Designing a cover for a water massage unit presented some challenges: the cover had to be lightweight, durable, and attractive, and it needed to create a watertight seal. It also had to arrive ready for final assembly -- and it had to be affordable. Kintz Plastics designed, engineered, and manufactured exactly the cover panel Aqua Massage Int'l needed, at a very competitive price.

36-Finger Massage

The Aqua Massage Dry Water Massage uses 36 computer-controlled water jets to produce a fingertip-like massage that relieves muscle stiffness and tension in just 10-15 minutes. Each massage is customized by adjusting water pressure, water temperature, and pulsating frequency, yet the recipient remains dry and fully clothed: no water, no oils, and no cleanup! Users hop into the unit, enjoy a thorough full-body massage, and walk away feeling great. Aqua Massage places its units in malls across America, working with a network of distributors who place and support the machines with local owner-operators.

Multiple Challenges

The cover for the Aqua Massage Dry Water Massage needed to be transparent, so users would not feel claustrophobic. It needed to be lightweight so it would open and close easily, yet it had to form a watertight seal, and it had to be attractive, to enhance the unit's high-tech look. Importantly, it needed to arrive for final assembly ready to be installed, while still being affordable.

Kintz Plastics' Engineering Dept, working with Aqua Massage's design and engineering team, developed a cover for the Dry Water Massage that fulfilled all the requirements.

• Design and Engineering: Working from Aqua Massage's concept drawings, Kintz decided to use 0.187 in. thick acrylic, and to thermoform the cover to the outside contour of the Dry Water Massage. Small bolts inserted through holes around the cover's perimeter connect it to a frame.


• Thermoforming: The cover's size made thermoforming more practical than any other process -- especially injection molding -- in terms of both per-unit cost and tooling investment. Also, a thermoformed unit could be delivered much faster -- significant, since Aqua Massage was sitting on orders for its innovative new product!


• Resin: Kintz recommended acrylic in a translucent blue for the cover panel. Flat sheets are thermoformed to the required shape in a single process using a male mold, and no painting or other finishing is required. The surface of the cover is attractive but scratch resistant, and it will tolerate extremes of heat and cold.


• Fabrication: After the cover panel is thermoformed, holes are drilled at defined points around the perimeter, and a small screw with two washers and a nut is inserted so the cover panel arrives ready for quick final assembly of the Dry Water Massage at Aqua Massage's plant in Connecticut.


• Economy and Value: The process results in a cover unit that meets all of the original criteria: it is affordable, lightweight but durable, forms a watertight seal when closed, adds to the appearance and attractiveness of the unit, and is delivered ready for final assembly.

"Kintz Plastics' engineering expertise helped AMI get the Aqua Massage Spa to market faster, and made it an even better product," says David Cote, Aqua Massage Int'l president.