Electrical News

Nortech Control Systems' new NortimePro is a unique access control system particularly suited to applications that require parking to be controlled and limited by time and date such as in hotel, railway and similar situations. Cards are encoded at a reception point and subsequently used to gain access to and from a parking area. The cards can be validated for a pre-determined period during which they will normally be returned to the user and after which they can be retained allowing them to be reused.

NortimePro features two primary components, the encoder and the reader/controller. The encoder is a self-contained unit normally sited in an easily accessible place that would be permanently manned such as an hotel reception desk. The reader is supplied with a dedicated controller and power supply normally housed in a control reader housing. The system is made cost-effective as the two components do not need to be physically connected together cutting down on installation costs and simplifying expansion of the system at a later date as required. The units are synchronized together by time and date. Furthermore, there is no limit to the numbers of readers/encoders that may be used on any site as distance between them is not an issue.

When it came to the design of the encoder, Nortech Control Systems required a housing that would be sufficiently smart to be used in exclusive hotel reception areas and turned to customDesignTechnologies, a company with many years experience in design and integration of such systems.

Alan Dimery, Nortech Control Systems' operations manager comments, "We needed to house the encoder in an enclosure that would look smart enough for use in hotel reception areas but at the same time we weren't looking at a high volume production run that would make a custom molded enclosure a practical proposition."

He continued, "customDesignTechnologies offered the ideal mix of custom design without the tooling costs involved in injection molding. cDT were also able to handle our requirement for producing a stylish membrane keypad so we decided to hand over the entire design to their team. The results speak for themselves with a smart and robust enclosure and custom designed membrane keypad providing an interface that is easy to use."

"From our point of view, this project went very smoothly as we were able to give the basic system parts to cDT with an explanation of how we wanted them and they came up with the design of the enclosure and membrane keypad." he continued. "Prototypes were supplied in a very short time - around a month - and any modifications, such as adding stylish grooves to the enclosure were made with little or no additional expense. Once the design had been approved, units were manufactured and delivered very quickly indeed."

"All in all, a very satisfactory outcome for us as we only had to deal with one company for the entire project," he concluded.

Based in Oxfordshire and with more than 15 years experience of providing custom solutions for customers in the electronics industry, customDesignTechnologies encompasses Bafbox custom enclosures, customKeypads membrane switch panels and customAssembly for cost-effective and flexible electronic and mechanical assembly services for companies looking to out-source manufacturing.

For more information, please contact: customDesignTechnologies Limited, Greatworth Park, Greatworth, Banbury, Oxfordshire OX17 2HB, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1295 762100, Fax: +44 (0)1295 768888, Web site: http://www.customDesignTechnologies.com

Information on Nortech Control Systems from: Nortech Control Systems Ltd, 42 Llantarnam Industrial Park, Cwmbran, Gwent, NP44 3AW, UK. Tel: +44 (0)1633 485533, Fax +44 (0)1633 485666.

Press enquiries to: Tim Jennings, Marshall Jennings PR Limited, Wyvols Court, Swallowfield, Reading, Berkshire, RG7 1WY, UK. Tel: +44 (0)118 988 0288, Fax: +44 (0)118 988 0388. Web site: http://www.mjpr.com