Different areas of application and their environmental conditions place different requirements on subracks and housings: certain shock and vibration resistance, optimal heat dissipation options, EMC shielding and much more. As a specialist in the field of connectors, terminals and housing technology, a distributor based in Berlin meets the requirements of different applications. Its portfolio is supplemented by services for configuring and modifying products, specialist expertise in project management and design as well as support with integration including testing for the tailor-made development of application-specific solutions.

When selecting a subrack or housing for a specific application, many constraints must be taken into account. The choice is made easier if you rely on a flexible platform product that can be adapted according to the customer's specifications, the application and the environmental conditions at the site of use. Such modular products create different products on a uniform basis and with various standardized components. These can be configured for the respective requirements in terms of dimensions, static and dynamic loads, for example shock and vibration, as well as EMC resistance and individual interior design.

May Distribution primarily relies on the 19" EuropacPro subrack and the 19" RatiopacPro housing from nVent Schroff for its customer projects. These have a modular structure and can therefore be adapted to the customer's specific specifications and applications. These subracks and housings offer a flexible platform for applications in the areas of military technology, telecommunications and transport as well as for measurement, control and regulation technology. Already during their development, great emphasis was placed on a high degree of modification options and flexibility. As a result, these products can often cover around 90 percent of all customer requirements. And so a customer-specific solution can be created from a standard product.
 

Platform concept for variety

A standard subrack, for example, consists of at least two side walls and four horizontal profiles, the module rails. There are additional matching accessories such as cover plates that are mounted above the card room, front panels, rear covers, guide rails and various parts for interior design. The basic EMC shielding can be upgraded depending on customer requirements and different EMC sealing concepts are available for the front panels.

The 19'' EuropacPro subracks can be adapted to different requirements to install and protect electronics. Thanks to their modular design and numerous standard options or modified or customer-specific solutions, the EuropacPro subracks are suitable for a variety of applications. The product range ranges from cost-effective to robust shock- and vibration-resistant versions. These modular subracks comply with all common standards for different areas of application and are available from stock with a wide portfolio of compatible standard components. A possible EMC shielding can be implemented with stainless steel or textile seals. A wide range of compatible front panels, plug-in modules and accessories complement this product platform.

The situation is similar with the housing model preferred by May. Regardless of whether it is CompactPCI, CompactPCI Serial, VME, VPX, PXI-Express or a proprietary application, RatiopacPro offers a standard solution for portable housings, tabletop housings or as a subrack for installation in a 19'' cabinet. This modular and platform-based housing solution with a wide portfolio of compatible accessories is particularly suitable for measurement, control and regulation technology, audio, video and broadcast applications as well as for laboratory and medical technology. Components can be inserted from both the front and the back without having to remove cover plates. With simple configuration and modification options in height, width and depth, various accessories and expansion parts as well as options for EMC-shielded and non-shielded solutions, individual design options arise.

The customer can choose between three basic models: RatiopacPro, a space-optimized version, RatiopacPro air, a 1U larger version with an integrated ventilation concept and RatiopacPro Style. Ideal for research instrumentation, optical metrology, and visual inspection applications, the RatiopacPro Style model offers thousands of configuration options to meet design and protection requirements.
 

Configure and modify

In addition to personal advice from May, customers have access to product configurators with which they can put together their individual housing or subrack from individual components online. A permanent plausibility check makes use reliable. Immediately after configuration, the customer receives a complete parts list with all item numbers used. May also realizes customer-specific drillings and knockouts as well as special colors and individual printing. If customer-specific adjustments are necessary, these will be changed accordingly in the design or newly developed and integrated. Special sizes or completely customer-specific housings and subracks can also be implemented in this way.
 

Individual front panels

Front panels are also important components of a housing or subrack, as they shape the individual face of a system with specific labels or company logos and are therefore largely responsible for the first impression of the respective application. With various cutouts for different connectors, LEDs, handles, switches and prints, May Distribution's nVent Schroff front panel program offers the possibility of individual production and design with color gradients and artistic design within just a few days. In addition to front panels made of aluminum and steel, front panels made of stainless steel are also processed.

Here too, the customer can use an easy-to-use online configurator. After entering the relevant basic data for the front panel, such as height, width, number of round holes, number and shape of breakouts (CAD library), desired EMC shielding, type of surface, powder coating, screen printing, foiling and photorealistic digital printing selected the desired accessories.
 

Partner and distributor

May not only delivers standard products, but also offers a variety of services. These include, for example, modifications, assembly and pre-wiring of subracks as well as constructive and production-related project support.

May Distribution becomes an engineering partner for its customers, supporting a project from start to finish. If the customer requests it, May also delivers fully assembled products including all built-in parts and accessories as well as fully assembled assemblies. May also offers the assembly of cables as individual pieces or series for its customers and puts the products requested by the customer in stock in order to be able to guarantee fast delivery. This saves the customer a lot of time and allows them to concentrate on their actual task immediately after receiving the product.

Author
Dieter Schink, CEO