Beverage container with extendable drinking straw

• US 5,518,142 A
• Filed: 04/25/1994
• Issued: 05/21/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 04/25/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Shing Hong Industrial Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Shing Hong Industrial Company Limited
• Inventors: Lin, Bang H.
• Primary Examiner(s): MOY, JOSEPH MAN
• Application Number:
  US08/231,693
• Time in Patent Office: 757 Days
• Field of Search: 220/709, 220/705, 220/707, 220/719, 220/708, 220/714, 220/713, 220/719, 215/1 A
• US Class Current: 220/707
• CPC Class Codes: A47G 19/2211 Lip- or moustache-protecting devices for drinking glasses; Strainers set in a movable or fixed manner in the glasses
• CPC Class Codes: B65D 47/2043 the separate element being formed by an overcap which constricts a spout, the spout being either pushed into alignment with, or pushed through, an opening in the overcap upon rotation of the latter

Abstract

A beverage container is equipped with a rotatable cover and an automatically extendable drinking straw. The container includes an open ended body closed by a removable cap, a straw unit inserted through a conduit on the cap, a cover member rotatably fitted on the cap for rotational movement relative to the cap between a first position allowing the straw to extend through a slot of the cover member and a second position folding the straw unit and closing the slot. A groove formed on the cap engages a raised spot formed on the inner edge of the cover member for indicating when the cover member is rotated to either the first or second position. The straw unit includes a first straw made of elastomeric material and a second straw made of rigid material and sized so that the first straw is held between the conduit and the second straw in a coaxial relation without the use of fastening elements.

Claims

1. A beverage container comprising:

a body having an open end;

a removable cap for closing the body;

straw means extending through the cap;

a cover member having an upper wall and a slot defined in the wall;

means for mounting the cover member to the cap for rotational movement relative to the cap between a first position allowing the straw means to extend through the slot and a second position folding the straw means and closing the slot, wherein the cap includes a convex wall having a curved portion sized to tightly close the slot when the cover member is in the second position; and

means for signaling when the cover member is rotated to either the first position or the second position, the signaling means including;

a groove with two ends formed on an outer surface of the convex wall of the cap and extending partially around the convex wall of the cap,

two raised beads provided in the vicinity of the groove ends, respectively; and

a projecting spot formed on an inner edge of the upper wall for engaging the groove.

2. The container as claimed in claim 1, wherein a cylindrical conduit projects from an inclined wall of the cap, and the straw means includes a first straw and a second straw secured into the conduit, wherein the conduit is open at both ends and communicates with an internal volume of the container, wherein the first straw is made of an elastomeric material and the second straw is made of a rigid material, and wherein the first and second straws are sized so that the first straw is held between the conduit and the second straw in a coaxial relation without the use of fastening elements.

3. The container as claimed in claim 2, wherein the first straw has an inner diameter slightly less than an outer diameter of the second straw, the first straw having at least one outward flange at one end thereof.

4. The container as claimed in claim 3, further including a decorative cover fixed onto the cover member, wherein the decorative cover has a through hole corresponding to the slot of the cover member.

5. A beverage container comprising:

a body having an open end;

a removable cap for closing the body;

straw means extending through the cap;

a cover member having an upper wall and a slot defined in the wall;

means for mounting the cover member to the cap for rotational movement relative to the cap between a first position allowing the straw means to extend through the slot and a second position folding the straw means and closing the slot, wherein the cap includes a convex wall having a curved portion sized to tightly close the slot when the cover member is in the second position, wherein an outer surface of the curved portion of the cap and an inner surface of the upper wall of the cover member have substantially the same curvature for slidable engagement therebetween; and

means for signaling when the cover member is rotated to either the first position or the second position, the signaling means including;

a groove with two ends formed on the outer surface of the convex wall of the cap and extending partially around the convex wall of the cap,

two raised beads provided in the vicinity of the groove ends, respectively; and

a projecting spot formed on an inner edge of the upper wall for engaging the groove.

6. The container as claimed in claim 5, wherein a cylindrical conduit projects from an inclined wall of the cap, and the straw means includes a first straw and a second straw secured into the conduit, wherein the conduit is open at both ends and communicates with an internal volume of the container, wherein the first straw is made of an elastomeric material and the second straw is made of a rigid material, wherein the first and second straws are sized so that the first straw is held between the conduit and the second straw in a coaxial relation without the use of fastening elements.

7. The container as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first straw has an inner diameter slightly less than an outer diameter of the second straw, the first straw having at least one outward flange at one end thereof.

8. The container as claimed in claim 7, further including a decorative cover fixed onto the cover member, wherein the decorative cover has a through hole corresponding to the slot of the cover member.