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73-557: Neobike International was originally created in 1992 as a joint-venture company formed between Euro-Tai SA of Taiwan and Brompton Bicycle Ltd of the United Kingdom. The remit was to produce officially licensed copies of the Brompton folding bicycle for sale into Asian and Japanese markets, where Brompton were not able to keep up with demand. For this, Brompton loaned Neobike design plans and specialist tooling , in exchange for

146-497: A carbide tip and a steel holder), and to act as a diffusion barrier (e.g. to stop diffusion of aluminum from aluminum bronze to steel when brazing these two). Brazing alloys form several distinct groups; the alloys in the same group have similar properties and uses. Some additives and impurities act at very low levels. Both positive and negative effects can be observed. Strontium at levels of 0.01% refines grain structure of aluminum. Beryllium and bismuth at similar levels help disrupt

219-469: A combined rear fold and suspension design. During riding, the main frame and the rear triangle intersect at a rubber block which provides suspension. The suspension block is kept in compression by the rider's weight. There is no suspension for the front wheel, although the titanium forks of the Superlight versions provide a small amount of spring. In 1976 Andrew Ritchie founded the company, named after

292-690: A consignment of 250+ "Scoop" branded bicycles were impounded at the decision of the court in Groningen, in The Netherlands. The judgement against Vincent van Ellen and Neobike Europe on copyright grounds was released later in September 2004. On 24 May 2006 in Brompton Bicycle Limited v Rijwielbedrijf Vincent Van Ellen BV , Neobike's Dutch importer was convicted of copyright infringement of the Brompton design under Article 19 of

365-415: A costly secondary operation that brazing does not require because it produces a clean joint. Another advantage is that the brazing can be coated or clad for protective purposes. Finally, brazing is easily adapted to mass production and it is easy to automate because the individual process parameters are less sensitive to variation. One of the main disadvantages is the lack of joint strength as compared to

438-448: A fixed position depending on whether the operation is completely manual or has some level of automation. Manual brazing is most commonly used on small production volumes or in applications where the part size or configuration makes other brazing methods impossible. The main drawback is the high labor cost associated with the method as well as the operator skill required to obtain quality brazed joints. The use of flux or self-fluxing material

511-496: A large degree of flexibility in type of parts that can be brazed. Either controlled atmospheres or flux can be used to control oxidation and cleanliness of parts. Continuous type furnaces are best suited to a steady flow of similar-sized parts through the furnace. These furnaces are often conveyor fed, moving parts through the hot zone at a controlled speed. It is common to use either controlled atmosphere or pre-applied flux in continuous furnaces. In particular, these furnaces offer

584-436: A lower temperature than the base metals or at a very specific temperature. Braze alloy is generally available as rod, ribbon, powder, paste, cream, wire and preforms (such as stamped washers). Depending on the application, the filler material can be pre-placed at the desired location or applied during the heating cycle. For manual brazing, wire and rod forms are generally used as they are the easiest to apply while heating. In

657-444: A metal-joining process, all in a single furnace thermal cycle. Products that are most commonly vacuum-brazed include aluminum cold plates, plate-fin heat exchangers, and flat tube heat exchangers. Vacuum brazing is often conducted in a furnace; this means that several joints can be made at once because the whole workpiece reaches the brazing temperature. The heat is transferred using radiation, as many other methods cannot be used in

730-576: A per-unit royalty agreement. Later during 1992 the Neobike company hired a number of ex- Dahon employees from Dahon's research and development department and started to produce unlicensed Dahon copies, in addition to its officially sanctioned Brompton model. Original Brompton folding bicycles manufactured by Brompton Bicycle Ltd in England were made of steel, but the frame material for the Taiwan copies

803-572: A process that connects joints by means of a small copper wire fused into the iron when previously ground down to the bare metal, parallel to the iron joints being formed as per hub pipe with neoprene gasket seals. The purpose behind this operation is to use electricity along the copper for keeping underground pipes warm in cold climates. Vacuum brazing is a material joining technique that offers significant advantages: extremely clean, superior, flux-free braze joints of high integrity and strength. The process can be expensive because it must be performed inside

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876-410: A record monthly turnover of just under £1 million; the employees were rewarded with fish and chips . In the same month, the company stated that it was hoping to continue a 25% rate of growth; partially enabled by switching to just-in-time stocking for some of the parts being sourced from suppliers, and by having those suppliers hold the stock until it is needed rather than parts living for periods at

949-439: A rough surface occurs much more readily than on a smooth surface of the same geometry. Another consideration is the effect of temperature and time on the quality of brazed joints. As the temperature of the braze alloy is increased, the alloying and wetting action of the filler metal increases as well. In general, the brazing temperature selected must be above the melting point of the filler metal. However, several factors influence

1022-423: A small portion of the alloy is liquid and most of the material melts at the upper temperature range; these are suitable for bridging large gaps and for forming fillets. Highly fluid alloys are suitable for penetrating deep into narrow gaps and for brazing tight joints with narrow tolerances but are not suitable for filling larger gaps. Alloys with wider melting range are less sensitive to non-uniform clearances. When

1095-403: A suitable atmosphere, usually a flux . It then flows over the base metal (in a process known as wetting ) and is then cooled to join the work pieces together. A major advantage of brazing is the ability to join the same or different metals with considerable strength. Brazing has many advantages over other metal-joining techniques, such as welding . Since brazing does not melt the base metal of

1168-412: A vacuum chamber vessel. Temperature uniformity is maintained on the work piece when heating in a vacuum, greatly reducing residual stresses due to slow heating and cooling cycles. This, in turn, can significantly improve the thermal and mechanical properties of the material, thus providing unique heat treatment capabilities. One such capability is heat-treating or age-hardening the workpiece while performing

1241-476: A vacuum. Dip brazing is especially suited for brazing aluminium because air is excluded, thus preventing the formation of oxides. The parts to be joined are fixtured and the brazing compound applied to the mating surfaces, typically in slurry form. Then the assemblies are dipped into a bath of molten salt (typically NaCl, KCl and other compounds), which functions as both heat transfer medium and flux. Many dip brazed parts are used in heat transfer applications for

1314-559: A vehicle's suspension helps prevent damage to the tires and the vehicle. Finally, the braze alloy joins the other two materials to create a composite structure, much as layers of wood and glue create plywood. The standard for braze joint strength in many industries is a joint that is stronger than either base material, so that when under stress, one or other of the base materials fails before the joint. Silver brazing may cause defects in certain alloys, e.g. stress-induced inter-granular cracking in copper-nickel . One special silver brazing method

1387-473: A welded joint due to the softer filler metals used. The strength of the brazed joint is likely to be less than that of the base metal(s) but greater than the filler metal. Another disadvantage is that brazed joints can be damaged under high service temperatures. Brazed joints require a high degree of base-metal cleanliness when done in an industrial setting. Some brazing applications require the use of adequate fluxing agents to control cleanliness. The joint color

1460-448: Is 349 mm (13.7 in), carrying tyres with 16″ tread diameter. The handlebars and some peripheral components are aluminium. A Brompton bicycle uses over 1,200 individual pieces, many of which are specific to Brompton. As of 2024 the combinations allow one-, two-, three-, four-(P and T line versions), six-speed or twelve gearing options to be factory-fitted, with higher or lower gearing available as an option. The Brompton uses

1533-467: Is a British manufacturer of folding bicycles based in Greenford , London. The Brompton folding bicycle and accessories are the company's core product, noted for its self-supporting compact size when stored. All available models of the folding bicycle are based on the same hinged frame and 16-inch (35×349 mm) tyre size . Components are added, removed, or replaced by titanium parts to form

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1606-639: Is also used heavily with refractory materials and other exotic alloy combinations unsuited to atmosphere furnaces. Due to the absence of flux or a reducing atmosphere, the part cleanliness is critical when brazing in a vacuum. The three main types of vacuum furnace are: single-wall hot retort, double-walled hot retort, and cold-wall retort. Typical vacuum levels for brazing range from pressures of 1.3 to 0.13 pascals (10 to 10 Torr ) to 0.00013 Pa (10 Torr) or lower. Vacuum furnaces are most commonly batch-type, and they are suited to medium and high production volumes. Silver brazing, sometimes known as hard soldering,

1679-413: Is basically identical to the equipment used in brazing. Since braze welding usually requires more heat than brazing, acetylene or methylacetylene-propadiene gas ( MAPP gas ) fuel is commonly used. The name comes from the fact that no capillary action is used. Braze welding has many advantages over fusion welding. It allows the joining of dissimilar metals, minimization of heat distortion, and can reduce

1752-426: Is best used in small production volumes or in specialized operations, and in some countries, it accounts for a majority of the brazing taking place. There are three main categories of torch brazing in use: manual, machine, and automatic torch brazing. Manual torch brazing is a procedure where the heat is applied using a gas flame placed on or near the joint being brazed. The torch can either be hand held or held in

1825-414: Is brazing using a silver alloy based filler. These silver alloys consist of many different percentages of silver and other metals, such as copper, zinc and cadmium. Brazing is widely used in the tool industry to fasten " hard metal " (carbide, ceramics, cermet, and similar) tips to tools such as saw blades. "Pretinning" is often done: the braze alloy is melted onto the hard metal tip, which is placed next to

1898-468: Is called pinbrazing or pin brazing . It has been developed especially for connecting cables to railway track or for cathodic protection installations. The method uses a silver- and flux-containing brazing pin, which is melted in the eye of a cable lug. The equipment is normally powered from batteries. Braze welding is the use of a bronze or brass filler rod coated with flux to join steel workpieces. The equipment needed for braze welding

1971-438: Is not always the case, however, since in some non-production settings, time and cost are secondary to other joint attributes (e.g., strength, appearance). There are many heating methods available to accomplish brazing operations. The most important factor in choosing a heating method is achieving efficient transfer of heat throughout the joint and doing so within the heat capacity of the individual base metals used. The geometry of

2044-408: Is not uncommon to have joint clearances around 0.6 mm (0.024 in). Cleanliness of the brazing surfaces is also important, as any contamination can cause poor wetting (flow). The two main methods for cleaning parts, prior to brazing, are chemical cleaning and abrasive or mechanical cleaning. In the case of mechanical cleaning it is important to maintain the proper surface roughness, as wetting on

2117-406: Is often different from that of the base metal, creating an aesthetic disadvantage. High-quality brazed joints require that parts be closely fitted with base metal surfaces exceptionally clean and free of oxides. In most cases, joint clearances of 0.03 to 0.08 mm (0.0012 to 0.0031 in) are recommended for the best capillary action and joint strength; in some brazing operations, however, it

2190-412: Is reflected in the change of the alloy's melting point and the corresponding change of fluidity. For example, some alloys dissolve both silver and copper; dissolved silver lowers their melting point and increases fluidity, copper has the opposite effect. The melting point change can be exploited. As the remelt temperature can be increased by enriching the alloy with dissolved base metal, step brazing using

2263-437: Is required to prevent oxidation. Torch brazing of copper can be done without the use of flux if it is brazed with a torch using oxygen and hydrogen gas, rather than oxygen and other flammable gases. Machine torch brazing is commonly used where a repetitive braze operation is being carried out. This method is a mix of both automated and manual operations with an operator often placing brazes material, flux and jigging parts while

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2336-501: Is the ease with which it can produce large numbers of small parts that are easily jigged or self-locating. The process also offers the benefits of a controlled heat cycle (allowing use of parts that might distort under localized heating) and no need for post braze cleaning. Common atmospheres used include: inert, reducing or vacuum atmospheres all of which protect the part from oxidation. Some other advantages include: low unit cost when used in mass production, close temperature control, and

2409-589: The Brompton Oratory , a landmark visible from his bedroom workshop where the first prototypes were built. At the time he was working as a gardener. Ritchie obtained backing from friends and sought to license the design, but after five years began manufacturing the bicycle design himself. Production ground to a halt in 1982 after which Ritchie continued to explore possibilities for continued manufacturing whilst undertaking other jobs. Finally in 1986, again with backing from friends and former customers, enough

2482-569: The "Flamingo" brandname. On 2 April 2002 in Dahon vs. Hsiao, et al , five senior Neobike employees were convicted and given jail sentences for a variety of business-related offences, including patent fraud. Three employees who had previously worked in Dahon's research and development department from the late 1980s, up until the formation of Neobike International in 1992 were convicted on their violation of signed non-compete contracts. On 26 February 2004

2555-472: The 2003 Eurobike trade show, Neobike exhibited their—now unsanctioned—clone of the Brompton, offering it to potential dealers within Europe. Neobike-produced copies of the Brompton bicycle were then imported into The Netherlands branded as the "Scoop One" and "Astra Flex V3". Later, Neobike's interests in its copy-bicycle business were transferred to an entity called Grace Gallant Enterprises, for sale under

2628-572: The Brompton bicycle design at the European Eurobike show. Unlicensed copies of the Brompton product were then imported into The Netherlands (under the name "Scoop One" and "Astra Flex V3"), into the United Kingdom (under the name "Merc") and into Spain (as the Nishiki "Oxford Bicycle"). In 2004, Grace Gallant Enterprises was created, and Neobike's interests in the unlicensed copy designs were transferred to Grace Gallant, to be sold under

2701-577: The Brompton case this included the M-style handlebars, curved main frame tube and the cable-placement. Each of these were noted to be distinctive design decisions that another manufacturer could change without compromising the ability to create a functional folding bicycle. Such a level of perceived similarity was therefore likely to cause "confusion in the market" under the Dutch copyright law , Article 13. Neobike did not choose to appeal and Brompton Bicycle

2774-669: The Brompton factory. The company was awarded The Queen's Award for Export in 1995. In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 21 April 2010, the company was awarded two Queen's Awards for Enterprise , in the Innovation and International Trade categories. This was the second time Brompton had won the International Trade Award, they first received it in 1995. It is very rare for a company to receive two of these awards in one year. Will Butler-Adams , Managing Director,

2847-659: The Dutch Copyright law. The entire import of Neobike Brompton-copies were seized and destroyed along with an injunction to prevent further imports. In June 2010, Brompton Bicycle Limited obtained an injunction at the Commercial Court No. 5 in Madrid, Spain, following a ruling that copies of the Brompton being sold under the name " Nishiki Oxford" infringed Brompton's copyright. Brompton Bicycle Brompton Bicycle Limited , trading as Brompton ,

2920-592: The East Asia market under the Flamingo and MIT brand names. Later iterations of the clones had their frames made of aluminium, rather than the steel frame of the originals. Following the expiry of the Brompton patent, Brompton Bicycle's legal actions against Neobike/Grace Gallant have all been brought on the basis of copyright - and industrial design-law . A court case was held at the Groningen civil court in

2993-594: The Netherlands on 24 May 2006, which ruled that the industrial design of the Brompton folding bicycle was protected by copyright. Additionally, the Neobike-provided manual had included direct copies of those drawings found in the Brompton user manual. The Brompton Bicycle Limited v Rijwielbedrijf Vincent Van Ellen BV ruling held that there was creative flexibility in the design for a bicycle beyond those choices made purely for functional reasons; in

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3066-729: The ability to braze multiple joints at once. Furnaces are typically heated using either electric, gas or oil depending on the type of furnace and application. However, some of the disadvantages of this method include: high capital equipment cost, more difficult design considerations and high power consumption. There are four main types of furnaces used in brazing operations: batch type; continuous; retort with controlled atmosphere; and vacuum. A batch type furnace has relatively low initial equipment costs, and can heat each part load separately. It can be turned on and off at will, which reduces operating expenses when it's not in use. These furnaces are suited to medium to large volume production, and offer

3139-402: The aerospace industry. A variety of alloys are used as filler metals for brazing depending on the intended use or application method. In general, braze alloys are composed of three or more metals to form an alloy with the desired properties. The filler metal for a particular application is chosen based on its ability to: wet the base metals, withstand the service conditions required, and melt at

3212-538: The alloy's melting point. On solidifying, there is no mushy state where the alloy appears solid but is not yet; the chance of disturbing the joint by manipulation in such state is reduced (assuming the alloy did not significantly change its properties by dissolving the base metal). Eutectic behavior is especially beneficial for solders . Metals with fine grain structure before melting provide superior wetting to metals with large grains. Alloying additives (e.g. strontium to aluminum) can be added to refine grain structure, and

3285-434: The base metals during brazing. Alloys with larger span of solidus/liquidus temperatures tend to melt through a "mushy" state, during which the alloy is a mixture of solid and liquid material. Some alloys show tendency to liquation , separation of the liquid from the solid portion; for these the heating through the melting range must be sufficiently fast to avoid this effect. Some alloys show extended plastic range, when only

3358-422: The benefit of very low manual labor requirements and so are best suited to large scale production operations. Retort-type furnaces differ from other batch-type furnaces in that they make use of a sealed lining called a "retort". The retort is generally sealed with either a gasket or is welded shut and filled completely with the desired atmosphere and then heated externally by conventional heating elements. Due to

3431-456: The brand "Flamingo". Between 2004 and 2010, several batches of copies were imported into the European market: into the United Kingdom under the name "Merc", into Belgium, and into Spain as the " Nishiki Oxford". Taiwanese-manufactured clones bear the model numbers FL-BP01-3/FL-BP01-7 standing for Flamingo, "Best Persuader", 3-speed/7-speed. As of 2014, Grace-Galant continue to make clones for

3504-404: The braze alloy leads to formation of brittle phosphides of iron and nickel, phosphorus-containing alloys are therefore unsuitable for brazing nickel and ferrous alloys. Boron tends to diffuse into the base metals, especially along the grain boundaries, and may form brittle borides. Carbon can negatively influence some steels. Care must be taken to avoid galvanic corrosion between the braze and

3577-454: The braze joint is also a crucial factor to consider, as is the rate and volume of production required. The easiest way to categorize brazing methods is to group them by heating method. Here are some of the most common: These heating methods are classified through localised and diffuse heating techniques and offer advantages based on their different applications. Torch brazing is by far the most common method of mechanized brazing in use. It

3650-542: The brazing temperature is suitably high, brazing and heat treatment can be done in a single operation simultaneously. Eutectic alloys melt at single temperature, without mushy region. Eutectic alloys have superior spreading; non-eutectics in the mushy region have high viscosity and at the same time attack the base metal, with correspondingly lower spreading force. Fine grain size gives eutectics both increased strength and increased ductility. Highly accurate melting temperature lets joining process be performed only slightly above

3723-477: The case of furnace brazing, the alloy is usually placed beforehand since the process is usually highly automated. Some of the more common types of filler metals used are Some brazes come in the form of trifoils , laminated foils of a carrier metal clad with a layer of braze at each side. The center metal is often copper; its role is to act as a carrier for the alloy, to absorb mechanical stresses due to e.g. differential thermal expansion of dissimilar materials (e.g.

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3796-426: The ceramic (e.g. titanium, vanadium, zirconium...) can be added to the braze. Dissolution of base metals can cause detrimental changes in the brazing alloy. For example, aluminum dissolved from aluminum bronzes can embrittle the braze; addition of nickel to the braze can offset this. The effect works both ways; there can be detrimental interactions between the braze alloy and the base metal. Presence of phosphorus in

3869-480: The filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Brazing differs from welding in that it does not involve melting the work pieces. Brazing differs from soldering through the use of a higher temperature and much more closely fitted parts. During the brazing process, the filler metal flows into the gap between close-fitting parts by capillary action . The filler metal is brought slightly above its melting ( liquidus ) temperature while protected by

3942-590: The franchise contract had been "under review", there having been quality issues with the Asian-built Brompton bicycles. Euro-Tai and Neobike failed to return the Brompton-specific tooling loaned by Brompton Bicycle. One week later after the expiration of the official licensing agreement Euro-Tai sold its controlling stake in Neobike to YTE Manufacturing, an aluminium supplier that was already involved with producing frames for Neobike. At

4015-427: The high temperatures involved, the retort is usually made of heat resistant alloys that resist oxidation. Retort furnaces are often either used in a batch or semi-continuous versions . Vacuum furnaces is a relatively economical method of oxide prevention and is most often used to braze materials with very stable oxides ( aluminum , titanium and zirconium ) that cannot be brazed in atmosphere furnaces. Vacuum brazing

4088-541: The joint designer's temperature selection. The best temperature is usually selected to: In some cases, a worker may select a higher temperature to accommodate other factors in the design (e.g., to allow use of a different filler metal, or to control metallurgical effects, or to sufficiently remove surface contamination). The effect of time on the brazed joint primarily affects the extent to which these effects are present. In general, however, most production processes are selected to minimize brazing time and associated costs. This

4161-444: The joint, it allows much tighter control over tolerances and produces a clean joint without the need for secondary finishing. Additionally, dissimilar metals and non-metals (i.e. metalized ceramics) can be brazed. In general, brazing also produces less thermal distortion than welding due to the uniform heating of a brazed piece. Complex and multi-part assemblies can be brazed cost-effectively. Welded joints must sometimes be ground flush,

4234-462: The loss of strength when subjected to high temperatures and the inability to withstand high stresses. Carbide, cermet and ceramic tips are plated and then joined to steel to make tipped band saws. The plating acts as a braze alloy. The "welding" of cast iron is usually a brazing operation, with a filler rod made chiefly of nickel being used although true welding with cast iron rods is also available. Ductile cast iron pipe may be also "cadwelded,"

4307-455: The machine mechanism carries out the actual braze. The advantage of this method is that it reduces the high labor and skill requirement of manual brazing. The use of flux is also required for this method as there is no protective atmosphere, and it is best suited to small to medium production volumes. Automatic torch brazing is a method that almost eliminates the need for manual labor in the brazing operation, except for loading and unloading of

4380-603: The machine. The main advantages of this method are: a high production rate, uniform braze quality, and reduced operating cost. The equipment used is essentially the same as that used for Machine torch brazing, with the main difference being that the machinery replaces the operator in the part preparation. Furnace brazing is a semi-automatic process used widely in industrial brazing operations due to its adaptability to mass production and use of unskilled labor . There are many advantages of furnace brazing over other heating methods that make it ideal for mass production. One main advantage

4453-563: The many variations. The modular design has remained fundamentally unchanged since the original patent was filed by Andrew Ritchie in 1979, with small details being refined by continual improvement. Ritchie was awarded the 2009 Prince Philip Designers Prize for work on the bicycle. Brompton is the largest volume bicycle manufacturer in Britain, producing approximately 50,000 bicycles each year. The company's bicycles are also available for hire. All Brompton folding bicycle models share

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4526-421: The need for extensive pre-heating. Additionally, since the metals joined are not melted in the process, the components retain their original shape; edges and contours are not eroded or changed by the formation of a fillet. Another effect of braze welding is the elimination of stored-up stresses that are often present in fusion welding. This is extremely important in the repair of large castings. The disadvantages are

4599-445: The passivation layer of aluminum oxide and promote wetting. Carbon at 0.1% impairs corrosion resistance of nickel alloys. Aluminum can embrittle mild steel at 0.001%, phosphorus at 0.01%. In some cases, especially for vacuum brazing, high-purity metals and alloys are used. 99.99% and 99.999% purity levels are available commercially. Care must be taken to not introduce deleterious impurities from joint contamination or by dissolution of

4672-424: The preforms or foils can be prepared by rapid quenching. Very rapid quenching may provide amorphous metal structure, which possess further advantages. For successful wetting, the base metal must be at least partially soluble in at least one component of the brazing alloy. The molten alloy therefore tends to attack the base metal and dissolve it, slightly changing its composition in the process. The composition change

4745-713: The same braze can be possible. Alloys that do not significantly attack the base metals are more suitable for brazing thin sections. Nonhomogenous microstructure of the braze may cause non-uniform melting and localized erosions of the base metal. Wetting of base metals can be improved by adding a suitable metal to the alloy. Tin facilitates wetting of iron, nickel, and many other alloys. Copper wets ferrous metals that silver does not attack, copper-silver alloys can therefore braze steels silver alone won't wet. Zinc improves wetting of ferrous metals, indium as well. Aluminum improves wetting of aluminum alloys. For wetting of ceramics, reactive metals capable of forming chemical compounds with

4818-417: The same curved frame, consisting of a hinged main tube, pivoting rear triangle, fork, and hinged handle-bar stem. The main tube and stem are made of steel in most models. The rear triangle and fork are either steel or titanium, depending on model. The T line introduced in 2022 has an all-titanium frame and other lightweight components. Steel sections are joined by brazing rather than welding. Wheel rim size

4891-400: The steel and remelted. Pretinning gets around the problem that hard metals are difficult to wet. Brazed hard metal joints are typically two to seven mils thick. The braze alloy joins the materials and compensates for the difference in their expansion rates. It also provides a cushion between the hard carbide tip and the hard steel, which softens impact and prevents tip loss and damage—much as

4964-400: The termination of the earlier Eurotai/Neobike franchise agreement. Many reviews of Brompton folding bicycles are favourable. 51°29′27″N 0°17′35″W  /  51.4907°N 0.2931°W  / 51.4907; -0.2931 Braze Brazing is a metal -joining process in which two or more metal items are joined by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, with

5037-543: Was awarded Order of the British Empire in 2015. In July 2015 a plan to move the company from Brentford to nearby Greenford was reported. In February 2022 another move, from Greenford to Ashford, Kent was announced. In 1992, Brompton agreed with Euro-Tai in Taiwan to allow the manufacture of a licensed copy of the Brompton bicycle for distribution in Eastern Asia. A joint venture company called Neobike

5110-600: Was changed from steel to aluminium. On 31 December 2002 the ten-year franchise agreement between Brompton and Euro-Tai for Neobike to produce officially licensed Brompton models expired, at which point Euro-Tai and Neobike failed to return loaned tools to Brompton Bicycle Ltd. During the ten-year period the royalties paid had amounted to under £10,000. One week later, on 7 January 2003, Euro-Tai sold its majority stake in Neobike to YTS Manufacturing, an aluminium extrusion company who had already been producing frames for Neobike. During 2003, Neobike exhibited a—now unlicensed—copy of

5183-462: Was granted the right to have all of the imported bicycles destroyed with an injunction against future imports by Neobike's distributors. In June 2010, Brompton Bicycle gained a further injunction against the import of the unlicensed copy Brompton models into Spain, this time under the name "Nishiki Oxford Bicycle". The case was decided on the basis that Grace Gallant predecessors' had not returned all of Brompton Bicycle Ltd's drawing and toolings upon

5256-587: Was raised to resume production on a larger scale. With a bank loan underwritten by Julian Vereker (founder of Naim Audio ), production was restarted in a railway arch in Brentford . By early 1988, mass-production Brompton bicycles were once again in circulation. From 2002, when Will Butler-Adams joined the firm (he became Managing Director in 2008), to 2013, production increased from 6,000 to approximately 40,000 bikes per year. The workforce increased from 24 to 190. In March 2009, Brompton Bicycle achieved

5329-658: Was then established to manufacture them. Brompton Bicycle in the United Kingdom would loan tools and drawings, and be paid on a per-unit royalty basis. By mid-1992, Neobike had recruited three senior research and development employees from Dahon , another folding bicycle company, and had started to produce other designs and copies in addition to the official Brompton design. Brompton's licensing contract with Euro-Tai/Neobike lasted approximately ten years until it expired on 31 December 2002. By this time, five senior Neobike employees had been convicted and jailed for stealing trade secrets from Dahon and Ritchie had previously stated that

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