Segment Display

If you have ever used LEGO bricks at some point you will have likely made letters and signs.

As a result I often wondered why there was not a specific brick shape that would lend itself to displaying text as an alternative to the existing bricks or tiles.

As a result I designed a tile that takes the form of a segment as would be found in a seven segment display.

A seven segment layout would require only one tile design for simplicity.

Where a standard brick has connection points on the front and the back the "segment tile", only has connections on the back, meaning a segment tile can only sit on top of other bricks and are therefore not normally stackable on each other.

The tile is based on a 4 x 2 brick with a 6 x 2 footprint and 3D printed.

Design

The segment tile was designed in BlocksCAD, to be compatible with existing LEGO footprints and is based on a 6 x 2 brick with triangluar elements on the short ends.

Each of these triangluar elements has semi-circular cut outs to align with the stubs without locking.

The tile is held in place by the main body of the 6 x 2 compatible element.

The front of the tile is flat and smooth with no markings.

The size is 48(L) x 16(W) x 5(H) mm.

Although designed primarily to create seven segment compatible text, the tiles can be placed in other ways to create different forms.

Print Details:

Material: PLA white. Although, any colour could be used.

Layer Height: 0.15mm

Infill: 100%

Base Adhesion: Skirt

Weight: 2g

Using skirt each brick is not attached to any unnecessary material that then has to be removed which may affect fit.

Print as many tiles as required in as many colours as required.

Post Processing

Subject to print quality post processing may be required in the form of sanding to remove any irregularities.

Usage

Arrange the tiles on a suitably sized base board to display a design, message or they could be attached to horizontal and/or vertical brick formations as required for message display or decoration. 

A font character set for the numbers 0 to 9 and letters A to Z is included for reference.