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US 12,758,043 B2Granted
Paper straw
AssigneeI.M.A. Industria Macchine Automatiche S.P.A.
InventorFiorenzo Draghetti
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A foldable drinking straw made of paper developing along a longitudinal axis, and having a flexible shaped portion configured to allow a folding, one over the other, of two adjacent portions of the straw. The flexible shaped portion is defined by a plurality of depressions, disposed in succession along the longitudinal axis, and each made on a limited circumferential portion of the circular section of the straw.
Claims10
A paper drinking straw foldable up to 180°, comprising:
- a circular section extending along a longitudinal axis, having a flexible portion configured to allow a folding, one over the other, of two adjacent portions of the straw,
- said flexible portion having a plurality of longitudinally spaced levels of depressions, each individual level of depressions having a maximum of two discrete depressions, wherein each depression is radially inwardly directed relative to a circumferential periphery of the circular section and is formed out of a limited segment of a respective circumferential portion of the circular section, whereby each level of depressions comprises at least one of said depressions and at least one undeformed segment of the circular section, and wherein each level of depressions is angularly offset by 90° relative to a longitudinally adjacent level of depressions.
A method to make a paper drinking straw foldable up to 180°, comprising:
- providing a cylindrical tubular body of paper including a circular section extending along a longitudinal axis,
- making, along the cylindrical tubular body of paper, a flexible portion having a plurality of longitudinally spaced levels of depressions, each individual level of depressions having a maximum of two discrete depressions, wherein each depression is radially inwardly directed relative to a circumferential periphery of the circular section and is formed out of a limited segment of a respective circumferential portion of the circular section, whereby each level of depressions comprises at least one of said depressions and at least one undeformed segment, and
- offsetting each level of depressions by 90° relative to a longitudinally adjacent level of depressions,
- such that the flexible portion is configured to allow a folding, one over the other, of two adjacent portions of the straw.
1 more element
A foldable paper drinking straw comprising:
- a circular section extending along a longitudinal axis, having a flexible portion configured to allow a folding, one over the other, of two adjacent portions of the straw,
- said flexible portion including a plurality of longitudinally spaced levels of depressions, each individual level of depressions having a maximum of two discrete depressions, wherein each depression is radially inwardly directed relative to a circumferential periphery of the circular section and is formed out of a limited segment of a respective circumferential portion of the circular section, whereby each level of depressions comprises at least one of said depressions and at least one undeformed segment of the circular section, and wherein each level of depressions is angularly offset relative to a longitudinally adjacent level of depressions such that each depression within a particular level of depressions does not angularly overlap with any depression of an adjacent level of depressions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.