The results of the annual Red Dot Product Design Awards are in – and Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum has won this prestigious award for the design of the leak detector PHOENIX L500i. Searching for the best performances and excellence in the field of product design, the jury of the Red Dot Award recognized Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum’s efforts for an intelligent and innovative design. The PHOENIX L500i will be presented at the Analytica, 01. – 04. April in Munich, together with the TURBOVACi turbo molecular pump series recently launched at the Pittcon Chicago.
The Red Dot Design Award stands for belonging to the best in design and business and is an international indicator for outstanding design quality on an international level. Thus, the distinction with the Red Dot does not only increase the awareness level of the awarded products, designer of companies, but it is also reflected in the Design Rankings and the evaluation of the design value. The ‘Red Dot Design Award’ is aimed at all those who would like to distinguish themselves through excellent design, which is selected and evaluated by a competent expert jury in the areas of product design, communication design, and design concepts.
“Congratulations to the team of Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum and Christian Bunse, the designer, who developed the PHOENIX L500i award winning design with us,” lauds Dr. Martin Fuellenbach, CEO of Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum. “The jury of the Red Dot Award have voted and recognized Oerlikon Leybold Vacuum’s design performance. As the vacuum market features a multitude of leak detectors from a variety of suppliers, the new design had to deliver special features for additional customer benefit – and not just the technical parameters, which are of course also delivering best-in-class performance.”
Industrial design paired with excellent technology The concept for the design of the PHOENIX L500i leak detector came from the desire to combine the sophistication of a very high tech piece of equipment within an esthetically pleasing and functional appearance. Vacuum leak detection is an integral solution and fully complementary to achieve and maintain the vacuum in technically complex systems by finding potential leaks and thus ensuring vacuum performance. This new leak detector was aimed to distinguish itself from the already existing competitive products.
The smooth aerodynamic lines of the housing provide for a very modern and even futuristic look and feel which is quite different from many competitive products on the market today. The entire unit is compact making it easy to maneuver into tight work spaces thus providing a significant advantage to end users.
The handle itself has been tucked away beneath the top of the housing so that it does not stick out or interfere with the work area around the leak detector while also keeping with the smooth contours of the outer housing. The simplified controls have been optimized and positioned with ergonomic considerations in mind.
The iPad tablet itself can be removed from the console and used as a mobile remote with the same functionality whether it is attached to the unit or not. The user interface ensures an intuitive, secure and simple handling of the leak detector. The technical superiority is reflected in a highly sophisticated, comprehensive and user friendly design.
International benchmark
An internationally jury of 40 experts on design reviewed 4,815 design proposals from 1,816 manufacturers from 53 nations. Only the best project made it to the last round of evaluations and the design for the PHOENIX L5001 made it to a winning position. This award is a proof for setting a benchmark for this newly introduced product within the leak detection application. The innovative user experience combines form and function with technical performance which is able to fulfill the customers’ requirements for present and future industrial use.
