Pets travel first class thanks to Southco’s access hardware solutions

After numerous occasions whereby Dog&Drive founder, Karl-Heinz Kamlage, watched animals struggling to haul themselves in and out of vehicles at his wife’s veterinary clinic, he and his team of engineers developed a smart solution to this problem, building on access hardware from Southco.

With its initial product designed, engineered and patent applied, start-up company Dog&Drive officially became established in 2021. Dog&Drive is a high-end manufacturer of folding-stairs for car boots, based just outside of Cologne, Germany.

Easy to install and adapted to aid seamless integration within some of the world’s top vehicle manufacturer’s car boots, Dog&Drive perfected its design with the help of Southco, taking advantage of its access hardware solutions. The company is now taking the market by storm with its bespoke, sleek stair with integrated dog bed solution.

Dog&Drive’s locking mechanism was the main challenge Southco was enlisted to solve. Due to the ergonomic design which involved a carbon-fibre structure, the locking solution needed to fit through the housing and be hidden from view whilst ensuring its locking ability was not compromised.

The solution was Southco’s R4 micro rotary latch. With its small footprint, it could be housed within the carbon-fibre structure. With the Bowden cable being narrow in diameter and flexible, the parts could be fed through the carbon material at the precise points, ensuring a neat, seamless, finished look.

Southco helped evolve and enhance the boarding application by adhering innovative solutions to its standard R4 rotary latch system. This ensured Dog&Drive’s desire for adjustability and compliance with its car manufacturers’ needs were met.