Product description:

The product is a digital radio capable of sustaining rugged, all-weather conditions to be used by fire, police, local, state and federal agencies.

 

Technical challenge:

A major product development agency in the UK came to MNR Technology to develop a fully submersible, IP67 rated handset. Our task was to seal the unit through the most vulnerable apertures, the keypad, push-to-talk (PTT) switch assembly and DB13/M5 connector, while working within the product’s dimensional constraints. No screws were permitted, and the speaker grills were to be completely functional and without sound output constraints.

 

How we did it:

With the industrial designer, we defined space availability for the three main components: PTT, keypad and M5 assemblies. We then analyzed the material to define the thinnest material cross-section for each component. This kept the sealing of items such as LEDs, circuit contacts, housing access points, component interconnectivity, and speaker access/sound flow in mind. Additionally, we determined minimum adhesive boundary criteria to obtain IP67. We designed the components within the space constraints determined by the industrial designer.

 

Results:

The design was prototyped and fully qualified to IP67 on its first round of samples.