Straw holder for a beverage container

Abstract

A straw holder for supporting a drinking straw in the mouth of a can having a pull tab and made of a flexible sheet material includes a straw support portion dimensioned for placement above the mouth of a can and comprising an aperture designed to receive a straw therethrough and to vertically support the straw with respect to the support portion and a retaining portion proximate the straw support portion comprising a first edge engageable with the pull tab of the can for retaining the straw holder in an installed position on the can. The straw support portion is attached to the retaining portion by at least one connection.

Description

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 888,681 filed Jul. 9, 2004, which is a Continuation-in-Part of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 684,882, filed Oct. 14, 2003. The entire contents of U.S. application Ser. Nos. 10 / 888,681 and 10 / 684,882 are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The invention relates to a straw holder for supporting and orienting a drinking straw in an opening of a beverage container such as a bottle or can. [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art [0005] Consumers of canned beverages under certain circumstances may prefer to drink directly from a can through a straw. While driving a car, for example, use of a straw to drink liquid decreases the likelihood of spillage and obviates the requirement for tipping the can which interrupts a driver's view of the road. Furthermore some consumers prefer to drink through a straw to a...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0012] An object of the present invention is to provide a simply and economically manufactured device for stabilizing the position of a straw received in the mouth of a beverage container such as a bottle or can.

[0014] The first edge is formed by a slit or a cutout portion of the flexible sheet material. The slit may be rectilinear or curved. The flexible sheet material may comprise paper, cardboard, or plastic such as polyurethane. The sheet material is preferably die-cut to form the slits or cutouts which define the aperture and the first edge portion. The straw holder is preferably two-dimensional when not in use, and may be stacked to provide considerable economy of space. Since the straw holder may be manufactured cheaply, the straw holder according to the present invention may be given away with a straw at the point of sale of the beverage container.

Problems solved by technology

While driving a car, for example, use of a straw to drink liquid decreases the likelihood of spillage and obviates the requirement for tipping the can which interrupts a driver's view of the road.

Use of a straw addresses the above problems, but presents a problem when a too-short straw falls into a too-long bottle.

In addition, carbon dioxide bubbles from a carbonated beverage may accumulate on the straw and cause it to rise out of the bottle.

However, the hole in the pull tab may not hold the straw with an interference fit.

In addition, the manipulation of the pull tab for holding a straw requires manual dexterity and strength which may exceed the capabilities of some users such as the elderly, disabled people and young children.

Another problem with the use of the pull tab as a straw holder it that the pop-top has a propensity to break under the required manipulation and it therefore not reliable.

The problem of stabilizing the position of a straw in a bottle by means of a simple fabricated device does not appear to have been solved.

The object is to stabilize the position of a straw for use by small children, but the circuitous path of the straw requires considerable effort to draw liquid.

Further, the specially formed straw is a three dimensional object which is relatively expensive to manufacture and inconvenient to store and transport in any quantity.

As such it is not suitable for use as a “give-away” item with a bottled beverage.

However, this reference merely disclose a cover having through holes and does not disclose supporting a straw.

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