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Data by Carlos da Fonte
Pneumatic instant fittings (PIF) are such a kind of product. They were invented forty years ago, providing an easier and faster low-pressure compressed air tubing connection, without any significant quality loss. The innovation was quite successful and most manufacturers in the field have been adopting it since then.
There are a number of aspects in PIF that merit our attention as a hybrid result of Engineering and Industrial Design interaction. Marketing affects both, even if only taking into account a few essential aspects. Ergonomics, visual coding, modularity, range and packaging go along with cost, physical properties, tolerances, manufacturing, quality control or product reliability. We tried to describe the main interactions within both design approaches and compare it with various technical specifications and allegations.
Functionality issues in the PIF products family are normally left to engineers. Formal aspects sometimes result from function or manufacturing, without further change, but frequently deburring, polishing or other surface treatments are used for the visible surfaces. It was interesting to learn, nevertheless, that aspects other than strict function or data can play an important role in the conception of technical goods. We proposed to call product clothing all the sensorial characteristics, apart from functional and informational capabilities, able to influence the end-user behavior.
As a result we expect to contribute with a better understanding of the industrial designer tasks in the largely unexplored field of technical products innovation, encouraged by a powerful and qualified competing environment.
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