3D Printed PCB Stiffening Bracket

The brassboard PCB for the Hall effect blinky light is too bendy for the SMD parts to survive much debugging, particularly with all the wires hanging off the edges, so I whipped up a stiff mounting bracket that captures the whole thing, with a flange that fits in the work stand arms:

I ran some self-tapping 4-40 hex-head screws into the holes while the plastic was still warm on the M2’s platform:

Six screws seem excessive and I’ll probably wind up using just the middle two, but there’s no harm in having more holes and fittings than you really need.

The flange fits neatly into the board holder on the Electronics Workbench, above all the construction clutter:

The nice thing about having a 3D printer: when you need an object like this, a couple of hours later you have one!

The OpenSCAD source code, slightly improved based the results you see above:

// Test support frame for Hall Effect LED Blinky Light
// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU - Sept 2013

ClampFlange = true;

//- Extrusion parameters - must match reality!

ThreadThick = 0.25;
ThreadWidth = 0.40;

function IntegerMultiple(Size,Unit) = Unit * ceil(Size / Unit);

Protrusion = 0.1;

HoleWindage = 0.2;

//- Screw sizes

inch = 25.4;

Tap4_40 = 0.089 * inch;
Clear4_40 = 0.110 * inch;
Head4_40 = 0.211 * inch;
Head4_40Thick = 0.065 * inch;
Nut4_40Dia = 0.228 * inch;
Nut4_40Thick = 0.086 * inch;
Washer4_40OD = 0.270 * inch;
Washer4_40ID = 0.123 * inch;

//- PCB sizes

PCBSize = [46.5,84.0,1.0];
PCBShelf = 2.0;

Clearance = 4*[ThreadWidth,ThreadWidth,0];

WallThick = IntegerMultiple(4.0,ThreadWidth);
FrameHeight = 5.0;

ScrewOffset = 0.0 + Clear4_40/2;

OAHeight = FrameHeight + Clearance[2] + PCBSize[2];

FlangeExtension = 3.0;
FlangeThick = IntegerMultiple(1.5,ThreadThick);
Flange = PCBSize
			+ 2*[ScrewOffset,ScrewOffset,0]
			+ 2*[Washer4_40OD,Washer4_40OD,0]
			+ [2*FlangeExtension,2*FlangeExtension,(FlangeThick - PCBSize[2])]
			;

echo("Flange: ",Flange);
NumSides = 4*5;

//- Adjust hole diameter to make the size come out right

module PolyCyl(Dia,Height,ForceSides=0) {			// based on nophead's polyholes

  Sides = (ForceSides != 0) ? ForceSides : (ceil(Dia) + 2);

  FixDia = Dia / cos(180/Sides);

  cylinder(r=(FixDia + HoleWindage)/2,h=Height,$fn=Sides);
}

//- Put peg grid on build surface

module ShowPegGrid(Space = 10.0,Size = 1.0) {

  RangeX = floor(100 / Space);
  RangeY = floor(125 / Space);

	for (x=[-RangeX:RangeX])
	  for (y=[-RangeY:RangeY])
		translate([x*Space,y*Space,Size/2])
		  %cube(Size,center=true);

}

//- Build it

ShowPegGrid();

difference() {
	union() {									// body block and screw bosses
		translate([0,0,OAHeight/2])
			color("LightBlue")
			cube(PCBSize + Clearance + [2*WallThick,2*WallThick,FrameHeight],center=true);
		for (x=[-1,1], y=[-1,0,1]) {
			translate([x*(PCBSize[0]/2 + ScrewOffset),
						y*(PCBSize[1]/2 + ScrewOffset),
						0])
				color("Orchid") cylinder(r=Washer4_40OD,h=OAHeight,$fn=NumSides);
		}
		if (ClampFlange)
			translate([0,0,Flange[2]/2])
			color("SeaGreen") cube(Flange,center=true);
	}

	for (x=[-1,1], y=[-1,0,1]) {				// screw holes and washer recesses
		translate([x*(PCBSize[0]/2 + ScrewOffset),
					y*(PCBSize[1]/2 + ScrewOffset),
					-Protrusion])
			rotate((x-1)*90)
			PolyCyl(Tap4_40,(OAHeight + 2*Protrusion));
		translate([x*(PCBSize[0]/2 + ScrewOffset),
					y*(PCBSize[1]/2 + ScrewOffset),
					OAHeight - PCBSize[2]])
			PolyCyl(1.2*Washer4_40OD,(PCBSize[2] + Protrusion),NumSides);
	}

	translate([0,0,OAHeight/2])					// through hole below PCB
		cube(PCBSize - 2*[PCBShelf,PCBShelf,0] + [0,0,2*OAHeight],center=true);

	translate([0,0,(OAHeight - (PCBSize[2] + Clearance[2])/2 + Protrusion/2)])	// PCB pocket on top
		cube(PCBSize + Clearance + [0,0,Protrusion],center=true);
}