Lightning connector dust cover for use with a phone case

thingiverse

This is a small plug that is meant to cover the Lightning Connector found on some Apple products (iPhones, iPads, etc.) when you use that device with a case. It seems like my pockets are always full of lint, which ends up in my connector and will eventually cause connectivity issues. So I decided to do something about it. I liked the design of the dust cover that I remixed (see attribution), however it wouldn't be suitable for my purposes since I use a case with my phone. I would have to remove the case each time I wanted to charge. So I added a small nub on the end of the original dust cover with a small circular indentation to be able to grab it a little better. I tried to add a fillet to the top edge, but it didn't make an appreciable difference. However, I did print it with the handle part (not the plug part) on the build plate, so it would have a hard time with that small curvature, especially on the first layers. Maybe if I flipped it around so that the plug side were on the bottom (touching the build plate) then that fillet would be more effective. In the end what I did was just use my pocket knife to remove the edge, then sandpaper to smooth it down. I've also included the original CAD (.ipt, Autocad Inventor part file), and I made the design parameterized in case you would like to adjust some of the dimensions to match your phone case. Enjoy!