minimalist phone case - fusion 360 & 3d printing

I have a phone call that I like very much.
Sony\'s Xperia point Xperia X Compact.
The reason I bought this phone is simple: I want the smallest and best Android phone I can find it with a good camera.
I never thought that the future of a smartphone would be a smartphone that everyone carries with them now.
I haven\'t found any case of my favorite phone yet.
They tend to make phones larger in size, which defeats the purpose of having small phones.
So I decided to take some time this weekend to make a small, minimalist aesthetic case.
I had my cell phone without a box and had dropped it several times.
Only the corners seem to wear out so my focus is on these.
My design criteria:1)
This should only change the overall size of the phone. (2)
This box should add very little weight to the phone. (3)
None of the buttons should be blocked.
The same is true for cameras, light sensors, speakers, or headphone jacks. (4)
The corner should be fully protected.
Existing damage should be concealed. (5)
I should be able to set the phone on the surface without the body touching the surface. (6 -bonus)
I should be able to put an ID and credit card in the tape and change my wallet from time to time.
Here is the design and prototyping process I will use :(1)
Identify important features of the phone.
Set these to user parameters. (2)
Do an initial, 4-
Monopoly CAD model based on mobile phone measurement features. (3)
Print the prototype and check the fit. (4)
Iterate the user parameters until I have a good solid match.
This may include reducing the width and length so that the case has a certain tension. (5)
Once I\'m happy with all the fit checks, I\'ll print the final version with the thinnest possible shell. I\'ll be rapid-
Make a prototype of this phone case, so I will use good design habits to avoid any headaches in the future.
The idea is to identify any geometry that I think is important for Shell installation, measure them before starting the CAD process, and be able to change them quickly during the installation check.
When I iterate on the case, I adjust these values to install the phone more securely.
Therefore, the beginning of the design process is either to sketch, or to quickly generate a model of the object you are interested in.
In this case, I will start with my phone and build the case around it.
It\'s useful to open this chart-
Please refer to when building a CAD model.
Before I start modeling the phone or the case, I will enter these user parameters, Cross
Reference the chart I built in the last step.
You can use the green \"\" symbol (circled in red).
You will want to measure these values as accurately as possible.
Use a pair of calipers and maybe a set of track and half gauge.
The more accurate the input initial value, the less number of iterations to obtain a stable fit.
But don\'t go too far: most 3D printers do not have enough print accuracy to reproduce the initial value perfectly.
I also added some unmeasurable values (fillet sizes)
Make the case stronger and more beautiful.
Before sending the prototype to the printer, I can try to change these values in the CAD environment to get the look I like.
Start a new design in Fusion 360.
Save the design and give it a name.
Even though I ended up printing my phone case prototype using this file, I named my name \"practice Case \". Right-
Click on the design name and select new component \".
Name the new component \"Phone Body \".
\"Activate the component.
Now, sketch on the ground plane using the center rectangle of the origin.
Keeping the phone in the center of the origin will make it easier to mirror the components later.
Give the rectangular user parameters the dimensions \"length\" and \"width \".
Now finish the sketch and select squeeze out \".
\"Select the rectangle and squeeze it to the user parameter\" Thickness \".
Use the fillet tool to add the two fillets selected at the beginning of the design process.
This is also a good time to add any geometry you think the case might interfere.
For my Xperia phone, the only port I am worried about is the headphone port, so I supplement this by squeezing out a circular cut in the appropriate position at the end of the phone.
Now, try your user parameters!
Change them all and make sure the model responds correctly.
In a world full of iPhones, my phone has a very unique geometry
Look at the border monster.
The approach I take here is definitely available with other types of phones, but when you enter user parameters, you will be interested in other features.
This is an example.
According to any phone geometry, the rest of the process should work well (I think. . . . ).
The first step I took here was to make a corner model.
Soon, we will pass that mirror through the body of the phone and then Mirror again and make 4 corners.
The dimensions of the corner part will be based on some user parameters, specifically \"StrapThickness\", which is a user parameter indicating how thick I want the shell to be. Right-
Click the design name and select new component \".
Name the new component \"Case \".
\"Activate the component.
Start the sketch on the base plane and give some dimensions: the distance from the edge of the phone to the outer edge of the case should be \"StrapThickness \".
You should see the lines going purple along the edge of the phone.
This is very important: this means that these lines are adaptive and they change the position if you change your user parameters!
The other two dimensions are up to you.
In my case, I can avoid my screen by making an angle of about 14mm x 6. 35mm.
Stop the sketch now and squeeze out the corner.
Use your user parameters!
In one direction you want to squeeze through \"StrapThickness.
In another direction, squeeze by \"thickness spread thickness\" so you can cover the thickness of the phone plus the thickness of the shell.
Throw a fish fillet there.
If you want the case to hug your phone, use the same radius as below (\"SideRadius\").
Reduce the whole body of the mobile phone from the corner of this case with \"modification ~> Combine.
\"Select the case angle as the target body and the mobile phone as the tool body.
Use \"Cut\" as your action.
Make sure to check the mark next to the retention tool so that the action does not remove your phone body completely.
This is a good time to try to change the user parameters slightly to make sure the cut is adjusted accordingly.
Activate top-level design.
Click on the bulb next to it to make the Origin visible.
We will mirror the case angle on one origin plane and then the other.
That\'s why we put our original phone body rectangle at the origin.
By selecting \"components\" as the mirror type, you are making an exact copy of the original corner-
Not only that, update the original corner will also update the new cornerversa!
Now mirror the original and new corner components of another plane.
We will combine them into one component after adding some tension bands to combine all these 4 corners together. The criss-
The key to this design is through the straps.
We want them to provide enough tension to keep the four corners tightly around the phone and they should also let us carry some cards or cash with us.
Activate one of the corners.
Flip the part and start the sketch on the back plane of the phone.
Draw a line from angle to angle and make a construction line.
Then, use the constraint to make the other two lines that coincide with the edge of the corner block (
These should be purple.
, Parallel to the construction line, symmetrical with the construction line.
Add a size to their width.
I am using a user parameter called \"width of the font.
Stop the sketch and squeeze the strap with the thickness \"StrapThickness.
Alternatively, you can squeeze it out using some reference geometry.
Now, just mirror it on the central plane of the phone and now there is a strap attached to its corner.
Hide or hide any corner you no longer need.
All the cases we have used so far are actually just tools to make the last one!
We will use the method of combining these parts together to make a new assembly, which is the method we will use to prepare for printing.
Use modify> combine and select all four components.
Use the join operation.
We keep these tools, but they are no longer visible at the beginning of adding rounded corners and preparing to print designs.
Select the check mark next to the new component.
Name New component combination case.
\"Now, you can hide all the tools we use to make cases.
We are ready to print the first prototype.
First of all, we want to add fillets where there are sharp corners.
Assigning fillets user parameter values is a good practice.
In an example here, I decided to add a fillet with a radius of 1/2 of the existing fillet radius.
Doing so makes it easy to adjust these values and see how it looks before actually printing the part.
We don\'t add fillets just because we want the box to look organic and beautiful.
They have important functional purposes.
At any time, the stress is applied to a sharp corner, a point where the crack begins to expand, causing the part to fail.
In engineering, we call this sudden corner \"stress concentration \".
\"Rounded corners reduce the degree of stress concentration and make the part last longer.
Some of the fillets I added here are for this purpose.
Others are just for appearance.
The question is always whether we can use rounded corners in suddenly changing geometry to prevent stress concentration.
When the stress crack begins to expand on the passenger plane, the technician drills round holes at both ends of the crack and basically uses rounded corners to reduce the stress concentration.
To prepare the case for 3D printing, use Fusion\'s \"MAKE\" command and save the STL file.
Now open the STL file in Cura or the slicer of your choice.
Set up your material.
I am making my case with a flexible, elastic material TPU.
This particular geometry is difficult to print out without a second extruder to place the support material, so this may be necessary --
Then again, I saw people doing something really amazing using printed material as support.
In any case, we are using Ultimaker 3, which allows me to print with build as a building material and with pva as a soluble support.
STL appears in the wrong direction, so I turned it 90 degrees.
I am using 100% fill, fine (0. 1mm)profile.
I also used Prime Tower to improve print quality.
Before sending the gcode to my 3D printer, I always like to check the layers generated by the slicer.
I have now printed 3 versions of the box.
The corner of the first box is too small.
But they are perfect for this, so I don\'t need to change the height or fillet size of the phone in a later iteration.
The strap does not provide enough tension to hold the edge to the side of the phone and the box pops up easily.
I think it might be nice to print this case in a harder material, but the TPU is too elastic to work well.
The V2 V1 straps are not tight enough, so I reduced the user parameters \"width\" and \"length\" by 0.
Pull each corner closer.
I also added the length of each corner to have it appear directly on the edge of the phone\'s screen.
The case for V2 is almost tight enough to hold the case tightly on the phone, but it keeps falling in my pocket.
To maintain stability, I decided to add two more struts support.
This case is perfect after adding struts support.
Tiny variations in width and height sizes are perfect for doing a little extra stretch so I can put a few cards or some cash on the back of my phone.
The fourth iteration of the case is now on my 3D printer.
I\'m happy with the current design, but I want to see how thin I can do it.
I have cut from 0.
The thickness of 05in is 0. 03in.