Fibatube, a division of House of Hardy based in Alnwick, Northumberland, specialise in the design and manufacture of specialist composite materials.
Born of a recognition that their expertise could have many applications - and thus greatly develop their own business - Fibatube have provided specialist composite materials for a diverse range of applications worldwide, with particular success in satisfying the demanding needs of the aerospace industry.
Telecane is the result of a college assignment undertaken by two students, Joe Hindmarch and David Meikeljohn, at the University of Sunderland. As part of their teacher training course in technology, they were required to design a product to benefit people in the community. They came up with an idea to replace the traditional cane used by blind and partially sighted people with a new cane which would be lighter and more compact. Existing canes, made mainly from Aluminium sections were easily damaged, and once the elastic holding them together had snapped or become slack, they became useless. With no way of repairing them, a new cane had to be purchased.
Having approached several companies Joe and David discussed their ideas with Fibatube, although initially only looking to use fishing rod parts to build a prototype to satisfy the needs of their college project. Fibatube recognised the potential of their idea and, working together, they developed a prototype with far more potential than had originally been hoped for. The new design used materials more usually found in the aerospace industry and drew upon Fibatube's knowledge of composite design and manufacture. This made the cane lightweight, easy to extend and collapse, and so compact that it may be kept in a pocket or handbag when not in use.
Initial trials of the prototype by blind and partially sighted people were so successful that it proved difficult to persuade them to return the new cane for further development.
Following the success of these trials it was decided to produce Telecane commercially. The three parties took the idea to Business Link who put them in touch with the Regional Technology Centre (RTC North), based in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear.
RTC North's specialised New Products Department agreed the existence of a potential market, and then assisted in drawing up an agreement between the parties to share intellectual property rights. The resulting licence agreement between Fibatube, Joe and David ensured that all concerned understood exactly what was to be gained financially from the project from the outset. Critical to this being effective was a thorough patent search, resulting in a carefully worded patent application to avoid any infringement of other cane designs, and provide maximum protection to Telecane's new features, deterring third parties from copying and giving the owners a monopoly on the Telecane design.
Having achieved protection for their design, the three parties presented their new product to the Royal National Institute for the Blind (RNIB). The Telecane proved to be just what they'd been looking for. Not only was the new cane lightweight and compact, but the modular nature of its construction meant that any damaged sections could be replaced easily, without the need for a whole new cane. The benefits of this feature far outweighed the extra cost of the Telecane over existing canes, as the new cane could, by replacing and custom fitting shaft sections, become a 'cane for life'.
A distribution agreement was put in place with the RNIB to sell the Telecane. Fibatube supplying them the Telecane as sections, enabling them to be assembled to order, and by combining sections of differing lengths, to be custom 'fitted' for the individual user.
Production of Telecane exceeded 4000 units in its first year and, with design and materials combining to help the visually impaired improve their quality of life, the potential for future years is expected to be well in excess of this.
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