3D printed plastic gears for charging system for electric cars

Profile

• What was needed: plastic gears for prototypes
• Manufacturing process: igus 3D printing service
• Requirements: wear resistance, robustness, fast delivery
• Material: iglidur i6
• Industry: automotive
• Success from the collaboration: time savings thanks to simple online configuration and fast delivery, elimination of tooling costs, variety of options

Easelink, based in Graz, Austria, has developed the "matrix charging" system, which consists of two components. A charging pad is connected to the mains is installed in the parking spot. A connector on the bottom of the e-car drops down when the car is parked over the pad. The charging process starts automatically, so the driver does not have to connect a cable – like inductive charging, but with 99 percent efficiency and up to ten times the charging power.During the development process, the design engineers created a production-ready component by means of several prototypes. To minimise expenses while ensuring high quality, they used the igus 3D printing service.

The future should be in e-mobility. Only the electric cars could not prevail so far. An important factor is the insufficiently developed charging infrastructure. For many drivers, the available recharging facilities are very rare. Easelink wants to change this. The innovative start-up has developed 'Matrix Charging', a vehicle charging system consisting of two components: A charging pad connected to the mains is installed in the car park. A connector on the bottom of the e-car drops down when the car is parked over the pad. The charging process starts automatically, without the driver having to connect a cable – similar to inductive charging, but with up to ten times the charging power and with 99 percent efficiency. During development, designers have to approach a component ready for volume production slowly via several prototypes. If costs and time get out of hand during this phase, prototyping can become a stumbling block. But Easelink skilfully manufactured the components. They used the 3D printer to make the gears in the mechanism of each of the connector prototypes.