Introduction: Removable Shopping Trolley Tokens
Don't you hate it coming from work and still needing to go shopping?
When you get to the shop and you need a trolley it will demand some currency, fake or real so the lock opens.
You start digging your pockets for a coin, all while the rain is pouring down on you.
Sure we all know these plastic tokens for your key ring...
But holder breaks or you leave it in a trolley as the next collection bay is too far away to be bothered in the rain...
I wanted something fast that can stay on my keyring without my keys hanging on the shopping trolley.
The solution:
Removable tokens for your shopping trolley!
You stick it in, the lock opens.
A little push to the left or right and you can remove the token and put your keys back in the pocket - how easy is that???
So far I could only test them here in Australia but the principle should work for all trolley locks that do not have a drawer system where you drop a coin in and push the drawer inside to release the trolley - for them you can only use coins or round tokens that stay in the trolley.
I have created STL files for the following currencies so far:
AU: 1$ and 2$
Europe: 1€ and 2€
US: Quarter and 1$
UK: One Pound
Here is a short video showing the token in action:
Notes on the printing:
Please print them with a solid infill in 0.1mm layers for stability and long life.
ABS or Nylon work best, PLA does the job but might require an early replacement depending on the usage as the material is not that strong.
For a shiny finnish on ABS you can finely sand the tokens and hang them into a closed jar with some acetone in it.
The ABS will soften and the surface will "melt" together resulting in a shiny and even more durable finnish.
Once you see the surface gets shiny taken out and have a inspection with good light, if not a smooth finnish put back a few minutes longer until satisfied.
Be careful no to touch until the smell of acetone is fully gone as you will leave fingerprints on the sticky surface.
As some people seem to like the idea but have no access to a 3D printer I will try to help:
The above image is a reference on how to draw a suitable template so you can create your token from wood or even metal with a scroll saw or jig saw.
It is pretty straight forward:
Start with a center line and one at a 90° angle to it - we use these as our reference lines.
Place the circle for the coin on the reference line and add another line 5mm from the vertical center line.
This will be reference point 1.
Use the horizontal center line to create your handle.
Where the handle lines meet the coin lines go back 5mm - this is reference point 2.
Now draw a nice circle between the reference points to thin the handle and coin area so it allow free movement.
A "leftover" on 8mm works quite well here.
Last words:
I created these tokens from scratch using Sketchup, I neither claim they work perfectly in all trolley locks out there as I could only test them in the models available around town here in AU.
All tokens in this Instructable are created exclusively for Instructables!
They are not uploaded anywhere else and I would like to keep it that way, if you feel otherwise please create your own models.
Feel free to print as many as you like, give them to friends and family members or as a little present to your nice neighbour or work mate.
If you want to commercialise them please include a tiny percentage for me ;)