Injury rates of children on traditional backyard trampolines highlighted a serious design flaw in the steel spring component – a fiberglass composite component provided the solution.

The Challenge

The idea to replace traditional steel springs with pultruded composite rods to create a safer trampoline was the brainchild of Canterbury University professor and inventor, Keith Alexander. Making that idea a reality was our domain. “There must be nothing there for a kid to bang into and hurt themselves because kids are going to be kids and do their craziest,” said Professor Keith Alexander, inventor.

Our Solution

In collaboration with our client, we developed high-performance rods to be used in place of traditional steel springs in a revolutionary trampoline that provides optimal safety and outstanding performance. 

Specifications

Composite Profile and Add-on:

  • Round pultruded GFRP rod teamed with an over-molded ball.

Displaces:

  • Steel

Innovation:

  • A modified proprietary resin was formulated with tight quality control parameters.
  • Increasing flex and fatigue resistance.
  • Designed and developed a new finishing technology that molded the polypropylene ball directly onto the end of the rod at high speed and low cost. The pull-off strength with this process was improved by 20 times.
  • Customized quality testing method to withstand 10 million bounces over 15 years, under extremely high loading and creep stress fatigue conditions.
  • Mass production using advanced finishing technology for an overall improvement in life-cycle and performance.

The Global Success Story

Keith Alexander successfully utilized pultrusion technology to develop an incredibly resilient trampoline, capable of withstanding even the most extreme weather conditions in backyards across the globe.

20 years on, the trampolines are still the ‘world’s safest trampoline’ and are sold worldwide including in the highly litigious North American recreation market. We continue to make further composite improvements, increasing manufacturing efficiencies and quality to provide our OEM partner with an even greater competitive edge.