Design & Development

Hinkell Development Limited can offer a range of design packages from taking your idea forward to a completely designed product or just guiding you on your own designs. Our roots are in manufacturing so understand how to design for manufacture. This means that the designs can be manufactured cost effectively. Many engineering projects have failed to get off the ground because they are too complicated and expensive to manufacture. We at Hinkell try to take the approach that if something can be simplified without affecting its function and reliability then there is no reason not to change it. There are times when mechanisms will inevitably be complicated but sometimes a few design tweaks can mean parts can be manufactured using a totally different process saving significant amounts on production costs. We have been involved with several projects so please take some time to look at some of our work below.

Surgical Instruments

We have had a vast experience in the design of surgical instruments mainly but not exclusively in the orthopaedic sector. We have design instruments from scratch and have also been involved in the redesign of instruments to make them more cost effective to manufacture or to improve their function.
  
The industry today is vary much looking towards the use of single use instrument for obvious contamination reasons this gives all the more reason for instruments to be cost effective to manufacture.

Cleanroom Equipment

Hinkell Development Limited has also been heavily involved with the design and manufacture of cleanroom assembly equipment. The designs tend be more basic as function is concentrated on rather than aesthetics.

Designing the mechanical parts for cleanrooms can be quite challenging as lubrication can rarely be used and stainless steel is very prone to galling. We have a lot of experience in this area and have come up with several ways to get over these issues.

Test Equipment

We have also worked with academic and research establishment and have been involved with testing of surgical implants and instruments. We have designed test equipment and have also helped design some of the test to put the products through life cycle testing. 

We have also been involved with designing gauges for production purposes so parts can be checked easily and quickly without having to stop production to get products checked on CMM machines. This can obviously save on production costs.