As it often happens, man's greatest inventions are brought about by chance. This is what happened to SLIM, which developed optical fibre lighting solutions following a chance encounter with a German company.
More specifically, the company wanted to develop an optical fibre indicator with side light emission and source with printed circuit. A design solution that was also innovative.
If you want to learn more about the topic you can read our brief guidebook, click on the button below in order to get it!
SLIM's contribution to optical fibre lighting in the industrial world
The German company, with which SLIM collaborates, used the optical fibre as a lighting solution for the first time to mark a dance floor: for this project, other technologies had already been rejected for reasons of space and due to technical issues.
After this first particularly artistic implementation, the product met with some success and, over time, it has undergone several and important evolutions, which fostered its application in sectors that are more demanding in terms of performance and quality, such as the industrial production sector.
The German partner has specialized in the design and production of various light guide solutions for various sectors: from architecture to consumer electronics, to automotive.
SLIM developed the first prototype following the request made by an important Italian brand that produces professional coffee machines, a sector in which the demand for emotional design is currently very high.
Adding a touch of light, a luminous finish to an industrial project can imbue the final product with that emotional effect that makes it stand out: in this context, light can be synonymous with purity, elegance and technology.
During the development stage, the aesthetic requirements initially clashed with technical challenges of research of homogeneity and high customization of the fibre. Hence, the need to produce a customized optical fibre, which could meet the customer's needs: defined and limited spaces, tolerance to particular temperatures, specific bending angles, resistance to shocks or aggressive agents, intensity and homogeneity of light.
The German partner therefore used machining tools that allowed modifying:
- the material used for the compound of the outer casing of the product;
- the production set-up;
- the external diameter, length, flexibility and type of connection to the light source (or sources), as well as the diffusion of light.
The product has thus been given unique characteristics, which leave a broad margin of creative freedom to the designers.
The customer also appreciated the texture, colour and movement effects conferred to the lighting by the optical fibre.
Fibre optic lighting: for a product that stands out
Compared to other optical fibres, this solution stands out for its homogeneity and the noticeable absence of light points, even in the most pronounced bending angles: the high quality of the product ensures that there are no bleeding or drops of colour or light intensity.
The efficiency and aesthetic performance go hand in hand with the benefits offered by a technology without tooling costs, with limited initial costs and flexible development times.
SLIM for fibre optic lighting
Thanks to decades of experience in light signalling, SLIM develops light sources in the range of LED colours and printed circuits according to the requirements of the final design: intensity, colour, tone, the effects of movement and shape. Since 1973, the company has been successfully operating in the sector of light signalling, supplying different industrial sectors: production of household appliances, in particular for the cooking and coffee machines sector, HO.RE.CA, lighting, HVAC, just to mention the most important ones.
In recent years, some of these sectors have shown a tendency to enhance their products through the search for aesthetic details to give their brand a distinctive character.
SLIM's solutions respond precisely to this need: Italian creativity and German performance come together in a product of top aesthetic and technological value.
If you are looking for this added value for your projects, SLIM is the right interlocutor: we will be happy to respond to your requests and explore any prototyping proposal.
