety (Vestteknikk) is one of Norway's largest suppliers of technical safety equipment. The core areas are gas, breathing and fire - and in addition to selling some of the market's leading brands, SG Safety provides advice, training and service/maintenance on safety equipment.
SG Safety has had great success selling an advanced personal gas detector made by Blackline. It's a good, solid product in every way, but like all electronic devices, the gas detector can be vulnerable to hard knocks.
Gas detectors are used in tight, exposed conditions in close contact with hard concrete floors, wall surfaces, steel ladders, stairs and other harsh structural elements. There is a high risk of accidental shocks, and in the unfortunate event of a gas leak, the detector's alarm signal must also function after the impact of a person falling.
The solution
Sales Manager Rune Hansen and his colleagues are familiar with these potential risks and sensed that many customers were concerned about achieving the greatest possible peace of mind. At a trade fair in Stavanger, Rune and Betech's Norwegian sales manager met each other.
Rune had an idea to make a shock-absorbing cover for the gas detector - similar to those used in cell phones. He just didn't know how to do it in practice. Shortly after the fair, the two met again and the idea was quickly transformed into a realistic product solution.
A quality detector costs around 5,000 NOK, so it's not unlikely that customers will pay something to get extra protection for the device, but there are of course limits to what such accessories can cost.
With the help of Betech, some technical considerations were made about a suitable silicone quality and mold tool costs so that the cover can be put into a suitable series production. The feasibility study resulted in a realistic product calculation and SG Safety quickly decided to start the development task.
Betech carried out a 3D scan of the gas detector for the product drawing that forms the basis for the manufacturing of the casting tool. The project also produced a lower-cost prototype tool to test and adjust the design before the actual series production started.
Added value for the customer
With the unique cover, SG Safety can offer their customers an extra layer of safety to their already valued safety equipment. It makes good sense for the end user, which is why the cover has become a popular add-on product at SG Safety - and a product they are the only one to offer.
Molding - making functional parts out of rubber and silicone - can be more or less complex depending on the shape of the part, functional requirements and the manufacturing process required.
In this case, Betech has managed the project from start to finish, including all phases such as solution proposal and calculation in relation to market opportunity, selection of suitable compound, tool assessment, prototype tool manufacturing, final tool manufacturing and stable deliveries from series production.
