Introduction: Cell Phone Stand With Integrated Charger

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About: I have a background in mechatronics and that's what I like - the combination of electronics, mechanics and software to a well functioning overall system. Since I own a 3D printer (ok, there are 2 now ;-)) and…

I did not like the fact that our cell phones and the tablet were put on the kitchen table when we had to charge them. Additionally I found it inconvenient that we had to share the electrical output for the charger with e.g. the coffee machine, which meant a lot of plugging and unplugging (I personally prefer to switch things on and off). So the idea was to build a nice looking, convenient stand for 2 cell phones and 1 tablet with an integrated charging function that can be operated by a switch and is mounted on the wall.

This is my first instructable, so please apologize unprofessional description and so on. Since english is not my mother tongue there might be some gramatical errors as well.

Step 1: Design

At first I did the construction on a piece of paper. After I built the stand I decided to document my design in 3D CAD software. At that time I had started to teach myself how to use Autodesk Fusion. In the pictures you can see some renderings of the Fusion design.

Step 2: Bill of Materials

Step 3: Drawings

The PDF file contains all the drawings. Most of the drawings are in scale 1:2. The two figures are in scale 1:1 for direkt transfer to the wooden board.The width of the stand is optimized for a 10,5" Samsung tablet - you might want to adapt it to your needs.

I used a crosstip screwdriver to follow the contures of the figure, if you apply some pressure you will be able to see the indentation on the surface of the wooden board.

Attachments

Step 4: Building Instructions

The numbers in the brackets refer to the part numbers in the drawing

  1. Cut out all the parts. I used a circular saw for the rectangular parts, a scroll saw for the figures and a miter saw for the bars.
  2. Assemble upper board (3), side wallleft (4), side wallright (2) and back wall (9). I used wood glue and clamps to fix it in place.
  3. Assemble the lower part with the upper board (3), side wall left (4), side wall right (2) and back wall (9). I used screws only for the bottom side because I did not want them to be visible from the top.

  4. Glue bar A (5) and bar B (6) on the inner side of side wall left (4) and side wall right (2) (see sheet 4 of the drawings).

  5. Glue the lower lid (7) on the bottom of bar A.

  6. Screw the front lid (8) onto bar B.

  7. Cut the notch for the switch (I drilled some holes, used a jig saw and a file)
  8. Install the switch. Cut the power cable, strip the wires and connect the ends of one of the two wires to the two pins of the switch (e.g. the brown wire), the other one is directly connected. Be carefull and use isolated connectors or shrinking tubes to avoid that current-carrying parts can be touched. Always unplug the power cable before you open the front lid.
  9. Plug in the multiport charger and the USB cables. I used a magnetic clip to keep the cables in place, when they are not used.