Posted by tony on March 08, 2002 at 13:50:44:
In Reply to: How to remove interchangeable panels posted by Dan on March 08, 2002 at 11:40:05:
here are two ideas that i have once i dig into this, these will require pretty EXACT measurements though.
first up, the entire panel will be swappable. each panel will have rails to guide it into place. on the under side, have molex's actually mounted, not a loose chord. on the cab side, have the molex receptors also mounted. when the panel is slid in, on the front of the machine and under the lip of the control panel, have quick release locks, the kind on dining room tables that have a leaf.
the other idea is similar but instead of having the entire panel come off, i'd like to make it so only a small portion (say 12" by 12") in the front/center slide out. i'd have the standard two sticks, either 6 or 8 buttons with this removable center/front section that would lock into place as described in my first idea. the removable "modules" would be: spinner and joystick w/ buttons (for tron and other games that use similar controls), a trackball with buttons combo, and a steering wheel module. doing this would allow smaller alternatives to the entire control panel being swapped out.
when i return from europs in may, this is what i'll be digging into...
: I'm in my design phase of creating interchangeable panels for my ArcadePC mini and I wanted to share with you an idea I have for removing the panels. I plan on attaching low-profile cabinet handles to either side of the panel at the far edge (so they don't take up any real estate underneath the panel). This way, I can simply grab both handles, lift the panel up and place it on the ArcadePC pull-out tray. Then I can unplug the Molex connector and grab the next panel. I just need to remember to make the cable on the panel side nice and long so I have enough slack to place the panel on the pull-out tray while it's still plugged in. Any suggestions or other ideas?
: Thanks,
: Dan