Patented Support Pedestal
Project Status
Development complete and sold through EnviroBuild since 2022, selling tens of thousands of units. Wrote EnviroBuild’s patent for it where I am named inventor.
Skills
-
Market research
Standards interpretation
Ideating
-
Design for manufacture and assembly
Iterating
-
Solid modelling (SolidWorks)
FEA (SolidWorks)
Rendering (PhotoView 360)
-
3D printing
Tolerance analysis
Test rig building
-
Procurement with Chinese suppliers
Cost analysis
BOM creation
Data management
Technical drawing
Impact
Lowest height pedestal on the market (3 mm)
Tested to Euroclass A1 fire resistant
~40,000 units sold in 2026
Patent authored and published (GB2610187)
CAD
The first idea was to try and adapt the existing low lying pedestal made from polypropylene, and fire-resistant materials instead. Ultimately I attempted to come up with a design from cast steel, using a similar concentric steps idea to the polypropylene version. The design was slowly adapted to be as manufacturable as possible accounting for the casting process used
Prototyping
I used draft angles, fillets, consistent wall thicknesses, and simplifying features to reduce the cost price. Despite multiple iterations of the idea and working closely with the Chinese manufacturer to reduce the price as much as possible to make it viable. Following this process, it was found it would be cheaper to manufacture using an alternative design of folded steel and shims.
Release
After experimenting with shims of various shapes and sizes, it was found that the cheapest way to manufacture them would be to use a square shape, and to make the bracket to hold them more complicated. The bracket contains holes at its base to fasten the system to a balcony steel, and slots in the uprights to fasten a joist to the pedestal.
Patent
I also applied for a patent for the product, this required working closely with a law firm to write it up. I needed to write down in detail the function of the product system, and which parts were original and innovative. This also involved back and forth with the examiners, as they tried to show similar inventions and I argued why this product was different.
