The device was born from a somewhat whimsical idea, inspired by
this
.
Originally the disk was supposed to be
fixed inside a floppy, and used as a whole. However ergonomic considerations necessitated a change
of the design, as the floppy is too big and the thumbdrive connector would not allow insertion
into many types of computers.
A small, flat thumbdrive was obtained. The Verbatim Clip-It type was chosen on the basis of cost and availability. The choice turned out to be lucky; the disk consists of a plastic shell with the clip and a module with the thumbdrive itself, which can be isolated by prying it out of its shelf with a thin screwdriver or a knife.
It was found that the disk module virtually perfectly fits into the cutout in the metal slider on the floppy. It was also found that it is not needed to remove the floppy medium, as its thickness is negligible and it does not get into the way. It was however needed to increase the size of the matching cutout in the plastic part of the floppy. That was done with a craft knife and a ruler.
The floppy is now indistinguishable from a standard floppy disk. When the metal slider is pulled aside, the thumbdrive is exposed and can be removed from the cavity, or be placed there.
There is a slight wart in the design; the thumbdrive sometimes tends to slide under the floppy housing. This can be either eliminated by gluing little retainer bars to the sides of the cutoff, or exploited by gluing retainer bars onto the floppy medium; in the latter case the floppy can store a larger number of thumbdrives, selectable by turning the central metal knob.
The design is actually practical. The floppy fits well into a shirt pocket, provides good level of mechanical protection to the thumbdrive inside, and is big enough to not getting lost in the pockets.
 Original thumbdrive |  Disassembled thumbdrive |  Thumbdrive, top side |  Thumbdrive, bottom side |
 Thumbdrive package |  Original floppy |  Original floppy, back side |  Parts of the floppy |
 Floppy parts, other side |  Position of the cutout |  Cutout with thumbdrive |  Spring position |
 Adhesive added |  Finished floppy |  Opened thumbdrive container |  Opened thumbdrive container |