Self-Service Kiosk Enclosure Fabrication: Totems, Terminals and Ticket Machines

A self-service kiosk is a machine that works unattended in public, which means it has to survive being leaned on, kicked, washed, overheated and, occasionally, attacked. The electronics inside are usually standard; what makes the product work is the enclosure around them, and almost every one of its requirements is a sheet metal requirement.

What a Kiosk Enclosure Has to Be

Formats: Freestanding, Wall, Counter and Outdoor

• Freestanding totem. A tall column with the interface at operator height; the base and the structure do the work.
• Wall-mounted. The load path runs into the wall, so the wall type and the bracket decide the design.
• Counter-top. Small, often with a single screen and a reader; weight and finish matter more than structure.
• Outdoor kiosk. Adds weather sealing, drainage, a higher protection class and usually stainless or a heavy coating system.
• Multi-function unit. Combines a terminal with a printer, a cash unit and sometimes a locker; the internal layout becomes the main design problem.

Structure, Base and Stability

• Run the load path from the top of the kiosk to the floor fixings through the frame, not through the decorative panels.
• Provide a base plate or frame with a fixing pattern that suits the floor, and allow for levelling.
• Design for leaning and impact loads, which are usually larger than the equipment's own weight.
• Keep the centre of gravity low where the design allows, particularly for a tall totem.
• Provide lifting or handling points, because a kiosk is installed with machinery.
• Allow for cable entry from the floor, with a defined route and a sealing arrangement.

Screen, Card Reader and Printer Interfaces

• Take the window and aperture dimensions from the module drawings, and hold the tolerance on the interface features.
• Keep the mounting faces flat, so that a screen or a reader is not stressed when it is fixed.
• Provide a replaceable sacrificial window in front of the display where the environment is hostile.
• Design the printer aperture so that a paper jam can be cleared without dismantling the front panel.
• Provide a shroud or a hood over a reader or a slot that faces upward, so that water and dirt cannot collect in it.
• Allow access from the rear or the side so that modules can be replaced in service.

Thermal Management in a Sealed Public Enclosure

• Treat the enclosure as sealed unless the environment genuinely allows filtered air.
• Match the cooling method to the environment first and the load second.
• Remember that a screen in direct sun adds a load the electronics did not create.
• Use a light colour and shading where the kiosk faces the sun.
• Provide a filter change interval in the documentation if a filter fan is used.
• Allow for condensation on a kiosk that cools overnight, particularly in a humid climate.

Security, Vandalism and Anti-Tamper

• Use security fasteners on every externally accessible fixing.
• Recess the locks, the hinges and the fixings so that a lever has nothing to catch.
• Stiffen the exposed faces with returns and closed sections rather than by adding thickness everywhere.
• Protect the cash and card modules with an internal safe or a reinforced compartment where the application requires it.
• Design wear parts to be replaceable, including the window, the reader bezel and any exposed trim.
• Provide a door stop and a lock that cannot be defeated by flexing the door.

Cabling, Earthing and Service Access

• Provide a defined route for power, network and any peripheral cabling, with separation where required.
• Provide strain relief at every entry and at every module.
• Bond the doors and removable panels to the earth bar.
• Keep the power supply and the electronics accessible without removing the kiosk from the floor.
• Label the interior, because service is often carried out by a technician who has not seen the kiosk before.

Finish and Appearance

• Powder coating in the brand colour, with masked bonding and mounting faces.
• Stainless where the environment or the application demands it, brushed or with a defined grain.
• Printed or engraved legends, applied or produced after coating.
• Wear-resistant trim at the points the public touches, since these are the first places to look tired.
• Keep service fasteners hidden behind a removable trim panel where the design allows.

First-Article Checks

Our Approach to Kiosk Enclosures

• We fabricate frames, bodies, doors, front panels, bezels, base frames and mounting brackets in steel, aluminium and stainless.
• We cut the module interfaces to the component drawings and keep the mounting faces flat and the service access practical.
• We will say when a requested cooling method and a requested protection class cannot both be met in the proposed construction.
• We do not supply the screens, card readers, printers, cash units or computers, and we do not certify the payment or safety functions of the terminal.
• Every quotation states which operations are completed in our plant.

Send the module drawings, the mounting conditions and the environment, and the enclosure can be built around the interface rather than the interface being adapted to the enclosure.

Frequently Asked Questions