News release
6 December, 2002

Bathers rely on BigHead fasteners

Four stainless steel BigHead fasteners are being used to provide a simple discreet corrosion-proof method of attaching suckers to the Mangar handy bather, a portable powered bathlift for domestic and nursing care use.

The BigHead fasteners are encapsulated in polyurethane and ultrasonically bonded onto polyurethane coated flexible materials and then welded to the under surface of the fabric of the bather to which four suckers are attached. Each sucker has a holding force of up to 50k which makes the bather completely stable.

Founder, Ken Stanley says: “The concept used in the bathers is also ideal for boats. The metal head of each BigHead fastening is perforated and can be bonded into plastic materials. Plastics flow through the holes and ‘key’ them permanently in position. It’s the perfect product for this kind of application as it is reliable, lasts for ever and cannot be seen or felt by the user.”

For the past 35 years BigHead Bonding Fasteners has been providing invisible fastenings for a huge range of industries in the UK and overseas. They are used mainly in the plastics industry to provide strong, load-distributing anchorages which enable components to be joined together easily. BigHead fasteners are used in almost every conceivable structure including Madame Tussaud’s wax models, sewerage treatment tanks, high speed locomotives and tailgates for pickup trucks.

Mangar International, manufacturers of the Handy Bather launched the world’s first portable powered bathlift. The company has developed both mobile products and a range of portable lightweight pneumatic lifting aids to facilitate the moving, handling and transfer of people in their everyday lives. The Handy Bather is the latest, lightest and most innovative of their structured pneumatic lifting aids. It deflates completely flat allowing the user to lie down naturally in the bath and can be folded to form a compact bundle for discreet storage and carriage.