Hi,
I am designing some PC accessories for mounting in a (double-height)
5.25" drive-bay slot. To this end I need to know the precise
dimensions, screw-hole locations and other such "design
considerations" necessary to ensure the widest possible compatability
with existing PC case (front) bays and their mounting holes etc.
I've tried as best I can Googling for such dimensions or
"design-guide", but this is obviously not "popular search topics", or
at least I'm unable to find any information about this - Other than
the loose and incomplete dimensions sometimes quoted by the various
manufacturers of such bay-devices, which is hardly "solid" enough
information to base a new design on?
Any linkage or document/book titles with such information would be
appreciated, and all the better if the "raw numbers" are acompagnied
by some kind of "technical drawings" or "design templates", either in
printed or digital form (ie. readable by AutoCAD, or at least
"convertable" to a format supported by acad, such as DXF).
As a very minimum, I need to know:
- The precise dimmensions and tolerances of the "front-plate" of a
5.25" drive-bay (preferably of a "double-height" bay = two consecutive
bays used for one "device".)
- The precise location, size and tolerances of "mounting holes" (ie.
screw-holes) for such a double-size 5.25" drive-bay device and/or its
front-plate.
- Any "design considerations" of importance (ie. areas that should be
left free/unused, special considerations when using "double-height" =
two consecutive bays for a single front-panel device, and similar
important issues to avoid / take into account...)
Just to make sure you understand what is needed:
The "device" I'm designing is a bit like those "bay-devices", most
often seen in the form of fan-controllers, LCD-displays and similar.
Specifically my "device" will not be occupying the entire depth of the
(two) 5.25" bay(s), but is rather like a "front-panel", just a few
centimeters (~one inch) in depth.
As the device will span two consecutive 5.25" bays (ie. using the
front-panel space of two CD-ROM drives mounted directly above each
other), it is of some importance to have the information neccessary to
allow the device to be mounted in most cases, EVEN if various
guide-rails or "easy-mounts" are provided in the bay-slots (which I
guess will be the case for most modern PC cases). Since the device
will not penetrate too deeply into the bays, this should be possible
to do, but knowing where such rails/mounts are normally located will
be crucial to ensure the widest possible compatability, even where the
bays diverge from the simplest of bay-standards. The information of
importance here, would be the "depth" at which such rails etc. will
begin to "encroach" into the otherwise rectangular bay-opening, and
the largest dimensions one should expect such encroaching rails or
mounts to have?
While not crucial, it would be nice to have enough information to
consider using the left over space (depth) to provide a 3.5" HD
mounting-bracket or such, allowing the user to utilize the two bays
for more than just my "front-panel device". This would include the
location and tolerances of the rear-most screw-holes as well as the
dimmensions etc. for producing a 3.5" HD bracket (ie. much the same
info as above, but for 3.5" bay-devices).
In case such information is hard to come by, I would appreciate any
suggestions as to what terms to search for and where..?
If you feel the offered amount isn't quite enough to warrant the
information I request, please let me know how much you feel would be
sufficient...
I hope all this makes any sense?
Thanks in advance for your answer...
Regards,
inventus-ga. |
