Lego Technic Application - 1U 19" Rack Enclosure
Trigger Warning: Lego aficionados may consider this use of Lego Technic Frames blasphemous. My apologies. Fortunately, Chinese clones work just as well.
One thing I have been noodling around for a personal project is a 19" rack enclosure. The Lego frames didn't lend themselves to the application because they don't line up well with the standard rack panel heights. Last night I saw the Lego 3x19 frame, which I never thought would be that useful....
Bingo. 1U height rack solution found! This frame would provide a 24mm internal height, but if that's not tall enough, the cover panel can be mounted on spacers.
A 2U or taller rack panel can be created using two of the frames (one to support the bottom panel, one to support the top panel) on each side.
SVG Files For a 1U 19" Rack Enclosure
I've created files for laser-cutting the parts for a 1U rack enclosure. Required holes can be added as needed, Coupled with a panel made with Rowmark ColorCast, a very professional result can be achieved. Please review the Lego Frames page and the Details page if you haven't read them. The file link is below.
Please let me know at the email link below if these files are useful to you. And please send a picture of anything you create.
Hint
I made these panels in the printed circuit board layout section of EasyEDA. Setting the grid to 8mm and the snap to 4mm ensures alignment with the Lego Technic frames. Lay out the holes as circles and the panel edges in whatever layer you'd like to work in - the board outline layer is convenient - and export the file as SVG, selecting the layer(s) you used and the output as black on white.
You can make notes in another layer mentioning any key points for future reference. Do not select this layer to be included in the SVG export.
To make layout even easier, I have layed out the Lego frames as PCB footprints as shown in the picture above. I lay out the panels with the frame footprint on the screen to verify hole and panel placement. This makes it quick and easy to lay out panels. Be sure to allow for panel overlap as explained in the Details Section. In this case, the top overlaps the sides and back, The sides overlap the bottom, and the back is overlapped on all sides.
