Patent ID: 7549854
Filing Date: 2009-06-23
Classification: B29C,B29K,B29L

Abstract:
1. Apparatus for forming an extruded, striped drinking straw, comprising: a coextruder for a drinking straw, fed with plastics of a plurality of colors, so as to extrude a drinking straw having stripes of differing color arrayed about its perimeter; a cooling tank operative to receive an extruded tube and lower its temperature below its glass transition temperature; an oscillator operative to receive the tube outputted by the cooling tank and to impart an oscillating rotation about the central axis of the straw to the tube, and to cause the tube exiting from the extruder to twist about its axis in a corresponding manner, the oscillator consisting of a pair of rolls having central rotational axes, contacting The extruded tube on opposed sides with their central axes extending normally to the extension of The tube and supported for oscillating motions in opposed directions along their central axes; a puller operative to receive the tube exiting from the oscillator and to impart a longitudinal motion to the tube so as to pull it from the extruder; and a cutter operative to receive the tube exiting from the extruder and to cut it into straw-like sections.