Parametric Modular Hose Library v0.2 by axford

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

A busy few hours after my first attempt at a useful OpenSCAD design (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:9446) and I've totally re-written and refactored the code into a parametric part library. It's still early days, but it already contains the basic building blocks and a bunch of basic parts (segments, nozzles, base plate).
There is also a demo section in the library that will generate a full set of example parts. Or you can un-comment the lines at the bottom to render individual parts and export the STL.
Module Structure
Basic building blocks are defined as chainable modules, taking at least one common parameter - the bore of the hose. Thus alternate hose sizes are trivial to generate (1/4 inch, 1/2 inch, etc).
Global Variables
tolerance = controls the distance between the ball and socket surfaces
definition = this defines the number of facets for curved surfaces (sets the $fn parameter)
Parts in the Library
Hose segment
Extended hose segment (user defined length of "waist" between ball and socket)
Round Nozzle (user defined nozzle diameter)
Base Plate (user defined screw dia, defaults to M3)
Feedback
Any and all comments welcome, it would be great if someone could print off a few segments and let me know if they work!
Updates
22 Jun 2011 - Uploaded v0.2 library, includes reduced wall thickness and increased distance between ball/socket surfaces (based on feedback from bohnded). Also added DoubleSocket module. For comparison, I've added a cross-sectional view of the latest hose segment alongside the loc-line part by charlespax - the ball/socket offset on my model is obviously still a bit tighter than charles', but not sure whether I should increase it further...?