Introduction
This post and few other will appear as annex to the Essential Raspberry Pi Peripherals #2. The reason is that when it was planned this series of tutorials the 7" touch-LCD created for the PI was not yet on the market. When the first unit has been received, I started immediately to study the hardware and software; in these #2 annexes we explore some mods and installation that can be helpful for the users to get the best from this incredible accessory inside their projects.
Taking advices and suggestions here and there and seeing some issues that may occur with the 7" touch screen display for the Raspberry PI I have done a prototype of a frame to secure the display when mounted with the control board and the Raspberry PI. My actual usage is for an Info-Point based on the Raspberry PI 2 Mod B.
Note that this blog post will show the prototype building of a full working frame for the display while the "commercial" version will be done with white plastic laser-cut based on the same design. The second part will show the building of the back side enclosure to cover the electronic parts. Until now I have not yet found a protective frame of the display also for the front side including the back parts.
Where to find it
You can find the product at Drobott.com Don't forget to apply the Element14 discount code W0E49MYQ (10% off) reserved to the community users!
How the product appears
The full description by images can be found on the following Google Album.
Creating the frames
Measuring the display on both sides I have created three different frames: one front-frame and two back frames.
Front frame
Front view of the front-frame; the two extra-area corresponding to the top and bottom sides are used to keep the front and back frames together. This model is so shaped because these are also the supports that keep the display inside the info-pointsupport. A further version with a full thick border will be producer with the same characteristics.
Back of the front-frame. The two elements that are part of the structure will also help to keep correctly positioned the touch surface over the LCD surface.
Back frames
There are two frames on the back side of the screen. The first is locked with four allen screws with the front-frame while the second frame protect the remaining part and offers the base for the back cover of the electronic parts (cables, dipslay control board and Raspberry PI). The opacity in the frames of the images below depends on the prototype manual refining. In this prototype I have used a 2.5 mm thick acrylic but the right final material should be opaque, white 3 mm thick.
First back-frame, the nearest to the screen surface.
Second back-frame.
Assembling
After the pieces are done, the assembly phase is very easy:
1) Put the front-frame on a flat surface and the screen device on it (the Raspberry PI should not yet be fixed with screws on the display controller board) remember to remove the protective label from the front side of the screen.
2) Place the first back-frame on the screen and insert the four allen screws. Then close firmly the four nuts.
3) place the second back-frame and fix it to the aluminium display four holes with screws. Last, fix with the four screws the Raspberry PI over the display control board.
In the image above the top frame is locked with two black pieces of plastic, that can be replaced with a 3D printed cover to protect all the electronic parts.
Ready to use
The following image shows the finished frame.
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