BL1811-TMT-TOWER

What if you need a desktop enclosure for your electronics…but your desk isn’t big enough?

It’s one thing to specify a larger custom housing that offers greater capacity but quite another if the resulting huge enclosure takes up too much desk space! There is an alternative: go upwards. Make better use of your enclosure’s footprint by opting for a tower enclosure that gives you more capacity but takes up less desk space.

TECHNOMET Tower Enclosures

All METCASE metal electronic enclosures can be specified in custom lengths and widths. But new TECHNOMET is one of four that can also be specified in custom heights as well. (For the record, the other three are DATAMET, UNICASE and COMBIMET 19”.)

One of the benefits of dealing directly with a specialist enclosures manufacturer – rather than a distributor – is that we have the expertise to create completely bespoke solutions. Our experience enables us to spot potential difficulties before they arise and engineer solutions to deal with them.

That is precisely what happened in the case of the TECHNOMET tower enclosures that we built for a client in the medical/biotech electronics sector.

Everything about the tower was a custom size. But we soon realised that bespoke sizing was not enough. The sheer weight of the components involved would require added support. So we added extra brackets inside to take the load.

The new tower benefits from all the features of a standard TECHNOMET 19” enclosure including:

• modern, cohesive design with no visible fixing screws (they are hidden beneath diecast aluminium trims that fit flush to the case)
• internal subrack/chassis support rails
• recessed ergonomic side handles
• M4 threaded pillars for earth connections on all panels
• ABS non-slip feet.

We simply manufactured the tower to bespoke dimensions, created the extra bracing and added front and rear panels at the client’s request. We also changed the ventilation options. Standard TECHNOMET features a ventilated base and rear panel – but on the tower we added ventilation holes to the top instead of the rear.

How Long Does It Take? How Much Does It Cost?

Custom designs such as the TECHNOMET tower enclosure do not take as long as you might expect.

That is because we have so many existing standard designs which can be modified quickly and easily to suit each client’s requirements. That’s the beauty of manufacturing customised enclosures, as opposed to creating a fully bespoke metal enclosure (although we can do that if need be).

We would dedicate a design engineer to your tower enclosure project. The design phase could take anywhere between a day and a week, depending on the complexity of the task. Custom designs do not cost as much as you might expect either – for the reasons outlined above. Nor do you have to order in large volumes. New technology makes the minimum order quantity just 10 units (one-off/two-off prototypes are also possible). Custom enclosure services include CNC machining, custom front panels, fixings and inserts, painting and finishing, printing of legends, logos, photos, bar codes and QR codes.

Digital printing has been a revolution in terms of the quality and cost savings. Not only do you get full CMYK photo quality printing to A2 size but there are none of the labour-intensive set-up tasks associated with traditional screen and tampo printing. Easy set-up, fast printing, low waste; so you get better results, more quickly, at a lower cost.

What Are The Alternatives To A Tower Enclosure?

Creating the TECHNOMET tower enclosure involved custom sizes in three dimensions but there are easier ways to specify enclosures with more capacity (if desk space allows).
There’s no shortage of good desktop enclosures that can be customised to your precise requirements…

UNIDESK offers a sloping front for optimum viewing – and it can be extended to custom widths to increase capacity. Features include a flat rear panel for connectors, switches and power inlets plus optional IP 54 ingress protection.

Other more portable cases such as UNIMET and UNIMET-PLUS have optional tilt/swivel carry handles that double as desk stands. They are both available in large standard sizes (UNIMET 150 x 350 x 260 mm) (UNIMET-PLUS 150 x 350 x 263 mm) and can both be specified in custom widths and lengths/depths.