Stable yet lightweight

K.D. Feddersen and KEBA Sweden AB develop office binders without metal

100% recyclable, robust, flexible and light - these are the qualities you will find in the office binder of the future. Swedish office equipment manufacturer KEBA Schweden AB and plastics distributor K.D. Feddersen Norden AB (formerly Materialdepån Norden AB) have been working together to make this vision reality.

KEBA AB has devoted itself to the task of making products for the modern office that bring fun to the workplace. Products which in addition to their optical sophistication also have to comply with critical environmental criteria. "Brighten your workday" is the Swedish company's motto.

The covers and spine of the tough office binders from the house of KEBA were already made of polypropylene. However, for the mechanism they had previously relied on metal to provide a sturdy material. In addition to the problem of recycling, using metal also increases the weight of the binder and makes it less flexible in adapting to the individual characteristics of the filing mechanisms in different European countries.

Together with the plastics distributor K.D. Feddersen Norden AB based in Anderstorp/Sweden, KEBA started searching for a suitable plastic to substitute the metal they were using.

The project was implemented in three phases over a period of 12 months. "The initial binder still had a mechanism consisting entirely of metal, which was fastened to the spine of the binder with rivets visible from the outside. These rivets continued to hold the mechanism - now made out of plastic - in place during the second development phase. In the third development phase (see photo) the material we were now using enabled us to replace these rivets with plastics clips. Now nothing more is visible from outside," explains Inge Andersson, Managing Director of KEBA Sweden AB. This also results in quick, easy and flexible assembly of the individual mechanisms for specific countries (Sweden uses one specific system where other European countries use international punching with 2- or 4-rings).

"In choosing the optimum products for this application, we conducted trials with a wide range of different engineering plastics as well as combinations of reinforcing materials," recalls Anna Hagström of Applications Technology and Sales at K.D. Feddersen Norden AB. "We found the ideal combination of material strength and flexibility in the product AKROLOY®, a PA 6.6 blend with 50% glass-fibre reinforcement," continues Hagström. This product family from the house of AKRO-PLASTIC has been selectively developed for the diverse applications that occur in metal substitution.

The new product series "Kebaecolite^TM" was successfully placed on the markets of Sweden, the Netherlands and Japan in the spring of 2008. From 30 January to 3 February 2009, KEBA presented this product series to a broad international trade public at the international fair "Paperworld" in Frankfurt am Main/Germany.

Phase III: The mechanism consisting entirely of AKROLOY ® PA in the new KEBA binder from the "Kebaecolite ^TM" series.