“How Can We Squeeze This Bag?”: The Question Behind a COVID-19 Innovation

Responding to one of the many problems that emerged from the COVID-19 outbreak, Husky Corporation engineers designed rapid-manufacture ventilators; simple yet reliable units produced inexpensively from readily available components, delivered at minimal cost, and that can be used promptly with little operator training.

The inspiration came from when nurse anesthetist Nick Till asked his friend, Husky Corporation Engineering Manager Zach Holcomb, if he could think of ways to use manual resuscitator bags as stand-alone respirators. “How can we automatically squeeze this bag?” prompted Holcomb and Husky Design Engineer Derek Willers to launch the project.

An all-electric version of Husky Corporation's rapid-manufacture ventilators, which were conceived in response to the COVID-19 epidemic. The company seeks input from the medical community about how to keep improving the units.

The result in a few short days was a ventilator apparatus using a standard size 1500ml resuscitator bag, compressed by a rubber ram attached to an air cylinder that is used in product testing applications. The apparatus will deliver air or oxygen at adjustable flow rates appropriate for patients in need. The ventilators can be made quickly and without a lot of ‘bells and whistles’ that would add time and cost. 

A pneumatic version of the ventilator progressed from idea to proof of concept in approximately one week, with refinements and improvements added from the beginning. Then an all-electric version was developed for use in areas away from hospital rooms that do not have access to compressed air. Both are self-contained units housed in outdoor-rated fiberglass boxes and have a back-up battery supply. The company is also exploring applications where the ventilator could be deployed to third world countries, where a low-cost ventilator would be potentially invaluable. Here is a short video of the all-electric version of the Husky ventilator.

Medical Experts: How Can Husky Improve These Ventilators?

The proof of concept for the Husky ventilator is comprised of readily available components or those which could quickly be produced with a 3D printer. The key component is the air cylinder, operated by compressed air, to “squeeze” the resuscitation bag repeatably and reliably. It’s the same type of air cylinder used in the equipment Husky Corporation uses to test its industry-leading fuel nozzles and components, which often require test cycles that number in excess of several hundred thousand or more without failure.

 

Husky is actively seeking input from the medical community and health professionals to make improvements during the development process. Even those the idea was conceived as a response to the COVD-19 pandemic, the Husky ventilator will be a solution into the future as well.

Contact Husky Corporation at 800 325 3558 for additional information.

Innovation is the Core: Husky Corporation

The Husky Corporation family of companies sets the standard for petroleum dispensing and automotive customers with the highest quality products made right here in the U.S.A. The company has developed a new video that shows what really makes Husky "A Breed Apart".

"Innovation is the core. It's what started us. It's what keeps us going today," said Husky President G.G. Sutcliffe.

The video provides an inside look at the company's product line and what makes Husky stand out from the competition. The company focuses on hanging hardware for the petroleum dispensing industry, where it holds 50 percent of the new nozzle market. Husky diversified into related transportation industries in recent years, which has permitted growth and expansion.

"What sets us apart is we remained an American manufacturer. We do all of our design work, customer service and manufacturing out of this facility in Pacific, Missouri," Suttcliffe said. "We are truly a state of the art manufacturer."

Husky has 170 employees and sells its more than 2,000 products in 63 countries.  The video includes a look inside the facility and a discussion of five pillars on which the company is built:  Safety, Quality, Customer Loyalty, Team-building, and Productivity. Learn more at www.husky.com.

Fuel Nozzle Innovations Take the Pressure Off Customers

There are several drivers of improvements in life. Some involve statutes and regulations which mandate actions. Others involve product innovation. In the case of the motoring public in the United States, there are examples of both.

The Bureau of Transportation Statistics estimates that around 25.5 million people over the age of five have disabilities that limit travel. Additional statistics show that only 60.4 percent of people with disabilities drive vehicles, compared to nearly 92 percent of people who do not have disabilities.

 

ADA and Gas Stations

Those numbers perhaps help explain why when the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) arrived in 1990, it noted that people with disabilities may find it "difficult or impossible to use the controls, hose, or nozzle of a self-serve gas pump." As a result, the ADA began requiring self-serve gas stations to provide equal access to their customers with disabilities:

• Provide refueling assistance upon the request of an individual with a disability. A service station or convenience store is not required to provide such service at any time that it is operating on a remote control basis with a single employee, but is encouraged to do so, if feasible.

• Let patrons know (e.g., through appropriate signs) that customers with disabilities can obtain refueling assistance by either honking or otherwise signaling an employee.

In 2012, additional requirements were enacted regarding the operable parts of fuel pumps, making them accessible to motorists with disabilities who want to pump their own fuel. An article published on the Access Advocates web site commented that "Right now, complaints drive compliance at gas stations."

Innovation and ADA Compliance

Innovation can also drive change. Husky Corporation has developed two new features for fuel nozzles that can make it easier to dispense fuel into vehicles. One is called EZ Lever, which essentially is new two-piece design rather than the previously utilized one-piece design. The EZ Lever is ADA compliant, as it requires approximately half the force of conventional levers in order to open the nozzle to dispense fuel. This is a short video that explains the logic behind EZ Lever.

In addition, Husky engineers redesigned the poppet skirt in a way that helps control the flow of fuel through the nozzle with greater ease. The innovation is called a Tilt Poppet, the effect of which permits a precise amount of fuel to be dispensed into vehicles very easily. Here is a video that shows how the Tilt Poppet functions.

These innovations, whether utilized separately or in combination on a given fuel nozzle application, effectively make the fueling process easier for everyone. They also help fuel marketers improve the user experience at their locations. Contact Husky Corporation at 800-325-3558 or go to www.Husky.com to learn more about these and other product developments which are designed to put customers first.

How to Precisely Dispense Fuel

There is now a great way to get the exact amount of fuel you want in your vehicle.

Husky Corporation engineers have developed an enhancement for the fuel nozzle’s poppet valve, which in combination with the lever, controls the flow of fuel through the nozzle. The innovation is called a 'tilt-poppet' will be included in all Husky nozzle products. This short video shows how it works.

“The previous poppet skirt operated by opening or closing the entire poppet valve seal at the same time. That situation made it difficult to start and stop fueling at the desired level,” said Husky Engineering Manager Zach Holcomb.

So Husky Engineers focused on re-designing the poppet skirt, and came up with an innovation called the Tilt Poppet; a poppet skirt that is angled on one surface. The effect of this modification is that when the fuel lever is engaged, one side of the poppet valve seal moves before the other. Fuel therefore flows through the nozzle in a much more measured way; fueling can be started and stopped very smoothly for precise manual dispensing. A slimmed-down poppet skirt design also reduces the amount of back-pressure experienced when starting and stopping the fueling process.

“Having the angled poppet skirt allows the flow to ease through on one side of the poppet valve and dispense to the penny much more easily,” Holcomb said.

In the video, the flow of fuel was being controlled at a rate of just 0.048 gallons per minute (or 0.182 liters/minute) which resulted in one penny's worth of fuel being dispensed every four to five seconds.

“We know that many customers want to spend an exact amount when fueling their vehicles. There are also applications around the world where full-service fuel attendants must put only the exact amount of fuel requested into customer tanks. The Tilt Poppet is ideal for those situations,” said Husky Corporation Executive Vice President Brad Baker. “We think the Tilt Poppet will make the fueling experience more pleasant for everyone thanks to its smooth and easy operation.”

The Husky Tilt Poppet will be an included feature of all the company’s fuel nozzle designs. Contact Husky at 800-325-3558 to learn more.

In a Word: Husky!

Husky Corporation invited sales representatives to its Pacific, MO headquarters recently for a series of one-on-one sessions about the company's product line and what differentiates those products from others on the market. There were four, two-day sessions held over two weeks for reps from all Husky's brands who sell on behalf of the company. Husky is actually a family of companies that serves customers in the petroleum dispensing and automotive service industries.

The Husky Sales Summit agenda featured peer-driven interactive sessions that included product sales training, new product pipeline/updates, Quality tools discussions, Engineering, collaborative new idea generation and tours of the company's U.S. based manufacturing operations. The sessions were attended by nearly 100 people who take the word about the company's product line straight to customers themselves. There is a 'photo gallery' of more pictures on the Husky Corporation Facebook page if you want to check it out.

We also took the opportunity to ask for a quick comment from each of the reps that sums up what Husky Corporation means to them. And when we had finished, we were amazed at the variety of answers. Here's a sample.

Thanks so much to all the distributors and reps for not only stepping in front of a camera to offer their thoughts, but also for taking their extremely valuable time to visit Husky and see first-hand what inspired those comments in the first place! Husky wouldn't be where it is today without the support of our partners, employees and customers!

Husky was founded in 1947 with headquarters and production facilities in the metro St. Louis area at Pacific, Missouri. The company offers General Fueling Products including a complete line of dispensing nozzles, swivels, Safe-T-Breaks®, hoses and related accessories for fuel delivery systems. Husky Corporation operating divisions include BJE Oil and Lube products, Hewitt Aviation Fueling Products, S.U.R.&R. fluid line repair solutions, and Oil Baron Oil and Grease Stain Remover. Additionally, the company offers Benecor DEF Dispensing and Storage systems, Enevo Logistics Optimization systems and Roman Seliger Liquid Loading Arms.

Why G.G. Sutcliffe invested in American manufacturing (St. Louis Business Journal Video)

The St. Louis Business Journal conducted this video interview with company president G.G. Sutcliffe in conjunction with a feature article that appeared in the publication December 7, 2018 (it was online December 5). St. Louis Character: Husky's G.G. Sutcliffe Lives with Gusto is available at this link: http://bizj.us/1prsf2

The video interview with another article that accompanies it available at this link: https://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/news/2018/12/17/watch-why-g-g-sutcliffe-invested-in-american.html

One of the most interesting excerpts from the article is this: "All of our competitors were going to China back in the early '90s,” he said. “What I realized was that we did not have good manufacturing process control here in St. Louis, and if we didn’t have it here in St. Louis, we sure as hell couldn’t get it done 6,000 or 10,000 miles away.” At that point, Sutcliffe began investing in American manufacturing, and today it has really paid off for the company as it nears $50 million in revenue. Sutcliffe said the company works diligently on being responsive to its customers' needs, and the only way to do that is by staying in the region.

Thanks to the St. Louis Business Journal for their interest in Husky Corporation and in G.G. We think the entire staff did a wonderful job relating the many interesting facets of this story!

St. Louis Business Journal: Husky’s G.G. Sutcliffe Lives with Gusto

How's this for starters?

"Before he was 25, Sutcliffe, who goes by G.G., got kicked out of two colleges, worked at a ski lodge in Switzerland, traveled to Greece, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, talked his way into Officers Candidate School and a rank of second lieutenant by claiming to speak French, German and Arabic (in truth, he knew enough to curse and order a beer), and served in U.S. special operations in Laos and Vietnam, with fierce fighting and heavy troop loss in Khe Sanh."

That's the beginning of a St. Louis Character story on Husky Corporation's president, which appeared in the St. Louis Business Journal. We are offering a link to the entire article here, as usually a subscription is needed for this publication. Here are a few pictures of the photo shoot by the publication. They also recorded a few video comments, which we will share when available.

We  hope you find this article as interesting as we did. One quote about G.G. Sutcliffe we found particularly insightful is this: “He’s smart as a whip, persistent, innovative and fearless, as anyone who has competed with him in business or sport knows.”


 
 

Black Knight and Red Fox: Cleared for Outdoor Duty

Ingress Protection testing is the process associated with determining the level of protection an enclosure provides against the elements. These intrusions can be many things including water, dust and other foreign objects. The IP Code, also known as the International Protection Marking, rates the degree of protection an enclosure provides. The IP Code has two digits. The first digit identifies the level of  protection from solid particles and the second digit indicates how much protection is provided against liquids.

Recently, a regulatory compliance lab completed Ingress Protection testing for two popular BJE liquid level gauges: Black Knight and Red Fox. Both of the units earned the rating IP53, certifying the internal mechanisms of these gauges are protected from dust and sprayed water. That means both of these gauges are now cleared for use in outdoor applications.

“The tests revealed no water entered the housing of Black Knight or Red Fox units when sprayed at angles up to 60 degrees, like that of a sustained rain storm,” said BJE Project Engineer Paul Pitney. “After eight hours of ‘dust storm’ exposure testing, the Black Knight experienced minimal dust incursion. It was significantly less than the IP standard allows and definitely not enough to interfere with the Black Knight’s operation.”

Recent design modifications fully enclosed the mechanism housing for both gauges. BJE engineers submitted the redesigned units for Ingress Protection testing to verify atmospheric elements like dust or rain would not interfere with their operation. The Black Knight mechanically measures decreases in levels of oil, waste oil, diesel fuel, antifreeze and other fluids with a high flash point in tanks up to 99 inches deep. The Red Fox keeps track of tanks with similar liquids when they are being filled up.

Contact a BJE customer service representative to learn more about the recently enhanced BJE Black Knight and Red Fox gauges at 800-325-3558.

One Million Views: Husky Corporation "How Nozzles Work" Youtube Video

Husky Corporation President Grenville Sutcliffe has devoted his career to growing and enhancing the business his parents started in 1947. The company has many innovations in the petroleum dispensing industry that consistently improve customer safety while also enhancing the fueling experience as much as possible.

He is also a great storyteller. A few years ago the company produced a short video with Mr. Sutcliffe explaining how fuel nozzles know when to automatically shut-off. In August 2018, the video had been viewed more than one million times.

 

Husky Corporation President Grenville Sutcliffe explains how gasoline fueling nozzles operate. He also explains many of safety features that Husky builds into fueling nozzles.

Thanks to the Internet's capacity to make certain things "go viral" Mr. Sutcliffe's explanation of how fuel nozzles evolved over time, using cut-away models as a visual aid, has proven more popular than could have been imagined. 

And thanks to Mr. Sutcliffe, we all now understand the intricate nature of an invention every motorist who fills up their fuel tank encounters!

Husky Corporation Names New Regional Sales Managers

Customer Loyalty is one of Husky Corporation's five key pillars. Along with Safety, Quality, Team Building and Productivity, Husky places a special emphasis on meeting and exceeding customer expectations. That includes impeccable customer service along with providing new and innovative products in a timely manner.

As further evidence of that emphasis, Husky has named two new regional sales managers to customers and key manufacturer's representatives on behalf of the company and its affiliated brands.

Anthony (Tony) Aumiller was named East Coast Sales Manager; responsible for managing business development and customer relationships within an 18-state region and for six manufacturer’s representative agencies. Aumiller brings 14 years of executive management and sales experience to Husky, after serving most recently as Sales and Service Representative for Cintas Corporation in Philadelphia. He received a bachelor’s degree from Ursinus College, in Collegeville Pennsylvania. Mr. Aumiller presently resides in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

Tony Aumiller Names Husky Corporation East Coast Sales Manager

Raymond (Ray) Dugan Regional was named Sales Manager for the Central Great Lakes and Eastern Canada; responsible for managing business development and customer relationships in nine states, four provinces, and for six manufacturer’s representative agencies. Mr. Dugan brings 25 years of management and business development experience to Husky after serving most recently as Director of Sales and Marketing for Colossal Health, a national pharmacy supply distributor. He received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and Marketing from West Virginia University.

Ray Dugan Named Husky Corporation Regional Sales Manager for the Central Great Lakes and Eastern Canada

“Adding these new sales professionals to the Husky organization places an enhanced level of focus on our sales force,” said Grenny Sutcliffe, Husky Corporation Vice President of Sales. “I look forward to having a person with Tony’s enthusiasm on our team. The same is true with Ray, who brings experience and drive.”

Husky is a leading manufacturer of products for the fuel dispensing industry which also has operating divisions in related industries including lube and oil products, hydrocarbon cleaning solutions, aviation fueling, and the automotive aftermarket. In addition, Husky maintains strategic relationships with firms that offer diesel exhaust fueling solutions, logistics optimization and liquid loading arms.