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Vacuum Formed Electrical Enclosure

Machine Builder for Unique Automation Needs | Sloop Automation Expertise

The Challenge

A highly compact and custom electrical enclosure on a robot end effector needed to be redesigned. The existing cover, developed by others, had several shortcomings that needed to be addressed:

  1. Formed sheet metal is not dimensionally accurate with that many bends and the chamfered edge was critical for clearance in a specific use case.
  2. The two halves were bolted together which made removing the cover require tools.
  3. Because the cover was made from metal and housed high voltage components, it was required that it be grounded with a grounding strap. This further increased the difficulty of removing it.

The Solution

  • After examining the existing cover and looking at clearance requirements, it was clear a significant shape change was not possible. It was decided to use a plastic cover as this would eliminate the grounding requirement, reduce weight allowing for a single piece design, and reduce manufacturing and assembly complexity.
  • The model and drawings for the cover were produced in Solidworks, including some detailed modeling of lofts for the handles.
  • The manufacturing was achieved by vacuum forming ABS plastic sheet over a single piece mold to produce the 3ft diameter cover. The final product was then trimmed with a router and draw latches were added in the recessed areas.

The Result

The assembly of the cover and integration with the end effector went very smoothly and everything fit together as intended. Due variations of end effectors, a second cover was also designed and manufactured using the same process but with different handle and latch locations.

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My name is Jeff Sloop and I am a mechanical engineer with over nine years of experience in design, manufacturing, and automation. I am based in Ronan, MT, but serve the greater Missoula and Kalispell areas and beyond. I am your one-stop shop for automation systems integration.

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