Drink Carrier for Large Cups
Drink Carrier for Large Cups
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I admit. My partner and I eat a lot of takeout food, often getting it to go to take home. Trying to carry a bag of food and two large drinks can lead to disaster. The pressed paper type of cup holder is marginal at best when holding large cups.
The paperboard type with the handle feel more secure, but there's always some doubt about the bottom falling out, and the handle digs deep into your fingers.
I designed my own drink carrier, made from laser-cut acrylic, patterned after the paperboard carrier. It's designed to hold the largest fast food cups securely and to be easy to carry. It's made from 4.5mm acrylic, and held together with slots & tabs and t-slot screws.
This picture shows the shadow cast by the clear acrylic I used to make it. Pretty cool. The drink carrier would also be sharp if made out of colorful acrylic.
Shadow cast by the drink holder
The drink carrier is built using 4.5mm acrylic (3mm material could be used if the slots are re-sized), The pieces can be seen in the picture of the carrier and the illustration below.
Five pieces form the sized and bottom of the drink holder. The handle is made up of two pieces to provide a wider grip surface. Adjacent to the handle at the top of the side are spacers to hold the cups away from the handle. At the bottom on each side are pieces with a circular cutout to hold the cups in the center of the holder.
Acrylic Cup Holder
Drink Carrier Pieces
Assembly Illustration
The handle supports the bottom using a keyhole connection. The pair of handle pieces are inserted into the slot that's parallel to the long dimension of the bottom, then turned 90° into position. The handle must be in position before installing the side panels.
The t-slots are sized for 4mm × 25mm bolts. I made the slot slightly too short, Flat washers under the screw heads make up for this – it's probably a good idea to use washers anyway. Taping the nuts in their slots will make assembly easier.
Keyhole Joint
T-Slot
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