Page 88 - History-of-flooringLR

Richards at first international tradeshow,
Surfaces in Las Vegas, USA, 1995

The story behind the ProKnee

kneepad that revolutionised kneeling

The story of ProKnee started over 45 years ago when a self- that was going to save the knees was to get to the guys before they
motivated young Maine, US, native, Lee E Richards began a career in had the knee problems, which is what we’re currently doing. So I
the flooring industry at the age of 16. Being born into a family-owned basically created a streamlined version of that first kneepad,’ now
residential house-building business, construction came natural to known as ProKnee’s Original Model. Leveraging several fabrications
him. After working as a warehouse person at a local flooring store, skillsets he gained when dabbling with the autobody industry in high
Richards decided to pursue a career of his own specialising in all school and reading up on plastic injection technology, the
aspects of floor covering installation. In 1978, he graduated from the development of the first prototype gave Richards the chance to
Armstrong Installation School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. work with a full range of materials and learn the molding process. He
Starting his own flooring installation company known as Qualified created patterns around a replica of his own leg made by kneeling
Flooring Inc. in ’83 (aged 22), the extended 10–16 hour days were into a box of flooring patch compound. ‘I used old school platinum
providing a thriving career filled with tough, yet gratifying work. silicone molding techniques to test my patterns, then modified them
However, 10 years into the trade in the midst of a big job at a local based off the outcome. That’s how you tweak products when you
ski resort, his knee became so severely swollen that he couldn’t don’t have money, or sophisticated CAD computers.’ This lengthy
bend it, let alone kneel on it. ‘After all these years the thought of not process took time to work through while installing full time and
being able to do the occupation that I loved terrified me!,’ Lee says. raising a family, so it took Richards over a dozen patterns before he
‘Over the years I had used every type of kneepad available but was confidently arrived at the design for the Original Model.
unable to find one that could keep me in business.’ This setback
challenged the longevity of his flooring career, his and his family’s
livelihood and ultimately inspired Richards to create a kneepad that
could keep him going. That catalyst was the moment Richards said
to himself, ‘The money is too good in the flooring industry, and I love
it. I’m going to make a kneepad that will be better than any of the
kneepads out there. It’s going to be designed to keep people in
business, because if I am going to take the time and spend the
money on the R&D, I’m not going to make it just for me; I’m going to
make a business out of it.’
By 1987, Richards formed Pro Thought Products, a division of
Qualified Flooring Inc. ‘I was always full of ideas. The kneepad was
one of probably five or six inventions I’d made by that time. In my
career as a flooring installer, I always had things I was putting
together to make my job easier. So when it came to forming a
company, I came up with ‘Professionally Thought Products’, ie, ‘Pro
Thought Products’. But the kneepad was the first commercial thing First ProKnee Prototype Model with seat, January 1987
that I wanted to do. When I decided to bring this idea to market, I
called it ‘ProKnee’, which I felt lent itself better to the flooring
community and was simply derived from what the product was, a Richards describes the first batches of kneepads he sold, which he
professional kneepad, ie, ‘Pro Knee’. produced out of fiberglass and resin at the time: ‘Once news got
out that someone was making hand-made custom fit kneepads, I
The first model of ProKnee utilised a seat to take weight completely got an invitation to BIW, a General Dynamics Corporation owned
off the knees and distribute that weight across the length of the company that built warships for the US Navy. This facility employed
shins (which it currently does today) as well as around the lower leg. over 8,000 workers of which they had a decking/coverings
This model never went to market but was the first patent Richards department, which installed all hull-related sound proofing and
earned in 1988. ‘Technologically, it was a tough design, it required coating materials. I was to observe and study the ergonomics
way too much money to engineer, and I needed more experience. associated with the occupational kneeling this department was
That’s not the kind of knowledge you’re going to have in your head responsible for and outfit them with my kneepads. Before
when you first start in this business. At 10 pounds apiece, it was an expensive plastic injection molds could be produced, extensive
improbable product. I knew that the only way to make a product field testing had to be performed assuring all ergonomic and

88 The History of Flooring