The New Hotness

Pending more test rides, the flashlight fairing mount works well:

Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount - front overview — Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount – front overview

Despite all my fussing with three rotational angles, simply tilting the mount upward by 20° with respect to the fairing clamp aims the flashlight straight ahead, with the ball nearly centered in the clamp:

Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount - front detail — Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount – front detail

That obviously depends on the handlebar angle and the fairing length (which affects the strut rotation), but it’s close enough to make me think a simpler mount will suffice: clamp the flashlight into a cylinder with a slight offset angle, maybe 2°, then mount the cylinder into a much thinner ring clamp at the 20° tilt. Rotating the cylinder would give you some aim-ability, minus the bulk of a ball mount.

Or dispense with the separate cylinder, build the entire mount at the (now known) aim angle, clamp the flashlight directly into the mount, then affix mount to fairing strut. Rapid prototyping FTW!

For now, it’s great riding weather …

The OpenSCAD source code as a GitHub Gist:

	// Tour Easy Fairing Flashlight Mount
	// Ed Nisley KE4ZNU – July 2017

	/* [Build Options] */

	FlashName = "AnkerLC40"; // [AnkerLC40,AnkerLC90,J5TactV2,InnovaX5]

	Component = "Mount"; // [Ball, BallClamp, Mount, Plates, Bracket]

	Layout = "Show"; // [Build, Show]

	Support = false;

	MountSupport = true;

	/* [Extrusion] */

	ThreadThick = 0.25; // [0.20, 0.25]
	ThreadWidth = 0.40; // [0.40]

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

	Protrusion = 0.01; // [0.01, 0.1]

	HoleWindage = 0.2;

	/* [Fairing Mount] */

	ToeIn = 0; // inward from ahead
	Tilt = 20; // upward from forward
	Roll = 0; // outward from top

	Shift = -5; // realign to plate center

	//- Screws *c

	/* [Hidden] */

	ID = 0;
	OD = 1;
	LENGTH = 2;

	/* [Screws and Inserts] */

	BallInsert = [2.0,3.5,4.0];
	BallScrew = [2.0,3.5,2.0];

	ClampInsert = [3.0,4.2,8.0];
	ClampScrew = [3.0,5.9,50.0]; // thread dia, head OD, screw length
	ClampScrewWasher = [3.0,6.75,0.5];
	ClampScrewNut = [3.0,6.1,4.0]; // nyloc nut

	/* [Hidden] */

	F_NAME = 0;
	F_GRIPOD = 1;
	F_GRIPLEN = 2;

	LightBodies = [
	["AnkerLC90",26.6,48.0],
	["AnkerLC40",26.6,55.0],
	["J5TactV2",25.0,30.0],
	["InnovaX5",22.0,55.0]
	];

	NumSides = 8*4;

	echo(str("Flashlight: ",FlashName));

	FlashIndex = search([FlashName],LightBodies,1,0)[F_NAME];

	BallThick = IntegerMultiple(5.0,ThreadWidth); // thickness of ball wall
	echo(str("Ball wall: ",BallThick));

	BallOD = max(45,IntegerMultiple(LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD] + 2*(BallThick + BallInsert[OD]),2.0));
	echo(str(" OD: ",BallOD));

	BallScrewOC = BallOD – BallThick – BallInsert[OD]; // from OD to allow different body diameters
	echo(str(" screw OC: ",BallScrewOC));

	BallLength = min(sqrt(pow(BallOD,2) – pow(LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD],2)),
	LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPLEN]);
	echo(str(" hole len: ",BallLength));

	ClampThick = 2*ClampInsert[OD];
	echo(str("Clamp wall: ",ClampThick));

	ClampOD = BallOD + 2*ClampThick;
	echo(str(" OD: ",ClampOD));

	ClampScrewOC = BallOD + 2*ClampInsert[OD];
	echo(str(" screw OC: ",ClampScrewOC));

	ClampLength = 0.70 * BallLength;
	echo(str(" length: ",ClampLength));

	//- 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);
	}

	//- Ball around flashlight
	// Must print two!

	module BodyBall() {

	difference() {
	intersection() {
	sphere(d=BallOD,$fn=2*NumSides); // basic ball
	cube([BallLength,2BallOD,2BallOD],center=true); // max of flashlight grip length
	}
	translate([-LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD],0,0])
	rotate([0,90,0]) rotate(180/NumSides)
	PolyCyl(LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD],2*BallOD,NumSides); // flashlight body
	for (j=[-1,1])
	translate([0,j*BallScrewOC/2,0]) // commmon screw offset
	translate([0,0,-BallOD])
	PolyCyl(BallInsert[ID],2*BallOD,6); // punch screw shaft through everything
	translate([0,BallScrewOC/2,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(BallInsert[OD],(BallInsert[LENGTH] + 3*ThreadThick + Protrusion),6); // threaded insert
	translate([0,-BallScrewOC/2,BallThick])
	PolyCyl(BallScrew[OD],BallOD,6); // screw head clearance

	translate([0,0,-BallOD/2]) // remove bottom half
	cube(BallOD,center=true);
	translate([0,0,BallOD – BallThick/2]) // slice off top = bottom for E-Z build
	cube(BallOD,center=true);
	}

	if (Support) {
	NumRibs = 24;
	RibHeight = (BallOD – LightBodies[FlashIndex][F_GRIPOD]/cos(180/NumSides) – BallThick) / 2;
	ChordC = 2sqrt(BallThickBallOD/2 – pow(BallThick/2,2));
	intersection() {
	cube([BallLength,2BallOD,2BallOD],center=true); // max of flashlight grip length
	translate([0,0,BallOD/2 – BallThick/2])
	for (i=[0:NumRibs – 1])
	rotate(i*360/NumRibs + 180/NumRibs) // avoid screw holes
	translate([ChordC/2 + BallOD/8,0,-RibHeight/2])
	cube([BallOD/4,2*ThreadWidth,RibHeight],center=true);
	}
	}
	}

	//- Fairing Bracket
	// Magic numbers taken from the actual fairing mount
	// Centered on screw hole

	/* [Hidden] */

	inch = 25.4;

	BracketHoleOD = 0.25 * inch; // 1/4-20 bolt holes

	BracketHoleOC = 1.0 * inch; // fairing hole spacing
	// usually 1 inch, but 15/16 on one fairing

	Bracket = [48.0,16.3,3.6 – 0.6]; // fairing bracket end plate overall size
	BracketHoleOffset = (3/8) * inch; // end to hole center

	BracketM = 3.0; // endcap arc height
	BracketR = (pow(BracketM,2) + pow(Bracket[1],2)/4) / (2*BracketM); // … radius

	module Bracket() {

	linear_extrude(height=Bracket[2],convexity=2)
	difference() {
	translate([(Bracket[0]/2 – BracketHoleOffset),0,0])
	offset(delta=ThreadWidth)
	intersection() {
	square([Bracket[0],Bracket[1]],center=true);
	union() {
	for (i=[-1,0,1]) // middle circle fills gap
	translate([i*(Bracket[0]/2 – BracketR),0])
	circle(r=BracketR);
	}
	}
	circle(d=BracketHoleOD/cos(180/8),$fn=8); // dead center at the origin
	}

	}

	//- General plate shape
	// Centered on the hole for the fairing bracket

	Plate = [100.0,30.0,6*ThreadThick + Bracket[2]];
	PlateRad = Plate[1]/4;

	echo(str("Base plate thick: ",Plate[2]));

	module PlateBlank() {

	difference() {
	translate([BracketHoleOC,0,0])
	intersection() {
	translate([0,0,Plate[2]/2]) // select upper half of spheres
	cube(Plate,center=true);
	hull()
	for (i=[-1,1], j=[-1,1])
	translate([i(Plate[0]/2 – PlateRad),j(Plate[1]/2 – PlateRad),0])
	resize([2PlateRad,2PlateRad,2*Plate[2]])
	sphere(r=PlateRad); // nice rounded corners!
	}
	translate([2*BracketHoleOC,0,-Protrusion]) // screw holes
	PolyCyl(BracketHoleOD,2*Plate[2],8);
	translate([0,0,-Protrusion])
	PolyCyl(BracketHoleOD,2*Plate[2],8);
	}
	}

	//- Inner plate

	module InnerPlate() {

	difference() {
	PlateBlank();
	translate([0,0,Plate[2] – Bracket[2] + Protrusion]) // punch out fairing bracket
	Bracket();
	}
	}

	//- Clamp around flashlight ball

	module BallClamp() {

	BossLength = ClampScrew[LENGTH] – ClampScrewNut[LENGTH] – 2ClampScrewWasher[LENGTH] – 4ThreadThick;

	difference() {
	union() {
	intersection() {
	sphere(d=ClampOD,$fn=NumSides); // exterior ball blamp
	cube([ClampLength,2ClampOD,2ClampOD],center=true); // aiming allowance
	}
	for (i=[0])
	hull() {
	for (j=[-1,1])
	translate([i(ClampLength/2 – ClampScrew[OD]),jClampScrewOC/2,-BossLength/2])
	rotate(180/8)
	cylinder(d=(ClampScrewWasher[OD] + 2*ThreadWidth),h=BossLength,$fn=8);
	}
	}

	sphere(d=(BallOD + 1*ThreadThick),$fn=NumSides); // interior ball

	for (i=[0] , j=[-1,1]) {
	translate([i(ClampLength/2 – ClampScrew[OD]),jClampScrewOC/2,-ClampOD]) // screw clearance
	rotate(180/8)
	PolyCyl(ClampScrew[ID],2*ClampOD,8);
	}

	}


	color("Yellow")
	if (Support) { // ad-hoc supports for top half
	NumRibs = 6;
	RibLength = 0.5 * BallOD;
	RibWidth = 1.9*ThreadWidth;
	SupportOC = ClampLength / NumRibs;

	cube([ClampLength,RibLength,4*ThreadThick],center=true); // base plate for adhesion

	intersection() {
	sphere(d=BallOD – 0*ThreadWidth); // cut at inner sphere OD
	cube([ClampLength + 2*ThreadWidth,RibLength,BallOD],center=true);
	union() { // ribs for E-Z build
	for (j=[-1,0,1])
	translate([0,j*SupportOC,0])
	cube([ClampLength,RibWidth,1.0*BallOD],center=true);
	for (i=[0:NumRibs]) // allow +1 to fill the far end
	translate([i*SupportOC – ClampLength/2,0,0])
	rotate([0,90,0])
	cylinder(d=BallOD – 2*ThreadThick,
	h=RibWidth,$fn=NumSides,center=true);
	}
	}
	}
	}

	//- Mount between fairing plate and flashlight ball

	module Mount() {

	translate([-BracketHoleOC,0,0])
	PlateBlank();

	translate([Shift,0,ClampOD/2])
	rotate([-Roll,ToeIn,Tilt])
	intersection() {
	translate([0,0,-ClampOD/2])
	cube([2ClampOD,2ClampOD,ClampOD],center=true);
	BallClamp();
	}

	if (MountSupport) { // anchor outer corners during worst overhang
	RibWidth = 1.9*ThreadWidth;
	SupportOC = 0.1 * ClampLength;
	difference() {
	rotate([0,0,Tilt])
	translate([Shift + 0.3,0,0])
	for (i=[-4.5,-2.5,0,2.0,4.5])
	translate([i*SupportOC – 0.0,0,(ClampThick + Plate[2])/2])
	cube([RibWidth,0.8*ClampOD,(ClampThick + Plate[2])],center=true);
	# translate([Shift,0,ClampOD/2])
	rotate([-Roll,ToeIn,Tilt])
	sphere(d=ClampOD – 2*ThreadWidth,$fn=NumSides);
	}
	}
	}

	//- Build things

	if (Component == "Ball")
	if (Layout == "Show")
	BodyBall();
	else if (Layout == "Build") {
	translate([0,+1*(BallOD/2 + BallThick/2),0])
	translate([0,0,BallOD/2 – BallThick/2])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	BodyBall();
	translate([0,-1*(BallOD/2 + BallThick/2),0])
	translate([0,0,BallOD/2 – BallThick/2])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	BodyBall();
	}

	if (Component == "BallClamp")
	if (Layout == "Show")
	BallClamp();
	else if (Layout == "Build") {
	Both = false;
	difference() {
	union() {
	translate([Both ? ClampLength : 0,0,0])
	BallClamp();
	if (Both)
	translate([-ClampLength,0,0])
	rotate([180,0,0])
	BallClamp();
	}
	translate([0,0,-ClampOD/2])
	cube([2ClampOD,2ClampOD,ClampOD],center=true);
	}
	}

	if (Component == "Mount")
	Mount();

	if (Component == "Plates") {
	translate([0,0.7*Plate[1],0])
	InnerPlate();
	translate([0,-0.7*Plate[1],0])
	PlateBlank();
	}

	if (Component == "Bracket")
	Bracket();

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The New Hotness

Tour Easy Daytime Running Light