As far as hitting your design straps goes, you know you’re doing something right when your customers start showing you new and clever ways to use your own products.
Every manufacturer prizes positive customer feedback. It’s important to know that people are using your product and rate them highly. But when they tell you they’ve found new and innovative ways to use them beyond your original intention – and, moreover, that it works – that’s something else entirely.
It’s the ultimate confirmation of in-built flexibility in the design. And it shows that there’s something about the product that appeals so strongly that people are encouraged to experiment with its possibilities and find new ways to take advantage of its benefits.
We have recently been made aware of this happening with our HES2 concealed hinges. The HES range has always been a design concept we’ve been particularly proud of, a genuinely groundbreaking innovation in its class. The first concealed hinge to be manufactured without a pivot arm, HES meant that, for the very first time, two-way interior doors could also enjoy the aesthetic benefits of having hinge mechanisms completely hidden from view when closed.
Since the launch of the original HES3D hinge, we have continued to expand the range so that it now offers the largest choice of use-cases of any concealed hinge on the market, covering both two-way doors and cabinets of all sizes. That expansion in recent years included the introduction of the HES2. And it’s with this hinge that our customers have been pushing the possible use cases of the HES concept further still.
Surface-Mounted for Simplicity
The HES2 was introduced as a surface-mounted option to simplify installation. All previous HES models required mortising on both the door and the frame. Hanging a door is a skilled task at the best of times. Mortising to mount hinges adds to the difficulty. Though, to judge from the popularity of our HES models, it was a price many customers were happy to pay for the benefits of a beautifully compact, fully concealed hinge
Nonetheless, ever committed to improving our products for the benefit of our customers, the HES2 saw the design tweaked so that it only required mortising on the door, with a simple screw-mount plate for the frame. Like all other HES products, the hinge comes in two parts that are mounted separately, and then snap back together for added convenience. Three-way adjustment screws allow for precise alignment after installation.
We positioned the HES2 as a great solution for door manufacturers. By mortising and installing the hinge as part of the production process, they have the perfect ‘easy hang’ solution to sell on to their own customers – doors with concealed hinges ready installed, with only surface mounting required on the frame or cabinet.
A Concept Flipped
Mortising, of course, is a process that is only really suitable for wood in most architectural situations. So the HES2 was designed with wooden doors in mind.
What we have been amazed to learn, however, is that some creative minds have been using the HES2 to mount aluminium-framed glass doors – by flipping the hinge around.
Aluminium is a popular binding material for glass doors because it is strong but lightweight, and can be used in very thin strips to maximise the size of the glass panel. Aluminium’s strength also makes it a good mounting base. But you can’t mortise into it. Which, to date, has meant that we haven’t marketed HES hinges as suitable for these types of doors.
Not until some bright spark struck on the idea of inverting how the HES2 is mounted, that is. We’ve learned of customers mortising a wooden frame so ‘door’ side can be fitted. And then screw-mounting the other plate into the aluminium frame of a glass door. And just like that, you have the sophistication of a concealed hinge available for full-length glass doors.
All of which goes to show that innovation is a partnership. At Sugatsune, we put great emphasis on listening to our customers to understand real-world needs and challenges. Finding solutions drives our design philosophy. It’s great to know that people are finding their own solutions using our products, too.
