Weyland-Yutani Everything: A TPU Sleeve For My Memo Water Bottle

I wanted to create a custom protective sleeve for my Memo brand slim water bottle. This sleek and futuristic bottle is perfect for travel, fitting neatly into a sling bag. But I found that its slim design meant it couldn’t stand upright on its own. I wanted to find a solution that would both protect the bottle and allow it to stand stably.

I wanted to create a sleeve that would not only safeguard the bottle from scratches and impacts but also enable it to stand upright when set down. To achieve this, I turned to SolidWorks to design a tailored TPU sleeve.

Using calipers, I took precise measurements of the water bottle, ensuring the sleeve would fit snugly and seamlessly. In SolidWorks, I created a lofted design that would slide over the bottle and sit just above the bottle’s base, allowing it to slide down and create a stabilizing foot when placed on a surface.

Beyond the functional aspects, I wanted the sleeve to complement the overall aesthetics by drawing inspiration from the Weyland-Yutani Corporation from the Alien franchise. The gray TPU material provides a nice contrast to the white powder-coated bottle, and I added subtle ridges and indented Weyland logos to the sleeve to create a cohesive and visually appealing look.

One of the key challenges in this project was ensuring the sleeve could be printed in a single piece without the need for support structures. By carefully designing the angles and profiles of the ridges and logos, I was able to create a seamless and efficient print that avoided any complicated post-processing steps.

While I’m proud of the initial version of the TPU sleeve, I’m already considering ways to refine and improve it. Future iterations may include design variations, such as reduced coverage area or strategically placed cutouts, to further enhance the usability and aesthetic appeal of the final product.

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