Innovative fastening systems for revolutionary bike towers

Many urban areas lack secure spaces for parking bikes. That’s where V-Locker AG comes in: a young Swiss company with an innovative, fully automatic bike tower. The days of cyclists having to worry about theft, vandalism or weather damage are over. These bike towers give them a secure place to store their bikes and luggage 24/7. SFS’s nonut^® TDBL thread-forming screws help make this innovative solution a reality. These fasteners enable secure, swift and precise assembly.

Added value

Secure, durable fasteners with an extremely high load-bearing capacity
Automatic alignment achieves the utmost precision during assembly, even in hard-to-reach places
Cost-efficient processes thanks to enormous time savings during processing

HalleVLZufahrt001 — The bike towers’ high utilization rates underscores both the need for and benefits of innovative solutions like this.

Urban areas often have an acute shortage of secure parking for bicycles. V-Locker is a young, innovative Swiss company that offers a trailblazing solution to this problem with its app-operated, fully automatic bike towers. This high-tech smart bike parking system blends hardware and software components to create a solution that is interconnected, integrated and intelligent. It guarantees every cyclist a secure, individual locker for their bike and luggage around-the-clock.

The system offers cities a semi-permanent, flexible and mobile infrastructure that can be adapted to accommodate actual demand and moved to relevant locations. These characteristics keep the system’s footprint small and help it make efficient use of urban space.

TDBL_Nonut_Produkt_1920px — The nonut® TDBL thread-forming screws

Quick, simple and precise
SFS supports this innovative project through the development and provision of its nonut^® TDBL thread-forming screws, which are used on the bike towers’ underlying structure. These high-performance fasteners offer many advantages: Their special thread shape lets them be driven with a cordless impact driver in a single step without the need for any additional nuts or washers. That makes assembly both quick and precise, considerably speeding up and simplifying the overall construction process. The elimination of nuts and washers simplifies fitters’ work considerably, particularly in hard-to-reach places. The fasteners are capable of withstanding extremely high loads and ensure that the components are firmly connected. That makes the solutions more long-lasting, which translates to fewer products needed and lower material costs. Another advantage of nonut^® TDBL is that the components are automatically aligned and brought into the correct position. That improves precision and prevents mistakes, thereby eliminating the need for readjustments.

All these advantages are instrumental in reducing the project’s construction period, costs and complexity, ultimately benefiting not only V-Locker but end users as well.

Elisabeth Brand Member of the Group Executive Board, CCO Communication & Sales at V-Locker

“SFS’s nonut^® TDBL thread-forming screws offer an efficient solution for the underlying structure of our smart bike parking systems. The special thread shape found in this high-performance screw eliminates the need for nuts and washers. All it takes is a cordless impact driver to drive the screw quickly and easily in a single step. The thread form aligns the components and brings them into the right position during assembly with no need for readjustments. By eliminating the nut and washer, nonut^® TDBL simplifies the work, particularly in hard-to-reach places. These thread-forming screws are the perfect fasteners for the towers’ underlying structure.”

HalloVLBox003 — Safe storage of bike and luggage

Added value for cyclists
The bike towers give users peace of mind knowing that their bikes and luggage are stored safely and protected 24/7 against theft, vandalism, wind and weather. The user-friendly mobile phone app offers cyclists a convenient way to operate and reserve a space in the bike tower. The towers also offer access to e-bike charging stations, bike repairs, bike rentals, a feature for sharing a bike with friends and family, and more.

Mhoch15963 — Bike tower in Meilen (Schweiz)

Successful in Switzerland and Germany
V-Locker has already successfully erected bike towers in six Swiss cities and at seven locations in Germany. These projects have shown how V-Locker’s modular, intelligent solution can tackle the challenges of urban mobility. Positive feedback from users as well as the bike towers’ high utilization rates underscore both the need for and benefits of innovative solutions like this. SFS’s support and our high-performance nonut^® TDBL thread-forming screws enable V-Locker to implement projects swiftly, precisely and efficiently.

This close collaboration between SFS and V-Locker has produced a technically outstanding solution to urban mobility problems that also offers added value from a social and environmental perspective. Together they are shaping the future of urban mobility and offering sustainable, innovative solutions for tackling the challenges of both today and tomorrow. This partnership demonstrates how technology and a close collaborative partnership can create significant added value for cities and the people living in them. The future of urban mobility is intelligent, secure and efficient – and it starts now.