Spring-loaded quick-release rail

Our own quick-release mount: a 3D printed rail with a sprung latch that clicks a part home and lets it go without tools.

Service: Product Development & Prototyping
To release it: Pull the grip back with one thumb
What holds it shut: A steel spring pushing the latch out
Parts: Two printed pieces, a spring and a screw

Start a prototype Send a brief

What we brought

Moving parts that work
We design parts that move, not just shapes
The latch slides in a printed channel, pushed by a steel spring and kept in place by one screw.
The right material
A filament chosen for a sliding part
Carbon-fibre polycarbonate is stiff and hard-wearing, so the sliding faces stay true and the latch keeps its snap.
Seen working
Tested by hand, on camera
The clip shows one thumb pulling the latch back and the spring sending it home on release.

Gallery

The whole project at a glance. Drag or swipe to browse; tap a picture to enlarge it.

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The finished piece
From the spring end.
The tongue pushed out by the spring.
Standing upright, seen straight on.
The whole mechanism, side on.
One thumb pulls the latch back.
ProductionThe printed tongue and its matt finish.
Build and assemblyThe spring seated in its pocket.
The screw in its slot, the spring below.

The build

How we built it

4 steps, from the brief to the finished piece. Pick a step to jump to it.

The brief

Step 1 of 4

Lock: Clicks home on its own, under spring pressure
Release: One thumb, no tools
Parts: As few as possible, all printed except a spring and a screw

At Additive Inn, our 3D printing studio in Singapore, we set out to design a quick-release mount: a rail that a part clicks onto, holds firm, and lets go under one thumb, with no tools and no fasteners to undo.

Production

Step 2 of 4

We FDM printed the rail and the sliding latch in carbon-fibre polycarbonate, a stiff, heat-resistant filament that keeps its shape under load and resists wear on the sliding faces. The fibre gives the matt, lightly speckled finish.

Close-up of the printed latch tongue standing out from the end of the rail, its chamfered tip and the matt carbon-fibre texture — The printed tongue and its matt finish.

Build and assembly

Step 3 of 4

We seated a steel compression spring in its pocket to push the latch out, and fitted one screw through a slot in the latch, which keeps it in its channel but lets it slide.

Close-up of the steel coil spring seated in its printed pocket, with the latch grip above it and the screw head beyond — The spring seated in its pocket.

The rail standing on its edge: the screw riding in its slot, the latch grip in the middle and the spring along the bottom of its pocket — The screw in its slot, the spring below.

The final build

Step 4 of 4

The latch springs out on its own and pulls back under one thumb, so whatever sits on the rail clicks on and comes off in a second, as often as it needs to.

The finished rail from the spring end: the coil spring in its pocket, the latch grip and the screw head — From the spring end.

How it works

The latch in use.

One thumb pulls the latch back.

More product development

See all product development →

Spring-loaded quick-release rail

What we brought

We design parts that move, not just shapes

A filament chosen for a sliding part

Tested by hand, on camera

Gallery