Fuze Wireless Charging Cabinet
Cleartouch, under the Clearpower brand, needed a partner to help them integrate a patented wireless charging technology into a charging cabinet capable of charging 31 laptops in classroom environments. Existing charging cabinet products used in classrooms today are limited in charging capacity, create a mess of wires since each laptop needs to be plugged in individually, and are not very mobile and maintenance friendly. Cleartouch aimed to fix this problem with the introduction of the FUZE product.
The product is a complicated assembly. We provided industrial design, mechanical engineering, PCBA design, firmware development, component evaluation and selection, CMF recommendations, and all of the DMF required to get the product UL tested and ready for manufacturing.
-
Industrial Design & Mechanical Engineering
The Fuze cabinet required extensive design involving large plastic injection molded housings, the design of a metal fabricated cabinet with hardware, metal shelves for the laptops, all with attachment points and routing for the wiring, multiple PCB's, and LED's. The design also had to provide proper venting and selection of materials capable of passing UL Test 62368-1 for Audio/Video, Information and Communication Technology Equipment. The cabinet had to vent properly in case of fire and also had to survive a baking process without materials distorting beyond specification. Weighted ball impact from several feet were also part of the testing to demonstrate the product would not fail mechanically thereby causing a shock risk to end users.
A unique feature of the design developed was a special laptop case with an integral PCBA enabling the laptop to charge just by sliding it into the cabinet shelf. No plugin required and no messy wire management needed by the consumer!
-
Electronics Development
Speed successfully designed a Dynamic Charging system for the cabinet that took advantage of the customer owned wireless charging technology and allowed for the product to real time monitor the individual charging needs of each laptop and adjust the charge accordingly. The design also allowed for quick placement of the laptops into the individual shelves, with the help of a proprietary laptop design with an integral PCB, without connecting any wires like in competing products. Charging of laptops were available in both the cabinet shelves and on the top surface of the cabinet.
-
Prototyping & Validation
We worked with tooling and molding vendors in China to provide the UL certified plastic housings and base for the prototypes. The cabinet bodies were fabricated and painted by a supplier in Mexico. Several units were constructed for use in UL certification (we managed that process) and also the ISTE show in New Orleans.
We sourced and brought all of the components (including PCB's) in-house for assembly and testing. The units were shipped out at production quality levels.
-
Design for Manufacturing
The design passed UL certification for both mechanical and electronics safety. We worked with 2 different contract manufacturers to provide quotes and on all components and assembly with the target manufacturing location being Mexico.