After less than 2 years from its initial filing, the invention named eQTB™ (eps Quality Tool Box) has successfully obtained its patent from the European Patent Office.
Milan, January 15th 2020
The eQTB™ is an innovative mechanical device composed of four separate units (screw, microscope, humidity and fusion box) with the intent to obtain, in a fast and reliable way, an index of conformity of the physical and mechanical properties of foamed materials, in particular of expanded sintered polystyrene.
The four modules employed are meant to detect: mechanical properties (screw test), particle expansion and void/pore analysis (microscopy), bulk water percentage (humidity) and bulk particle sinterisation (fusion test).
The measurements obtained by the different measurements contribute to the definition of a unique, positive or negative index, on whether the sample of foamed material matches desired properties, also as a function of external physical, chemical and mechanical parameters.
The invention, funded by EUMEPS, with the support of AIPE has been developed by NovaRes, a research and innovation company in the field of Material Science, born as a University spin off of UPO (University of Eastern Piedmont).
The Quality Standards Tool Box will be available on the market from March 2020, in the version 2.0.
The use of the Trade Mark as been granted from NovaRes to EUMEPS on February 18th 2020.