Hypercube Developer Website
Hypercube Locking Mechanism
- The design of the locks between Hypercubes has been evolving.
Plastic Injection Molded Parts For Lever Cam Locking Mechanism
- This is 3D printed version to try out.
- The hex spacers are locked together with a hollow tube containing a cam lever. As the lever cam is rotated, the cam tightens against the spacer body and locks.
- Cam levers are a quick release mechanism - screw type mechanisms are a lot harder to use
- Because it is too difficult to reach behind a Hypercube as the structures become bigger, lock the cam lever locks that are behind a new Hypercube first, and then slide in the new Hypercube into the hollow tube of the lock.
- After sliding in the cube, slide the open locks over the joins of the Hypercube and lock it
- The result is a Hypercube trapped by the locks
- Sometimes single ended locks are not enough because the final Hypercube is not supported anywhere. For this we use double ended locks.
Screw Lock Mechanism
- Levers are easy to operate, but sometimes more strength is needed and for that we develop a screw lock mechanism.
High Strength Screw Lock Mechanism
- This is higher strength steel version for 3D stacked Hypercubes.
3D Printed Test Screw Lock Mechanism
- The smaller version of the high strength screw lock mechanism is similar but requires fewer unique parts and less material. Prototypes printed and working.
- The nut is special and has a cavity inside it to allow the nut to spin freely whilst the two spacers are being joined together.
High Strength Server Locks
- These are the heavy gauge locks for 3D wired server arrays as tall as 20 meters.
- They are 20mm diameter solid steel.
- They can be much larger and hold together much taller server arrays.
- These designs 100% working.
Final Revision (August 2019 version)
- These are final revision samples
- The small nut a little more rounded and now a 3 piece mechanism
- The large pieces come with their own spanner slots