DRINKING STRAW FOR USE WITH A BEVERAGE CUP, ADAPTED TO SUPPORT SIGNAGE

Abstract

The outer wall of a drinking straw has a uniform circular diameter except for one or more locally deformed regions causing the straw to bulge outwardly. This allows the straw to be pushed through a hole in an article using a gentle force, with the bulges preventing back-out from the hole without an applied force in the opposite direction. Holes slightly larger than the diameter of the tube but smaller than the bulged region(s) enables the straw to cooperate with, engage, retain or capture an article or articles, including the cap of a drinking cup and signs with opposing holes that cooperate with spaced-apart bulges on the straw. A signage system includes a straw with multiple bulges, a drinking vessel with an aperture cap, and a sign or other article supported on the straw above the vessel. Each deformed region is formed only by heating the plastic tube enabling the straws packaged in a parallel, nested arrangement.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to drinking straws and, in particular, to straws with bulges or hips that enable the straw to engage with other articles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There are many novelty drinking straws made and sold every year. These novelty drinking straws include drinking passages which are in the form of loops, spirals, flowers, stick figures, eye glasses, etc. Some examples of patents disclosing such novelty drinking straws include: U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,063,803; 2,557,411; 2,619,770; 3,260,462; 3,326,695; 3,425,626; 3,517,884; 3,606,156; 3,773,256; 3,957,202; 4,374,596; 4,687,306; 4,699,319; 4,828,355; and 5,184,774. Such novelty drinking straws are intended to amuse the users (principally children) by attracting their attention to the visual display made when fluid passes through the drinking tube as the straw is used.

Novelty drinking straws are also known which include a panel for displaying a message such as an advertisement. In particular, U.S. Pat. No. 4,726,518 discloses such a novelty straw. The straw disclosed in the '518 patent is of a particular construction including a panel having two opposed, flat major faces for the display of indicia thereon, a plurality of channels extending between the major faces and having open ends at opposite sides of the panels, and at least one mouthpiece and one liquid pick-up region formed at the ends of the straw and interconnected by at least two of the panels. As disclosed in the patent, the channels extend linearly up and down from the panel to form the mouthpiece and liquid pick-up region. While this device discloses a flat surface for conveying messages, the device contains many elements that make it unattractive for inexpensive mass production. First, the device relies upon a plurality of channels or conduits in order to pass the liquid. Thus, it is more expensive to manufacture than conventional drinking straws, which have only one channel, and is not easily adaptable to conventional drinking cup covers that are adapted for conventional drinking straws.

What is needed is a novelty drinking straw on which advertising or amusement material may be displayed, which has a single drinking passage. What is further needed is such a novelty drinking straw which is easy and inexpensive to manufacture. Additionally it would be particularly advantageous if such a drinking straw included the ability to remove and replace the inserts.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention resides in a drinking straw adapted to engage with an article as well as straw/article combinations, including signage systems. The drinking straw itself comprises an elongated cylindrical plastic tube having an outer wall. The outer wall defines a circular cross section having a consistent diameter with the exception of at least one locally deformed region along the length of the tube wherein, in the locally deformed region, the tube bulges outwardly beyond the outer wall of the tube. This allows the straw to be passed through an article having a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the tube but smaller than the bulged region to cooperate with, engage, retain or capture an article or articles.

In one embodiment the article is the cap of a drinking cup. In another embodiment the article is a sign with opposing holes to cooperate with spaced-apart bulges on the straw. A further embodiment includes an inventive straw, a drinking vessel with an aperture cap, and a sign or other article supported on the straw above the vessel. In all embodiments, each deformed region is formed only by heating the plastic tube such that no additional material is added to, or subtracted from, the straw.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a side view of a drinking straw with three bulges formed along its length;

FIG. 2 shows the straw of FIG. 1 having a lid with a central hole in it;

FIG. 3 illustrates a way in which two spaced-apart bulges may capture and retain an article;

FIG. 4 provides further details regarding the geometry of the bulges;

FIG. 5 shows the straw of FIG. 4 from different perspectives;

FIG. 6 is a larger top view of a straw constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 7 is a larger cross section; and

FIG. 8 shows how the lock-in hips enable the straws to nest in a package.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to drinking straws specially adapted for use with cups and like beverage containers and formed as a substantially circular tube, preferably of a thermoelastic plastic. Its novelty lies in several aspects. Primarily, it is formed with one or more, and preferably two, lateral bulges formed at spaced intervals toward the upper, or what will be termed the proximal, end of the tube. This location along the length of the straw will be such as to protrude outwardly, above the cap of a cup or other beverage container, when the lower or distal end of the straw is near the bottom of the container and the tube extends through an aperture in the cap.

In the accompanying drawings, FIG. 1 is a side view of a drinking straw 102 with three bulges 104, 106, 108 formed along its length, two near the proximal end and one near the distal end. The straw of FIG. 1 may be used with a drinking cup 200 of FIG. 2 having a lid 201 with a hole, preferably central to the lid and complementary to the basic diameter of the straw. Bulges 104, 106 may support some form of article, emblem or signage as described below. Straws according to the invention may have any number of bulges depending upon the application.

The bulges will extend beyond the normal diameter 110 of the outside wall of the straw so that a suitable article having a central hole may be gently forced over a bulge for capture purposes. That is, with articles having holes that are slightly greater than the diameter of the outer, cylindrical wall of the straw, such articles may be slid over the straw, or the straw may be pushed through articles, with a momentary ‘click’ or ‘snap’ of the deformation through the hole without any damage to the straw or the article. Note that the outermost dimension of each deformed, bulged region is preferably slightly greater than the hole(s) in the article to be engaged. For example, dimension 212 is slightly greater than the diameter of holes 208, 210, 214.

An article that is supported on the proximal end of the straw is illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3. In the embodiment shown the article is a plastic disc 202 having an edge extension rim 204 that is normal to the basic disc surface 206 and includes at least one, and preferably two, holes 208, 210 at radially opposed points on its configuration. While the article is shown as being circular, it may take any form, and it can support a legend such as a logo as shown in FIG. 3, or any other configuration of interest such as an emblem, a picture, an animal, or the like. It will also be appreciated that thick paper or thin cardboard articles may be accommodated in addition to plastic articles.

Note in FIGS. 2, 3, the spacing of bulges 104, 106 corresponds to the spacing of the holes 208, 210 in the article so as to capture the article as shown. While it is preferably that the spacing of the bulges in slightly less than the spacing of the holes such that the bulges are disposed within the article, they may also be spaced apart slightly greater than the spacing of the holes and nevertheless capture the article therebetween. Additional bulges might be incorporated in the tube to support the device at intermediate levels. As shown in FIG. 2, the straw may have an additional bulge near its distal end, which when used with a drinking cup would be nearer the bottom of the cup and would trap the straw under the cup cap.

The bulges are preferably formed by raising the temperature of the straw at the area to be bulged, and forcing the two sides of the heated area toward one another as shown in FIGS. 4-7. The bulges are preferably made on two opposed sides of the circular straw and the intermediate sides are drawn within the normal radius of the straw. Advantageously, with a slight degree of deformation, the cross section of the straw even in the region of the deformation approximates or is substantially equal to the cross section of the non-deformed cylindrical regions of the straw such that fluid flow therethrough is not impeded.

The applied deformation also enables the straws to rest within their packaging with the straws parallel to one another and with adjacent straws rotated by 90° relative to each other so that the outer bulge on one straw rests in the inward depressions in adjacent straws, allowing compact packaging. This is illustrated in FIG. 8.

Claims

1. A drinking straw adapted to engage with an article, comprising: an elongated cylindrical plastic tube having an outer wall;wherein the outer wall defines a circular cross section having a consistent diameter with the exception of at least one locally deformed region along the length of the tube;wherein, in the locally deformed region, the tube bulges outwardly beyond the outer wall of the tube, such that when the tube passes through an article having a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the tube, the locally deformed region may be forced through the hole to engage the article.

2. The drinking straw of claim 1, wherein the article is a cap of a drinking cup.

3. The drinking straw of claim 1, including two spaced-apart deformed regions configured to capture an article.

4. The drinking straw of claim 3, wherein: the article includes opposing holes spaced apart at a predetermined distance; andthe deformed regions are spaced apart at a distance slightly less or greater than the distance between the holes to capture the article.

5. The drinking straw of claim 1, wherein the article includes textual or graphical visual indicia.

6. The drinking straw of claim 1, wherein each deformed region is formed only by heating the plastic tube.

7. The drinking straw of claim 1, wherein each deformed regions is formed by heating and pinching the plastic tube to create two opposing bulges on opposing sides of the tube.

8. The drinking straw of claim 1, including a plurality of tubes, each with at least one deformed region; and wherein each deformed region includes two indents and two bulges that alternate around the circumference of the tube enabling the tubes to be packaged adjacent and parallel to one another with the intent of each tube receiving the bulge of another.

9. A drinking straw and article combination, comprising: a drinking straw comprising an elongated cylindrical plastic tube having an outer wall;wherein the outer wall defines a circular cross section having a consistent diameter with the exception of at least one locally deformed region along the length of the tube causing the tube to bulge outwardly beyond the outer wall of the tube; andan article having a hole greater than the diameter of the straw but less than the cross section of the locally deformed region such that the locally deformed region of the straw may be pushed through the hole in the article to engage the article.

10. The combination of claim 9, wherein the article is the cap of a drinking cup.

11. The combination of claim 10, wherein the cap has a center and the hole is in the center.

12. The combination of claim 9, wherein: the article has two spaced-apart holes; andthe straw has two spaced apart bulges corresponding to the spacing of the holes in the article to prevent the article from sliding on the straw when engaged.

13. The combination of claim 12, wherein: the article includes a panel and a peripheral rim extending from the panel; andthe rim includes the two spaced-apart holes.

14. The combination of claim 12, wherein the panel is a substantially flat panel.

15. The combination of claim 12, wherein the panel is a circle.

16. The combination of claim 12, wherein the peripheral rim is substantially normal to the panel.

17. The combination of claim 12, wherein the article includes a panel with textual or graphical visual indicia.

18. A signage system, comprising: a drinking cup having a cap with a hole in it;a sign with two opposing holes;a drinking straw having an outer diameter with three thermally formed bulges, including a distal bulge adapted to engage with the hole in the cap to prevent the straw from being pulled out of the cup through the cap, and two proximal bulges corresponding to the holes in the sign to prevent the sign from sliding on the straw when positioned above the drinking cup.

19. The signage system of claim 18, wherein all of the holes are larger than the outer diameter of the straw except in the vicinity of the bulges.

20. The signage system of claim 19, wherein: the sign includes a flat panel and a peripheral rim substantially normal to the panel;the peripheral rim includes the two holes; andthe panel includes textual or graphical visual indicia.