Together with FIT Prototyping GmbH, Gossen Metrawatt GmbH is producing a 3D printed accessory part for its PROFITEST series of installation testers.
The additive design of the part enables a product with innovative design and integrated functionalities and avoids classic manufacturing restrictions by eliminating tooling. “Thanks to the successful integration of functions, an additively manufactured part has been used in series production,” said Stefan Burger, development designer at Gossen Metrawatt.
As one of the world’s leading suppliers of metrology systems, Gossen Metrawatt GmbH develops and sells an extensive range of high-quality measuring and testing technology for the electrical trade, industry and public institutions with its eponymous brand. Gossen Metrawatt GmbH stands for innovative products and customized solutions in measurement and testing technology and supports its customers with a wide-ranging training program and after-sales services.
The inspection of protective measures in electrical systems is intended to help protect people from accidents with electrical current and thus ensure their safety. Likewise, of course, material values are to be protected from damage caused by electric current. The PROFITEST installation tester is used to test protective measures in electrical installations. With a unique operating concept by selection of the measuring and control functions by an intuitive, the high-resolution and context-sensitive color graphic display – in connection with the automatic test sequences – offer the user a practice-oriented operating comfort.
Depending on the test task, a wide variety of test probes are required for measurement. The user must carry these probes with him and be able to change them quickly if necessary. In certain test situations, such as when working on a ladder, carrying the probe insert that is not needed in the work trousers and changing it can lead to an additional risk of accident.
In order to implement this requirement, which arose from the “User Experience”, a fastening option had to be created on the device for the test probe that was not currently in use.
The design was implemented in the form of an additional plastic part that can be snapped onto the device and into which the probe insert is inserted.
In conventional production with an injection-molded plastic part, the function would only have been possible via additional parts and thus via assembly. In addition, a complex and thus expensive injection molding tool would have been necessary. This would have made it impossible to implement the project economically.
The solution then became an additively manufactured part.
This is printed from the material PA12 using the SLS process on an EOS machine and colored black in post-processing.
In this way, high initial investments are avoided, due to the constructively extended scope in 3D printing, assembly of components could be avoided and all necessary functions could be integrated into a single part.
As a positive side effect, this process also made it possible to incorporate an additional function, the inclusion of a test probe.
The time-to-market could be significantly reduced and the 3D printing process used also allows the subsequent implementation of product optimizations in the future without further, costly tool adaptation.
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