Laskys E-Zine

The Thin Plug is the “UK’s first and only folding plug with non folding live pins”.
We sent a member of Laskys to meet Zihni Yalcin – inventor of the UK folding plug ‘Thin Plug’ and Red Dot Design Award winner,  and ask a few questions about this new invention that could revolutionise products and their packaging.

Zihni Yalcin

AB: How did you get started?

ZY: “Until the mid-90s there was no need to consider making any changes to the standard plug that we have got so used to. After that time and with the proliferation of portable electronic equipment there were different needs to take into account. Having bought laptops before, the plug always got in the way, and often it damaged or scratched the equipment. On one occasion the plug actually cracked my Lap-top screen when I was getting on the tube in London’s rush hour.

The ThinPlug story started around 2006.  I had sold my restaurant not too long before and I found myself with some extra time to myself.  I have a background in electronic engineering and have always worked on projects, mainly for others, though I have always had ideas.  One day I bought a laptop. Holding up a modern piece of technology and contrasting it with the good old sturdy plug that came with it, and not knowing how it could be packed neatly away I became frustrated. I seemed for a moment   to accept that because the plug had not changed ever since I could remember that there had to be a strong reason and I almost stopped thinking and may not have persevered if I had not been overcome by that initial frustration. Another day and in a different mood, who knows?”

AB: What was the main concept for the design? Tell us how you arrived at the design we now know as Thin Plug. What was the journey like?

ZY: “I looked at the plug with fresh eyes and saw a potential design change by creating a folding earth pin and viewing the body as a horizontal object rather than vertical. I spent a few hours making one in the kitchen at home and within a day I was holding a tiny object with a folding pin that worked! Thin Plug was born. I had a feeling about it, but was not completely confident at first.  I contacted my friend Joshua Leff, a solicitor, whose advice to me  when he saw it was to immediately  contact a patent attorney, which I did, having looked at other designs on the internet, nothing compared in design or size and I had some hope that a patent might eventually be granted.

I approached ASTA BEAB who provides safety certification for British Standards to see whether there might be any fundamental objections to designing such a new plug. I knew little about British Standards relating to UK plugs, only that they were bound to be stringent. To my pleasant surprise, the questions that were posed by my design, I found I could resolve and I made some prototypes improving on the plug, whilst not having to change the original simple concept. After those initial meetings with ASTA I realised that Thin Plug had become a real possibility.

The journey has been a long one and sometimes difficult, but not for the obvious reasons.  I prefer to work alone with a few people assisting me and who believe in the process.  If that commitment is not present, then the process becomes laboured and I can lose interest and become frustrated. I have worked on many projects before, but this one has caused me the greatest excitement as well as some of the greatest frustrations.

Designing a concept is one thing, but the journey to get it to a stage where it can be cheaply mass manufactured without sacrificing any safety features is another. We are aiming to bring ThinPlug on the market at a competitive price to the conventional class II UK plug, which in itself creates a great challenge.”

AB: So how is it better than the everyday plugs we have now – what are the main advantages?

ZY: “In short, ThinPlug is as safe as the standard plug with the advantages that it is 3 times smaller, easily portable with no protruding pins in closed position, light, and not bulky, than anything that is now on the market and would still meet British Standards. Indeed there had to be a few modifications made to BS1363 to ensure that the new plug had equivalent safety. This in my view is the project’s main achievement, since British Standards have remained more or less the same for many years and we now have a new supplemental standard published for ThinPlug”

AB: Tell us a bit about the design itself – I see on the site that you’ve got a couple of different versions would you mind talking me through briefly?

ZY: “There are 2 designs because there are 2 separate products; the other is a USB charger for mobile phones!  We have called the other product ThinCharger and it is now on the market. It is based on the same idea as ThinPlug but the body shape is slightly different to take into account the micro electronic parts and of course there is no need for a fuse. We have also designed unique micro adapters to go with our products for international travellers which we have called ThinAdapter.”

AB: Who do you see using the Thin Plug?

ZY: “ThinPlug is designed for users of Class II appliances. In other words users of portable electronic equipment such as laptops, MP3 and MP4 players digital cameras and camcorders. Anyone who travels can pack away a ThinPlug easily and even carry it in a pocket since the size and weight feels no heavier than a car key. In short, I cannot think of a single person over 10 and under 100 who would not benefit!”

AB: Is it only aimed at technical people is it something for everybody?

“Neither ThinPlug or ThinCharger   do I view as “gadgets”.  They are a necessary accessory to all portable electronic equipment. They are just more practical to existing designs.

I see no point to change plugs for fridges, TVs or dishwashers since they are usually permanently positioned and require earthing.”

AB: What kinds of challenges did you face?  I can imagine you would have had to pass some safety compliance tests and so on. So tell us about that.

ZY: “I have partly answered you, but I’d like to add a small point. ThinPlug came about without any real knowledge about British Standard 1363. I instinctively understood that my design would be safe. Had I been shown BS1363, which is a thick tome, I may never have advanced idea!  ThinPlug has passed most of the safety tests. There was one reservation about the material we propose using for the ISOD which will now have to be changed to comply fully. Otherwise the product is ready.”

AB: So have you had any interest from any corporates? Tell us about that.

ZY: “We are in discussions with a major distributor and that is as much that I am going to say for the moment. If you are interested as well we are open for business!?”

AB: Any ideas when you plan to launch Thin Plug?

ZY: “We hope this year.”

AB: Have you heard of Min-Kyu Choi? He won the 2010 British Insurance Design of the Year Award for creating another type of flat-pack plug – Skinny plug.  How do you feel about that? Do you see it as competition? Tell us how Thin Plug is better?

ZY: “Yes I have heard about the recent award given to Min Kyu Choi for his design.  I have been aware of his design since last July 2009, just after we picked up our Red Dot award in June! I do not wish to make more comment than has already been made by others other than to say that the reception given to a new idea for a plug above all other designs confirms my belief in the fact that the standard plug will change. It is of course not quite the first: Slimplug was in fact the first commercially viable product that has been on the market since August 2006. Unfortunately that design is bulky though the inventor did resolve the problem of protruding pins and it is a safe product.

The essential difference between ThinPlug and all other plug ideas is that ThinPlug has no moving or folding live pins.

Folding or moving live pins, in my opinion could create problems over time. This was in fact my starting point: How can one design a folding plug without folding the live pins?”

AB: Tell us about winning the Red Dot Design Award. How did that feel.  What has that meant for you as an inventor?

ZY: “I was surprised to be a winner. The Red Dot award is really an exceptional award and the biggest internationally with several thousands entering each year. My product, which was a British Design alongside the biggest names of Nokia, Sony, Apple and many others showed how necessary it is for British designers and inventors to push their ideas forward and to raise the level of awareness and importance of our only true resource: its people. I do have a dream to establish an educational centre of learning to encourage young inventors to produce worthy ideas for the future.”

Expect to see Zihni’s Thin Plug being added to products within the year.
You can find out more about the Thin Plug here: http://www.thinplug.com/