Tamworth-based Ascott Analytical (www.ascott-analytical.co.uk) has secured its first patent for the testing equipment that it supplies to the world’s leading automotive and aerospace companies.

It has spent several years developing Mag-Drive — a magnetic drive that powers the salt spray applicator in its range of corrosion test chambers — and two years after its application, the patent has been granted.

The company has made corrosion test chambers for major automotive manufacturers — including Jaguar Land Rover, Tesla, BMW, Volvo and Bentley Motors — for aerospace giants such as Boeing, Airbus, Safran and BAE Systems, and for airlines such as Lufthansa.

Ascott’s patented Mag-Drive followed the development of stringent standards by Volvo, Ford and Scania.

Corrosion tests require salt spray to be applied to components for prolonged periods to test their resistance; the new demanding protocols require the salt spray to be administered from above in a swaying motion.

Actuating a spray bar would require an access hole for the drive shaft, and because the salt spray is very corrosive, the Ascott team sought another solution.

The Mag-drive shaft is actuated entirely by rare-earth magnets sitting either side of the fibreglass shell and providing the required oscillation.

Managing director Adrian Wain, said: “We’re absolutely delighted to have been granted this patent. It is further proof that we are continually pushing the boundaries of British manufacturing here at Ascott.”