Trade News
Munich, 22 April 2015 – Linde Gases, a division of The Linde Group, today announced that its technologically advanced, ground-breaking gas cylinder valve, EVOS™ Ci, has won the prestigious Red Dot Award: Product Design 2015.
Product entries are assessed on a number of criteria including degree of innovation, functionality, build quality, ergonomics, durability, ease-of-use, ecological compatibility, integration capabilities and degree of emotional connection to the product. The panel of 38 jurors comprised many of the world’s most prominent and influential product designers, representing 25 countries. This year’s Red Dot competition received almost 5,000 entries from 56 countries, across 31 categories.
The EVOS™ valve range represents a significant leap from standard gas industry valves - not only in its striking, state-of-the-art ergonomic design - but also in terms of safety and productivity benefits delivered.
Importantly, EVOS™ employs a uniquely designed, quick-action lever in place of the more traditional hand-wheel mechanism for opening and closing the valve. This innovative open/close functionality ensures easy opening to improve efficiency, fast closing in case of emergency and, as an extra safety feature, the ability to physically see at a distance whether the valve is open or closed.
The highly innovative and multi-patent pending EVOS™ has undergone extensive international, end-user research and, in a departure from traditional efforts in gas industry hardware design, Linde elected to collaborate with more leading-edge product designers in order to deliver the best user experience in terms of functionality, technical advancement and ergonomic design. Their chosen partner, German design firm, Indeed Innovation GmbH, helped Linde deliver a truly unique and evolutionary valve design to the market.
“We are delighted to receive this award from such an eminent product design jury,” said Colin Haden, Head of Linde’s Centre of Excellence for Packaged Gases. Linde has always played a pioneering role in terms of technology development within our industry. The Red Dot Award recognises EVOS™ as true breakthrough in valve design and a leap forward in performance, safety, ergonomics and efficiency.”
The EVOS™ Ci design also incorporates several additional new features including a safety ‘interlock’ button to mitigate the risk of the valve being opened accidentally; a unique guard design to improve user safety and prevent damage to the valve; optimal grip design for ease of lifting and designed to ensure the cylinder can be easily and safely lifted via crane to heights. The valve also has an integrated real-time content gauge to allow users to see the amount of gas left at a glance, and is capable of operating 300 bar working pressure across multiple gas types – significantly more than standard industry valves.
Linde will formally receive its award for EVOS™ on June 29 at the Red Dot Gala in Essen, Germany.
For more information on EVOS™, visit www.linde-gas.com/evos.
About The Linde Group
The Linde Gases Division, part of The Linde Group, is a leader in the international industrial and healthcare gases markets, providing compressed, bulk, specialty and medical gases, as well as chemicals to virtually all fields of industry globally. The company adds value to its customers’ businesses through the provision of state-of-the-art application technology, process know-how, services and equipment.
In the 2014 financial year, The Linde Group generated revenue of EUR 17.047 bn, making it the largest gases and engineering company in the world with approximately 65,500 employees working in more than 100 countries worldwide. The strategy of The Linde Group is geared towards long-term profitable growth and focuses on the expansion of its international business with forward-looking products and services. Linde acts responsibly towards its shareholders, business partners, employees, society and the environment - in every one of its business areas, regions and locations across the globe. The company is committed to technologies and products that unite the goals of customer value and sustainable development.
For more information, see The Linde Group online at www.linde.com.
Further information:
Susan Brownlow Public Relations Manager, Linde Gases Division Phone +44 (0)7739 456292 Email susan.brownlow@linde.com |
Rachel Kelly or Sara Jurkowsky Hill + Knowlton Strategies Phone +44 207 413 3008 or +44 207 973 5790 Email rachel.kelly@hkstrategies.com or sara.jurkowsky@hkstrategies.com |