Custom Phone Stand

thingiverse

This is a phone stand I designed and printed for my own use as well as that of my coworkers. Three iterations of the design were necessary before the final version was created. A fourth iteration might be beneficial if additional stands are to be made, as a shallow box in the base could be used to hold change for ballast. The current design is simple, rigid and minimizes print material. Space has been left on the name plate so that future printers can add their own details. How I Designed This The entire design was created using Solidworks. The overall dimensions are 5 inches high, 4 inches long, and 3 inches wide. My goal was to fit my phone with the charging cord attached into the stand. A secure support system was also required while using the phone in the dock. Easy printing was another objective of mine. One constraint I had to deal with was the bend radius of most cords, which is approximately 2.5 inches. This is why the phone stand is so tall. It's not a problem on my desk since vertical space is available, but horizontal space is at a premium. My Amazon Basics charging cord has a bulky connector that fits perfectly in the 0.5 inch gap. My first dock design had a bad angle that made it difficult to hold the phone up properly. The angle was too far back and wouldn't work for everyday use. I experimented with several angles before settling on 60 degrees, which provides good viewing from a seated position. My initial design consisted of a single line similar to a bent paperclip. Although it looked great, it would require huge amounts of fill in PLA material or the stand would be too bouncy and annoying to use. My other issue was that the base was too narrow and the phone would tip over if used. I considered using a wide base for just the phone but printing would have required support material or experimenting with orientations and overhangs. In the end, I wanted to keep the number of visual features minimal so I could print this on its side without any support material. This design prints very cleanly, with only minor issues at the overhang around the charging cable relief.