Industry: Inventor/Entrepreneur

Product: The Amazing Siding Cinch™

The Challenge: Armed with just a few pencil sketches, some hand-carved vinyl mockups and a vision, Virginia inventor Randy Shroyer contacted ART. Shroyer, who had no experience with patent models, needed our help to develop both a design and a prototype. His vision was a small piece of plastic hardware that enabled homeowners to hang wreaths, signs and other objects on vinyl siding, without using tape, nails or screws.

The ART Solution: Working closely with the novice inventor, ART designed the product and accessories. Three-dimensional CAD models were created, from which we constructed Shroyer's prototype. Called “the Amazing Siding Cinch™,” the product snaps cleanly into the j-hook on a home’s vinyl siding.

The Results: Shroyer used our prototypes during presentations to investors to raise funds for Siding Cinch production tooling. Now in production, the Siding Cinch™ has been featured on QVC and is gaining attention from major retailers. With the success of his first design, Shroyer has expanded the product line to include several additional accessories—all designed and prototyped by ART.

Product: LinQ®

The Challenge: Entrepreneur Hampton Carver came to Applied Rapid Technologies (ART) with some scrap pieces of rubber, a mock-up, and some basic 3D CAD models for a new cell phone accessory idea. He needed assistance picking the proper production material and he needed accurate prototypes to test his designs.

The ART Solution: Members from our design and production teams sat down with Mr. Carver to gather more information, look at sample materials, and discuss production options. Prototypes were built from a variety of materials and the design was iterated until the final LinQ® product emerged.

The Results: After many iterations the new LinQ® is now in production and available at www.linqme.com. The device mounts to the back of any cell phone and provides a very convenient way to more securely hold the phone while you are being active. Mr. Carver notes that “Applied Rapid Technologies was an essential part of my product development and proof of concept efforts. The technicians were all great to work with and highly proficient. I recommend ART without reservation.” The LinQ project was a big success and the ART crew is very happy to see the final product on the market – we love to see projects that we work on make it through production and into consumer’s hands.