NZ Truckbody & Trailer > TRT News
|
|
3D CAD allows design testing before manufacture |
Computer Aided Design and 3D modelling are tools that truck body designer Alex Squires wouldn’t be without. |
|
They help him to make innovative designs and test whether they’ll work before even one piece of metal is cut or a prototype is made. Alex, who operates Alimax in Silverdale just north of metropolitan Auckland with his brother Jonathan, uses CAD design daily as he works to find solutions to often thorny problems. He used 3D CAD to design a sliding side door for refrigerated delivery trucks with bodies made of Bondor-style insulated panels. Traditionally, those bodies have used roller doors or hinged container-style doors. But there was a demand for a locally-produced sliding side door that provided a perfect door to body seal to keep temperatures constant. “A lot of users of these small trucks are delivering food to restaurants and cafes in the inner city where space is tight,” says Squires. “If you’re delivering chilled foods to a café that’s down an alleyway you can’t open a hinged door because there’s no space. |