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Published: 21st July, 2008

Press release

ELLIS PATENTS INNOVATES TO MEET RAIL LINK REQUIREMENTS

When faced with demand for 7,000 trefoil single-bolt aluminium cleats a week over a nine month period, the UK’s leading dedicated cable cleat manufacturer, Ellis Patents demonstrated its truly innovative approach to product development to ensure the order was secured.

The company, which manufacturers all of its products at its Headquarters in Rillington, North Yorkshire, re-developed the way it made the cleat in order to meet the huge demand from the Channel Tunnel Rail Link (CTRL). This was achieved by developing an alternative to the traditional sand cast product using extruded aluminium, which allowed Ellis Patents to increase the weekly rate of production from a maximum of a few hundred cleats to the required 7,000 – a development that was done without sacrificing any product quality.

The resulting product, the Alpha cleat, is now available in 15 sizes and is offered as a direct replacement to the single-bolt sand cast cleat. Compact in design and consistently stronger than the cast product it’s replacing, the Alpha range was short circuit tested in line with the  European Standard  EN 50368 and achieved passes at 600mm centres of 96kA peak ( 45kA rms ) and at 900mm centres 82kA peak (39kA  rms).

Richard Shaw, managing director of Ellis Patents, said, “With the cleat in its original form we would simply have been unable to meet the CTRL requirements due to the fact sand casting is a long and laborious process. We therefore looked at alternatives and quickly agreed that using extruded aluminium profile would enable us to achieve what initially seemed impossible.”

Ellis Patents has also tackled the problems caused by galvanic corrosion by substituting, at no extra cost, the standard aluminium base with a low smoke, zero halogen version that provides safe segregation between the cleat and its supporting structure.

“The beauty of the Alpha cleat is that it not only proved to be the product that secured the CTRL job, but is fast becoming one of our most popular products,” continued Richard Shaw. “Already it’s been specified for use on a number of projects both in the UK and overseas and we anticipate this demand will continue to grow at pace.”

For additional information on Ellis Patents, its products and services call 01944 758 395 or visit www.ellispatents.co.uk

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