Drinking straw
OwnerJamie M. Wallaceinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A drinking straw that can be easily inserted through a lid or into a beverage pouch or box but that cannot be easily removed, for example, by a child, once the straw is in place. Preferred embodiments of the present invention provide a drinking straw apparatus with a mechanism that makes it difficult to remove a straw once inserted through a lid or opening into a beverage container. One or more retaining extensions extending from a sleeve attached to the straw provide force against the underside of the lid of a container, preventing the straw from being pulled out of the container. One or more retaining extensions can also be formed integrally with the straw. Preferred embodiments are also inexpensive to manufacture so that the products are suitable for use as single-use, disposable straws.
Claims23
A drinking straw assembly, comprising:
- a straw formed from a cylindrical tube, the straw having a top portion adapted for being placed in a person's mouth in order to draw liquid through the straw and a lower end adapted for inserting through an opening in a beverage container;
- and
- a sleeve fitted around the exterior of the tube and fixed in place on the straw, the sleeve having a plurality of retaining extensions extending away from the sleeve up toward the top portion of the straw.
A drinking straw comprising:
- a straw formed from a cylindrical tube, the straw having an upper end, a lower end, and a longitudinal axis, the lower end adapted for inserting through an opening in a beverage container;
- one or more extensions extending from the straw, said one or more extensions:
- (i) positioned on the straw so that the extensions will pass completely through said opening when the straw is inserted into a beverage container;
- (ii) formed so that the purely longitudinal force of pushing the straw and sleeve down through the opening will push the extensions against the straw and allow the extensions to easily pass through the opening, but when the straw is then pulled back up, the extensions will contact the beverage container and prevent the straw from being easily removed from the beverage container.
A cylindrical sleeve which can be fitted around the exterior of a standard drinking straw, said sleeve having an upper portion which can be oriented toward the upper end of the straw and a lower portion which can be oriented toward the lower end of the straw so that the sleeve passes completely through said opening when the straw is inserted into a beverage container;
- said sleeve further having a plurality of retaining extensions extending from the upper portion of the sleeve, said extensions:
- (i) continuous with the sleeve only at the base of each extension so that the transition between the sleeve and each extension is located in a plane substantially perpendicular to the long axis of the drinking straw;
- (ii) having an upper portion that tends to spread out so that the extensions have a wider overall diameter at the top than at the base.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.