I've lately been touched by a bit of "gridsanity", while I've been organizing a bunch of small electronic component and hardware organizers into a Gridfinity system. To transfer the parts from their stock plastic organizers (the clear plastic type that come with many small parts), I've been designing a bunch of 1x3 and 2x3 multi compartment lidded bins. When those were about done (with the CAD part), I saw a great comment by MooseMan over on MakerWorld, who suggested that some form of latching mechanism would be beneficial to have on the smaller lidded bins (to paraphrase). That was something I'd tried initially, when I was designing the smaller lidded bins. But I didn't spend much time on it, since I just needed the lids to keep small items from migrating between bin compartments when using them with my cases. So the issue of the small lids needing to stay closed was not a big deal (since the case lid keeps them closed). But I told him I would think about possible solutions, since sometimes coming back to an idea will giggle some betters ones loose. I'm not sure if this is a better idea yet (I still need to test print it when my printer is free again), but from the slicer and CAD, it looks like it could work. There are some internal bits which perform a latching function, but again I have no idea how well any of that will work yet. These will not be heavy duty latches in any case though, since the parts are so small. For a more robust latch, I suggest using my latching bins (here, here, here and here), though they are larger, with the smallest being a 1x2.
Update: My prototypes never work this well on the first attempt, but I will take it! I just got the test bin off the printer and the lid works really well. The snap closure is better than I could have hoped for, and the latch actually holds pretty well. I am gonna do some more testing to see if the snap action degrades with use, but I think this is a winner!
Update: My prototypes never work this well on the first attempt, but I will take it! I just got the test bin off the printer and the lid works really well. The snap closure is better than I could have hoped for, and the latch actually holds pretty well. I am gonna do some more testing to see if the snap action degrades with use, but I think this is a winner!
Update 8/25/2024: Between other things, I've been working on these as a replacement for the lidded bins. After running a few tests without any issues, I started designing more bins, and forgot to stop. Below is a pic showing the almost 100 bins, and well over 100 parts so far. I think I've made every permutation of 1x3, 2x2 and 2x3 bins, with between 2 and 10 compartments.
Now, the hard part is gonna be exporting these, and figuring out some logical way of setting up profiles (the part I really dislike unfortunately). I'm also doing some more test prints to verify that everything works. But I'm not printing every flavor of these bins, just some representative examples that I can actually use. Unfortunately, due to a new latching feature, only the lids will be backward compatible with the new design, not the bases. This is gonna be a lot of work though, and I still have several other projects that need my attention, so there is no eta.
Now, the hard part is gonna be exporting these, and figuring out some logical way of setting up profiles (the part I really dislike unfortunately). I'm also doing some more test prints to verify that everything works. But I'm not printing every flavor of these bins, just some representative examples that I can actually use. Unfortunately, due to a new latching feature, only the lids will be backward compatible with the new design, not the bases. This is gonna be a lot of work though, and I still have several other projects that need my attention, so there is no eta.
Update 8/27/2024: I was in the process of modeling some additional bins and noticed something odd. It turns out that somewhere along the line I managed to rotate every single bin by 0.062°. I have no idea how long this had been going on, but fortunately it does not appear to have caused a problem with the bins themselves, but was a bit of a pain to correct since there are so many objects in the workspace that I had to rotate them back in chunks. I also managed to print a few dud bins, where I forgot to add notches for the latches, and a few latches that somehow got exported to STL's with a few errors which caused some failures...good times. There are some new 2 compartment bins, which required some tweaking to the parts where the lid rest against the bins, to improve the functionality. It's good to test though, since stuff happens, and it's better to know before that stuff wastes other people's filament (OPF?). I'm still adding to the collection as I go on organizing my collections of hardware bits, so there may be a few more before I'm done. The plan is to stick with the 1x, 2x2 and 2x3 bins for now, and there are currently variations from 2 to 10 compartments per bin.
Update 8/29/2024: I have quite a collection of these latching bins, with various iterations of the design, and I've learned a few things while putting them together. The design works well, but assembly is a bit tedious, and the filament hinge can be tricky to insert. I have been using a small flat nose pliers to install the filament hinge, and have gotten the process down pretty good to where I don't have much of a problem... but it's not as simple as I think it could be. So I went back and made some changes to the lid design, which will hopefully remove the need for the filament hinge - though that could still be an option. There is one downside to the new lid design though, and that is a couple of small 1mm wide openings, which are needed to give the room to flex the hinge into position. These could cause problems with really small items (like m1 or m1.2 hardware), so I plan to keep the filament hinge version as an option, if these work out.
Update 9/3/2024: I keep finding small optimizations to help with printing these. The models have some small features, and I've had a few failures in my test prints, which were related to the integrated supports. The problems were due to adhesion of the small support features. So I went through all the bin lids, and added a larger brim for the supports, and also fixed a few of the models which did not get exported to STL's correctly. The last thing I want to do is spend all the time and effort to plate these up in a 3mf profile, then find out there are problems with the design (and have to do it all over again). I think though, although I cannot test every bin and lid combo (there are over a hundred models), the problems are worked out now.
Something that I need to decide on though, is whether or not to keep an option for the flip up (non-latching) lids. I will probably drop those, since the latching lids are better in most ways. And if it seems like the non-latching lids could be needed, I can always add them later. I plan to release the new latching lids with both the filament hinge option, and also a snap in lid option, since some folks will probably need the filament hinge version for one reason or another. I also suspect that some filaments will be too brittle for the snap in lids (like ABS). My test prints all use Duramic3D PLA+ in Gray, and so far I have not snapped a hinge installing them, but they do need to flex a bit before they pop in place.
Something that I need to decide on though, is whether or not to keep an option for the flip up (non-latching) lids. I will probably drop those, since the latching lids are better in most ways. And if it seems like the non-latching lids could be needed, I can always add them later. I plan to release the new latching lids with both the filament hinge option, and also a snap in lid option, since some folks will probably need the filament hinge version for one reason or another. I also suspect that some filaments will be too brittle for the snap in lids (like ABS). My test prints all use Duramic3D PLA+ in Gray, and so far I have not snapped a hinge installing them, but they do need to flex a bit before they pop in place.
Update 9/6/2024: I keep having odd failures in about 1 out of 15 lids that I print, usually due to adhesion of the integrated supports, but sometimes other problems which are more general to 3D printing small features. Part of the problem is probably related to using a smooth PEI sheet to print them, which helps with the labels, but is generally more troublesome than a textured sheet. I've reworked the integrated supports once already, but am considering doing it again, to see if it helps. The supports are probably never gonna be perfect for every printer, and I hate the idea of increasing support material waste, but I think adding a bit more will save filament in the long run (due to fewer failed lids).
Update 9/22/2024: There was some time this week, so I worked on getting the integrated supports fixed, and the print failures seem to be resolved. There will be a bit more waste, since the fix was to wrap a few lines of material around the doors, to connect each independent support. I also did a plate setup with all the models, which was a big pain in the rear (and it's not over yet).
I had to print a few dozen more lids to test things out, and I noticed that maybe the tabs are a bit tight. Since the tabs are the supports for part of the lids, they require a bit of leverage from something pointy and flat to break them free (I use a letter opener, which is maybe a bit too sharp, but it works well). Still, after breaking them free, they are a bit tight, until they loosen up after cycling a few times. I think that could be improved though, and I have a simple idea to make them a bit less tight, but still tight enough. If that works, then I think this will be done (finally). I've thought that this was almost done for a while, but this tab issue should be the last tweak, since everything else has been tested. I did not test every single bin though, but I tested enough of them, and every type, to be sure they will work.
Update 9/25/2024: I spent a few hours testing about a dozen iterations of the tabs, with very small adjustments to optimize the amount of force needed to unlatch them. I also tested with PLA and PETG to see if the same design worked OK for both (it did fortunately), so the tabs are now looking good. I spent another hour working on updating the 3mf profiles with the new lids (and tabs), and am about half way through 'em.
I had to print a few dozen more lids to test things out, and I noticed that maybe the tabs are a bit tight. Since the tabs are the supports for part of the lids, they require a bit of leverage from something pointy and flat to break them free (I use a letter opener, which is maybe a bit too sharp, but it works well). Still, after breaking them free, they are a bit tight, until they loosen up after cycling a few times. I think that could be improved though, and I have a simple idea to make them a bit less tight, but still tight enough. If that works, then I think this will be done (finally). I've thought that this was almost done for a while, but this tab issue should be the last tweak, since everything else has been tested. I did not test every single bin though, but I tested enough of them, and every type, to be sure they will work.
Update 9/25/2024: I spent a few hours testing about a dozen iterations of the tabs, with very small adjustments to optimize the amount of force needed to unlatch them. I also tested with PLA and PETG to see if the same design worked OK for both (it did fortunately), so the tabs are now looking good. I spent another hour working on updating the 3mf profiles with the new lids (and tabs), and am about half way through 'em.
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