Technical injection moulding firm Broanmain Plastics has worked with fire safety specialist Fireco to a new magnetic door release system.
Designed to hold fire doors open to improve access and building ventilation, yet close automatically when a fire or intruder alarm is activated, the radio-controlled DorMag Pro is a sleek looking, unobtrusive device that is located behind the door rather than in front of it.
The concept – initiated during the pandemic lockdown – has swiftly moved from 3D printed prototypes to a milled CNC tool, to the design and manufacturing of seven component tools. Driven forward with the assistance of the Broanmain engineering and processing experts Kamil Stec and Thomas Catinat.
The DorMag Pro is now gearing up to roll off production lines at Dorking-based Broanmain Plastics. This follows on from months of both companies pooling their engineering, materials, processing and tool development expertise to refine the new products’ safety attributes.
Brighton-based Fireco – recently acquired by the Lagercranz Group – specialises in the design, engineering and manufacture of products to meet complex fire safety compliance requirements. Its flagship Dorgard product range is being expanded with the launch of this new device which has a number of aesthetically pleasing and practical safety features.
Fireco’s Supply Chain & Production Manager Mark Challacombe said: “Knowing that the unit needed to be plastically moulded, we commenced a comprehensive supplier review. Broanmain came out on top of our supplier matrix."
“The team proved themselves straight away, refining the design and sharing their processing knowledge. Broanmain is a good fit, in that they provide all this tool making expertise, deliver a personalised service, yet also have the manufacturing capacity to scale up production to meet our market demands,” added Fireco Engineer Matt Ball.
Cost and scalability were major considerations for Fireco. Injection moulding the seven components that make up the DorMag Pro housing was deemed the most viable way to manufacture the volumes that Fireco expects.
Matt said: “Given our market expertise and the reaction at several events earlier this year, we anticipate incrementally increasing production and refining the build process as sales scale up. The market potential for this product range is huge, especially when combined with another acoustically rather than radio activated fire alarm innovation we are looking to release around the same time, DorMag SmartSound.”
“Injection moulding in these volumes is far more cost efficient that 3D printing and CNC milling. It also gives us the repeatability and tight tolerances required for a compliant fire product, combined with the premium brand finish,” he added.
Integral to the high-spec door release design aesthetics is a metallic-looking silver band wrapping around the device’s wall-mounted housing. However, as a radio-activated device, this strip needed to be in a non-metallic material. To meet Fireco’s high-quality design aspirations, Broanmain pulled in the expertise of Oldbury-based Applied Coating Technologies (ACT). “Achieving this professional-looking silver band finish on every plastic housing unit was one of the main deal-breakers in our DorMag Pro project plan,” said Matt.
ACT Sales Manager Dominique Johnston said: “Helping our customers to realise their design aspirations is the role we enjoy most. Especially when it draws on our extensive experience to define a customised finish that meets all stakeholders aesthetic, functionality and pricing expectations. Supporting the design and development of this project has been a privilege and we look forward to moving into on-going production. Seeing the parts we have coated in operation always gives us a huge buzz.”
All of the unit’s seven components are moulded to on two-cavity mould tools using a standard ABS material. Rigid, versatile, and high strength, the lid and base is the only component modified to ABS PC to withstand the BS EN 1155[i] durability test cycles and the impact of the fire door being smacked back into the unit.
As well as mass-moulding the seven components, Broanmain will undertake some of the specialist finishing tasks, including heat staking a metal clip onto the battery carrier and overseeing the paint finish. Fireco will assemble all the internal components, including fitting magnets and the PCBs in-house. Every element must be moulded with absolute precision to meet the tight tolerances.