Claims
- 1. A novelty drinking straw comprising:
- a straw for receiving a liquid, the straw comprising a hollow tubular member having a length and a circumference;
- two electrically conductive contacts, each of the contacts having a first portion positioned inside the straw and a second portion positioned outside the straw;
- a sealing module coaxially disposed about the circumference of the straw, wherein the sealing module is sized to receive the electrically conductive contacts and prevent the liquid from escaping through the circumference of the hollow tubular member;
- a first outer housing assembly removably connected to the sealing module, the first outer housing having a first integrally formed connector; and
- a second outer housing assembly having a sound generating module electrically connectable with the electrically conductive contacts, and a second integrally formed connector, the second integrally formed connector cooperative with the first integrally formed connector to form a manually detachable connection between the first and second outer housing assemblies, wherein the sound module is removable from the straw with the second outer housing assembly.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the second outer housing comprises:
- a rear outer shell;
- a front support plate connectable to the rear outer shell; and
- wherein the sound generating module is positioned inside a cavity formed by the rear outer shell and the front support plate.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the a second integrally formed connector is formed on the front support plate.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the first and second integrally formed connectors form a polarized joint.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sealing module further comprises at least one flexible seal, the seal positioned around a circumference of the electrical contacts.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sealing module further comprises a sealing material positioned around the circumference of the hollow tubular member and between the pair of electrical contacts.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first outer housing assembly comprises:
- a front outer shell; and
- a rear support plate, wherein the front outer shell is releasably attached to a first side of the rear support plate and the first integrally formed connector is formed on the rear support plate.
- 8. A novelty drinking straw comprising:
- a straw for receiving a liquid, the straw comprising a hollow tubular member having a length and a circumference;
- two electrically conductive contacts, each of the contacts having a first end positioned inside the straw and a second end positioned outside the straw, wherein each of the contacts passes through a respective opening in the circumference of the hollow tubular member;
- a sealing module mounted on the straw and sized to receive the electrically conductive contacts and prevent the liquid from escaping the circumference of the hollow tubular member; and
- an outer housing removably attachable to the sealing module and the straw, wherein the housing comprises:
- an outer shell structure;
- a support plate connected to the outer shell structure and comprising a connector portion manually attachable to the sealing module; and
- a sound generating module positioned inside a cavity formed by the outer shell and the support plate, wherein the outer housing and attached sound generating module are manually detachable from the straw.
- 9. A novelty drinking straw comprising:
- A drinking straw having a tubular body;
- at least one electrical contact having a first portion in communication with an interior of the tubular body and a second portion positioned outside of the tubular body;
- a sealing module comprising a tubular section coaxially disposed about the tubular body and a seal positioned about each of the at least one electrical contacts, wherein the seal is positioned to prevent leakage of a liquid through a wall of the tubular member adjacent to the at least one electrical contact;
- a first housing assembly positioned around the sealing module and enclosing the sealing module, wherein the first housing assembly comprises a front outer shell and a rear panel, the rear panel defining an opening for the at least one electrical contact; and
- a second housing assembly connected to the first housing assembly, the second housing assembly comprising a front panel, a rear outer shell, and a sound producing module, wherein the sound producing module is in electrical contact with the at least one electrical contact and wherein the sound producing module produces a sound when the liquid passes through the tubular body of the drinking straw.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the second housing assembly is detachably connected to the first housing assembly.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1 0, wherein the rear panel of the first housing assembly and the front panel of the rear housing assembly cooperate to form a manually detachable joint.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the rear panel comprises an integrally formed connector and the front panel comprises an integrally formed connector.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the integrally formed connector in the rear panel comprises a female connector and the integrally formed connector in the front panel comprises a male connector.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the seal comprises an elastomeric seal.
- 15. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the elastomeric seal comprises a synthetic rubber material.
- 16. The apparatus of claim 14, wherein the seal comprises a plastic material.
- 17. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the sound module comprises an electronic circuit having a power source, a speaker, and a voice synthesizing circuit.
- 18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sound module further comprises a manually operable switch.
- 19. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the voice synthesizing circuit comprises a prerecorded song.
- 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the switch further comprises an off position, where the sound module is completely deactivated, and an on position, where the sound module is responsive to a liquid passing through the straw to play a prerecorded voice.
- 21. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the power source comprises at least one battery.
- 22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tubular body of the drinking straw comprises a non-frangible plastic.
- 23. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein the electronic circuit further comprises a switch manually operable to initiate continuous operation of the electronic circuit in absence of a liquid in the straw.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the sound module comprises an electronic circuit configured to play a prerecorded voice.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the sound module comprises an electronic circuit configured to play a prerecorded sound.
- 26. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sound module further comprises a switch, the switch switchable between a first position wherein the sound module continuously plays one of a voice and a sound, and a second position wherein the sound module plays one of a voice and a sound in response to a liquid passing through the straw.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. Application Ser. No. 09/307,130, filed May 7, 1999, entitled "NOVELTY DRINKING STRAW" (abandoned).
US Referenced Citations (63)
Foreign Referenced Citations (5)
Number |
Date |
Country |
63-118868 |
Jan 1988 |
JPX |
2331024 |
May 1999 |
GBX |
WO 9417691 |
Aug 1994 |
WOX |
WO 9853892 |
Dec 1998 |
WOX |
WO 9913685 |
Mar 1999 |
WOX |
Non-Patent Literature Citations (2)
Entry |
U.S. application No. 09/050,306, filed Mar. 30, 1998 and entitled Novelty Article. |
Sample of Joyworld Singing Straw produced by Joy World, Inc., Franklin Lakes, NJ in packaging dated 1997. |
Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
307130 |
May 1999 |
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