Texas Peripherals Floppy Drive latch pivot bracket by andrewsi

Last crawled date: 3 years ago

Aging floppy drives common in older "retro" computers, e.g. the TRS-80 series, commonly fail due to cracks/breakage in the plastic pivot on the backside of the floppy door, which connects the door/latch to the internal arm that clamps down on the floppy disk surface. This part is critical because it's the only thing resisting the rather strong spring tension that pushes the arm open, and all of that force rests on two very tiny nylon pins.
This is a replacement part modeled from the original in the "Texas Peripherals" floppy drives in a TRS-80 Model III. I suspect it may be similar or identical to parts used in Tandon and Shugart drives that preceded it, but I have no particular way to validate that assumption.
I suggest printing this with 100% infill (it's very small, so not a big deal) for part strength. I also get very good results from eSun PLA "Plus" filament, which seems to be noticeably stronger than standard PLA.
It should be printed "tall", i.e. standing on one end, as none of the other surfaces are flat to the bed. However, doing so leaves one of the two pivots as an overhang. In order to deal with this and still retain the best dimensional correctness, I have provided three files:
One models the entire part but should only be used if you want to print with supports. The other two are the mirrored halves of the part but split down the middle so that you can later weld them together. with acrylic cement, which is extremely strong. The axis along which the part is split is not under stress when the part is installed since it's screwed down through the two oval slots, so strength of the weld is not super-critical, but "Weld-On 16" does the job nicely and is available at TAP Plastics if you happen to have one nearby.