Reducing Fluid Waste from a Bottle

I've noticed that when pouring fluid from a bottle, residual fluid often ends up around the mouth of the container and drips down the side, and has to be wiped away later. I wanted to develop something that could be attached to a variety of such containers that would prevent this fluid from dripping.

To that end, I designed a 3D model in SOLIDWORKS of an attachment inspired by the top of a detergent bottle that can drain fluid back into the container. The idea was that the attachment can be screwed onto the existing mouth of a container and removed when not being used. I also designed a lid for the attachment and a sample ‘mouth’ of a container for it to fit onto, for a proof of concept. Using 3D printers available on the UT Austin campus, I was able to create physical prototypes of all models.

The attachment and its lid were successfully made and were able to fit together. The sample ‘mouth’ was also prototyped, but its screw thread was wound incorrectly. I no longer have access to a 3D printer to be able to continue working on the project — but hopefully I will be able to do so soon.