Musician strikes right note with his quick-lock fasteners: Joachim Fiedler named European Inventor Award 2022 finalist
- German inventor Joachim Fiedler nominated for European Patent Office (EPO) prize for his unique fasteners that combine magnets with mechanical locking
- Fiedler's fasteners have two unique ends that snap together securely and can be easily opened with one hand
- His fasteners are now used in a wide range of products, from bike helmets and bag and shoe closures to chest strap clips for child car seats
- Daily challenges and patents are a primary source of inspiration for new inventions
Munich, 17 May 2022 - The European Patent Office (EPO) announces that German inventor and cellist Joachim Fiedler has been nominated for the European Inventor Award 2022 for developing unique fasteners that combine magnets with a mechanical locking mechanism and can be easily opened with one hand.
It all started with the need to store and access a cello bow with one hand, while holding the instrument in the other, that triggered Fiedler to invent his first one-handed fastener. Today, his magnetic-mechanical fasteners are frequently used to solve every-day fastening problems in a large number of products, ranging from bag and shoe closures to motorcycle helmet buckles that can even withstand high static loads. Fiedler's fasteners are in particular demand from the bicycle industry where they are used in easy-to-open helmet buckles, and attachments for securing water bottles and phones to bikes.
"Joachim Fiedler is a prolific inventor whose ingenuity in solving a seemingly simple problem in his own life has led to a highly successful growing business," says EPO President António Campinos, announcing the European Inventor Award 2022 finalists. "His fasteners are used worldwide and there is high demand for new smart solutions, leading Fiedler and his team to constantly innovate and grow their IP portfolio."
Fiedler is one of four finalists in the "SMEs" category, which recognises exceptional inventors in small companies with fewer than 250 employees and an annual turnover of less than EUR 50 million. The winners of the 2022 edition of the EPO's European Inventor Award will be announced at a virtual ceremony on 21 June.
A twist to solve everyday fastening problems
A former professional cellist, Fiedler today is a serial inventor who developed his first idea when he was 16 years old: a strap system to carry his instrument on his back so that he could ride his bicycle to music lessons. He developed his first fastener, a magnetic bow clamp with mechanical locking that can easily be opened and closed with one hand, to overcome the impractical design of the bow holder in his cello case. Older cases used a stud as a locking mechanism which could be opened with one hand, but required two hands to close. These early ideas sparked his passion for his future life as an inventor.
In 2003, Fiedler gave up his career as a full-time cellist to focus on entrepreneurial activities. He patented his magnetic bow holder the following year and in 2007 founded his company, Fidlock, to further develop and commercialise fasteners. He hired a team of engineers and product designers to help him devise new products. Today, each type of fastener is opened by a specific motion, such as rotating, sliding, or twisting the attached parts. This changes the position of the magnets so that they repel each other, or at least have reduced magnetic attraction, and the two ends can easily be separated with one hand - a quintessential feature of Fiedler's fasteners.
"The first problem was to design a closing device that can be operated with one hand, locking and opening comfortably," he says. "This is always the challenge for anything with Fidlock. It's kind of a DNA."
The musician-cum-inventor admits that he is motivated by the positive reactions he gets when people try out his fasteners and find them fun and easy to use. The fasteners today are found in countless products serving a wide range of uses, including in camping equipment, to secure items in aeroplane kitchens, medical technology products, orthotics, workwear, sport and outdoor products, and as secondary child safety buckles in car seats and strollers. Camera and mobile phone attachments are a growing market, although Fiedler says the company sees the biggest potential for growth in the bicycle market, where the COVID-19 pandemic and greater environmental awareness are driving demand. "This is where we will concentrate with innovation and creating new products," he says.
Expanding fastener use
Fiedler's fasteners are tailored to their applications. The company's "mini turn" circular fastener is opened with half a turn and is well-suited to securing bag flaps, while their slider buckles used in rucksacks and footwear have two ends that slide apart and can be separated with a single hand. Sometimes new designs are inspired by a particular problem, such as the hook motorbike helmet buckle that has been designed to withstand static loads of 200kg. However, Fiedler says he often gets inspired by writing and drawing sketches for patents. When he was writing his patent application for the mini turn, for example, he started by considering different types of motions that could be made to open it, and eventually came up with the idea of a slide-to-open buckle.
For Fiedler, patenting his inventions is not only critical to his commercial success, but also for developing his technical know-how: "For us, writing a patent is an important point of inspiration to dig deeper into the principles," he says. "Then, often, there's a new mixture of the principles and you get new inventions and new products." Fidlock commands a growing patent portfolio, comprising 64 published patent families containing hundreds of individual patents in over ten countries.
Four years after its founding, Fidlock had sold one million fasteners of different types. It now has a catalogue of 176 products and reached revenues of EUR 28 million in 2021 alone. While the company sells its products internationally, Germany remains its strongest market, followed by the United States and the rest of Europe. Fidlock sales in China are on the rise following the company's decision to establish a subsidiary there in 2020.
Fidlock primarily sells fasteners to other companies for use in their products, sometimes producing bespoke fasteners if required. However, five years ago, the company began to sell store-ready items that incorporate their fasteners, such as bicycle bottles, saddle bags, mobile phone holders and drybags. This is a growing arm of the business and the company aims to earn 50% of its revenues from products sold directly to consumers within three years.
Notes to the editor
About the inventor
Joachim Fiedler was born 1967 in Kassel, Germany. He studied at the University of the Arts in Berlin and worked as a professional cellist in several orchestras and ensembles. He patented his first fastener - a magnetic bow clamp - in 2004, and in 2007 founded Fidlock GmbH to further develop magnetic-mechanical fasteners. He has been a managing partner since the company's inception and established a Chinese subsidiary of the company in 2020. He currently lives with his wife and two children in Hannover, where the company is headquartered.
Fiedler is named as inventor of European patents: EP2040572B1 (granted 2012), EP2389084B1 (granted 2017), EP2782468B1 (granted 2016), EP2833754B1 (granted 2016), EP2825075B1 (granted 2016).
About the European Inventor Award
The European Inventor Award is one of Europe's most prestigious innovation prizes. Launched by the EPO in 2006, the award honours individuals and teams' solutions to some of the biggest challenges of our times. The finalists and winners are selected by an independent jury comprising former Award finalists. Together, they examine the proposals for their contribution towards technical progress, social and sustainable development and economic prosperity. The EPO will confer the Award in four categories (Industry, Research, SMEs and Non-EPO countries), as well as announcing a Lifetime achievement award at a virtual ceremony on 21 June. In addition, the public selects the Popular Prize winner from the 13 finalists by voting on the EPO website in the run-up to the ceremony. Voting is open until 21 June 2022. Read more on the European Inventor Award eligibility and selection criteria.
This year, for the first time, the EPO will also award bright young minds with the Young Inventors prize. The new prize offers a monetary reward to the three finalists to further encourage them to find creative solutions to pressing sustainable development challenges.
About the EPO
With 6 400 staff, the European Patent Office (EPO) is one of the largest public service institutions in Europe. Headquartered in Munich with offices in Berlin, Brussels, The Hague and Vienna, the EPO was founded with the aim of strengthening co-operation on patents in Europe. Through the EPO's centralised patent granting procedure, inventors are able to obtain high-quality patent protection in up to 44 countries, covering a market of some 700 million people. The EPO is also the world's leading authority in patent information and patent searching.
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