Secure DVD Case

Abram Glas

Summary:

This design project was to solve a problem for many a DVD collector. This problem being that all too often people want to borrow their DVD’s and yet rarely asks. The goal of this project is to create a DVD case that not only kept the DVD’s safe from unwanted borrowers but also to organize a collection. This case was designed for the college student who doesn’t have a lot of space was has good number of DVD’s and CD’s that they want to protect. The case should hold at least 50 DVD, be able to be opened within 10 seconds. Also the case shall be able to be opened by an electronic locking mechanism that works off of batteries. The total cost of the project should be around 50 dollars.
Concepts that were considered during the design process include a sliding front door to the case with a motorized wheel and axle to rotate the DVDs. Another concept that was considered was a case with metal coverings on all sides that were to be activated if the fingerprints did not match up. Yet another idea was to have a case with a conveyer belt on the inside that held the DVD and its case and then rotated around the inside.
The design concept that was actually produced was a hinged door case with an electronic locking mechanism. The case is constructed from wood with metal hinges. The DVDs rest on a plastic slide carousel that was altered in order to hold the DVDs more securely. The slide carousel is held up by a vertical axle which is attached to a base with a bearing on it. The carousel rests on a small wheel that attaches it to the central axle. The electronic lock consists of a keypad that when the correct 4-digit code is entered, it will send a current through a relay that is attached to a locking mechanism. The locking mechanism being used is a simple pull solenoid that retracts once the current flows through it.
Overall, the design works well at storing DVDs and saving space. It surpasses the number of DVD’s that needed to be held by a large margin and also keeps the DVD’s nice and secure with the use of just a solenoid for a locking device.