Modular Rail Attachment System Demo

thingiverse

Just a reference demo of a printed quick-release rail attachment system. Designed to be printable in most orientations, without any special tuning. It is meant for building modular storage and electronics, mounting devices to walls, and any other time where you'd like to use a DIN rail, but need something smaller for something non-critical. A piece of filament bent into a U shape is used as a pin to connect the two pieces. Inserting the pin is rather easy, and once attached, they are nearly impossible to separate be any means besides pulling the pin. Mechanical drawings are included, as is the full FreeCad Assembly3 document. The system is based on 32mm tiles, with 2 pin holes 16mm apart. Tiles can be repeated to form a rail of any length. A 4.6mm hole in the middle of every male tile allows use as a wall mounted rail. The gap between parts is meant to be covered by 1/4x1/8 foam tape, providing both extra pressure to hold the pin in place, and vibration isolation. It also keeps the flat area, which would need support to print upside-down, away from direct contact, as the burrs left by support interfere with fit unless you carefully sand. The full finished products should normally be a multiple of 32, minus a gap on all sides for clearence. The peg holes should be 16mm from the ideal 32mm edge, not the real edge that allows for clearence. For demo purposes, these blocks are exactly 32mm. Suggested rules for integrating rails into larger designs: Male rails are probably more durable and have little to break, and almost nothing to catch on stuff. They should be used on walls, and the tops and fronts of things. Female rails should be used on the backs and bottoms of things. This means bottoms will need to print with support. I'm not sure what to do about left and right sides. I would think female on the left side(Looking at it's front) and male on the right seems reasonable, but there might also be cases where dual-male or dual-female is the best option.