BEC Group Manufactures RingPull Can Opener Supporting Dexterity Needs

JNDC is a design for manufacture (DFM) specialist, helping clients through the product design cycle to market launch, working on product designs, development, and design for manufacture. BEC Group and JNDC have worked closely together on several different projects, including dext product’s Keywing Key Turner. Off the back of our successful partnership with JNDC and dext on the Keywing Key Turner, BEC Group was approached by Dean at JNDC to help manufacture dext’s latest invention – the RingPull Can Opener. This is the second in a line of products that help individuals with poor dexterity to navigate daily challenges.

The Mission

Founder of dext products, Geoff Rolandsen, produced the concept and initial design for the RingPull Can Opener, a hand-held plastic device designed to assist individuals with dexterity issues to open any ring pull can. Geoff then enlisted the help of JNDC to carry out a design for manufacture on the part and make recommendations for any design changes that would make it easier and more cost-efficient to produce.

Once the JNDC team was happy with their design, they sent over the CAD to BEC to begin tooling and moulding the part.

BEC Solution

The BEC toolroom set to work producing the two-cavity injection mould tooling. The company advised on a few small alterations to the part design to allow for quicker production whilst maintaining its sleek appearance: due to the part being symmetrical with a natural split line on the central axis, there was a risk of the moulding sticking in the fixed half, causing issues with part ejection. This was avoided by adjusting draft angles and biasing parts of the split line to increase the friction in the moving side cavity. Ejector pins were placed on hidden parts of the moulding so that witnesses would not be visible on the finished part once ejected. Similarly, the gating was moved to a less obvious location on the mouldings for a better finished look.

A spark eroded finish was required for the part, this gave an attractive texture on the mouldings. However, it was time-consuming to produce, particularly when attempting to achieve uniformity on differently angled surfaces.

Once the tooling was complete and the part moulding was well, the company moved on to materials testing.  Initially, BEC tested several materials in trial runs to achieve the correct look, feel, and function for the part. A key consideration was the additional tensile strength required from the two hooks at the end of the RingPull; these needed to be able to open cans thousands of times without fatiguing or breaking.

Polypropylene, ABS, polycarbonate, and nylon were trialled. After testing and inspection from both JNDC and dext, nylon 6 was selected as the most appropriate material. Nylon 6 is chemical and abrasive-resistant, making it well-suited to a part made for daily use in a kitchen. Nylon 6 also has excellent fatigue resistance and tensile strength- it is nearly as strong as some metals.

Selecting nylon presented the team with a fresh set of challenges when it came to achieving the specific colour pantones required. Nylon affects the colouring of certain pigments, particularly reds, greens, and yellows. See image right of two plastic samples made from the same red masterbatch in polypropylene and nylon – the nylon has become a green brown after moulding. The yellow pantone of the RingPull was particularly difficult to attain, taking several runs to achieve the perfect colour.

Finally, the dext branding was laser-engraved into the tool, giving a crisp, smart finish at a reasonable cost.

Result

Once dext had signed off on the mouldings in the three colourways selected, BEC manufactured an initial product run of 2000 mouldings in a two-cavity tool. The mouldings were trimmed and sent to the appropriate Amazon warehouse, for dext to sell and distribute the product with ease.

BEC are proud to be part of the team producing another ingenious solution to improve the daily lives of arthritic or low-dexterity individuals. If you’d like to see more about the dext product range, visit www.dextproducts.com.

The RingPull has since been awarded a 2023 Good Design Award – Australia’s International Good Design Awards for Design Excellence. “The RingPull Can Opener delivers a simple effective, and desirable solution. It provides up to 110% more mechanical advantage than competitors, and halves the strength required to open a ring pull can”. – Good Design Australia.

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