Patent Application
20170105559
This invention relates generally to drinking straw dispensers and, more specifically to a sanitary drinking straw dispenser to reduce contamination and sanitary related issues due to improper handling of drinking straws.
This application claims priority to currently pending U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/242,607; filed on Oct. 16, 2015; titled SANITARY DRINKING STRAW DISPENSING ASSEMBLY.
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Drinking straws are well known in the art and are used for drinking fluids from a beverage container without the user's lips having to touch any portion of the beverage container. At commercial food establishments that serve food and drink such as diners, restaurants, bars, etc. . . . drinking straws are supported in dispensers or containers at counters, and at individual tables or booths. When a patron selects a drinking straw for their own use, the patron does not know whether the straw that he or she selected has already been bacterially contaminated by prior patrons or by a food and/or drink establishment employee as a result of the employee's handling of the straws during the replenishing process of the straw dispensers or containers. This is true whether or not the drinking straws are uncovered or are enclosed in a paper or plastic wrapping.
For example, patrons such as children have been known to playfully rummage their hands, which may or may not be cleaned, through the straws, which may be covered or uncovered, in the dispenser or container. Food and/or drink establishment employees have been known to lazily or out of convenience ignore proper sanitary protocols and restock the drinking straw dispensers or containers with drinking straws that have been mishandled or wastefully dispensed by prior patrons. These drinking straws may at times have fallen to the ground, or elsewhere, thus leading to further contamination, which can be imparted to the user or patron.
There thus is a need for a sanitary drinking straw dispenser that reduces, and may eliminate, contamination and sanitary related issues due to improper handling of drinking straws by both prior patrons and by food and/or drink establishment employees who overlook proper sanitary protocols.
Food and/or drink establishments conventionally provide accessible containers or dispensers of numbers of drinking straws, which may be individually enclosed in a protective covering which the patron or user tears away to get to the straw or may be uncovered. As mentioned earlier, it is quite possible, if not likely, that the protective coverings on covered straws themselves are contaminated which the unsuspecting user is not aware of. The present invention seeks to significantly reduce, if not totally eliminate, any significant transfer of any contamination in this manner while still providing patrons with the same type of a dispenser of covered drinking straws with which the establishments and the patrons are familiar.
The present invention utilizes a relatively stiff box-like container quite similar to a conventional drinking straw dispenser with a multiplicity of straws, each of which is enclosed in a somewhat loose frangible paper covering or wrapping, closely stacked together longitudinally with an end located at an opening of the container for grasping by a patron or user to remove a straw. Within the container the covered straws are bound together and are bonded to the container in a suitable fashion. When a patron, or other, grasps the exposed end of a covered straw and pulls it out of the container the cover separates and at least in part remains within the container. The coverings remaining in the container obstruct any attempt to insert any covered or uncovered replacement straws into the container. An embodiment of the invention provides a circumferential tear line on the covering to assure separation when a straw is removed in the described manner.
The present invention relates to sanitary drinking straw dispensers and dispensing assemblies used to reduce contamination and sanitary related issues due to improper handling of drinking straws by both prior patrons and by food and/or drink establishment employees who overlook proper sanitary protocols.
The present invention comprising a plurality of individually wrapped drinking straws having a first end supported within a container such as a dispensing container and a second end located at an accessible opening in the dispensing container.
A feature of the present invention is that at least a portion of the individual sanitized wrapper of the drinking straws proximal the first end of the plurality of individually wrapped drinking straws are bounded together within the dispensing container by a plurality of means including but not limited to various types of fasteners, binding sleeves, non-toxic adhesives, and the combination such that removal of a drinking straw from the dispensing container requires the tearing of the wrapped-covering of the drinking straw with a portion of the wrapped-covering of the drinking straw being left supported within the dispensing container.
Another feature of the present invention is that once bounded together additional individually wrapped drinking straws cannot be added to the dispensing container thereby eliminating the restocking of potentially contaminated or mishandled drinking straws into the dispenser.
Referring to the drawings,
The sanitized wrapper 12 has an exposed end 12a located outside of the dispensing container 13 and an un-exposed end (not shown) located within the dispensing container 13. Sanitized wrapper 12 functions to protect the drinking straw 11 against exposure to dust, dirt, and bacterial contamination.
In the embodiment of
It is noted that some embodiments of the present invention may include a circumferential line of perforations or indentations 16 that is weakened by a fine milled stamp or other suitable pressure sensitive applications in order to provide for a cleaner and anticipated separation point between the finger-engaging portion 14 and the empty wrapper portion 15 of the sanitized wrapper 12 that is left supported by the dispensing container 13.
It is further noted that the plurality of individually wrapped drinking straws are bounded together within the dispensing container 13 in such a manner that removal of one drinking straw 11 to a majority of drinking straws 11 from the dispensing container 13 will not affect the drinking straws 11 remaining in the dispenser container 13. That is, the remaining drinking straws 11 will not fall out or become loosen from the dispensing container 13 due to the fact that the empty wrapper portion 15 of the sanitized wrapper 12 are still supported by the dispensing container 13. The presence the empty wrapper portion 15 in the dispensing container 13 will also prevent the restocking of potentially contaminated or mishandled drinking straws into the dispensing container 13 to ensure to the user that any drinking straw that is dispended from the dispensing container 13 of the present invention is safe to use.
The embodiment of
Drinking straw dispensing assembly 22 also includes a dispensing apparatus 25 having an open end 25a, a closed end 25b, and an internal chamber 25c for supporting sleeve 23 and at least a portion of a plurality of individually wrapped drinking straws 25 proximal a first end 24a of the sanitized wrappers 24 therein.
The dispensing apparatus 25 of
Drinking straw dispensing assembly 28 also a weighted dispensing apparatus 32 having an open end 32a, a closed end 32b and an internal chamber 32c for supporting sleeve 29 and at least a portion of a plurality of individually wrapped drinking straws 30 proximal a first end 31a of the sanitized wrappers 31 therein. The embodiment of
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62242607 | Oct 2015 | US |
