Concept for making closed loop belt out of open loop

Using a closed loop belt has significant advantages over an open loop belt.

1. Carriage assembly can be much simpler.
2. The printer can be used for other purposes involving rotatory motion, instead of linear, such as centrifuge, tensile testing, etc.

The proposed system uses ninjaflex to print a belt extension piece which will enable the printer to work in 2 modes: 3D printer mode and free rotation mode.

• This system converts an open loop to a closed loop.

Materials Needed[edit | edit source]

1. Ninjaflex or similar flexible filament.

Items to 3D Print[edit | edit source]

1. A belt extension piece of ninjaflex to be glued to the belt.
2. Spacer for carriage

Thingiverse link http://web.archive.org/web/20160116152312/http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1193826/

Instructions[edit | edit source]

1. Print the belt extension piece of ninjaflex with high accuracy and 100% infill.
2. Firmly glue one side of the belt to the belt extension piece.
3. Pull the belt tight around the pulleys.
4. Clamp the belt and the belt extension piece together and glue them.
5. Inset spacer between the belt extension piece and the carriage.
6. Fix position using a bolt.

Notes[edit | edit source]

Make sure to leave a little or no space after the teeth of the belt while sticking to the inside of the belt extension piece, i.e make sure that a tooth just sticks out from the belt. This will ensure better mating with the pulley.

Disadvantages of this method are:

1. The belt extension piece requires high resolution which is expensive to manufacture.
2. A regular 3d printed piece will not mate perfectly and might slip.
3. Gluing the belt means that it cannot be reused for printing. A new belt would be required every time the belt is removed.
4. Theoretically, the belt cannot be perfect, the trick is to make sure that the disadvantages do the least harm

Future work and improvements[edit | edit source]

1. A lot of changes have to be made to the athena to make sure that the belt can complete a full rotation and act as closed loop.
2. A smaller radius on the belt extension piece would ensure better mating with the pulley, however, printing a component that small did not show positive results due to printer resolution.
3. A belt of lower width, or a wider pulley will enable the use of a clamp in the belt extension piece. This would eliminate the need to glue the belt.
4. Low tension applications should not have any problems with this system.