Adaxo Case Study

Case Study: Instrument Design

Design reqirements

The need was to replace an earlier design which had proved too costly, fragile and unsatisfactory
in a workshop environment.
ADAXO's brief was to

reduce manufacturing cost
make the unit easier to use
make it much more rugged

The enclosure

ADAXO's registered design based on an off the shelf die casting provides
effective protection for the electronics and a heavy stable platform
which is easy to position on printing cylinders.
The body contains probe positioning servos, NiMh battery with its
smart rapid charger.

Control panel

The panel is NC machined from acetal sheet. It houses the keyboard, display and main processor. We use the gasket supplied by the manufacturer of the diecasting to seal the instrument.
The control panel is machined to match the die cast lid which is normally supplied.
The switches are sealed types and O ring seals are incuded which fit between them and the control panel.
The integral handles eliminate separate items bolted on.
PCB mountings are provided which eliminates a folded steel chassis.
The LCD window is bonded into a recess, allowing the LCD to be mounted on the processor PCB.

Details

The feet use off the shelf extruded polyurethane pads fitted to ACETAL
side pieces. They provide secure seating on the cylinder and prevents
damage to its engraved surface. The profile of the side piece ensures
that the pads are clear of a flat surface reducing likelihood that they will
gather dirt. The feet are easily replaceable using the coin slotted screws
accessible on the top surface.
The push buttons are recessed to avoid inadvertent operation by placing
items on the control panel.
The profiles of the control panel and the side pieces are matched so that the
instrument rests naturally on its side when replacing the probe.

Conclusion

By addressing the design as a whole ADAXO ...

reduced the manufacturing cost of the case to less than 25% of the original
reduced the number of structural machined parts from 14 to 3
reduced the number of PCB from four to two
eliminated the need for tooling a special key pad
improved the unit's resistance to ingress of dirt and contaminents
eliminated critical single source components from the design
increased space for the battery permitting cheap NiMh cells to be used in place of LiIon.
improved ease of use, assembly and test