Flag Mount for 18cm Beam

Model Name:

Flag Mount for 18cm Beam

Summary:

This bracket can be placed on top of an 18cm beam and mount 2 flags with pole diameters of ~23mm. 

Main Category:

Mounting

Description

About this model:
This project was made to allow my school to mount flags on a beam in our front entrance without screwing into the beam. The part forms a tight fit onto the beam, which prevents it from rotating about the beam. 

The parts were printed with supports with a 1mm volcano nozzle on a CR-10 in polymaker PLA+ for strength. The part with supports requires about 190 grams of material. 

There are also two backup mounting holes that have drywall screws driven through them, which can be used to ensure that the mount does not slip. Two files are provided with one having both flags at equal height and another that raises one of the flags.  

Dimensions:

The Part is 308mm x 124.5mm x 33mm

How to Print:

Due to the part's large size and strength required this part was printed with a 1mm nozzle. This however caused bridging performance to suffer due to insufficient cooling on the CR10. The sag on overhangs caused the flag hole fit to become tighter, potentially causing the hole to snap. Therefore it is best to print with supports on the side of the flag mounting holes unless your bridging settings are well-tuned. 

How To Use:

If supports were used clear them by twisting instead of pulling for easy removal

Objective:

The purpose of this project was to find a way to mount a large amount (74) national flags in my high school's main foyer without drilling holes into overhead metal beams. 

Design Process

Design Constraints:

• 74 flags need to be able to fit onto 3 beams
• The flags must be well secured and not be able to be kicked/hit free
• The mounts must be durable and not bend or break
• The part should be able to be easily printed
• The part should have a mass below 200 grams so that 5 can be printed from a single spool without doing a filament change
• The part should be able to work without fasteners

Initial sketches:

In order to mount the number of flags needed I decided to have 2 flags on each mount. This also meant that there would not be an asymmetrical torque on the mount, but it doubled the tension load on the filament. In order to prevent the mount from splitting, I decided to have the model printed in an orientation where the strain would not try to de laminate the part’s layers.

Iterations:
          

Initial flag holding prototypes:

Before printing out the full mount a variety of prototypes of just the holes that mounted the flags.

Initial Prototype:

First Functional Prints:

Diagnosing Issues:

Mass Optimization:

Final Part: