USB Swiss Army Knife

Keeping your USBs together is a hassle, and keeping them organized is equally annoying. This inspired me to create a quite bizarre concept, a Swiss army knife except all the tools are USB drives.

I have always enjoyed the simple, but ingenious functionality of a traditional Swiss army knife, and I wanted to replicate the compact but effective feel they possess. I went ahead with this idea because I have never done a project by my own design, without following a step by step guide, and I decided it would be a good way to try something new.

The equipment and materials I used in this project were provided by my Principles of Engineering teacher, Ms. Berbawy.

Materials:

• 3 USB Flash Centon DataStick Pros (Can be any USB that can easily be modified to have a flat end)
• 3D Printing Filament
• Superglue

Software:

• Autodesk Fusion 360
• PrusaSlicer

Tools:

• Sandpaper
• 3D Printer
• Dremel Rotary Tool (optional)

This assembly can be split up into 4 components:

• Top case
• Bottom Case
• Notches
• Blades (USBs)

At the end of the day, the design of the top and bottom cases doesn't affect the functionality of the knife, so the design can be up to you.

I based my design off a modified version of the sketch from this Solidworks Swiss army knife CAD tutorial. The sketch can be found at 0:55-2:10.

You can modify your top case however you want, but make sure you plan for your bottom case to be the same size.

I went with a relatively simple sketch, which leaves a diagonal clearing to access the USBs in the final product.

The measurements I used for my sketch fit the USB I suggested in the materials list, so make sure to adjust the size of your sketch to the USB of your choosing.

Once the sketch is finished, extrude the sketch around 8 mm, and add a fillet radius of your choosing.

Next, add a new sketch on the bottom face of your case with a 7 mm diameter circle. Extrude the circle back into the case 5 mm. This will be the hole where the axle fits in.

The bottom case is essentially the top case, but without any clearance to access the USB, so you can follow the same steps for the top case to extrude and fillet the bottom case.

Next, you want to make the same 7 mm diameter sketch on the flat face of the bottom case. This time, extrude it upwards at least 29 mm to make the axle. You can extrude the axle from 29 to 32 mm depending on how freely you want the USBs to move.

The next step is creating the notches, which will be attached to the USBs, and assembled onto the axle.

First, you want to create a semicircle sketch. Make a circle, draw a line bisecting it, then use the trim tool to take off the top half. Extrude this sketch 8.2 mm (or the thickness of the USB of your choosing).

Then make a sketch of a circle with a radius of 3.6 mm (diameter of 7.2 mm) to allow for some tolerance for the axle to go through. Extrude this circle backwards to cut a hole through the middle of the notch.

This is the final step to have everything you need to assemble the final product!

Export all components as 3MF meshes and add them to the build plate.

Remember to add 3 notches to the build plate, as you need one for each flash drive.

15% infill will work just fine for this project, as it doesn't need too much durability, but feel free to go higher.

The USB you have likely doesn't have a flat end ready to be attached to our notches, so we have to modify them!

Use sandpaper or Dremel rotary tool to flatten out the non-metal end of your USB.

The USB I used is made of ABS plastic, so I was able to use sandpaper to flatten out the end easily. If you are using a Dremel, be careful to not damage the internal components of the USB.

This is quite a simple step, just superglue each of your 3 notches to your 3 USBs.

Be sure that the notches are completely flush with the end of the USB, or they might not move when you assemble them together.

Last step!

Put the 3 USBs with notches through the axle on the bottom case.

After this, superglue the end of the axle to the hole in the top case to complete the assembly.