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Microchip External Hard Drive Case: Solid ModelingExternal hard drive cases come in many styles, though most of them have a similar shape. They typically have a hard shell covered with rubber, fabric or leather, have a flexible hinge and are kept shut with a zipper or snap button.
Some simple research and taking apart a case that was available, it appeared the simplest way to make a case like the ones shown above was to simply stamp sheet metal, aluminum or steel, into the desired form, and then glueing or stamping the internal and external materials onto the metal. A reasonable thickness for the walls of the case was around 0.1in. This was the thickness used in both the top and bottom halves of the case. The main modeling task came down to the microchip shaped pouch inside designed to hold the hard drive. This pouch would be made out of fabric or leather, and this is what it looks like on its own:
As can be seen, the metal parts that would normally be attached to the circuit board is much shorter than an actual microchip's metal parts. This was to allow for a better fit inside the case and not make the case too thick. The pouch is measured at 3.5in wide and 5.5in long, just larger than a standard 2.5in external hard drive. These measurements were obtained by measuring the dimensions of a regular hard drive pouch made to protect drives from surface scratches. All put together, the solid model of the external hard drive case looks like this:
Note: the fabric/leather hinge and zipper are not represented in this model. |
