Our Cases

There are many factors to consider when ordering a custom case. From the material and thickness of exterior panels, hardware, the construction method and the many interior options available. To simplify this for you we have developed a product family that encompasses the combinations that are most common and most effective. The three categories are Heavy Duty, Medium Duty and Light Duty. At ECM we have twenty-seven proprietary custom case extrusions that provide the utmost in strength and quality to all our case categories.

Product Families

HEAVY DUTY

Our toughest and highest-performance case, this category is the best choice for heavy items, sensitive and/or expensive equipment that will be subject to the rigors of transportation by commercial carrier. Thicker panels (.75” or .50”), recessed hardware and heavy duty casters are standard features of this case family. Case panels in this category are riveted for strength and ease of repair/upgrade. If a rigidized aluminum case is the chosen option in this category a .063” panel thickness would be utilized. Additionally, we use extruded polyethylene (Etha) foam for the interiors due to its high density.


MEDIUM DUTY

This category is less costly than the heavy duty line due to thinner panels used in its construction, but remains well-suited to protect medium to heavy weight requirements. Panel thicknesses of .25” or .375”, recessed or surface hardware, and stapled-and-glued construction are typical in this case category. For our rigidized aluminum cases in this category the option of .050” aluminum panels provides medium duty strength with the lightest possible weight. Etha or urethane foam are used in this category depending upon the protection requirements.

LIGHT DUTY

Not everyone needs the level of protection offered by our heavy and medium duty cases. Light duty or lightweight refers to both the construction of the case and its intended application. In order to achieve the lower weight of the case, thinner panels (.25” or .125”) are used. Typically these cases will be manufactured using our stapled construction method, have surface mount hardware and use polyurethane foam for the interior. Light duty cases are perfect for sales samples, small electronics, hand tools, or cases that are usually transported by hand or in personal vehicles.

Interiors

Interiors can range from a paint only or foam lining to a complex custom cut foam insert. ECM uses high quality polyurethane, polyethylene and cross-linked polyethylene foams in a variety of thicknesses; antistatic foam is also available for static sensitive applications.

Options

In addition to superior interior design, ECM offers a wide range of interior components, including partitions, drawers, keyboard and control slide outs, rackmount hardware and trays. Virtually anything you need can be incorporated into your case.

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Case Hardware

Case hardware (corners, latches etc.) is manufactured and tested to the highest industry standards. All hardware is attached to the cases using our break-stem blind rivets, this ensures that in the event of damage in the field the parts are easily drilled out and replaced avoiding costly downtime.

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HOW DO YOU CHOOSE? WHAT CASE BEST SUITS MY REQUIREMENTS?

Here are a few examples of some of our client’s choices and the rationale behind the decisions:

Cases for a lighting rental house
A major lighting rental house uses .50″ high pressure phenolic laminate (Formica is an example of high pressure phenolic laminate). This customer needs the robust performance of a .50″ laminate and our full riveted design because of the possibility of damage that commercial shipping and rough handling can inflict upon their cases. This client will use only recessed hardware and will have custom hardware manufactured if necessary.
A large AV rental house generally prefers .25″ and .50″ ABS laminated plywood for their cases. There are a wide variety of colours available in this material that are utilized to suit a company colour scheme. Because of the ubiquitous nature of this material in our industry, it remains the economical choice for most purposes. This client prefers our full riveted construction because of the ease of repair. They use a combination of recessed and surface mount hardware; whichever is suitable to the task.
A marine instrument supplier prefers our TIG welded .063″ rigidized aluminum cases due to the high strength, light weight and corrosion resistant properties of this material.
A large computer rental house prefers to use our lighter duty stapled-and-glued construction for the majority of their cases. A combination of recessed and surface mount hardware is used in their designs. Their products are handled by their staff in their own vehicles; therefore they will not be exposed to the rigors of commercial carriers making this the ideal choice for the application.
A sound and lighting production company uses our special order “Hexagrip” material due to its exceptional strength and clean interior coating. This material gives us the ability to engrave the company’s logo, equipment type, case number and other information on the outside of each case, this enables easy identification and organization of equipment while on location.