Latch for Sterilite TouchTop garbage can lid

prusaprinters

I designed this replacement part for the latch on Sterilite TouchTop garbage cans to be as faithful to the original as I was able to, both mechanically and aesthetically. See photos, which show the printed part next to the original, for comparison.There are still concessions to expediency: I didn't bother to match the curves on the left and right side of the latch (they are straight on this model), and I also didn't bother with the concave feature on the top.There is already a replacement part model for the same line of garbage cans that someone else posted, here: https://www.printables.com/model/258752-lid-latch-for-sterilite-touchtop-canister-garbage-In some ways, that model is probably a superior option. Being smaller, it will use less material to print, and it has multiple flat faces which could be oriented on the build plate for easier printing. The model I made will require more supports, and however you orient it when slicing, you're probably going to wind up with scarring from support interfaces because in any orientation that would preserve strength, there are curved edges facing the build plate.That said, I think my model still looks fine unless you get really close, and preserves the original look of the garbage can lid much better. So I include it here, so that if anyone else has the same need, they can decide for themselves whether they want the “basic but easier to print” or the “looks more like the original” option.I'm hopeful that at least a few people eventually come across this and use it, because I've only got three of these garbage cans, so far only one of them had their latch break, and I put way more time and effort into this than I really should have. :) I would've been a lot smarter to just remove the springs from the lid hinge, the latch from the lid, and use the lid as a manually opening one without a latch or, barring that, just buy a new can, since these are pretty cheap to start with.If posting this allows a few more of these otherwise-serviceable garbage cans to avoid the landfill, I will feel a lot better about the time spent. :)NOTE: apparently some versions of these garbage cans (newer versions?) the manufacturer has reversed the flanges, putting them on the other side of the tab that fits into the lid. User @StabMastaArson has provided a remix of this model that is suitable for garbage cans that require the flanges on the other side, which you can find here: Sterilite TouchTop trash can latch replacement by StabMastaArsonPrinting SuggestionsOrientationI printed this in the model's natural orientation, i.e. as in the .3mf file with the longer flange at the build plate, and the “hinge” part of the latch (which is really just a solid piece of plastic with a couple of large tabs to fit into the lid) parallel to the build plate surface. IMHO, this would give the best strength for the hinge (it needs to flex without breaking) and best accuracy for the small features on the top of the hinge surface. But it does come at the expense of more complicated supports and scarring on what is the outer edge of the latch when it's installed.I'd be wary of printing it vertically (i.e. with the long dimension oriented vertically) on a bed-slinger, unless you add wider supports to prevent wobbling during printing. But on a core-xy printer, I think that orientation could work reasonably well. Especially if one modified the model to add 45 degree chamfers on the sides of the two small ribs, so that no supports were needed for the ribs.I definitely would not print it with the hinge itself oriented perpendicular to the build plate, as this would put the layer lines along the bending movement of the latch's operation. I expect that would cause the hinge to break after a relatively small number of operations.NOTE: One user has shared that they printed this vertically, using organic supports, with a core-xy printer (Voron Trident) and it worked fine. So that option is indeed worth considering.InfillI used 100% infill. The part is only 2 to 2.5 mm thick in most places, so I doubt there's much reason to not print it completely solid.MaterialI used PETG, which I think nearly matches the flexibility of the original part reasonably well. It's maybe just a little stiffer, but should still be tough enough to not crack with use. I suspect regular PLA would be too brittle to really perform well in this application, though maybe one of the “tough” PLA options would work well.