FUNCTIONAL buckle for IKEA laptop backpack

thingiverse

This is a functional replacement buckle for the Ikea Upptäcka laptop backpack for those who have broken theirs. It's by far my most impressive print, as I proudly display it on my backpack wherever I go. If you're looking for the nonfunctional replica or the Ikea design, it's in my designs library - the design is too weak for ABS plastic. Print Settings: Printer: XYZ Printing DaVinci 1.0A Rafts: No Supports: Yes Resolution: 0.2 microns or lower Infill: 25% minimum Notes: Print the upper and lower buckles separately! I've tried doing it at the same time, but doing it separately saves you from tearing out your hair. Post-Printing: In General: The refining of the lower buckle requires patience. Remove the supports from the slots of the upper and lower buckle. File down any visible remnants of the supports. Carefully remove the supports from the holes of the lower buckle, careful not to break it. Use something thin and abrasive to get in all the little hard-to-reach corners. Sand the rod so that the face of the rod is a rounded square. FOR PLA USERS: Since PLA is less flexible, the lower part of the buckle may not flex properly. The buckle will still work, but you're limited to a friction-based buckle rather than a snapping buckle. You will need to sand/file down the teeth of the lower buckle a little. Assembly: For the Upper part of the buckle, loop the belt through the top slot from the rear, then through the bottom slot from the front. Loop the belt through the middle slot from the rear. Then loop the belt through the top slot from the front. Done! How to assemble the lower part of the buckle: Slide rod in through the loop. Done! How I Designed This: My existing Ikea backpack broke! With all the weight of your backpack on 1 cubic centimeter of metal on the buckle, the buckle is bound to break eventually. Besides structural integrity, functionality of this buckle also makes no sense. What are the slots for? What's the lever for? I was hoping the buckle would have some sort of mechanical buckle I had yet to figure out, but apparently not. I designed this in ROLBOX, a game similar to Minecraft but with more development freedom since all the games are developed by the community. Since printing a rod as thin as the one in the Ikea buckle is not strong enough, I created a friction loop in the upper buckle to replace the useless lever. Then, in my first fastener design, I created the pivoting retainer system, which failed just like the Ikea design anyway. Then, in my second fastener design, I created a clip system, which was too stiff in the first version. In the second version, I recessed the base around the teeth of the lower buckle so that they would have more flex. This is the current version. Flawed Design of the Existing Ikea Buckle: Various revisions of my buckle.