Hey everyone,

I need to make some sort of hinge that will allow my alpine dsp controller to travel out about 1/2" then rotate down. I would like to have this controlled by a single servo but i can't thing of a robust way of doing this. The reason why i'm doing this is because i want to mount my dvd-rom behind the dsp controller under my touchscreen.


the only solution that i have come up with is to have the controller on a set of rails with a hinge at the end. The contact point of the servo's control linkage would be just above the hinge. when the servo linkage pushes it will slide the controller out till it hits a max extension point of the rails to which it will start to rotate the controller down exposing the dvd rom. Here is some cheesy ascii art:

The bottom line is the rail with the 'o' being the hinge. The dotted line would be the servo linkage. It pushes the rails out to the end of travel then rotate the face of the controller down (the column of '|' represent the dsp controller)

Any better ideas?
(I don't think just getting a tray loading dvd to push it out would last very long either)

 

I believe Fishman Audio makes custom actuators and slides. They would be far from cheap though...and I'm sorry, your priviledges to my credit cards are still suspended

 

ha! thanks, I'll just earn money the old fashion way.

anyone want to buy knewblew's corvette? I'll sell it really cheap!

I'll look into fishman's site but i was hoping to build it myself.

 

Looking at your model, I built a quick version of it in a 3d program I have.

there will be some rod issues to be delt with where the rod on the servo will bend. maybe this is ok. but here is some pics of what I mean.







you can see how the tilting rod goes through a geometry change that makes the rod go out of line.

anyhow I gotta run to lunch. I'll put some more thought into it later.
I need to do something very similar as you.

 

I did a bit more work on it. I can see where figuring out the length of the servo arm will be key to this.

I asume a servo moves through 90 degrees of rotation.
I moved the servos 22.5 degrees at a time. I set the arms to the correct pivots etc, and made 3 different models with slightly different pivot points.

 

whoa!!! that is so cool! thank you for going so far out of your way to help. The only problem is that i think the bottom of the faceplate has to be sticking out past the purple line, but if i'm reading this correctly i'd just have to play with the length of the servo arm, and stopping point of the slide? maybe?

 

gee whiz. We need to keep this guy on the Audio Forum

Scott
Yes you can sell my Vette, if you can get $80K for her. Get over that amount and you can have credit card privledges again
Did either Randy or you make it out to Las Vegas for SEMA?

 

Stay Out Of My Thread!!!

 

actually, no. I ended up not being able to make it because it's my g/f b-day and our anniversary. She originally was going to costa rica with her friends and i was off the hook... but she decided against it last minute... so guess who's not going to sema! Heh.

 

thread is offically hi-jacked

 

I am trying to get more into the details now.
How wide is the side of your DSP face?

do you need to clear the plastic dividers betweem the DSP slot and the AC controls as well?

or is it possible that the unit could pivot higher up and move out a little and do a tilt, where 1/2 the body could still be in the slot?

how much room do you need to clear the rom drive?

 

hmmm... i'll have to take measurements on that stuff when i get home. I have to learn to use cad software (seeing how I model in a 3d program [maya] for a living... no wise cracks knew blew ) .. this is so cool!

I'll let you know dimensions by tomorrow afternoon

 

Yes. I agree. Bill needs to make himself available regularly!

Hmmmm? Scott, what's his credit limit? At $80,000 it need to be pretty high. If so, we may be able to work out a little side deal.

 

yeah, apon checking the set up i will need to clear the divider. The dsp face is about an 3/4" thick on top and 1" thick on the bottom. the unit could pivot hicher up but i have a 1 1/4" hight restriction due do the thickness of the dvd rom and the screen housing that hangs down a bit behind the scenes.

 

Scott, I am not familar with the DSP head unit you have, but looking at your set up, are you trying to put the unit in the dash you currently have?


It looks like the area is about 1" tall in there?
Do you have a picture of the behind the scenes area at all?

I had this other idea as well, but if the space is only so small it may just block itself.

I made this model really fast, as I am in the middle of some work right now.
asumming the space and the unit was 2" tall. Mainly to give you a little something else to think about hinge wise.

If you had 2 pins sticking out of the top of the DSP face, and set in a track that ran down the sides of the console openening. you might be able to get a servo to push the bottom of the unit out, as it went out, the top would pivot downwards.









I asume you would not want to go lower the this position here, or you would never get the unit to retract once it hit flat

If the unit was 2" tall, with a side width of 1" down to 3/4", you could tilt it down, and have 1" space between the DSP and the top of your console opening. or maybe you dont have that kind of space and this will never work.

 

nope... that one is gone, i have a new dash that has a single din opening under the monitor. if you look at that pic, imagine that the divider bar is raised up but the monitor still is in the same spot. that is how my new dash is set up.

 

it's this one:
http://radiomancaraudio.com/detail.a...alpine-pxah700

 

okay, so the monitor would probably be in the way with my second idea.

 

hey bill... i actually mocked up something like that when i was going to do something similar with my touchscreen but i think that may be a little beyond my skillset. i'm guessing the tolerances have to be pretty tight because the unit would have to move down uniformly not to torque itself and jam, would you agree with this? also i'm not sure if there would be enough clearance since the monitor sticks down a bit.

 

Yeah the unit would have to move down uniform to not jam.

I am thinking maybe a solution to minimize that would be to have a flat piece of metal at the bottom of the flat screen running the entire lentgh of the screen. Mount 2 rollers of some sort to the ends of the metal going into the screen, this way the unit will be pushed forward uniform.

The problem with this, the piece of metal would have to be about as long as your screen is tall. meaning it would have to move about, what 4-5 inches? I think a motor type actuator would need to be used to keep a 4 inch servo arm from swinging around everywhere. if a servo could even move it.

I feel the same thing. trying to find just a bit more room to mount some stuff in an area that does not have it.

How about room at the top of your touch screen? would it be possible to drop it towards you like a standard mail box door? That way the bottom the the screen could pivot back behind the DSP?