Ideas for power connector in wooden jewelry box

Anthony wrote 01/23/2020 at 15:40 • 0 points

I'm currently working on a project adding an e-ink display to a jewelry box (specifically https://www.michaels.com/artminds-medium-wooden-domed-box/10385158.html). The controller will be mostly idle, but would need to power up a few times a day and connect to wifi to download updates. I would like running time to be on the scale of years, so I am ruling out battery power here.

All the electronics will go into the lid, but the part I'm struggling with is how to connect power into the box. I could put a panel mount USB connector in the rear of the lid, but then opening the box becomes awkward (you're constantly moving the cable, etc).

The best option I see now is to mount a USB panel mount connector (something like https://www.adafruit.com/product/3258 ) in the back of the box, on the bottom, and run a cable up the inside of the box into the lid. This is sub-optimal, since I lose space in the bottom of the box, it will complicate putting felt in, and will be unsightly as it'll stick into the box, plus the cable will need to move when the box opens and closes.

What other alternatives am I missing that could help solve this problem cleanly? I did find https://www.adafruit.com/product/4105 but can't find it in a female jack. I've also considered using a panel mount DC jack instead of USB, but all the ones I've seen are way too deep (or have no real way to secure into the box wall) to really save anything over the USB connector. The box wall thickness is about 1/2 to 3/4 inch, so not a ton to work with there.

Any creative ideas or things I may be missing here?