Employee Creates an Amazing 3D Printed Electronic Business Card Holder for Boss

One thing that I absolutely love about the 3D printing space and attending various shows such as CES and Inside 3D Printing Conferences, is the fact that I get to meet thousands of people who have a genuine interest in 3D printing. Every show I attend, I come across new faces of people looking to make connections within the industry, and meet like-minded individuals who have a genuine enthusiasm for the technology. I usually come back from these conferences with stacks of business cards from various individuals who I wish to get in contact with in the future. Unfortunately though, I really have no organizational system for these cards, and they end up in piles on my desk, ultimately getting knocked over by one of my cats. If only I had a more organized method of keeping these cards in order, I would definitely save a lot of time when looking for contact information of a particular individual or company.

One designer, named John Sambrerra, may have just found the solution I’ve been yearning for, with the 3D printed electronic business card holder that he 3D printed for his boss.

“My colleagues and I were looking for an idea for a gift to our boss and saw that he had business cards lying on his table without any order,” Sambrerra tells 3DPrint.com. “Thus was born the idea of making a box for the storage of these business cards.”

Sambrerra admits that the plan for the box was not entirely thought out before he attempted to create it. However, through trial and error, he was able to come up with quite a unique and interesting device. The design features a shaft with gears, which is connected to teeth on the drawer, allowing for the servo motor and internal gears to pull and push the drawer into the opened or closed positions.

“On the back wall and the front wall are limit switches,” Sambrerra tells us. “If the tray comes up to the limit, the current in the circuit is disconnected. This means that the mechanism comes into operation with a magnet and two reed switches that set the direction of opening.”

He also was sure to include a relay in his design so that the drawer couldn’t cause the servos to short circuit, which could potentially cause a fire. After several iterations and also deciding to change the color scheme of the card holder, Sambrerra and his colleagues had the perfect gift for their boss, one which will surely help keep his desk more organized.

As for Sambrerra, he has been 3D modeling for over 2 and a half years now. This is only his second 3D printed project that he has taken on so far, although by the job he did you would think that he has had quite a lot of experience. What do you think about this device? Discuss in the 3D Printed Business Card Holder forum thread on 3DPB.com. Check out the video of the box in action, as well as some more photos below.