Description

This coupler is a custom design to serve the purpose of a Michigan Tech senior design team. This coupler gives the ability to convert from a round motor shaft to a hexagonal output shaft, and vis a versa. The design is parametric based on the size of the hexagonal shaft and the round shaft. Once those values are entered, the design will change based on those numbers. The hexagon size shown is 1/2 in and the round diameter shown is 3/8 in. There are two set screws in this design as well to secure the coupler on to each of the shafts. It costs about $0.60 to print out of PLA, and takes about 1 hour to print. These numbers are subject to change based on the printer settings. This coupler will only take about 2.5 Nm of torque maximum, which is well under the 832Nm of maximum calculated torque that this design could take. There is an attachment showing the torque hand calculations as well. The 3D printed part made out of PLA is sufficient to withstand this amount of torque, making this coupler a huge cost savings compared to a custom metal coupler which would have costs around $50 to make and ship.