Usually we package a printed board that realizes a function as a module, and the device consists of multiple modules. Due to the size and weight limitations of the device, the actual use usually does not allow to leave empty slots. Therefore, the housing of each product needs to be adjusted according to the selected module. As each module also has a different width, numerous combinations exist, so that although the modules themselves are type products, the housing of each product is more or less different.
The traditional design approach is to redesign the enclosure based on the existing modules. Although this process can be changed on the basis of the original parametric model, but due to the number of different layers, each module of different external connectors, etc., the design workload is still very large, resulting in many designers would rather change the two-dimensional drawings directly in AutoCAD rather than build a three-dimensional model. However, due to the high error rate of pure 2D design, drawing trouble, and processing manufacturers generally began to use 3D programming, so pure 2D design can not meet the existing design needs. Driven by this demand, a faster modeling method is used to improve work efficiency.
1 rapid generation of ideas
Since the design of the enclosure is based on the width of each module, external connectors, module location and other information design. If the left and right side panels are also considered as modules, the device can be viewed as obtained by stitching together numerous modules and then wrapping them with a chassis, as shown in Figure 2. The chassis is associated with the following information: (1) the width occupied by each module; (2) the order in which the modules are arranged; and (3) the external connectors for each module.
That is, the parameters of the enclosure are determined based on the module parameters and arrangement. It is natural to think that if the chassis is also cut along the contact surface of the module, the width of each part of the chassis is related to the width of the module, and the relationship is fixed; each module's external connector openings are on the panel where the module is located. In other words, if these cut parts are assembled on the module, following the module design, then each part of the parameters can be determined in the module design, the whole machine design only according to the order of the module will be placed one at a time, and then each module attached to the part of the chassis splicing and summing to get the chassis