Mechanical Engineering & Public Policy Graduate
ACRYLIC MUG AND BAGEL HOLDER
As someone who always seems to be in a rush in the morning, no matter how early I wake up, I am often running to catch the bus with a bagel in one hand and a tea in the other - and then I realize I have no free hand to take out my ID to swipe on the bus. This leads to me either awkwardly juggling the mug and bagel in one hand, or biting down on the bagel while I retrieve my ID, neither of which are good solutions. Hence, the 2-in-1 cup holder was born!
This sleek cupholder is creating from several laser cut acrylic pieces, which then slot together to form the 3D cup holder, securely holding my tea and bagel!
IDEATION
Although I knew from the beginning what problem I wanted to tackle, I had multiple ideas of how to solve it. Below are some of my concepts!
PROTOTYPING PROCESS
After creating a 3D model of my cupholder in SolidWorks, I exported the parts to DXFs, which I then cut out and used to build a cardboard prototype. Unsurprisingly, some of my dimensions were wrong, such as the diameter of the ring, so I went back and forth several times trying to get the exact dimensions for each part of the cupholder, until I had the perfectly fitting cupholder for my mug and bagel.
Once I was satisfied with my cardboard prototype, I started working with acrylic. At first the slots were not precise because of laser cutting tolerances, so I adjusted the slots until everything clicked in place, forming a stable and fitting acrylic mug and bagel holder.
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FINAL DESIGN FABRICATION
The cupholder is constructed of several laser cut pieces of acrylic, namely the top ring to go around the cup, two base discs, and several vertical pieces to connect the ring and discs to each other. The vertical pieces are snapped into place by slots in each of the circular components. This product is very simple to assemble, and can be recreated easily just by laser cutting and fitting together several pieces.
MOODBOARD
