> That's pretty mental, by the way. But what the hell *is* it??

A metal case that goes on the back of an LCD display.  Mainly to avoid 
electrical interference between the LCD and other parts in the car, but also 
for mechanical protection.  The pressed out lump in the centre is where 
quite a few high components on the PCB are located, so it needs to provide 
space for them, then there's two holes for connectors to go through, a 
couple of features to make a good ground connection to the PCB, and various 
clips and holes around the edge to securely fasten to the rest of the LCD. 
Oh and of course some holes for screws to go through so the thing can be 
fitted to the rest of the car!

> Also... how do you make something like that? It looks like you'd either 
> have to mould it, or take a sheet of metal, bend it around a bit, cut 
> windows and drill holes in it...

Yeh it's pressed metal, so you start with a blank sheet and then it goes 
through a series of tools that bend and cut certain bits until the final 
shape is produced (IIRC there's about 7 or 8 stages usually), no drilling - 
the tools have sharp bits that cut the holes and other shapes, just like a 
big hole-punch!

Post a reply to this message