Freeboard uses moulded-in fastener

The steering on the revolutionary new Loko freeboard - a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard - is controlled by a specially designed Bighead bonding fastener.

The steering on the revolutionary new Loko freeboard - a cross between a skateboard and a snowboard - is controlled by a specially designed Bighead bonding fastener.

Freeboard inventor Ric Russell - who is aiming for a world speed record with his freeboard design - tried several times to find the right fastening to provide accurate steering.

"Bighead was the best solution," he says.

"It was the right product at the right time and it solved our problem perfectly." The freeboard has barrel-shaped inflatable wheels and can cope with all terrain types including forest tracks, compacted sand, grassy slopes and tarmac.

Ken Stanley, founder and managing director of Bighead Bonding Fasteners, says: "In this particularly highly stressed application, the fastener acts as a pivot which is injection moulded into the plastic turntable mechanism, enabling the rider to steer just by leaning in the direction he wants to go." Bighead fasteners have a perforated head through which plastics flow to form a rock-solid metal/plastic matrix which will not rotate or pull out.

They become a life-long part of the product.

They are used throughout the plastics industry worldwide to obtain hidden anchorages, from laminates used in leisure craft, road signs and engine covers to thick-walled rotational moulded laundry bins and sewerage treatment systems.

They provide a cost-effective means of fastening because they can be quickly located in moulds of all kinds and do not involve expensive drilling or 'making good' which are usually needed with front fixings such as screws or bolts.

Around 2,000 types and sizes of fasteners are available in stock at the company's Bournemouth factory.

Bighead also designs and makes a large number of special fasteners to solve specific fastening problems.

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