Main novelty of proposed project lies in the materials and newly developed injection moulding tools used to produce oil filter halter, using advanced thermoplastics instead of aluminium. In turn, this will lead to improved performance of the whole engine, lower production costs, lighter and more energy efficient high volume vehicles and significant decrease in waste.
Oil filter halter made of thermoplastic materials addresses the need for replacement of car components with lighter solutions that will consequently reduce the total weight of the car (to 300-500g), which is the objective in long term (contributes to other performances of the car like fuel consumption, ecology in way of emissions, lower price, part is ready for electrical vehicles). New product also addresses the needs for replacement of car components made of heavy materials that are not eco-friendly, which contributes to cleaner production of car parts.
The newly developed and optimized new process and tools for injection moulding of polymer halters will also have potential to be used for different applications in transport and other industries. With some modification, it can be used for different types of halters in compressor manufacturing, electro industry, home appliances industry, aircraft industry and similar.
There were some additional issues (technical and social), arising during the project progress. Technical issue was the electrical conductivity; this problem rose at one customer visit, and come to be very important for the additional value of the part. Solving this topic has given us an additional advantage on results, since the number of components/system has decreased on the customer side. There were several activities done (including tools and material testing), and the result was confirmed. Consequently, we are able to offer our potential customers a filter assembly with more functions, thus reducing the number of components.
It was also very interesting for us, that the PolyHalter results were immediately transferrable to another technical field of cable holders in automotive industry. With this, a new field of usage was opened, and first contract was already signed during commercial visit at the end of the project.
In addition to this, it looks that the technical content in the filed patent may be interesting also in other technical fields, not only halters (for instance: adjusting screws in steering, fixing elements in moving parts, sealing plugs, etc.).