Sunday, May 27, 2018

Useful Information Regarding Road Cases

By Jason Hamilton


Road case is a term used to refer to a given type of container designed specifically for shipping instruments. The instruments include musical instruments, motion picture equipment, audio production equipment, lighting equipment. A huge number of other pieces of equipment may also be shipped using road cases. The instruments shipped are extra sensitive, requiring more protection against damage. Safety of the equipment is key during their handling or movement from one point to another.

Several other names are used to refer to these containers. Some of the most commonly used names are flight case, ATA case, and roadie case. The containers are commonly used by various kinds of professionals in the entertainment industry. A single individual can have a huge number of these containers depending on how much equipment they need to move.

Panels joined by metal extrusions or plastic are used in making most of these containers. Usually, panels with two layers are used to make a case. Fiberglass or ABS laminate are normally employed in making the outer layer. A middle layer of cabinet-grade plywood is then adhered to the outer layer. About 3/16 to 1/2 inches is the thickness of the middle layer.

Maple, birch, and poplar are among the cabinet-grade plywood in application. The name laminate panel is used for these two layers. Composite materials are applied in making the laminate layer in high-grade cases. There is shock-absorbing filler inside case. Varying types of fillers exist, including polyurethane and polyethylene foam. In the filler, there are cavities designed to resemble the shape of the instrument that is placed inside the case.

Instead of using shock-absorbing filler, the case may also be mounted with racks or panels that hold the equipment in place inside the container. The panels or racks are attached to the walls of the case and are equipped with shock insulators. The corners of these containers are reinforced using stamped sheet steel cases corners. The reinforcing corners are then finished using chrome, nickel, or zinc.

Prior to the production and distribution of these containers to buyers, it is mandatory that they are tested. Among the tests carried out are, impact or drop, penetration, vibration, water resistance, stackability and vibration tests. From the mentioned tests, drop tests, stackability and vibration are the most emphasized. A case weighing 50 pounds when stacked up will be dropped 160 times from a raised platform of 30 inches during drop testing.

Also, drop test comprises of 40 corner drops performed from 36 inches high while 80 edge drops are done from 36 inches. There is a reduction in height to 21 inches where cases are 100 pounds. The distant is adjusted to 18 inches for the cases that weigh 150 pounds. As the case weighs more, the distance reduces.

For the stackability test, a weight of 135 kg is mounted on each container face for a 24-hour period. The penetration test sees a 6kg weight dropped on the weakest point from a set height. The aim of each test is to achieve certain results without any damage. The containers are fitted with casters to ease their transit.




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