Innovation Award Winner Profile: Ingersoll Rand 1” Cordless Impact Wrench
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Q: What makes this product innovative?
A: The headline of what makes this tool special is it is the most powerful 1” drive cordless 20V impact wrench on the market today. So first of all, with the power of the tool you are getting 3,000 ft-lbs of breakaway torque for when you're removing a bolt, for example, or removing a fastener. Then it's 2,200 ft-lbs of fastening torque when you're going in that direction. And so, the power of the tool means that you can perform a much broader range of applications than you can with the typical or smaller class of impact wrench.
And what that also means for our users is that before this tool, you mainly would have needed to use a pneumatic tool to perform an application at that type of high-power level, and with this 1” cordless product now you can perform those same applications but with the quick setup time and freedom of movement and mobility and maneuverability of a cordless tool.
Q: What was the inspiration behind creating this product?
A: So Ingersoll Rand has a long history and a rich legacy of fastening tools in particular. So among all the other categories that you would see for cordless tools, we're building our system at this point and we're rapidly investing in growing our overall cordless platform. And so when it comes to cordless fastening tools, our 1” impact wrench is really an extension of our strategy to lead the market in fastening tools of all shapes and sizes.
Q: How will this product improve the lives of technicians and shop owners?
A: One of the things that we hear a lot when we're in the field working with users and doing research is that pneumatic tools certainly have their place, however, there are some situations where the hoses that you need to attach to pneumatic tools can become tangled. They can become trip hazards in some situations or if you're working in an area where you need to be maneuvering the tool around, the hose can get tangled or pinched. So, being able to just simply grab a cordless tool, get a grip, and pull the trigger improves your productivity because you're able to perform that application and move around with the tool much more quickly.
When you're running a business that depends on how many services you can do in a day, the faster setup and in some cases the faster actual performance of that application is actually letting you get more jobs done, so that's growing your productivity and that's growing your business as a business owner.
Q: What has been the feedback from technicians who’ve purchased this tool?
A: One of the things that stands out that doesn’t really come through as much on paper is the ergonomics of the tool. It has a really unique industrial design where it uses two of the IQV20 batteries on board. Now, that does give it more runtime and it does give it more power, but the way that it's designed is that they are placed opposite each other on either side of the tool, and there are sort of tucked into a space where they're not obtrusive when you use it, so the tool feels really well balanced when you hold it in your hand. The other thing is that it has this sort of classic D-handle design on the back, and then it has an auxiliary handle on the front where the auxiliary handle can rotate and lock in at any position, 360 degrees. That way you can get your grip position exactly where you want it, depending on how you're using the tool, and it's just very comfortable to use.
Q: Any other important features?
A: One other thing is that it's made to be durable in the rugged environments that our users know us for. Whether it's in vehicle service applications where you're exposed to grease or whether it's in industrial settings where you risk dropping the tool on concrete or metal or bumping it into hard surfaces and things like that. The tool has a very robust design. It's also protected against dust and water. It has an IP56 rating, and it comes with a 3-year warranty, so if there are any issues with the tool, Ingersoll Rand will support that and get you back up and running quickly.
