Assembly

instructions
UPPER BACK Issued: 19.06.2022
Update

rev01

1 CENTER BEARING PIECE

By following the instructions on the Spine module,
you should now have a structure that looks like the
picture on the right.
Number of vertebrae and their relative position
might change depending on your height and the
tuning you chose to be most appropriate.

At this point, in the same way of the vertebrae, you

can assemble the upper center bearing piece,
meaning inserting in on the 3 rods with 6 nuts to
keep it in position (respectively 3 up and 3 down).

Please notice that before doing this, the upper

spine bracket shall be removed.

Bearing z position can be tuned and shall fall almost in the center of your scapula.
Final position and fit will be tuned when the whole exoskeleton is assembled.

This document is issued by Andrea Piccinno and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
2 REAR DELTOIDS PIECE INSERTION
At this point, the two "Back delt" pieces can be inserted in the center piece by means of
the dovetail slider. Printing tolerances should allow a smooth fit and sliding.
Should you have some friction, please slightly sand the male piece of the dovetails or
apply some grease of graphite powder.
Once inserted, slide the pieces for some time, remove then, clean the two counterparts
and assemble them once again.

3 BEARING ASSEMBLY
By keeping the Back delts pieces in position, proceed inserting the steel spheres in the 4
rails. There should be enough space for 4 balls per rail by leaving a certain amount of
gap to allow them to move freely despite the 3D print roughness.

This document is issued by Andrea Piccinno and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Also in this stage, should your printer tolerance produce a difficult fit between the
pieces, sand the rails before assembly, then clean them properly and apply some
grease or graphite powder before inserting the steel balls.

Turn the assembly 90° to avoid the steel spheres falling and assemble the lock piece by
fastening the 4 M6 bolts in the respective holes.

Printing tolerances shall allow a proper fastening. Should your bolts feel too loose, you
can apply some loctite of glue to avoid loosening during usage.

Once the pieces are assembled, the rear deltoids pieces will be able to slide freely on
the central piece and will not fall once reached the end stop position. You will not need
any additional locking feature as the geometry itself after assembly will prevent the
pieces from separating.

At this point you can assemble the 608 Ball bearings into the rear deltoids seats (they
will be used in the next assembly instructions).
Depending on your printing tolerances, you might need more or less press fit force to
assemble the bearings. Normally should be enough a slight manual push force.

This document is issued by Andrea Piccinno and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
IMPORTANT
While sliding of the rear deltoids pieces is allowed by the dovetails feature alone,
assembly of the steel spheres is necessary to prevent the pieces from falling apart or
having a difficult sliding during loading conditions.

The aim of this overall upper bearing, is to allow the exoskeleton to adapt to shoulders
flexion/extension during user movements. The sliding of the deltoids pieces in fact would
compensate muscle contractions and adapt to the user body.

However, should you find the sliding uncomfortable, there are 8 additional holes (4 per
each side) that can be used to assembled a custom bracket or piece with the aim of
keeping the relative position between the center piece and the deltoids fixed.

Should you need any assistance with the design or assembly of such bracket, feel free
to reach me out and I will support in that.

Holes are dimensioned for M6 bolts (length depends on the thickness of the bracket
used)

This document is issued by Andrea Piccinno and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
4 STRAPS ASSEMBLY
All the pieces assembled so far (spine + upper back) will give your the possibility to
add straps in the apposite slots already in the final configuration.

This means that you will be now able to tune the straps length and position according to
your needs and size and add locks or clips where required.

This aspect is quite personal, however I will add here a suggested configuration which I
found optimal both to wear and have a proper fit.

This document is issued by Andrea Piccinno and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
SPINE PIECE Print settings

This section will provide a preview of suggested print settings and orientation for the
mentioned components in the UPPER BACK. in order to maximize resistance and
guarantee proper functionality.
User is free to modify or change them according to his/her experience.

PRINT ORIENTATION

PRINT SETTINGS (Suggested only)

Numer of walls: 4 min.
Upper layers: 4 min.
Bottom layers: 4min.
Layer height: 0.2mm max
Infill: 20% Zigzag
Suggested filament color: RED

Approx. material weight (with indicated parameters): 260gr

This document is issued by Andrea Piccinno and is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.