The CAR3D Project team is still working to identify existing solutions and create reference designs for sanitary materials that meet all quality and safety EU requirements. Some Personal Protective Equipment examples are already available on our Downloads page. There, you can find masks, face shields, and we are working to make the most extensive catalog and make it reach all over Europe through companies that want to be suppliers, such as those you can find on our map of Suppliers. And we cannot forget the huge contribution that 3D printing technologies have made and the short time to react in the creation of protective equipment for health professionals and individuals throughout Europe to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.

In this regard, the CAR3D Project team has recently created a new ear hook to hold the masks and be able to protect ears during use. This product is better suited to current needs and is based on a detailed research which mainly identifies the discomfort caused by the rubbers of masks after a workday. This ear hook is not really a Personal Protective but facilitates the use of masks that have already become a part of daily life.

This new design has all the required technical features: flexibility, a very well-detailed definition,… this new ear hook is manufactured by SLS technology – Selective Laser Sintering – using PA12, polymeric material, which saves significant material and energy resources.

It should be noted that to achieve even greater resource savings, the space available in the so-called “suffering” manufacturing area, which is at the beginning and the end of construction in SLS technologies, is used. In this case, the pieces of “suffering” have been replaced by the creation of ear hooks, thanks to the dimensions and features of the product, which allows you to take advantage of all the available material.

This new ear hook is also designed to be manufactured with different Additive Manufacturing technologies, such as FFF – fused filament fabrication – with which anyone with a 3D printer at home, can make it and it is available in our Downloads page.

This initiative may be carried out thanks to the savings achieved with the production process of this product and the CAR3D Project’s commitment to collaborate reducing the effects of the pandemic and making progress in PPE available to as many people as possible around Europe.

The CAR3D Project has been underway for months, with a lot of research, production and testing work. There are some files to download right now and soon, there will be new sizes of them and new models available to everyone to achieve the main goal of our project and contribute to the fight against the pandemic.