ProtocaseDesigner.com

Hi,
I'm trying to design an enclosure for a rather small development board (it's about 10x7cm). I need one long and one short side of the board to be close enough to the enclosure walls for AC, network and USB access, but I keep running up against exclusion zones. Extruded enclosures are no good because cutouts are impossible along the extruded sides, and both U- and L-shaped enclosures are a problem because their exclusion zones run too high and wide. I am considering anchoring the board upside down to the top of an L-shaped enclosure, but I wonder if there is a better solution.
Any ideas?
Thanks!

I am sorry I didn't reply sooner, our forum failed to notify me of the new post.

The exclusion zones can sometimes be ignored - basically we can notch out the bend where you want to put a feature. Whether this can be done safely is difficult to predict though, so the proper procedure is to place the objects you want to place, then use the help->ask a question menu to ask whether the interferences can be designed around. An engineer will get back to you within 1 or 2 days. Usually sooner.

One other thing to be aware of when trying to mount boards with low clearance is the screws that hold the board together. Most of our enclosures now display the screws but since we do not yet have a way of including a model of the board itself, you can't see the interference. So it is good to know that the pems for U and L shape stick out 1.78 mm inside the enclosure and have a 7.1 mm diameter. The shaft of the screws are 9.525mm long. We are working on having the enclosures automatically use metric fasteners instead, and could use 6mm long screws with an S-M3-1ZI fastener which is 6.35mm in diameter and sticks out 1.5mm inside the enclosure. But currently you would have to specify this when speaking with your sales representative when purchasing.

Furthermore, if the enclosure was made of thin metal, it can be bent much sharper than the standard template. This also lets you get closer to the edge.

So to recap, place the pems or cutouts you desire, and use the ask a question interface to see if it will cause a problem.