HCL® LUD Press & HCL® LUD Press 2.0 

 

Problem: We solved the issue of hand fatigue caused by repetitive manual LUD processing with our original press; however, that unit was not compatible with bottles. 

 

Solution: Continuous improvement is critical to the design process, so we updated this item based on customer feedback to be compatible with press-in bottle adapters too. It does more work with fewer devices, so it consumes less counter space. Users can process multiple items quickly for better productivity and less hand fatigue.

 

Design Notes: We had just increased capacity in manufacturing by adding more plastic routers to our operation and we also purchased a new CNC lathe that needed a project. By now we were cutting more types of plastic to include thicker HDPE, which is easy to machine and has decent chemical resistance. The timing was perfect for our next customer-driven product for liquid unit dose.

HCL® Tamper Tuf vials are available in assembled and unassembled configurations. We heard some customers who purchased unassembled vials were using a small hammer to attach the cap. HCL® Owner Gary Sharpe challenged the design team to create a solution.

The team worked with various groups within the company and considered customer feedback. The solution would need to be relatively low-cost, versatile enough to seal other HCL® products, provide leverage, be easy to clean and be corrosion and chemical resistant. The ability to seal Easy Fill Vials was added to the requested functionality of the unit. 

Our team went to work on a solution.

We built a press that was designed primarily out of high-density polyethylene for ease of cleaning. The anvil would be cut on our new CNC lathe out of aluminum and sent off to be anodized. 

The first sample hit all the marks – proof-of-concept achieved!  The next step was intellectual property.  We filed for an obtained 2 utility patents. The product was a success with decent sales.

Several years later, one of our project managers brought a familiar issue to our design team. Customers were having issues using our Press-In Bottle Adapters, stating some require more than hand/finger effort to insert.  

Our team went to work on an adjustable press that was compatible with all the bottles in our inventory. We put the design together quickly, marrying some of the features of our current LUD press with this new adjustable design.  

HCL President Bethany Reid quickly realized the similarities between this press and our old LUD press.  

“Why don’t we make one press that does it all?” she asked, suggesting a “Swiss Army Knife” approach to the issue. So not only would this press work for the current problem, it would also include the features in the original LUD press design.  

Our team adapted the new press to the features of the old. We achieved proof-of-concept for the HCL® LUD Press 2.0 and filed for additional patents to cover the new product.

 Patent Pending

 

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