PRODUCT INNOVATION
A surface towel dispenser that is ‘strong, yet still stylish and reliable’.
operated via a 5 mm ‘radiator type’ key, with an anti-ligature knob on the client side which can be clutched to prevent a service-user forcibly controlling the panel function.
Creative Ironmongery emphasises that it offers one vision panel size suitable for retrofit into standard non-fire rated or 30- or 60-minute fire doors, meaning users can reduce stock levels. Other features include suitability for use with proprietary bead sets – with timber or MDF bead sets available to suit different door thicknesses, and a standard powder- coated wood grain finish, or the option to select satin stainless steel, white, and black finishes ‘ex-stock’, or a powder- coated finish to any RAL colour. The panels will operate in any orientation, have concealed frame fixings, and are designed to minimise ligature risk. Alan Rees said: “Another key selling point is the rigidity of the blind mechanisms; the aluminium blinds will not rattle or easily become dislodged – an issue with some competitor products.”
Toughened and fire-rated
The panels feature 10 mm toughened glass on the corridor side, and 18 mm Pilkington Pyrostop Glass on the service-user facing, affording ‘a guaranteed’ 60 minutes’ fire protection even if the toughened laminated glass breaks. Alan Rees said: “In fact in Pilkington’s own tests, after 67 minutes the doors were destroyed, but my standard vision panel still had two panes intact. I can sell our vision panel, with all its features, for around the same price as competitors’ standard such panels.” He added: “I was aware, when developing my vison panels, that several competitor suppliers would only sell, say, a mental healthcare facility complete new panels despite perhaps just one part – often the glass – being broken. I thus quite regularly repair panels for healthcare customers.” Another product with a distinctly individual design is Creative Ironmongery’s Creative Pull Handle. Alan Rees explained: “We now offer three such pull handles, including a recessed variant. Look at competitors’ handles, and they have sharp edges, and are not very deep, so are non- ergonomic and can be difficult to use. Our stainless steel Creative Pull Handle, secured by anti-tamper bolts or screws, is
70 Health Estate Journal May 2019
Pivot protectors ‘strengthen, protect, and repair’, timber double-swing doors.
much deeper, and has smooth edges; the ergonomic Easi-Pull design makes it much easier to handle, and thus well-suited to use where reduced strength or dexterity are considerations.” As standard, the handles are fitted to both sides of the door, and are available in opposite handing for single wing doors. They can be manufactured with a profile cut-out, ‘to accommodate any proprietary cylinder or lock case drive’, and with an indicator, for example for washroom use.
Protecting pivoted doors We next looked at a Creative Ironmongery Pivot Point Protector, designed, as the company puts it, ‘to save the door, and save a fortune’. Alan Rees explained: “Again, these are manufactured in high strength stainless steel, to fit onto new or broken pivoted doors. By providing excellent protection to the pivot points, they can save, say, an NHS Trust with many such doors, considerable sums by preventing breakage.” They allow simple adjustment of fittings such as an automatic door closer, and are ‘quick and easy to fit’ to new doors, or to retrofit, being affixed over the top and bottom pivot points ‘without compromising pivot protection’. Fire tested to BSEN1634 at 30 and 60 minutes, and supplied in stainless steel as standard, they are also available in polished stainless steel, brass, and polyester powder-coated finishes and RAL colour finishes to order. Alan Rees said: “Often the only viable alternatives with doors with broken pivot points are to buy a new one, or to fit an aluminium gear hinge, which doesn’t tend to look very homely.”
Alan Rees described how he was called one day by an NHS mental healthcare facility in Northampton, where the estates team was aware of Creative Ironmongery’s lifetime guarantee against faulty manufacture on many of its own products, but was experiencing regular breakage of its pivot protectors, which the Estates team believed he had supplied. He elaborated: “I
A selection of clutched and non-clutched turns from Creative Ironmongery.
visited the facility to investigate, and found that the pivot protectors I had produced had been copied, and, despite bring stainless steel, were all breaking. To try to circumvent the patent, the supplier had changed some of the design, resulting in a weak, unfit-for-purpose product. We thus supplied the unit with our pivot point protectors, and they have experienced no similar breakage. Over the years I have seen many examples of poorly or ill- conceived designs in products destined for healthcare use, which has given my team and I plenty of scope to re-design.”
An ‘anti-vandal, anti- ligature’ soap dispenser.
Simple but effective design Another Creative Ironmongery product with an emphasis on a simple but highly effective design is the company’s ‘high strength’ stainless steel Flush Bolt Protector, again suitable for both new and existing doors. Alan Rees explained: “With pairs of doors, you have a bolt flush locking the sleeve leaf off, and if, say, a trolley hits one of the doors, the bolt is easily displaced. The Flush Bolt Protector works similarly to the Pivot Point Protector, but for flush bolts, but is fitted to the door vertically, rather than horizontally. The device is proven to extend timber doors’ durability, and we can now offer it with a pre-fitted flush bolt – which we weld into the stainless steel, to greatly reduce the risk of breakage.” With their highly robust design, many of Creative Ironmongery’s products find their way into mental healthcare – for example a stainless steel paper towel dispenser, again ‘extremely durable’, and thus well suited to environments such as seclusion rooms and ‘136’ suites. Alan Rees originally developed it for St Andrew’s Healthcare. He said: “Alongside its durable construction, the front plate acts as mirror, eliminating the need to install another in a service-user’s bedroom.” Creative Ironmongery also offers a stainless steel ‘anti- vandal, anti-ligature’ soap dispenser, designed for recessed installation, with a lock manufacturable to suit existing masterkeyed
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