Blum are one of only three shortlisted for the highly prestigious European Inventor Award 2013 as featured by global TV network CNN. The product chosen is Blum’s unique CLIPtop Blumotion concealed hinge for cabinet doors, which ensures soft, silent closing.
The CLIPtop Blumotion is a remarkable feat of micro-engineering design by Blum’s Claus Haemmerle and Klaus Bruestle where the entire Blumotion mechanism is contained within the hinge boss. Furthermore the feature can be de-activated on individual hinges where the doors concerned are particularly small or light.
CNN reported on the nomination on their website with the following text under the title ‘Silent kitchen and cabinet doors’: “Modern day kitchen spaces are sleek, minimalist, stylish – and, as of late, very quiet. The sound of slamming cabinet doors giving plates and dishes a loud rattle is a thing of the past thanks to the ingenious ‘Blumotion’ damper system conceived by Austrian inventors Claus Haemmerle and Klaus Bruestle in 2001. Blumotion was recently featured on CNN’s “Make, Create, Innovate.
“Marketed in almost 100 countries by Austrian kitchen hardware manufacturer Blum, the small damper system slows the momentum of forcefully closed drawers and cabinet doors before impact. Similar to automobile suspension it absorbs energy via a piston inside a pressure tube filled with hydraulic liquid. Instead of a bang the only noise is a soft ‘swish’.
“Since its release the slow close hinge has caused a loud roar on the €126 billion per year European furniture market – and beyond. Powered by Blumotion the Blum company’s earnings skyrocketed to €1.26 billion per year, accounting for 12% of the European kitchen furniture market. Quite impressive!”
