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Bradenton Herald
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Manatee paramedic creates
construction toy
By SARA KENNEDY skennedy@bradenton.com
BRADENTON - One day four years ago, Keith Lock went to
his father-in-law's house to repair the
sprinkler system. He spread some of the plastic
sprinkler parts on the floor, and when he returned, his
children, then 4 and 7 years old, were fitting the
pieces together to build fanciful shapes.
It took years of effort and planning, but Lock is the
proud inventor of Konstruk-Tubes, a toy that evolved
from the day his kids spontaneously began tinkering
with sprinkler parts.
Lock is president of his own local company, which makes
the toy.
"They were enthralled," Lock, 37, a resident of
Whitfield Estates, remembered about his children,
Cameron, now 11, and Ashley, now 8.
Made with bright pieces of tubing that fit together,
Konstruk-Tubes made its debut at the New York
International Toy Trade Show last month.
Educators like it because it encourages a child's
creative spirit. Parents like it because it develops
hand dexterity, hand-eye coordination and color
recognition. And kids like it because it's fun. Each
$29.95 kit has 72 pieces - 40 tubes and 32 special
fittings that make a variety of shapes and
structures. The pieces come in a cardboard can with a
lid, for easy storage.
Lock, who is a full-time paramedic for Manatee County
EMS, researched the market during his off-hours to make
sure he had an original idea.
"I saw it's wide open as far as construction toys go,"
he said.
Once he settled on a design and a name for the toy, he
hired an attorney to apply for a patent. Patent and
trademark submissions have been completed, and the
product is protected under the designation "patent
pending."
Meanwhile, Lock haunted toy trade shows to see what was
out there.
Eventually, he began looking for a local company that
could build a prototype, a task that fell to Valintech
Inc., a company in Whitfield
Park whose specialty is tube injection molding.
It was a big moment when he first saw the prototype,
but Lock still had to find $175,000 to manufacture
Konstruk-Tubes.
"I decided to seek investors," he said. "I was doing
presentations; I went to banks, went to investors; I
formulated a business plan, all this
while still doing my regular job," he said.
As a paramedic, he worked 24 hours straight and then
was off for 48 hours, which provided a window for him
to get the fledgling business off
the ground. But he was always scrambling.
"The 48 hours I was off, I would jam-pack my schedule
to knock out as many tasks as I could," Lock said.
He finally assembled enough money from investors and
ordered 5,000 kits from a Hong Kong manufacturer. About
two months later, the order arrived on a ship in a huge
cargo container unit. Lock had to rent space to store
the mountain of toys until he could sell the first one.
A sales call to Roger Dearing, superintendent of the
Manatee County School District, paid off. "He ordered
two for every elementary school in the county
- 66 units," said Lock, obviously a little relieved. "It
was a very good first sale.
" Now, Lock has been asked to develop a larger version,
maybe one that would fit in a tub rather than a
cardboard can.
And in the meantime, Lock's company - Lockmade, LLC,
6023 26th St. W., No. 211, www.konstruktubes.com - is
looking for a local dealer. It already has dealers
selling the product in Canada, New York and Texas.
Was it worth all the trouble?
"It's well worth it," said Lock, who said that a
successful inventor needs a "very good creative spirit
and a lot of determination."
"It's neat to see kids build and make things with your
product. It validates everything."
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Dr. Roger Dearing
Manatee County Schools. |
School Board of Manatee County
P.O. Box 9069 Bradenton, Florida 34206-9069
DR. ROGER DEARING SUPERINTENDENT
School Board Frank Brunner
*Chairman*
Harry Kinnan
*Vice-Chairman*
Barbara A. Harvey. Walter E. Miller
Larry Simmons
July 31, 2006
Keith S. Lock
819 Southern Pine Lane
Sarasota, FL 34243
Dear Keith:
This correspondence is a follow-up
to our conversation several weeks ago about your newly
developed children's manipulative kit entitled,
"Konstruk Tubes". Following our discussion I spoke with
several of the district's early childhood education
administrators .
Based upon the kit that you
showed me and the printed packet that you shared with
me, we all believe that these manipulative toys would be
a great addition to our elementary schools' educational
supplies. We believe that a variety of educational games
and activities can be devised from the tubes, which
would help improve students' hand-eye coordination,
sequential learning and developmental education.
With this letter of support, we would
like to order two sets of each kit for each of our 33
elementary schools. In addition, I want to encourage you
to continue on this project. We are always eager to find
new and innovative ways to develop children's
educational progress.
Sincerely,
Dr. Roger Dearing Superintendent of
Schools
c: Lynette Edwards Tim Kolbe
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Physical Therapist |
Performance Rehabilitation Institute &
Sports Medicine
3-150 Eastlake Rd. Suite 101
Palm Harbor,FL 34685
(727) 781-1223
Fax: (727) 772-1161
Konstruk Tubes are
great for many reasons. With this toy, children are
given the chance to use critical thinking skills.
Children are able to plan what they would like to build
and then do it. This gives a child a sense of
achievement and accomplishment while playing and being
creative. This toy helps to improve a child's motor and
sensory skills which is why we use them here in our
physical therapy clinic. This simple but unique toy can
help a child of any age improve fine motor and visual
motor skills. Perceptual skills are also incorporated
when utilizing Konstruk Tubes. Bilateral coordination of
the child's arms, wrists and hands are used when
constructing different creations. Playing with this toy
also improves coordination between the child's eyes,
arms, hands and body posture. Dexterity can beadvanced
along with grip strength. Overall, Konstruk Tubes
intertwine learning and playing as well as helping to
aide in the rehabilitation of children with all sorts of
disabilities. Ultimately, it can help any and all
children to achieve everyday independence through
creativity.
Sincerely,
Todd S. Minear P.T. President/PRIS
Physical Therapy
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