Support bands for shelves

[Ruzgfpegk]

This could be a community customizable module, and I thought about it after seeing @furll's flat side brace.

Using a full horizontal support on the backside of a shelf just to keep items in takes a lot of filament and blocks one depth unit inside the storage, on top of needing a pull-through connector (1d1wp) on each side (on the vertical supports).

By having the "fall protector" on the outside as a flat band, attached to the vertical supports with a pin on each side, a shelf could be printed with one less depth (Y) unit and it would make planning easier by not having to take into account the "support unit".

Not counting the gain of saving one depth unit:

• x15 core support (225mm long) with default settings from the Makerworld profiles (3 walls, gyroid 15%): ~30g + 2x ~8,2g pull-through connectors => ~46,4g.
• x17 band support (255mm long, 2mm deep, 15mm height, one 4mm² hole on each end) printed on the large side with default settings: ~9g.

x17 seems printable directly on 256x256 beds, at least the slicer doesn't complain, but it could also be printed diagonally even at x20.

Heavy-duty bands with 3 units of height and 2 pin holes on each side could be useful too on bigger (Z-Axis) floors, I'm getting ~26,2g for the x17 band, which is a bit over half of the core support;
In both cases more savings could be done by replacing the solid center of the band with a lattice/truss.

With flat side braces already in place, just adding two bands (one on the back and another on the front) could also make a floor ready for moving very quickly assuming it's full enough.

[kellervater]

I like the idea. Very well thought out.
I have already something in mind, which could be realised as customizable model in terms of height of the band support (1-n units).
but I still have to comprehend your entire idea. If I find some time before Death Stranding 2 lands on Thursday I'll keep you posted on the progress here. Otherwise anyone's invited to contribute as well!

Thanks again for this great suggestions 🚀

[furll]

I'm not sure I understand correctly but isn't that just this model?
https://makerworld.com/en/models/1389339-homeracker-slat#profileId-1439359

[Ruzgfpegk]

You're right, I haven't seen this one as it wasn't listed in the Community Catalog.
Well then, I guess this suggestion could be turned into a suggestion to put your model in the Community Catalog, or as a thread on what could be added to it.

I did one test on a 1 unit height band (x17 width as above) with only mangas and it was more flexible and less sturdy than I thought it would be with only one pin on each side, but as the weak point wasn't the band itself (even with the 2mm limit) I would've tried something else than just increasing the whole height, like the band sides going Y or ψ (for 2 or 3 fixation points on each side).

If your take on this is to stay solid and rectangular then I'll try to do something like that, at least to check if it works in practice, but as I haven't done many models with OpenSCAD there wouldn't be an immediate result.

[kellervater]

just added it to the catalog. Thx @furll for contributing once more.

@Ruzgfpegk : I understand there are stability issues with the current fixation points of the slats — do they tend to come loose? If so, one possible solution could be to design the slat in a three-dimensional way so that it sleeves over supports from at least the inner sides. This would allow the lock pin holes to be positioned on the inner or outer faces rather than the front, shifting the force direction from pulling on the pins to applying pressure sideways, which will improve stability.

[furll]

do they tend to come loose?

I did have some issues as the force of items on the shelf is in the same directions as the pegs.
I played with the idea of some U-shape, a sleeve, and other options but I couldn't come up with an idea that has a great print orientation, and is actually possible to get on without disassembling a shelf.

With summer being here my already scarce spare time is now even more at a premium so I'm not sure when I can get around to revisiting this, but my train of thought went to a reinforcement bracket that simply holds the peg in place, or a two-part design that replaces the peg. I'm not sure if this is a good solution though but I'm not sure when I'll be able to develop and test this.
Perhaps I inspired someone though! I thought this was a great first SCAD project, hint hint.