Concept Development and

Screening 1

Eli Richards
 Vision Plan Adaption
The Revised Under-Desk Storage (UDS) design contains a 16" x 16" x 7.5" Storage Body
with ½ inch Acrylic panels. These panels may be switch out for a cheaper option in the
future. The front of the design contains a 3D printed front-piece and a ½" laser cut steel
panel to balance the structure, because it is only mounted by the front. Due to this
imbalance, a current concern describes that the steel panel would not be heavy enough to
balance the acrylic body. Potential solutions include, a complete redesign incorporating
more and/or thicker steel sheet metal or switching to a heavier metal. Unfortunately,
heavier metals aren't cheap, or safe; for example, a Tungsten block of the exact size would
cost ~$88.81 while a Lead block would cost ~$7.93 but it's not completely safe for use.
Other adaptions from my original design include changing to M12x80mm Bolts, the
addition of a hinges to the Door/Front, A metal clamp (Aluminum), and a snapping
mechanism to keep the door shut when closed.
 Problems
 There will be so much stress on the 3D printed piece because it is the attachment point from the clamp to the
storage.
 The current counterweight does not weight enough based on the current weight of the storage and the unknown
potential weight of the content of the storage.
 The current materials and solutions to problems above are expensive and in some cases dangerous (toxic metals).

Solutions – A redesign incorporating more weight on the front of the design could help prevent
unbalance. Assuming the center of mass of the acrylic is 10" from the attachment point on the
front piece which is currently plastic. This redesign could replace or redesign this piece with
stronger materials/design. Switching to Cast Iron would be a cheaper and heavier alternative to
steel for the counterweight while avoiding dangers from metals such as lead.

I used a center of mass calculator to find the approximant mass the counterweight would need to bee to balance the acrylic structure with center of
mass with a ~10" distance from the connection point while weighing ~19.18359lbs. https://www.omnicalculator.com/math/center-of-mass
 Research
The Farinia Group which is a team consisting of experienced engineers/manufacturers.
They recommend Cast Iron for weighting purposes due to its affordable cost and high
density. "Cast iron is denser than most materials, thus cast metals for counterweights have an
average three times more density than pure concrete." They continue to describe that Cast
Iron is less susceptible to damages from increased stress. Which is ideal for my purposes.
https://www.farinia.com/blog/why-choosing-cast-iron-counterweights-over-concrete-counterweights#:~:text=Cast%20iron%20is%20denser%20than,the%20cost%20for%
20additional%20material

The new clamp design has deviated

from the original DutyHook-based
design with the addition of an
aluminum top-clamp and larger
Bolts. In later adaptions I may
design knobs for the M12 nuts like
the ones seen in the DutyHook design.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3486613

Cast Iron used for weight in industry DutyHook "Vise with Desk Clamp"