Pen nibs at the cutting edge

 

The nib of the problem

 

repetitive strain injury

Reducing the risk of repetitive strain injury in its staff was a main priority for a leading pen manufacturer that approached Innomech for an innovative solution.

 

precisely cut

The narrow slit in fountain pen nibs allows the ink to flow to the point, but needs to be precisely cut in order for the nib to work. The manufacturer had staff using a tungsten blade to create the slit by hand, a process which had changed little in more than 100 years.

 

quality control problems

This technique put strain on the workers, created a health and safety issue due to large amounts of dust generated, caused quality control problems and resulted in HR issues due to difficulties in recruiting and retaining staff for the highly skilled but repetitive work.

 

The write solution

 

Modernising the procedure

Modernising the procedure involved investigations into how it could be mechanised, including research into laser cutting, which proved not to be viable as it would not produce clean slits.

 

the most effective method

After looking at the problem, our engineers concluded that using a blade was still the most effective method.

 

How we did it

 

air-bearing guidance

To accurately replicate the precise work done by the skilled workers, we created an innovative air-bearing guidance system, which allows the blade to run at higher speeds while maintaining complete control of the pressure on the blade and its speed and depth of cutting.

 

blade changing

The machine also incorporates an integral blade changing system, as the blades need to be changed due to wear every few hours to ensure maximum efficiency.

 

precise criteria

The whole system is controlled by computer to ensure that every slit is cut to the pen maker’s precise criteria, even taking account of blade wear and adjusting the cutting mechanism accordingly.

 

nine years on

Nine years on, each of the three machines supplied by Innomech continue to produce a total of six million pen nibs every year – the equivalent of one every second.