Parametric Cylindrical Battery Dispenser by Justblair

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Gadget freaks need batteries... Lots of batteries!
So the sensible thing to do is to use a rechargeable batteries and to keep a stock of charged batteries ready for action.
If you like me keep your charged batteries in a drawer or box, you will know that they roll around, short one another out and of course you never have any idea as to which batteries have been charged first and last. Add in a few other items, i.e. a set of keys or two, an old spare mobile phone and charger and a few favourite take-out menus and finding those batteries during for instance a power cut becomes problematic also.
I was not happy with this and put my mind to coming up with a solution. Well here it is...
The Parametric Cylindrical Battery Dispenser will create a vertical storage solution for all your cylindrical battery storage needs. It contains dimensions to create AA and AAA sized dispensers but as it is near fully parametric, you can create in theory a dispenser for just about any cylindrical battery. Limitations of your 3d Printer though are likely to restrict you to smaller battery sizes.
The Parametric Cylindrical Battery Dispenser prints in two halves to make it as easy as possible to print (little to no overhangs). I found the best results were to use 50% infill and 3 additional shells on my Prusa using PLA, YMMV.
The Openscad file will generate several different styles of dispenser depending on the options you pick:

The simplest design that comprises just two runners. This was my original design and I have printed it. It works well enough, but I found it to be a little flimsy when secured to a vertical surface.


The tabbed version (main photo) which is the version I decided on using for my own battery dispensers. This is has nice broad mounting tabs at the rear of the dispenser that can be sized to match double sided sticky foam. Perfect for mounting on the inside of cupboards etc.


The mounting plate version (untested). This version has a mounting plate that is split into two halves, Theoretically, it should make it easier to space the two halves of the dispenser to each other but it uses more plastic and I don't think its as handsome as the others


Spare runners. (unfinished) These are functional, but only match the simplest design of dispenser. As I can get a reasonably sized dispenser to print on my Prusa (big enough to hold 8 AA batteries)I don't really need this now. I left it in as an option though.

Calibration piece. There is also an option to create a small segment of one half of the dispenser. Print this to double check that the dimensions you set print well on your printer
There are also options to add mounting holes if you are using either the tabbed or back-plated styles of dispenser. The mounting holes are nominal values right now, so you will have to set the variables to values that match your screw dimensions and printer.
I am marking this item as finished as it exceeds all my cylindrical battery vertical storage requirements but you may have other improvements you wish to make. If so I apologise for the code, I am positive it could be better optimised.