Application Xtra

Housing Problem Solved with Foam Lining

• Holds electronics in placewithout screws
• Reduces tooling and molding costs

The PxV414 flexible, scalable 4U open-architecture system, by PEP Modular Computers, not only accommodates two platform configurations and several I/O interfaces, it also boasts E-PAC construction, a lightweight, foam-based chassis and housing concept. This lining effectively holds electronic components in place without the use of screws.

E-PAC (Electronic Packaging Assembly Concept) was developed by four engineers at Hewlett-Packard’s Boeblinger, Germany, facility. The team has since formed DTM GmbH, the exclusive licensee of the refined technology. E-PAC involves the use of various shapes, molded from expanded polypropylene (EPP) beads, that fit together consistently and uniformly to cushion electronic components (much like a puzzle). 

The EPP material exhibits resistance to shock, vibration and noise, thus less material is required to protect the electronic components. The foam is also flexible and resilient, eliminating machining steps common with metal parts. In fact, tooling costs may be reduced significantly because less complex sheet metal parts, and fewer and simpler plastic parts, are used in the packaging construction. Further, low-cost aluminum molding tools can be used to shape the foam parts. The EPP foam parts also feature air ventilation channels that keep the secured components cool. During initial testing, the average CPU temperature lowered from 54° to 45°C.

The PxV414 is capable of supporting fieldbus technologies commonly used for automation and robotics applications (i.e. PROFIBUS and CAN) through the use of integral bus cards. Additional options include a 32 MB PCI VGA card, removable IDE or SCSI hard drive and an ATAPI CD-RW/DVD drive. The system supports most major operating systems, including Microsoft Windows 2000/NT/98/ME, Linux, QNX and Solaris.

For more information:

PEP Modular Computers Inc, Pittsburgh, PA. Free info—Circle 254. www.rsleads.com/202df-254

DMT US Inc, McMinnville, OR. Free info—Circle 276. www.rsleads.com/202df-276