Control panel hardware buttons

Looks Pro, but that's a lot of extra work and sheetmetal for the 'integrated' keyboard look.

If you're dead set on it, I think you could tidy it up by:

• Piano hinge across the front
• Curved, slotted locking tabs slide inside the main enclosure and some small thumbscrews to clamp it through the outside.

It's not just an "integrated look", The keyboard can be tucked completely out of the way and still be pecked at when necessary.

Definitely more work to make but it's already designed so I may as well make one or 2 even if it's not really feasible to make more. Cost of the sheetmetal is negligible, the keyboard and touchscreen are metal industrial units, a bit of extra steel and aluminum isn't much of a concern.

Not a fan of piano hinges which is why I did it this way. Recessing the brackets into the enclosure is a thought but the external hinges are easier to deal with.

Gotcha.

You just tell me what you want, and I'll make the torch go there

Much appreciated, these things would definitely be too expensive to make without your help

Why not have the pivot piece as part of the keyboard holder?
Can you make the pivot piece sit on the inside? 

That can be done sure, but here's a couple of problems with that. Can you guess what they are? All that would just be for aesthetics so I don't really think it's worth the downsides.

 

 

 


Double arm pivot hinges.

Would need a latch and a stop to set the open angle properly, but do-able.

Sure it is, but that doesn't look very sturdy. I have that keyboard, I used to use it in my living room. I broke the micro-USB port so many times I couldn't solder it on anymore.

I could do it with the hinges I have if I wanted. The problem (I was alluding  is now I have slots in an otherwise seal-able enclosure to pass hinges out of.

I'm trying to figure out what the point is, just aesthetics right? I don't think that looks better.

The keyboard was just a quicky d/l from grabcad.  If I were doing it myself, I'd probably use a panel-mounted keyboard and put a thin gasket on the back.  Then it'd sit on the outer surface and be chip/splash resistant when the keyboard was folded up (keyboard panel would form a bezel).

My intent was to show a main enclosure that is easier to fabricate than the notched one, as well as not needing to fabricate a separate keyboard 'box'.  The whole enclosure would be a simple box with three openings (monitor, control btns, keyboard).

Looks, of course, are totally subjective.