Client’s New Product
wins Industry Honor
Date: 3/19/09
The NeverTrip valve was awarded Bronze Medal in the 2008 Consulting-Specifying Engineer Magazine Product of the Year Competition. This is the premier award for new products in the HVAC, fire, electrical, and plumbing engineering markets.
The NeverTrip auxiliary drain valve assembly from Metraflex is designed to eliminate frozen ball valves and avoid accidental tripping of fire sprinkler systems. A single turn of the handle allows the user to close and then drain condensation without tripping the system. The valve conforms to NPFA 13 requirements and in the drain position, condensate drains from the collection chambers. The chamber assembly has a sight glass that lets maintenance personnel see if condensate reached a level requiring the system to be drained.
In 2007, Bruce Platusich—a ’72 graduate of Bucknell University and founder of Mill Race Consulting Group—came to the Bucknell SBDC with a product idea that would greatly reduce the occurrence of the accidental “tripping” of dry sprinkler systems used for fire protection. Such systems are filled with compressed air until the system is called into action, preventing water in the lines from freezing during cold weather and damaging the components. However, sometimes water from condensation still manages to build up in the sprinkler heads, which then crack when the water freezes and set off the system. Such accidental tripping can cost between $5,000 to $10,000 to have a contractor reset the system, plus losses due to water damage as well as the unsafe downtime in the fire protection system.
Bruce Platusich brought the idea and the know-how but needed a boost.
He brought to Bucknell’s Engineering Development Services a design for a valve that would be capable of discharging the condensate buildup without tripping the system but faced an obstacle in moving his design from a paper drawing to a 3D prototype. His new invention would solve this dilemma by allowing maintenance personnel to check the level of condensation in the pipes through a glass viewing port and then safely drain it with an innovative valve
SBDC Role
Recognizing help they could offer, Mr. Platusich took advantage of Bucknell’s Engineering Development Services, a single site located at Bucknell University and unique in the nation within the nationwide SBDC system. Engineering Development Services offers engineering consulting, product development process consulting and related services, including preliminary patent searching.
Platusich was introduced to the Engineering Development Services at an SBDC educational seminar on patenting. When he came to the EDS, he brought with him the two-dimensional drawings of his valve product but was having trouble marketing the product without a tangible prototype. EDS provided assistance by developing three-dimensional CAD drawings of the product from his original paper designs and by following that up with a prototype from the rapid-prototyping machine in the Product Development Laboratory. Through these projects, EDS was able to help Platusich refine his design and work out bugs from the paper design.
Impact
With the prototype provided by EDS, Platusich was able to sell the license of his NeverTrip™ valve to Metraflex, a supplier of piping specialty products. Introduced in 2008, approximately 500 units have been sold and another 500 orders placed.
The prototyping and technical assistance rendered by Engineering Development Services have translated into valuable economic gains for both the client and the customers purchasing his product. In preventing system failures, the NeverTrip™ valve provides not only great savings and greater safety to its customers; but also profitable benefits to its creator!
