Word Clock. Enclosure Construction Notes

Transcription

1 Word Clock Enclosure Construction Notes DougsWordClocks.com Pty Ltd April 2013 V2.0

2 Licence The Word Clock Design, PCB layout, Manual, and Firmware is Copyright , by DougsWordClocks.com Pty Ltd. This Design, PCB layout, Manual and Firmware is licensed under the TAPR Open Hardware Licence (Non-Commercial). Permission is granted for anybody to: Modify the documentation and make products based upon it, provided you do not make more than ten units in any twelve month period. Use the products for any legal purpose without limitation. Distribute unmodified documentation, but you must include the complete package as you received it. Distribute only on a non-profit basis, charging no more than the actual cost of parts, assembly, and shipping. Distribute products you make to third parties, if you either include the documentation on which the product is based, or make it available without charge for at least three years to anyone who requests it. Distribute modified documentation or products based on it, if you license your modifications under the OHL. Welcome Thanks for deciding to make this great little clock project. I have really enjoyed designing and developing it over the last few years. There are so many ways to construct a word clock. I have broken assembly down into various documents This document details the construction of the enclosure to hold your clock project. You will find that construction of this clock is very simple and methodical. Be careful with your measurements and safety conscious when you are using cutting tools, and you will find that the completed project will be an amazing conversation starter for years to come. YouTube videos We have developed a YouTube video that shows the construction of the clock all of the photos used in this guide were taken from this video;

3 Parts List There are two versions of the stencil and enclosure kit; a short form kit that just provides the cut vinyl stencil, requiring you to purchase some Perspex sheets to complete the project, a full kit containing all of the Perspex as well. Perspex is easily available from many sign writing equipment suppliers. Most suppliers will cut the sheets to the required size The first thing you need to do is to verify that you have all of the necessary components required to assemble your clock Here is the complete parts list, please note that some components do change depending on the style of your clock. Enclosure Side enclosure supports (3mm Black) 50mm x 270mm 2 Top & Bottom enclosure supports (3mm Black pre-drilled) 50mm x 264mm (50mm x 284mm Chaos) 2 Numbered Baffles (3mm Black Precut) 20mm x 264mm 7-10 depending on the kit Vertical Baffles (3mm Black pre-cut) 20mm x 25mm (Approx) depending on the kit LED Array Support Sheet pre-drilled (3mm White) 264mm x 264mm (264x284 chaos) 1 Rear Cover (3mm Black) 270mm x 270mm (270 x 290 chaos) 1 Rear Cover Mounts (3mm black) 20mm x 50mm 4 (cut from 20 x 200 piece) Enclosure Rivets 5mm x 10mm Push in plastic rivets 4 Assembly Spacers (temporary manufacture supports) 20 x 30 (approx.) 8

4 Face 300mm x 300mm Perspex sheet (3mm clear) 1 295mm x 295mm Laser Cut Card Stencil 1 300mm x 300mm Perspex Face Mount (essentially a large surround with a massive square hole in it (3mm Black) 270mm x 270mm Perspex Face Support the contents of the above hole this has light wells cut for each of the lit words(3mm black) Cover captive screws (Silver) (two part 5mm) 4 Diffuser Material Lightweight paper (provided by user) Additionally, you will need some plastic glue which is compatible with your perspex sheets talk to your local Acrylic supplier or sign maker for the correct glue. I use "IPS weld-on #16 Solvent cement for acrylic or Acribond Acrylic Solvent" for my own projects. Some people have used Super Glue in the past While this does work, the fumes from the use of large amounts of Super Glue are damaging to your health, and they should be avoided.

5 Enclosure Construction Our enclosure is made from 3mm Perspex sheets that are held together using a vinyl adhesive. As mentioned in the parts list, you will need some plastic glue which is compatible with your Perspex sheets talk to your Perspex supplier for the correct glue. It is a solvent that actually dissolves the Acrylic material that the Perspex is made from so it ensures that the joints are extremely strong. Be careful to work in a well-ventilated area to protect yourself from fumes. All employees at DougsWordClocks are expected to use correct personal protective equipment when working with Acrylic Solvents This includes; protective coveralls to protect skin from adhesive contact; Safety glasses to protect the eyes from accidental solvent contact; Start by interlocking the assembly spacers together to form a set of four 20mm in height self-supporting spacers. These are used to support the front of the Internal LED support off the workbench by 20mm to allow space for the baffles to be installed. Locate the Internal LED support sheet (3mm White) remove the protective paper, remembering the names of the sides (front and back) - place it onto the spacers, with the Front facing the workbench, and the label Top facing away from you. We will be working on the back of the clock for the next few steps. Locate the Top & Bottom (50 x 264) and two sides (50 x 270) sheets - remove the protective paper, and place them around the edges of the internal LED support. Be careful that the etched labelling on the bottom that identifies the power connector and button labels is located on the outside of the clock.

6 Continue assembly by standing the bottom of the clock up against the internal LED support, and gently applying acrylic adhesive to the joint it should bond within a couple of seconds. When gluing, use a thin bead of glue along the entire edge of the sheet to be attached. Be careful with the glue to ensure that it does not flow from the container over everything, making a mess. WARNING Fumes given off by most Acrylic solvents are not healthy to breathe. Ensure that when working with the glue, adequate ventilation is available. Please read and observe all safety warnings printed on the Acrylic solvent. These solvents can be highly toxic and give off strong fumes.

7 After assembly, your frame should look like this: Let the adhesive cure for a little while, and then it is time to install the baffles. Gently lift the frame up from the workbench, and turn it over, KEEPING THE BOTTOM OF THE FRAME CLOSEST TO YOU Locate the baffle components and remove the protective paper from them. Install the numbered horizontal baffles from 1 7 (1 10 for Chaos kits) from the top of the frame to the bottom. Ensure that the etched numbers are located on the LEFT side of the frame Install spacers between the baffles into the laser cut recesses.

8 Once you are happy with the placement of the baffles, apply glue to the edges of the baffles, and the sides of the LED mounting board, and glue the baffles into place on the LED mounting board. Again wait a few hours for the glue to set completely. This largely completes the assembly of the enclosure...once the glue has completely set, we need to install the LEDs on the inside of the newly created light box enclosures. We will be cutting segments from the supplied 'LED Strips' and installing them into the light wells. Strip LEDs are strips of flexible plastic PCB material that have groups of LEDs and resistors preinstalled. They are designed to run of 12V DC, and have an adhesive backing material already applied. They can normally be cut into set of 3 LEDs, as individual light components. The photo on the right shows a typical strip light.

9 Install the LED strips into the light wells as show in this photo: When applying the strips, ensure that the area where the strip will be installed is clean. Line up the end of the cut strip with the hole where the wiring will be installed through, and ensure that the LED strip is located centrally within the light cell. Be careful when installing the strips to make sure that the + and connections are uniform (i.e. all + up, or all + down) It doesn't matter which convention you use, just be consistent. You will notice in the photo above, that we have installed the mounts for the controller board you can install them at this stage, or later. This is not important. Next, number the location of the words to simplify wiring; Note that pin 9 is the common (Positive) line for all LEDs, and pins 11, 18 and 20 are typically not used.

10 Continue assembly by soldering a wire between all of the '+' connections Remember that the controller has a common + between all of the words. Here is a close up of the common positive connection soldered to a strip. Once all of the strip lights have been installed, mount the controller, insert the ribbon and wire each individual LED strip. Keep a copy of the wiring instructions as detailed in the assembly manual for Wordclock Controller manual to help you get the wiring right. In this example, I wrote the names of the words on the back of the white LED mounting sheet to help me. You can also simply write the numbering of the word instead. Here is a photo of the finished wiring on the back of the clock. Note the coils at the top of the clock These are the wires for the two spare words instead of clipping the wire off, I coiled it up for later.

11 Next, mount the power connector socket.and wire it up to the board. Turn the clock over and plug it in It should run a self test where every word is illuminated in turn YAY!!! Run inside and show your spouse and enjoy a coffee!

12 Next, we need to install the face and back. Back: Locate the back of the clock Place it onto the workbench, and attach the rear mounts (20mm x 50mm acrylic rectangles using adhesive Locate the mounts inset from the edge of the rear by 3mm. Once the back is dry, mount the back onto the frame, and using the pre-existing holes in the top and bottom as guides, enlarge the holes to 5mm, and use the black plastic rivets to hold the back in place.

13 Face: Place the face support on the bench, and lay the frame on top of it Apply a line of glue around the edge to attach the face support. Let the adhesive cure. < insert photo> Turn the clock over, remove the protective paper from the face support and install the Perspex face support onto the top of the baffles This provides a flat surface to mount the face onto. <insert Photo> Obtain some white paper (I use grease proof baking paper), cut it to size and tape it onto the face be careful not to use tape where you would see it through the face stencil. <insert Photo> Locate the face laser cut card, and place it on top of the paper diffuser installed previously Locate the face acrylic sheet, remove the protective paper and place it on top of the completed clock Use the supplied metal captive screws to hold the face together. Mount the clock on the wall, set the time, and have a party! :-) There that was easy!