3D Printed Box Lid: Developing a 'Locking' Lid Version 4.0

Above: Design shown prior to PLA removal for lid insertion

Challenge: Use a 3D Print to produce a box with a working lid that can be sealed.
Background: As part of the major sound lure project that are students are working on, one of the key issues is 'water proofing' - ensuring that the sound lure is able to be deployed but protected from the environment.  This is another box in the series but this student wanted to use the 3D Printer to produce a lid that could be locked in place to ensure that the container was water tight and the lid would not come off unless it was removed.    As shown in the photograph on the left the lid has breakable component parts that need to be carefully removed to enable the lid to be slid into place.   With the lid then inserted into the gap created by the removal of the excess PLA the additional support for the lid as shown holds it in place.  There is also an internal wall with a removable section to support a division between the battery storage and the speakers.   The students were basing all these dimensions on the speaker/sound device combination that our students are presently working through.   These dimensions reflected the design, shape and size of this sound lure.   

Degree of Difficulty: High - this is pushing the students in this class to the limit to test their designs and creations using the materials and designs available.   With the PLA just below the lid removed (as shown left) the idea is clearly demonstrated. 
Size:  The box is similar to other designs in this series to reflect the size of the sound device.   It was 100mm by 100mm square with a height of 60mm.   The internal wall was placed 30mm from the end of the box to include the batteries as storage.
Time frame: Nine hours to print on the regular settings of nearly everything that we've printed over the last five years.  8mm nozzle (in some earlier posts this has been described as a 4mm nozzle but this was incorrect due to a misunderstanding.  The infill is the 20% standard default.    There was some adjustments made below.

What we would do differently/Next steps for students: While this lid will work the students concerned needs to make adjustments.   The lid needs to have more support from the frame of the box at the top and especially the sides - we will still be using this box for the project but further lids will have a more robust lid combination.  The external wall needs to have some adjustments so that the batteries can be placed from one side of the device to work through without having to re-wire the sound lure.