The overall goal of this innovation project is to perform a Market and Economic Feasibility Study for introducing our patented pivot pin technology to a new market to exploit new opportunities and to prepare the groundwork to demonstrate it on a large-scale. Bondura’s first expanding pin was designed and manufactured in 1991 and patented in 1992. This technology is in use in the offshore industry since its large-scale production. Our pivot pin has the DNV GL Type Approval, ABS Product Design Assessment approval and certified under ISO 9001. Some of our main clients are well-known machinery and equipment manufacturers such as MHWirth, Daewoo, Transocean and Palfinger.
Pins (or bolts) are one of the most easily overlooked pieces of equipment yet their absence renders most heavy machinery completely inoperable. They are used in all types of machinery and equipment to hold two joints together but allowing each its movements viz. pipe-handling, cranes, power plants, material handling systems, maritime industry, renewable energy systems, even garbage trucks. The independent movements of the joints exert pressure causing pins to wear out, which is the main problem of standard solutions. Lack of focus on this component has led to virtually no innovation and we estimate that the majority of the fasteners market (99%) is served by unchanged standardized solutions that are subpar in function. These standard solutions are utilised by all heavy machinery Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) – while the production is outsourced to Tiers 1 companies that produce standardised screws and bolts (such as Bolt & Nut Manufacturing Ltd, Hague Fasteners Ltd etc.). Over time, the simplistic construction of majority of these standard tools leads to exertion of lateral pressure during the independent movements of the joints in which they are placed causing them to wear out. This is the main problem of the conventional bolt/pin systems as the wear causes slackness in the joint, vibration, lack of precision and in the end, severely reduced safety and performance. This type of malfunction can start already within hours of using the machine or it can happen after 1 month or 2 years. The frequency at which standard bolts fail depends on the equipment they are used in, the quality of assembly, the materials used and the environmental conditions including frequency of use and the pressure exerted. Therefore, it is difficult to predict when they will fail but their failure can cause drastic consequences – from production halts to huge downtime costs. For example, failure of only one bolt has left the entire north of Norway without electricity in both 2014 and 2015 – hours without electricity had huge costs for the entire region. Welding and line boring are the conventional methods used to get the worn bolts out and replacement bolts are always necessary. However, these are expensive and time-consuming while the solutions are again temporary.
Our technology is unique in that it prevents this type of wear/play to occur. Our Bondura® pin is tapered at both ends and these tapered cone sleeves expand upon tightening. Thus, the pin gets fixed to the equipment which results in an extremely solid connection, avoiding play and wear. For this reason, our product significantly reduces the downtime of the equipment, maintenance and repair of the machinery. At Bondura we specialise in developing customised pin solutions for all types of equipment. Our technology is patented across the main European markets and the US (NO20075786 and US Patent 8,037,783). There is no competitor who currently produces pins using our advanced manufacturing technology and that offers customisation possibilities. As BT has historically solely been operating in the strongly demanding offshore industry, we now aim to introduce our technology to new machinery markets (specifically the heavy machinery segment) across Europe seeing how our solution offers significant performance improvements and is market disrupting in its potential (Ref. Expressions of Intent in Section 4.1.2). Our new prototype designed and built for serving non-offshore markets is currently at TRL7 stage.
