Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Angus firm begins production of kit to help Covid-19 battle

Items made by Carnoustie based firm The Altered State in the fight against Covid-19.
Items made by Carnoustie based firm The Altered State in the fight against Covid-19.

An Angus laser cutting and engraving firm has begun to manufacture hands-free door openers and clips to make wearing surgical masks more comfortable.

The Altered State, based in Carnoustie, offers a range of services from design and customisation, to small volume manufacturing.

However, the company has now turned its skills to producing equipment for use in the battle against Covid-19.

Company owner Ross Cameron said the door-opening device was designed by a team of engineers at Sunderland University’s Automotive and Manufacturing Advanced Practice.

The tool, designed to be attached to a lanyard, allows people to open doors without touching the door handle, reducing the risk of infection.

Mr Cameron said: “Transmission could still occur via surface contact but these are made from acrylic plastic so can be washed in hot soapy water or wiped with an antibacterial wipe.

“However it shouldn’t need cleaning every time as the contact surface is minimal.

“If there is still a shortage of antibacterial wipes then this helps reduce the quantity required.”

The door-opening devices are being sold at the cost price of £1.50, which covers laser time, and where possible the material used is from offcuts already held by the firm.

Mr Cameron said: “We would love to do this for free but as a small business heavily impacted by Covid-19 we cannot take any more hits to our cash flow.

“The design can be easily resized and adapted and we have already had pairs bought to push a supermarket trolley and wheelie bins.

“There has been an increase in demand for the devices.”

The firm is also exploring the production of clips to make wearing surgical masks, which can currently be worn for long periods by health professionals, more comfortable for the wearer.

jimillar@thecourier.co.uk