The Scroller

Reading a book can be done in any number of formats, from ebook, print, audio, etc. Preferences for one format over another usually come down to convenience, its portability, and look and feel. Physical book readers love the feel and appearance of the paper, but typically hate their bulkiness, while those who prefer ebooks like the portability, but dislike having to charge them. The Scroller may meet the needs of both. Cutting out the margins, headers and footers of physical books and stretching them along a single continuous roll (like a scroll) cuts down on the size of the book and makes reading less cumbersome. Instead, the "pages" are advanced by thumb scrolling like a phone with the help of a wheel and gears, which unwind the book from one side and roll it up on the other. Thermal printer paper (80mm) replaces the heavy and expensive paper of physical books, the lack of ink driving down the cost of a book to just a dollar or two. And with a cheap thermal printer ($25-40), you can print them yourself at home. And who wouldn't want a scroll case in place of a heavy book shelf. The Scroller can be 3D printed with different colored filaments, and its base design altered to make it look futuristic, steampunk, retro, or rustic. It was inspired by my hard sci-fi dystopian novel (Motus by P. A. Kramer) which depicts an underground society whose once-advanced technology has regressed.

80mm thermal printer paper

Thermal printer

3D printer

PLA (or other) filament

7mm diameter bearings

Computer

3D design software (e.g., Autodesk)

Word processor (e.g., Microsoft Word)

The main body of The Scroller needs to be as wide as 50mm to accommodate an average sized book print (depending on font). This can be reduced if using a thermal transfer printer and print one half of the book on one side and the 2nd half on the other. However, the two scroller cylinders don't need to be much more than 50mm apart, as one cylinder will be empty. It will fill with paper as the other shrinks, such that they do not ever touch.

The outer surface of the body should have rounded edges (at least a few mm) to fit comfortably in a hand without hurting. This should be mirrored on the lid.

The top of The Scroller needs to accessible through a fitted lid (lip and groove) for ease of loading and unloading the book or "scroll."

2x 4mm wide and 5mm tall cylinders will need to be attached to the inner side of the bottom wall to hold the inside of a 7mm diameter bearing at the center points of rotation.

A groove cut along the bottom front of The Scroller will allow access to a scroller wheel for advancing the paper.

Two 82mm x 2.5mm slits along the sides of The Scroller allow for paper to pass through. Rounding these slits will allow the paper to move across them with less resistance. Alternatively, a separate independent roller can be added to reduce scrolling friction even more.

The scroller wheel can be added as shown, either locking to the gears of the scroller cylinders or one at a time. The advantage to only locking to one scroller cylinder at a time is that it will avoid significant slack accumulation and keep the paper tight. A toggle can be added to switch from forward to reverse, allowing the scroller wheel to engage the respective scroller cylinder.

The teeth of the scroller wheel and cylinders need to marry together well, but a high gear ratio will allow a small movement of the scroller wheel to advance the paper further.

The scroller cylinders need to be approximately 10-15mm wide and 20-60mm long and designed to snuggly fit the core of a thermal paper wheel. The above design allows for some flexibility and tension. The base of each cylinder should be a gear designed to work with the scroller wheel.

Export the individual pieces to a slicer and print. The current design minimizes overhangs, but small supports were still needed.

Once printed, insert bearings into scroller wheel and 2x scroller cylinders.

Superglue can be used to ensure they don't slip apart if they aren't snug enough. Printing drafts is recommended to ensure adequate sizing and clearance before printing at higher resolutions.

*Be sure you have the rights to print a book before proceeding*

*Do not sell the printed scrolls unless you hold the appropriate permissions, license, and/or rights*

Format the book in a word processing document (e.g.,Microsoft Word):

1. Margins should be 0.1-0.2".
2. Header and footer should be 0".
3. Page size should be 80mm or 3 1/8".
4. Page length can be 12", but some word processors will allow 22" (continuous printing makes this mostly redundant).
5. Add a cover image and select the preferred image printing setting (e.g., error diffusion)

Once your Printer driver is set up, make sure you set it to continuous. You may also need to override the maximum print length.

Set to print in reverse by typing in a custom page range with the last page appearing first (e.g., 150-1). It's recommended to print a few smaller page ranges first until the correct settings are dialed in before committing to the full book or scroll.

Before printing, feed out some paper and connect to an empty thermal paper roll and slip over the scroller cylinder. This will allow you to continuously take up the paper as it emerges from the printer.

Wind up the book as it emerges and, once done, feed out a little more paper before cutting and attaching to another empty thermal paper roll and slipping it on the other scroller cylinder.

You're done, start turning the scroller wheel to advance the scroll and read. You'll soon find you won't lose your place like with regular books. Nor does it require any charging.