Locher, Piper & Partner are now a public limited company: Locher, Piper & Partner AG

The founders, François Locher, Marian Piper and Matthias Günthart, together with engineer Michael Jonischkeit, tested the second functional prototype of the WEELIFT with wheelchair users and Daniel Hübner, the managing director of RehaBund Berlin, where the tests took place.

The prototype worked excellently, and everyone was enthusiastic about the product!

Please have a look to our video.

A patent application for the WEELIFT technology has been filed as of today. This means that the technology is now protected internationally.

With the new technology of the retrofittable height-adjustable seat for wheelchairs, the product also gets a new name: LIFTBOY becomes WEELIFT. WEELIFT – we lift your life up!

The founders François Locher, Marian Piper and Matthias Günthart, and engineer Michael Jonischkeit tested the first functional prototype of the new LIFTBOY technology in Rosenheim. The result? The technology works! The engineers are confident that they can overcome any technical problems.

Our patent attorney, Hans-Martin Niederer, conducted extensive international patent research to determine whether the new LIFTBOY technology concept is patentable. The result: there are no existing patents that could prevent it from being patented. The new technology concept is both novel and inventive.

Our engineer Michael Jonischkeit has come up with a way to develop the LIFTBOY in a simpler, more cost-effective manner. Rather than being a seat adapter that has to be removed to fold the wheelchair, it would be a permanently installed system that can be folded together with the wheelchair.

For the further development of the LIFTBOY we were able to win over Michael Jonischkeit, a long-standing and highly regarded colleague of our high-end engineer Dr Roland Schröder. Michael specialises in plastics technology, the development of parts and assemblies, and injection moulding. He lives in Rosenheim near Munich where he has his own workshop with extensive equipment including several 3D printers, a thermoforming machine and a laser cutter.

Brian has been diagnosed with spina bifida and degenerative muscular atrophy, a genetic condition that affects the nerves and leaves him 87% dependent.

He is an internationally known actor, youtuber and streamer. He was nominated for the Goya Award for Best New Actor for his role in the film Campeonex. He has nearly 3 million followers on social media.

On 25 and 26 September,  Founder François Locher and Sales Manager Marc Nachtergaele will be present at the REHACARE trade fair in Düsseldorf.

The Swiss news portal nau.ch published an article about QIUNO:

Startup QIUNO: Der Evolutionssprung des Kinderwagens – made by Papa

The net capital raised through CONDA crowdfinancing made it possible for us to develop the chassis of the QIUNO stroller towards series production.

We were able to ensure payment of the patent costs.

At the “KIND+JUGEND” trade fair in Cologne, the founder Marian Piper and the sales manager Marc Nachtergaele made promising contacts with stroller manufacturers.

We are in discussions about a collaboration with Isoco GmbH (https://isoco.de/), a specialist in high-performance injection molding carbon composite materials made from 100% recycled and recyclable material. The chassis of the stroller is currently to be made from this material: minimal weight, high stability, maximum environmental friendliness as it is 100% recycled and recyclable.

Based on the stroller's patent-pending lift technology, we are developing the world's first adapter for height adjustment of wheelchairs. At the "REHACARE" trade fair in Dusseldorf we received great interest from wheelchair manufacturers and medical supply stores, and also from wheelchair users, as we have found in an on-site survey, among other surveys we made.

Such an adapter will be developed much faster and much more cost-effectively than the stroller. We expect to be able to generate initial sales and profits much earlier with this new product, which will benefit the stroller project.

Our engineer Roland Schröder has worked out precise cost calculations for the development of the stroller until it is ready for series production, on the basis of which we will acquire the necessary investment funds.

Founder Marian Piper and Sales Manager Marc Nachtergaele visited the REHACARE trade fair in Dusseldorf. With our new product LIFTBOY, we were receiving great interest from wheelchair manufacturers and medical supply stores.

We conducted a large on-site survey among the wheelchair users of visitors to the trade fair. Almost everyone said they would be interested in purchasing a LIFTBOY as soon as it was available for purchase.

Founder Marian Piper and Sales Manager Marc Nachtergaele visited the Kind + Jugend fair in Cologne. We sawthat there is still little real innovation in the industry.

Based on the stroller's patent-pending lift technology, we are developing the world's first adapter for height adjustment of wheelchairs.

Such an adapter can be developed much more quickly and at a much lower cost than the stroller. We expect to be able to generate initial sales and profits much earlier with this new product, which will benefit the stroller project.

With the loans from our supporters, we will continue to develop QIUNO towards market maturity.

We have exceeded the funding threshold of 50,000 euros in prefunding!

We invite you to become part of our success story!

Become a QIUNO investor by March 1, 2023.

Join us at:

https://www.conda.ch/kampagne/qiuno-funding/

Get QIUNO on the road and take part in the success!

Ee will increase our capital with a crowd financing campaign on CONDA.ch.

From January 4th to 16th we are offering our investors a base interest rate of 7% instead of 5%!

If QIUNO is as successful as we expect, we will also offer a bonus interest rate of over 27% annually!

Join us at:

https://www.conda.ch/kampagne/lpp-prefunding/

On August 30th, 2022, Dr.-Ing. Roland Schröder presented in Berlin the finished prototype to our team (Marian Piper, François Locher and Matthias Günthart). When testing the prototype, we were particularly impressed by the good handling of the stroller and the ultra-compact size when folded.

Our sales manager Marc Nachtergaele will show the prototype to selected retailers on the "Kind und Jugend" trade fair on September 9th and 10th in Cologne.

On June 6th, 2022, Dr.-Ing. Roland Schröder presented in Berlin the nearly finished prototype to our team (Marian Piper, François Locher, Matthias Günthart and sales manager Marc Nachtergaele). When testing the prototype, we were particularly impressed by the good handling of the stroller and the ultra-compact size when folded.

By August, Dr.-Ing. Roland Schröder will improve some minor mechanical issues. He will then show us in Berlin the finished prototype of the chassis.

We are pleased that we were able to bring Marc Nachtergaele on board. Marc Nachtergaele was almost entirely responsible for the launch, development and economic success of the premium pram brand JOOLZ in Europe (DE, AT, CH and BELUX).

He previously worked as a freelance sales manager for the Swedish pram company BRIO BABY AB (DE, AT, CH and BELUX) and until recently as a freelance area sales manager for KIDDY (BELUX).

He is a highly skilled expert within the baby hardware industry and continues to maintain an extensive network of professional and personal relationships.

Locher, Piper & Partner GmbH commissioned the Hamburg-based engineering office Kraftfluss Engineering GmbH & Co. KG with the construction of the functional prototype of the chassis.

On the weekend of October 23rd and 24th, 2021, we had a very intensive and productive workshop with engineer Christian Ladda in Berlin for the kickoff of the project:

   - Working out the requirement for the product, with prioritization

   - Definition of the system functions

   - Update and expansion of the specifications

Based on our previous functional models, we were able to prove again that our patent pending technology works:

   - Elevator

   - Automatic opening and closing of the chassis at the push of a button, purely mechanical, completely without electrical components

Based on our design model, we were able to understand that the handling of the stroller will be easy and practical.

The completion of the functional prototype is planned for the end of March 2022, the cost estimate is approx. 55 k€ net.

Mr. Rodrigues, our very talented engineering bachelor student from FHNW, has completed the energy assessment of the entire stroller.

We asked: will the stroller chassis - with purely mechanical energy coupling with the lift - open and close automatically and steadily at the push of a button?

The result: the basic patent-pending concept of the stroller works!

Mr. Rodrigues has already built a prototype of the chassis, which works in initial tests in principle. This functional prototype is currently being updated according to the latest physical findings and extended to include the automatic lift. We are confident that we will overcome the last remaining minor technical hurdles.

If everything goes according to schedule, the functional model will be presented on April 28, 2021 with the following feature:

The chassis opens and closes automatically at the push of a button, with purely mechanical energy coupling with the lift.

Concurrently, our product designer François Locher is using SolidWorks to develop a 3D CAD model of the stroller, into which we will implement the mechanics of the automatic opening and closing of the chassis. The CAD model will be the basis for the construction of our second prototype, a functional design prototype, that we expect to produce using the 3D printing process.

Today, we received the PCT International Search Report of the European Patent Office. The examiner is of the opinion that over half of our claims will be permissible! This is an extremely positive result!

By 4th of September 2021 at the latest, we will apply for the PCT International Search and Preliminary Examination at the European Patent Office, which will be carried out by the same examiner. Until then, we will formulate further claims through which we will obtain crucial and probably almost complete patent protection of our invention!

We are proud that Locher, Piper & Partner GmbH has been approved by SOLIDWORKS for the 3DEXPERIENCE Works for Startups program:

-          12-month accounts of 3DEXPERIENCE Works including SOLIDWORKS for CAD, simulation, visualization, and more

-          Online training

-          Co-marketing

-          Design guidance from SOLIDWORKS engineers and technical managers

-          Hundreds of white papers, videos, and feature articles with tips and tricks on taking a product to the next level

SOLIDWORKS is a solid modelling computer-aided design (CAD) and engineering (CAE) computer program (https://www.solidworks.com/). We will use SOLIDWORKS to design our second functional design prototype.

Our patent law firm WAGNER & GEYER has today filed our patent application for the international phase (PCT application) at the European Patent Office.

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) assists applicants in seeking patent protection internationally for their inventions. By filing one international patent application under the PCT, applicants can simultaneously seek protection for an invention in a large number of countries.

The international phase consists of five stages: the first three steps consist of the filing of the international application by the applicant and its processing by the “receiving Office”, the establishment of the international search report and written opinion by one of the “International Searching Authorities”, and the publication of the international application together with the international search report by the International Bureau of WIPO.

The fourth step includes the establishment of a supplementary international search, which may be carried out by one or more of the International Searching Authorities, resulting in the establishment of a supplementary international search report.

The optional fifth step involves what is known as international preliminary examination, and is concluded with the establishment of the international preliminary report on by one of the “International Preliminary Examining Authorities”.

On completion of the international phase, further action is required before and in each of the national (or regional) Offices which the applicant wishes to grant him a patent on the basis of his international application.

After thorough checks and valuable feedback from our advisors and banking partners, we have finally completed our PITCH DECK. We are looking for a business angel, investors and business partners. Please contact us for more information about our multifunctional stroller QIUNO!

The construction of our first design prototype enters the final phase completing push handle, sun canopy and transport bags.

Mr. Rodrigues will be our new bachelor engineering student at FHNW. He will continue the brilliant development work by Mrs. Bauer on our multifunctional pram QIUNO with us for another year. Welcome!

02/2019: commencement of our cooperation with the Swiss Engineering University FHNW. Our bachelor student Mrs Bauer proves herself to be  a highly talented and motivated engineer. She constructs several technical prototypes regarding the folding and unfolding mechanism of the QIUNO pram that finally complete the initial work on our invention.

06/2019: Engineer Mr. Matthias Günthart, industrial designer François Locher an inventor Marian Piper together set up a Swiss limited company the Locher, Piper and Partner GmbH. The Purpose of the company is the development, design and patenting of appliances for consumption and production. All three partners are also managing directors.

10/2019: Our partner, managing director and graduate industrial designer François Locher begins to construct a design prototype in original size with a reduced basic functionality. Our purpose is to show a life size model with a carrycot bit on top that can be adjusted in height and folded to its original package size. As soon as the prototype is finished, we will do a photo shoot with it in a lifelike environment.

11/2019: After more than 2000 hours of invention, development and engineering labour  to date we finally submit a 43 pages patent application of our QIUNO multifunctional pram ("FOLDABLE DEVICES FOR TRANSPORTING CARGO") to the Swiss Federal Institute of Intellectual Property (IGE).

We will enter the International phase, by  4th of November 2020 the latest, from Switzerland (IGE) to the International Patent System (PCT) at the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).