I thought it would be interesting to share with customers the design process of some of my own products. My day job as a CAD draftsman is still interesting after many years but designing my own products has been incredibly exciting.
1. Foam core board mock-up to generate a real object and get dimensions from.
2. Added to mock-up a full scale 4" round hatch to locate opening location relative to seat frame that can not be removed for access. The 4" hole proved to be too limiting on what could be placed into the shallow box.
3. The fab shop made a Solidworks sheet metal model from my provided dumb Autocad 3D model. I installed the 4" hatch as a trial. The box fit perfectly but the 4" hatch was definitely a show stopper.
4. After I located a supplier for a 6" hatch, I fit one onto the mock-up box first. That proved to be much better than the 4" hatch. Plus the 6" hatch is a lever lock device that allows the lever to positioned at any angle on the box. The 4" hatch was a screw in type that required a little more effort to open and close.
5. After successfully adding the 6" hatch to my first aluminum prototype, cad files were revised and sent to the fab shop for the final version below. This box is completely welded and the hatch is mounted to it with a neoprene gasket using stainless nuts and bolts. It's sealed as well as can be for normal riding conditions with the exception of full water submersion, which was not the design intent anyway.
I'm all about creating useful accessories that are functional. The Talons are nice machines but they lack in cab storage space. These boxes will give you additional dry storage space inside the cab, under the seats, out of the way so you can use the Talon glove box for more frequently accessed items like your phone. Please visit our online store to find the Talon box that suits your purpose. We have 3 under seat cargo boxes for Talon 2 and 4 seat models.