Custom enclosures and cases · Custom parts and spares
Front enclosure compatible with Siemens OP170B
The panel goes back together with its front, with the screen and the keypad in place.
The challenge
Replacing the front enclosure of a Siemens SIMATIC OP170B, the operator panel from which the machine is run. It is the part that frames the screen, holds the membrane keypad and closes the assembly against the cabinet: all the panel electronics go inside, so looking right from the outside is not enough.
The constraints
It had to be made to match the original, because everything that goes inside already exists and allows no adjustment: the screen window, the board supports, the routing of the keypad ribbon cable and the fixing points. It is also a large, thin-walled part that stays in view and is handled daily, so the front had to come out flat.
The solution
A front enclosure printed in FDM in ASA, reproduced from the original. The bulk of the work is on the inside: the lattice of ribs and partitions that spreads the loads and keeps the front flat, with the seats for the board and the keypad on their dimensions. And the frame, the only part left in view, is hand-sanded to a fine surface: on a part handled every day, the finish shows as much as the fit.
