Locking Directional Hinge

grabcad

My idea was to create a hinge that could rotate freely in one direction and lock up in the other. The hinge also has the ability to reverse the free moving direction and locking direction. The change in direction can be accomplished by the pushing the axis to the other side like a button. This design cannot be put together manually, it can only be built strictly by 3D printing via FDM. The main application is for infant toy boxes where the hinge can keep a lid up on a toy box. This is critical since there have been incidents in the past where infants have suffered injury or death by having the lid on a toy box either fall on themselves or getting trapped in the toy box. There are unlimited applications for this product if printed on an indirect SLS metal 3D printers such as ones from ExOne. The material could be Iron/bronze for general use such as on automotive hoods. For the Aerospace industry these units could be made of IN 625 or IN 718.