Cogalicious Slim Can Caddy

Howdy, wonderful people!

Are you tired of drinking energy drinks in ways that don't overtly broadcast your enthusiasm for 3D printing?! Fear not, with the Cogalicious Slim Can Caddy you can enjoy the logistical benefits of handles while also prompting passers-by to enquire about the stylish filament you happened to choose!

This design is built around the fairly standard 250ml energy drink can dimensions, but there are some features incorporated that give it a little bit of flexibility with fit. That said, all the cans I explored in person were identical, anyway! But let's have a look at those features and at the overall design of this fancy can cup.

The Cogalicious Slim Can Caddy is a single object and all parts are connected in one contiguous whole. However, there is some movement designed into, but it's all built around flexing elements. That's not how things started out, though - there were versions that had latches and magnets and threads as means to keep the can securely in place, but instead we are calling upon the powers of flexibility to help us out.

When you slide a can in from the top, you'll notice the retention latch that bends readily out of the way - we'll get back to that momentarily. As the can is pushed further, though, it encounters resistance in the form of a trio of interior spring tabs that each push against it. Those tabs do actually have room to move entirely out of the way, so if a can will fit through the top, the tabs will be firm but not a hindrance.

Now, that top latch! Those three interior spring tabs exert enough force that they might well be enough to keep the can securely held, but I liked the idea of something that would simply stop the can falling out even if it was loose. So, there's a tab on top that has an angled profile so that the can will just push it out of the way (which is important once the rim at the top of the can encounters it) but once the top of the can gets past, the latch will pop out over the top, and will need to be pushed out of the way to allow the can to be removed.  

Now, the important thing to note is that the flexing only occurs along the plane of the layer lines and never perpendicular to that. What's more, the flexing parts spread the load over a broad and deep flexible section to avoid putting too much force into any one spot.

Print Description

This is a regular mode print that has quite generous clearances and shouldn't cause too many headaches. Bed adhesion will be an important consideration (but when is it not? :P) However, there's a fair bit of contact area to support the model as it grows vertically, so don't stress too much.

Print Dimensions

The caddy occupies 100mm x 89mm on the print bed and is 142mm tall.

Supports Needed?

Not at all!  Designed for straightforward printing!

Scalability

If you really wanted to make this fit some other size of can, you would have a reasonable chance of being able to just scale it to fit! Just watch out if making it wider or shorter, since angled faces will become trickier for the printer to handle neatly.

Print Orientation

The Cogalicious Slim Can Caddy prints upside-down.

Above: some stylish Cookiecad Unicorn

File Location

You'll find this one at 488 Cogalicious Slim Can Caddy

Link to dropbox post: https://www.patreon.com/posts/31697592

Further Thoughts

A lot of the design elements in this model are driven by the fact that it prints upside-down, but the only thing that necessitates that is the flat underside on the latch that holds the can securely. That flat underside, though, is fundamentally important to how that feature works, so it's a reasonable thing to let that dictate things.
Still, it's interesting just how many bits and pieces of the design are in turn impacted by that. The herringbone cog profiles, the design of the interior "floor" that supports the can, and even the design of the flexing element to which it's attached are firmly coupled to that decision, which really is fascinating to contemplate in hindsight!

Happy printing!

xoxo

Sven.