Smart prototyping for smart toys
Reptangles are small animal-like structures that clip together into some pretty stunning complex structures. Prototyped by Protomold, the plastic building bricks and can be clipped/unclipped over and over – which is why the designer needed real plastic parts when prototyping.
For designer Jonathan Stapleton, one particular college project became an obsession that lead to a unique business opportunity and several patents. "The brief wasn't very tightly defined," he remembers "but we were working in wood, which meant we were creating models in three dimensions." The assignment turned out to be a catalyst for an interest in 3D tessellation that lasted far beyond college, through several years of teaching physics, and eventually, with the help of Proto Labs, gave rise to the creation of a small, three-dimensional building block that resembles a turtle. Today, the finished product – a snap-together toy branded Reptangles, has been licensed to a major manufacturer and distributor of educational and specialty playthings.
Reptangles are produced in injection-moulded plastic and packaged in sets. Each plastic block has 56 connectors allowing any two blocks to be attached to one another in hundreds of different ways. But, getting from the initial wooden mockups to today's production version – by means of a handful of vital, injection-moulded prototypes—was no simple task.
"Everything about working with Proto Labs was simple," he says. "The ProtoQuote quoting system, was fast and easy; every time I ordered parts they arrived sooner than I expected, and the up-front costs were really reasonable. When I've had technical questions they've been right there with answers. For example, in designing the tetrahedron I didn't think about ejector pins, but the company helped me include pads in the design, for the pins to use to push the part out of the mould. I'm currently working on a new part with a living hinge and they've been very keen to help.
