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What is the technical term to define those grooves indicated by the arrows, in the attached picture?

How are these called?

ocrdu
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Adrian Ionescu
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  • I think that they are to stiffen the sidewall and to stop lateral motion of the PCB mounted on the bosses on the floor of the box. The walls of the box have an outward draft and these grooves square the wall up. – D Duck Oct 07 '22 at 14:35
  • I've also seen them as "side wall grooves". – jonathanjo Oct 07 '22 at 13:58
  • @DDuck they might have that benefit, but they are clearly designed to hold PCBs and similar. – jonathanjo Oct 07 '22 at 15:02
  • The question is not about their role,it's about how they're called. Although one may indicate the other, it's not obvious, and I'd like to use the right term when discussing with a manufacturer. – Adrian Ionescu Oct 07 '22 at 15:36
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    Ask your manufacturer what they call them, then, you both can "speak" the same language. – Rodo Oct 07 '22 at 17:40

3 Answers3

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I'd call them card guides in that a PCB (a card) is guided and kept in place by these grooves. Here's a box that has them and is described in the "blurb" as having card guides: -

enter image description here

Integral card guides accept 1.5 mm (0.062”) P.C. cards. Machine screws thread into brass bushing to attach the lid.

Link to product: https://www.hammfg.com/electronics/small-case/plastic/1591

Andy aka
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  • I've also found that, but they're a bit something else than those in the picture, so I'm not sure if it's the same thing. – Adrian Ionescu Oct 07 '22 at 14:12
  • Not always used to hold the PCB but to hold a comb to hold a PCB https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/371171/how-to-fix-a-pcb-without-mounting-holes-inside-a-case-or-on-a-pcb/371178#371178 – D Duck Oct 07 '22 at 14:31
  • @AdrianIonescu you said this: *they're a bit something else than those in the picture* and I think you ought to expand what you mean. – Andy aka Oct 07 '22 at 14:38
  • @Andyaka, first of all they look different, although their final function may be the same. In the second place, searching for "card guides" always brought results like in the picture you posted, not like in the picture from the question, so I though they might be called differently. It seems that's the case. I think the term I was looking for is "moulded grooves". – Adrian Ionescu Oct 07 '22 at 15:34
  • @AdrianIonescu please link to the product in your picture – Andy aka Oct 07 '22 at 15:38
  • @Andyaka, found one that has the same grooves like the one in the picture, and in the description says about "moulded grooves" - https://www.conrad.com/p/bopla-reglocard-rcp-4000-controller-enclosure-3634-x-3186-x-150-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene-polycarbonate-pc-li-535157 – Adrian Ionescu Oct 07 '22 at 16:51
  • It also says they are for inserting boards vertically and horizontally. There are probably other ways to describe them too but, aren't we being too pedantic now? Haven't you got an answer? – Andy aka Oct 07 '22 at 16:55
  • @Andyaka, not being pedantic. The term that seems to bring better results in online searches, for what I'm looking for, is "moulded grooves" or "mounting grooves", not "card guides" and although the latter refers to the same functionality it's not the exact type of accesory. – Adrian Ionescu Oct 07 '22 at 17:11
  • I think Andy's answer is the best. While "molded grooved plastic enclosure" may be a more generic description, card (or board) guide is more appropriate for an electronics forum. – SteveSh Oct 10 '22 at 11:42
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So, apparently, they're just called "grooves" or "moulded grooves", as I've found here.

Searching for "mounting grooves" also brought some answers.

ocrdu
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Adrian Ionescu
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1

In injection molding terms these so called grooves would be referred to as Ribs, if they were angled they could also be called Gussets. There are specific rules for determining the allowable dimensions of such features so as to prevent wall deformities, sink areas, voids, proper part release, etc..

A few references:

https://3space.com/injection-molding-rib-design/

https://go4mould.com/injection-molding-wall-thickness

Nedd
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