So my team and I are building a complex tray this year and we are really struggling with the joints that allow the tray to fold within the starting limit. This may be slight violation of the rules and regulations of the forum (I wouldn’t know 
) but I was wondering if anyone had a good solid design for the hinges and would be willing to share it with me. If not, would someone be willing to redirect me to a website that will show me a good hinge? I’ve checked everything and have come up empty handed every time. 
Thanks a lot!
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First off, how wide is your tray? Please give pictures, and also, use plates or even c-channels for custom screw joints. If your tray folds backward, then you can use vex hinge pieces. If not, then a screw joint on the side of the tray will suffice. If you have to, look up 448x’s easy design (the documentary) for inspiration to see the concept, but do not copy thier design, as making your own design is a good learning experience. Good luck on your tray. Use counter sink screws if you have a skinny tray. Ours is 9 holes wide and a tight fit so we had to attach our joint to c-channels which were below our tray.
I don’t have any pics right now, but the tray is slightly over 5 1/2" wide. It is just enough to fit a single stack of cubes in it. We have 3 sections – each are about 3 1/3 of a cube tall or 18" – so that is where we are struggling. We need a way to connect them The actual tray is basically a piece of plexiglass (vex brand) with an L-frame on each side. The end result should fit ten cubes in it. I’ll try to get some pics on Monday (my robot is at school).
Here are some pics of our hinge, and it only has two 18 inch sections. (We are doing a total rebuild to make it all smaller, lighter, stronger and faster.) And don’t be afraid to ask questions. As long as you ain’t asking people to design your robot for you, the forum is for sharing productive ideas and pooling mental resources. Not a social media platform.
you could check this out. It has a nice up close veiw
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the simpler the hinges, the better. almost any reveal at the moment has good hinges, copy those and you should be good to go 
so theoretically you would only really need 4 main pieces to complete each side of each hinge.
L channel 1, L channel 2, plate piece 1 and plate piece 2 and then any other screws and spacers.
Keep it simple!
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Thanks a lot! this really helped! good luck this season!
Nice deploy, but ouch. Something gonna break by the end of the season. Watch for cracks in those flats or add string to soften the final mm.
Sorry, thats not ours I just found it on youtube
