A Chip off the Old BLOC

A Chip off the Old BLOC We’re feeling pretty pleased with ourselves having proved once again that engineering innovation is the key to exciting new products with real commercial potential. It’s not the first time we’ve prevailed against tough challenges with inventive design thinking. But with the introduction of our new BLOC technology, we think we’ve finally cracked a gnarly old problem plaguing the security sector. Come and see for yourself as we launch BLOC in February at the Southern Manufacturing Show. In our view, BLOC is completely unique. And the patent office clearly agrees with us. So what is BLOC and what does it do? First, let’s explain what the term stands for – Ball Location on Outer Circumference. Not particularly snappy but quite functionally explicit. More on that later. BLOC is a new kind of solenoid implementation. And it features a couple of unique and patented properties. It is self-evidently useful for security locking applications but we know that there must be a raft of other uses that elude even our over-active imaginations. So that’s where we need your help – and we’re prepared to stump up a decent prize for the best potential application. Read more about BLOC here and if you can identify how it might be deployed in an application area with which you’re probably more familiar than us, then let us know – and you could win an Apple iPad. BLOC’s first unique property is a designed-in ability to resist a forced attempt to push back the locking solenoid element. Solenoids are used extensively in locking applications; it’s the security technology of choice – and we should know because we supply literally tens-of-thousands of solenoid-actuated subassemblies for this very purpose every year. One intrinsic weakness of traditional mechanisms is the relative ease with which the locking element can be overcome – if you can get to it. To date, the security industry’s solution to this is to somehow deny access to the locking element or incorporate a secondary locking system to provide 'deadlocking'. The problem with the former is that it's actually quite difficult to do and the latter adds bulk and expense to an otherwise elegant locking solution. In contrast, we designed BLOC expressly to overcome these limitations. We’ve declared that it has an inherent ability to resist force against the locking element. But that’s a massive understatement! BLOC is available in a number of sizes to suit a wide variety of applications. We tested a good number to destruction. One candidate, about the size of a Milky-Way chocolate bar, finally gave up the ghost after being bludgeoned with a very hefty hammer – in bursts as the wielder needed to recover from his exersions. In fact, the solenoid pin still wasn’t actually forced back into its housing; instead, the body of the unit eventually fatigued and given way under the brutal onslaught! Okay, so we’ve managed to develop a new type of robust solenoid capable of resisting sustained attack end-on from dozens of hefty hammer blows. But it also exhibits equal unwillingness to succumb to static and dynamic shear forces across the pin. Then there’s another key feature that’s a direct function of the internal design of every BLOC unit. As the explanation of the name implies, BLOC deploys a set of hardened ball bearings that locate against the circumference of the inner chamber wall. These balls are moved mechanically into position during the solenoid actuation, and it is they that prevent the pin being forced back. With the solenoid in its actuated state, there’s just no place for these balls to go – so they take the offensive load, sparing the solenoid, and simply refuse to budge. Unless, of course, we tinker with some internal geometry... With subtle changes to the shaping and position of the inner chamber walls, we can produce a BLOC unit that resists force applied directly along the line of actuation until a certain level of pressure is reached – then it will give way. On purpose. By design. One immediate application that comes to mind is for safety exit doors in public venues. Imagine the scenario: you have a set of emergency doors in your nightclub that cannot be forced open by a couple of rowdy revellers desperate for a cigarette, but that will give way if a couple of dozen partygoers push hard to escape a fire

For more information on A Chip off the Old BLOC talk to Magnet Schultz Ltd