US3456344A - Plural drinking straws integrally connected functioning as a stick-like spoon - Google Patents

Description

y 1969 R. "r. CORNELIUS 3,

PLURAL DRINKING STRAWS [NTEGRALLY CONNECTED FUNCTIONING AS A STICK'LIKE SPOON Filed July 31, 1967 IN VIZN'IORA United States Patent i 3,456,344 PLURAL DRINKING STRAWS INTEGRALLY CON- NECTED FUNCTIONING AS A STICK-LIKE SPOON Richard T. Cornelius, Minneapolis, Minn., assignor to The Cornelius Company, Anoka, Minn., a corporation of Minnesota Filed July 31, 1967, Ser. No. 657,240 Int. Cl. A47g 21/18 US. Cl. 30-141 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A drinking straw made of extruded plastic including two tubes integrally interconnected by a co-extensive web for sipping and spooning thick beverages such as a slushice drink.

BACKGROUND Field of the invention This invention pertains to a drinking straw which has a second function of being a stick-like spoon.

Prior art When consuming a thick beverage product which the industry calls a slush-ice drink, the consumer is confronted with the problem of extracting the slush-ice drink from a cup. On occasion the beverage is of such a consistency that a straw cannot be used to extract all the slush or thick portion. Thus the consumer will use a straw to sip liquid from the cup and use a spoon or some other utensil to remove the thick or solid portion of the drink. There are spoons having a fluid conduit in their handle which could be used for the slush-ice beverage. However, the fluid conduit only extends along the handle portion and thus the conduit cannot remove all of the liquid from the cup. Moreover such devices are deemed to be too costly to give away with a beverage serving.

SUMMARY The present invention utilizes an extruded plastic straw having a pair of tubes interconnected by an integral coextensive web portion to provide a surface having a depression between the tubes which may be used as a stick or a spoon for removing slush-ice drinks from a cup or container.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sipping straw having a second function of being a stick-like spoon.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a straw consisting of two tubes integrally joined together to provide a surface which may be used for stirring or spooning a thick beverage.

A still further object of this inevntion is to provide a straw consisting of two tubes interconnected by a web portion.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a plastic straw having two tubes interconnected by a web portion which is easy and inexpensiev to manufacture.

Many other advantages, features and additional objects of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheet of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

3,456,344 Patented July 22, 1969 ice THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the straw. FIG. 2 is a section taken on line IIII of FIG. 1.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS The principles of the present invention are particularly useful when incorporated in a drinking straw illustrated in FIG. 1 and generally indicated at 10.

The straw 10, which is a plastic extrusion, comprises a pair of tubes 11 and 12 interconnected by an integral web 13 which serves as a spacer between the parallel tubes 11 and 12. The diameter of the tubes 11 and 12 and the width of the web 13 are approximately the same and in the preferred size of the straw should each be approximately of an inch so that the overall width of the straw 10 is approximately inch. The tubes 11 and 12 have internal surfaces 14 and 15 respectively which have a diameter of approximately of an inch leaving a wall thickness for each tube of approximately inch. The web 13 has a thickness equal to the wall thicknesses of the tubes 11 and 12.

As shown in FIG. 1, the tubes 11 and 12 and the web portion 13 are co-extensive with the length of the straw 10. As shown in FIG. 2, the web 13 is integral with a portion or arcuate leg 16 of the wall of the tube 11 and a portion or arcuate leg 17 of the wall of the tube 12 to form an H-shaped cross-section. The web 13 and the oppositely curved leg 16 and 17 which are arcuate parts of the most adjacent portions of the tubes 11 and 12 respectively, provide the straw 10 with an outer surface having oppositely opening depressions 18 and 19. The depressions 18 and 19 between the tubes 11 and 12 allow the straw to be utilized as a stick or spoon-like utensil for eating the solid portions of a slush-ice beverage.

The structure of the straw 10 allows it to be easily manufactured by extruding plastic such as polypropylene resin into the cross-sectional configuration illustrated in FIG. 2. The straw after being extruded into an indeterminate length is then cut to the desired length which is preferably between 8 to 10 inches.

The present invention provides a straw which is constructed so as to provide conduits for sucking or sipping of the beverage and to provide the indentations 18 or 19 for stirring or spooning the solid portions from a thick beverage such as a slush-ice drink.

I claim as my invention:

1. A combination drinking straw and eating utensil comprising:

(a) a pair of parallel spaced elongated tubes of extrudable material each open at both ends; and

(b) an elongated flat spacer of said material having a length coextensive with said tubes and integral at marginal edges of said spacer with outside walls of said tubes, said spacer having a width at least as great as the outside diameter of said tubes; whereby said utensil may be alternately used in a viscous beverage to draw the beverage and to spoon the beverage primarily on said spacer.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D.199,661 12/1964 Rosen 94-3 585,058 6/1897 Stone 239-33 3,038,256 6/1962 Mayer 30-441 MYRON C. KRUSE, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 94--3

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