hotponyshoes
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- Messages
- 6,411
- Location
- Somerset. Uk
So,
Project is some method of storing and transporting drinks bottles for a mobile bar.
Bottles range from 1l vodka bottles, 75cl wine bottles, down to 12.5cl tonic bottles and coke cans yet along with cartons of orange juice and so on..
The individual containers should not hold more than 8-12 bottles as they need to be carried by one person.
They need to be moved from a storage unit, into a van (space is an issue so stackable), then into the venue, then back out into the van and unloaded into the unit again for every event so need to be fairly tough and also waterproof.
There are bottle heights ranging from 150mm to 350mm.
Most of the smaller bottles come in packs of 12 or 24 but these are mostly cardboard trays with shrinkwrap over the top so a nightmare once opened as everything falls around.
Current system is a load of fish type plastic crates. These are ok when setting out as they can be filled but once a couple of bottles are removed the rest fall over when moving.
My current plan is thus-
A load of plastic 'euro containers'
These are available in various heights and standard dimensions that will stack and interlock - ie 2 half boxes stack on one full size box etc.
The cost is reasonable if buying in bulk as well. Waterproof (So the mess is confined to one box if a bottle leaks) and have handle holes built in (or it's easy to add rope handles)
Main issues - tricky to remove the box unless it's on the top of the stack
- the bottles still fall about once some are removed.
- due to the carrying issue the bottom box can't be that big so would limit the stack height unless some form of retaining system is made and fixed to the van.
I am thinking of simply fitting a load of eyes to the van walls so the stacks can be held by bungie ropes.
For the boxes I am thinking about partitions, first thought was thin wall plastic drainage pipe providing I could find it in the right dimensions. I.d. needs to be just big enough for the bottle to save space, but also needs to be just right to fill the box completey. Given the large variation in bottle sizes that seems like a bit of a mission to find enough sizes of pipe and is a pain in the future if a new type of bottle is used.
Next thought is a load of adjustable portions. A bit like the cardboard inserts you get inside a beer/wine box where they have slots halfway through and the left/right pieces drop over the front/back pieces. I was thinking I could have a load laser cut from alloy but with a lot of slots so I could choose how many bottles fit in each box.
I would need 3-4 sizes to suit various boxes but would have a whole sheet cut which should give me plenty.
I can't draw cad though so would have to pay for the set-up and so on so might work out to be an expensive way of doing it!
Any better ideas out there??
Project is some method of storing and transporting drinks bottles for a mobile bar.
Bottles range from 1l vodka bottles, 75cl wine bottles, down to 12.5cl tonic bottles and coke cans yet along with cartons of orange juice and so on..
The individual containers should not hold more than 8-12 bottles as they need to be carried by one person.
They need to be moved from a storage unit, into a van (space is an issue so stackable), then into the venue, then back out into the van and unloaded into the unit again for every event so need to be fairly tough and also waterproof.
There are bottle heights ranging from 150mm to 350mm.
Most of the smaller bottles come in packs of 12 or 24 but these are mostly cardboard trays with shrinkwrap over the top so a nightmare once opened as everything falls around.
Current system is a load of fish type plastic crates. These are ok when setting out as they can be filled but once a couple of bottles are removed the rest fall over when moving.
My current plan is thus-
A load of plastic 'euro containers'
These are available in various heights and standard dimensions that will stack and interlock - ie 2 half boxes stack on one full size box etc.
The cost is reasonable if buying in bulk as well. Waterproof (So the mess is confined to one box if a bottle leaks) and have handle holes built in (or it's easy to add rope handles)
Main issues - tricky to remove the box unless it's on the top of the stack
- the bottles still fall about once some are removed.
- due to the carrying issue the bottom box can't be that big so would limit the stack height unless some form of retaining system is made and fixed to the van.
I am thinking of simply fitting a load of eyes to the van walls so the stacks can be held by bungie ropes.
For the boxes I am thinking about partitions, first thought was thin wall plastic drainage pipe providing I could find it in the right dimensions. I.d. needs to be just big enough for the bottle to save space, but also needs to be just right to fill the box completey. Given the large variation in bottle sizes that seems like a bit of a mission to find enough sizes of pipe and is a pain in the future if a new type of bottle is used.
Next thought is a load of adjustable portions. A bit like the cardboard inserts you get inside a beer/wine box where they have slots halfway through and the left/right pieces drop over the front/back pieces. I was thinking I could have a load laser cut from alloy but with a lot of slots so I could choose how many bottles fit in each box.
I would need 3-4 sizes to suit various boxes but would have a whole sheet cut which should give me plenty.
I can't draw cad though so would have to pay for the set-up and so on so might work out to be an expensive way of doing it!
Any better ideas out there??