Manufacturing update#10
almost 4 years ago
– Sat, Aug 01, 2020 at 02:36:06 AM
Dear contributors,
in February, having solved the technical problems that had forced us to completely redesign the stretcher, we took action to obtain the necessary financial resources that would allow us to manufacture the new molds and produce your umbrellas.
Then the advent of the pandemic which, initially in China and then all over the world, has basically blocked everything.
The particularly devastating impact it had in Italy led the national government to declare the lockdown which lasted almost 3 months; one of the many consequences was the immediate cancellation of any existing procedure.
Only a few weeks ago, following a first partial reopening of the activities, we slowly began to return to normal.
Unfortunately, this has led to closure many start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises, with a very worrying social and economic impact at national level.
Honestly, there were days during the lockdown when, in despair, we seriously thought about abandoning the project.
But our passion and the confidence we have in this project, together with the extraordinary support you have always given us despite all the difficulties we have encountered, have pushed us to continue.
So what we did immediately was to resubmit our development plan.
Only in the past few weeks we received a response and we are sorry to say it, not a positive one.
At the moment, in fact, the disbursement of any type of financing for start-ups with low capitalization is blocked.
We therefore asked for clarifications on the timing; we have been told that everything will depend on how the resources of the European Recovery Fund will be allocated and in any case it will only be possible to submit new requests in a few months.
At this point and with enormous regret, we must temporarily suspend the project.
As soon as we have news on the resumption of the project, we will take care of communicating it immediately.
Sincerely,
Pluvi Team
Manufacturing update#9
almost 4 years ago
– Wed, May 13, 2020 at 12:23:27 AM
Dear supporters,
due to the COVID-19 health crisis affecting the whole world, we would like to share with you some news about the production of your umbrellas.
As regards our nation, Italy, the situation is very dramatic. On one hand, we have just finished the quarantine, which lasted almost 60 days, and only now we are trying to understand when we will be able to resume our activities. On the other hand, we are waiting for the Italian Government, together with the European Community, to adopt the extraordinary measures to support the economic recovery, which have so far been announced but not yet implemented. But above all, we are trying to understand when and how we will be allowed to move to China to follow the various production phases.
Concerning China, during the past weeks we have been constantly in contact with the various companies that supply us with materials, semi-finished products and labor; most of them have only recently restarted production but with extremely reduced staff.
Today, it is therefore difficult to be able to provide you with a more precise planning as the situation of the COVID-19 virus worldwide is still evolving every day. We will update you as soon as we have a clearer vision of the production situation, timeline and deadlines.
With this update we want to assure you that we still truly believe in this project, despite all the problems we have faced, and we will do our best to complete it.
Today our thoughts are directed to the people and families who suffer from this health crisis.
Thank you for your understanding and take care of yourselves and your families.
Pluvi Team
Manufacturing update#8
about 4 years ago
– Thu, Feb 06, 2020 at 02:24:28 AM
Dear contributors,
we finished a couple of weeks ago to test the prototype. All the improvements we implemented on the joints given us satisfactory results both in terms of functionality and reliability.
We performed 2 different types of tests; the first concerned the opening and closing cycles (a condition that occurs every time the umbrella opens and closes), the second was about its ability to flex, avoiding deformations and damage (a circumstance that occurs when the wind turns the canopy upside down).
We would therefore be ready to start the design and the following manufacturing of the final multi-cavities hot-runner mold.
Our COO, who is responsible for managing the production, contacted our suppliers in China for more information regarding the resumption of activities. As you all know, all the manufacturing activities are currently suspended due to the Corona Virus. We also asked for their estimate on the timing but they did not provide us with certain data due to the great uncertainty.
At the moment, therefore, we can only wait to receive further information and then plan all the activities again.
Meanwhile, however, we would like to use the time we have to do another test. In the figure below you can see all the improvements that have already been made and tested.
Concerning the joint no. 1, we would like to try to make it using the same principle as the joint no. 2. Instead of having a direct engagement of the tensioner on the half-arm, make a cusp that acts on a longer joint as shown below.
We will keep you informed both on the resumption time of the activities and on the test results.
Pluvi Team
Manufacturing update#7
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Dec 10, 2019 at 12:37:54 AM
Dear contributor,
we finished few days ago the prototyping mold for the improved version of the stretcher; you can see in the picture below the old version (in Light Orange) compared with the new one (in Light Blue).
Since it is not possible to appreciate the improvements from this image, we show below the details of each single change we have made, as stated in the previous update.
- point 1: the new grafting of the tensioner with the half-arm allows to distribute the force on a larger portion of the surface.
- point 2: the new cusp acts on a larger surface avoiding to strain the joint; even when the umbrella is in the closed position, the new elongated joint allows for a softer curve.
- point 3: we incorporated the pin slot in the sliding carriage and we replaced the 90-degree fold with a curvilinear segment of reduced thickness.
- point 4: we made a smoother curve by longering the segment embracing the cuspid and increasing the radius of curvature.
- point 5: the tensioner around the cuspid has been changed to have a smoother curve.
- point 6: as for point 4, we made a smoother curve by longering the segment embracing the cuspid and increasing the radius of curvature.
The comparison, in the opening position of the umbrella, of the 2 solutions is shown in the following figure, where it can be seen how now the joints are much less stressed.
Following the plan, the next steps will be:
- testing the prototype and eventually fine tuning (estimated time: 2 to 4 weeks)
- manufacturing the final multi-cavities hot runner mold (estimated time: 8 to 10 weeks)
As always, we want to thank you for your enthusiasm, your support and your patience; despite all the problems we faced, we still truly believe in this project and we are doing our best to give you a reliable and quality product.
We’ll keep you updated about the progress.
Pluvi Team
Manufacturing update#6
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Oct 26, 2019 at 03:11:43 AM
Dear contributors,
we finished a few days ago to redesign the stretcher; in the picture below the new drawing showing the changes that have been made.
We have basically applied the following improvements:
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point 1: we have realized a different type of grafting of the tensioner with the half-arm; in this way the force does no longer act directly on the joint but on a larger and much more elastic portion of the surface.
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point 2: when opening the umbrella, the old version tended to strain the joint, making it weaker every time; in the new version, the cusp acts on a larger surface and avoids creating break points.
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point 3: in addition to redesigning the sliding carriage incorporating the pin slot, we replaced the 90-degree fold, which tended to break, with a curvilinear segment of reduced thickness.
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point 4: the old segment embracing the cuspid had a radius of curvature that was too small and tended to crumble; we did it longer in order to have a smoother curve.
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points 5 & 6: as for point 4, the radius of curvature around the cusp has been increased, thus having a greater surface area; in addition, the thickness of the tensioner has also been slightly increased.
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point 7: as a consequence of the changes of point 3, we have also moved the constraining walls of the sliding carriage.
The biggest difficulties encountered when designing such a complicated component concern, on the one hand, the very small dimensions on which one acts (1/10 of a millimeter, in most cases), on the other the fact that, being made in just one piece, every single "small" change affects the behavior of the entire component.
Following the plan, the next steps will be:
- manufacturing the prototyping mold (estimated time: 3 to 4 weeks)
- testing the prototype and eventually fine tuning (estimated time: 2 to 4 weeks)
- manufacturing the final multi-cavities hot runner mold (estimated time: 8 to 10 weeks)
As always, we want to thank you for the support you gave and you are still giving us, despite all the problems we are facing.
We’ll keep you updated about the progress.
Pluvi Team
