“Sometimes you look at a mechanism such as “A 100% 3D Printed Linear Snap Action Mechanism” and wonder what could this be useful for? Well, mechanical snap action mechanisms have a number of uses including toggle switches and numerous process control applications.
To illustrate the use of mechanisms such as this, along with the included design and assembly video, I’ve included a second video of how I used this mechanism to provide mechanical reversing in an automaton design of mine. I designed this mechanism to provide linear mechanical hysteresis for the automaton, and published a video of the prototype model on YouTube, whereupon which a number of educators messaged and commented that they would like to be able to recreate this mechanism in their classrooms, so here is the snap action model in an easy to 3D print cutaway form.
As mentioned, the design and assembly process for this mechanism is illustrated in the first video, and I’ve included the Autodesk Fusion 360 file “Snap Action, Linear.f3d” for those interested in editing the design. I 3D printed all parts at .15mm layer height with 20% infill.
As usual I probably forgot a file or two or who knows what else, so if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to comment as I do make plenty of mistakes.
Designed using Autodesk Fusion 360, sliced using Ultimaker Cura 4.7.0, and 3D printed in PLA on Ultimaker S5s.”