Servo Drive

It’s so easy!

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If you have done a new kitchen in the last few years, or even if you haven’t, there’s a good chance you’ve heard the term – ‘Blumotion’ – the latest and greatest drawer system from Blum, the world’s best manufacturer of hinge, lift and pull-out systems for the kitchen.

Blumotion is simply a drawer system that allows soft closing, without the drawer banging into the cabinet. When it reaches the point of almost closing, it breaks to a very quite and soft close. With the introduction of this mechanism, in 2001, it was the best thing since full extension drawers… Any other drawer system in the market was simply none existing. None existing until early 2006…

In April 2006, while at Euro Cucina (the worlds largest and most important kitchen show, held in Milan every other year) at the Pedini Cucine booth – I saw the Servo Drive® for the first time – It was incredible! Pedini had a locked-up glass room, with a chrome finish kitchen inside it. People were walking around it looking in, trying to figure it if this ‘thing’, that looks like a kitchen, actually works.

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Pictures: Pedini Display, at Euro Cucina 2005.

This prototype kitchen was named Cubika – it did look like a shiny chrome cube. The kitchen had no handles, pulls or even a recessed channel to open the drawers –If you waited long enough, someone from Pedini would open the glass door and demonstrate how these cabinets actually work – all you needed to do is tap lightly at the drawers, with your knee or hand and as if someone said ‘open sesame’ – the drawer opened…

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About half an hour before the show closed, a couple of guys showed up, dressed in grey work-robes/aprons (the type that workers use in German and Austrian factories) and took apart the drawer mechanisms. They put them in special cases and were on their way back to Austria. They did that, I found out later, to insure that the competition doesn’t even get a glimpse at how this new wonder works…

This new look was finally in production by Pedini in the beginning of 2007, under the name Q2 and you can now get the ‘cube’ look, in many finishes, including one that looks very similar to this prototype from the 2005 Euro Cucina booth, in all glass.

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Picture: Pedini Q2                                                                                                                          

I’m not sure why, but Blum is calling the new drawer system in two different names – ‘Tip On’ and ‘Servo Drive’. Maybe they are undecided on the name yet…

Want to view the Servo Drive in action? 






kitchenguy

Amir J. Ilin, the president of Küche+Cucina, a design firm he started 24 years ago. Ilin’s work has been featured on HGTV, on Donald trump’s The Apprentice, in numerous national publications and on many national magazine covers. He is also the recipient of various design awards, among them “Best of Show Design Award”, from Signature Kitchens & Baths 8 times!Ilin was commissioned to design special projects in very exclusive homes, some located far away from his base in NJ. He was also chosen to create the cabinetry for the newly renovated Plaza Hotel, in NYC, as well as several luxury multi-unit projects around the country. To date, Ilin was involved in installations of more then 3,000 kitchens around the US and the islands, as well as many outside the US, many for well known clients.

This Post Has 10 Comments

  1. Dan Fontane

    Can’t wait to get one of these in my kitchen…

  2. texas lady

    Love it!

  3. Leon

    looking through this blog, got me thinking that i need a new kitchen…

  4. Don Walters

    Great blog!

  5. Leon Thomas

    Very informative – would love to see more photos of new designs.
    Keep up the good work.
    I’ll be back!

  6. Grourture

    How i may contact admin this site? I have a question.
    iijiivei

    What is your question?

  7. Charles Fernandez

    In answer to your question about the names ‘tip on’ and ‘servo drive’
    Servo drive and tip on are 2 very different products from Blum.
    Servo drive works in concert with the blumotion drawers system. Servo drive is a motorised mechanism which fits normally to the back wall of a cabinet and pushes the drawer box out when the drawer front is depressed or nudged. It works with the standard tandombox and tandem drawers only (not doors).
    The tip on system is designed to work on doors and drawers and allows the user to push in a corner of the door or drawer front which in turn springs the door or drawer open a few inches so it can be pulled open all the way.
    With the tip on system you can not have the regular door hinge as it needs to be un-sprung and the drawers system needs to be adapted so you can have the tip on mechanism. The tip on system is designed for use in rooms where there is no power such as a bathroom as servo drive requires a power supply.
    I hope this sheds light on the differences if not feel free to contact me.

    Charles

  8. Colorado Springs Roofing

    I do consider all of the ideas you have presented for your post. They are really convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are too brief for newbies. May you please prolong them a bit from subsequent time? Thank you for the post.

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