Patent Publication Number: US-11045025-B2

Title: Cup having integrated straw

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a cup, and more particularly to a cup having an integrated straw. The cup has a straw body integrally formed with a cup body for sucking the beverage inside the cup body, and has a mold release surface that facilitates demolding. The cup is an innovative structural with convenience, environmentally sustainable development, and commercial application. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     In general, a cup has an internal accommodating space for containing beverages (including solid and liquid food) or liquids such as water. When drinking, the user makes the mouth touch the edge of the cup for drinking beverages. When the user is driving or working, the user needs to raise his/her head for taking a drink of beverages, so that the line of sight is directed upward, which will increase the danger of driving or working and may cause a car accident or work injury. 
     A conventional environmentally-friendly cup integrated with a straw, as disclosed in Taiwan Utility Model Publication No. M571699, can improve environmental protection, instead of using straws in conventional cups. However, in the manufacturing process, if the plastic injection molding is changed, it is difficult to demold. Therefore, the straw is attached to the inner wall surface of the cup through a secondary processing, which makes the manufacturing process relatively complicated. The secondary processing consumes more time and the production cost is higher, so the economic benefit of the overall cup structure is low. 
     Most supermarkets or beverage sellers use plastic sealing film to close a cup mouth for selling cold beverages, and then the user pierces the plastic sealing film using a straw, so that the straw can extend into the beverage cup for sucking cold beverages. On the other hand, supermarkets or beverage sellers sell hot beverages contained in cups. By tilting the cup, the hot beverage inside the cup flows out through the opening of the lid, and the user drinks the hot beverage through the opening. However, the above cold beverage cup and hot beverage cup have different usage methods. If supermarkets or beverage sellers can use a single cup lid for the cup body to achieve a structure that can serve both cold and hot beverages, it can increase the commonality or versatility of beverage cups. 
     Accordingly, the inventor of the present invention has devoted himself based on his many years of practical experiences to solve these problems. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The primary object of the present invention is to provide a cup having an integrated straw. The cup comprises a cup body and an upper lid. The cup body has a cup wall, a cup bottom, and an accommodating room surrounded by the cup wall and the cup bottom. A center of the accommodating room defines a central axis. 
     An outer wall surface of the cup wall is integrally formed with an inclined straw body. An upper end of the straw body is formed with a top opening portion for sucking. Another end of the top opening portion extends to an inner bottom of the accommodating room and forms a liquid outlet portion for attracting a liquid. The liquid outlet portion is formed with a mold release surface parallel to the central axis of the accommodating room. 
     An engaging portion corresponding to a top edge of the cup body is formed around a bottom edge of the upper lid for covering an open end of the cup body. A hot drink opening is formed on one side of a top surface of the upper lid. 
     With the above structure, the cup body is integrally formed with the straw body, which can easily achieve injection molding release. When the accommodating room of the cup body is filled with a low temperature or normal temperature beverage, the user can suck the low temperature or normal temperature beverage from the liquid outlet portion through the top opening portion of the straw body. When the accommodating room of the cup body is filled with a high-temperature beverage, the user can directly drink high-temperature beverage through the hot beverage opening. The cup can be used for cold or hot beverages, having commonality and universality to enhance the benefits of convenient drinking. 
     Preferably, the straw body is connected to the outer wall surface of the cup wall through a rib portion, so that the straw body can be firmly connected to the outer wall surface of the cup wall to increase the structural strength of the straw body. 
     Preferably, an angle θ is defined between the cup bottom of the cup body and the mold release surface, and the angle θ is 75 degrees to 89 degrees. When the accommodating room is filled with pearl milk tea or soft food, the pearl milk tea or soft food can slide down to the position of the liquid outlet portion through the inclination of the cup bottom to facilitate suction. 
     Preferably, the top opening portion is provided with a plug to prevent foreign matter from entering the top opening portion, so as to reduce the pollution of the food. 
     Preferably, the upper lid is formed with a straw body connecting portion extending outward. The straw body connecting portion has a straw body connecting hole correspondingly connected to the top opening portion. The upper lid is formed with a top lid nozzle extending upward from a top of the straw body connection hole. The upper lid nozzle is configured to directly suck the beverage in the cup body for drinking conveniently. 
     Preferably, the hot drink opening of the upper lid is provided with a hot drink opening sealing sticker that can be torn. The top lid has an opening for adding coffee mate or sugar. The opening is provided with an opening sealing sticker that can be torn, which can prevent foreign matter from entering the accommodating room, thereby reducing the pollution of the food. 
     Embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view showing the liquid outlet portion of the cup body of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a cross-sectional view according to the first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a cross-sectional view according to the first embodiment of the present invention when in use; 
         FIG. 6  is an exploded view according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view according to a second embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 8  is a cross-sectional view according to the second embodiment of the present invention when in use; and 
         FIG. 9  is a cross-sectional view showing the cup bottom holding portion extending from the bottom of the cup of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 5 , the present invention discloses a cup having an integrated straw. The cup comprises a cup body  10  and an upper lid  20 . The cup body  10  has a cup wall  11 , a cup bottom  12 , and an accommodating room  13  surrounded by the cup wall  11  and the cup bottom  12 . The center of the accommodating room  13  defines a central axis  131 . 
     The outer wall surface of the cup wall  11  is integrally formed with an inclined straw body  30 . The upper end of the straw body  30  is formed with a top opening portion  31  for sucking. The other end of the top opening portion  31  extends to the inner bottom of the accommodating room  13  and forms a liquid outlet portion  32  for attracting a liquid. The liquid outlet portion  32  is formed with a mold release surface  321  parallel to the central axis  131  of the accommodating room  13 . 
     An engaging portion  21  corresponding to the top edge of the cup body  10  is formed around the bottom edge of the upper lid  20  for covering an open end of the cup body  10 . A hot drink opening  22  is formed on one side of the top surface of the upper lid  20  for the user to drink the hot drink in the accommodating room  13 . 
     The straw body  30  is connected to the outer wall surface of the cup wall  11  through a rib portion  33 , so that the straw body  30  can be firmly connected to the outer wall surface of the cup wall  11  to increase the structural strength of the straw body  30 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 ,  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 9 , an angle θ is defined between the cup bottom  12  of the cup body  10  and the mold release surface  321 . The angle θ is 75 degrees to 89 degrees. When the accommodating room  13  is filled with pearl milk tea or soft food, the pearl milk tea or soft food can slide down to the position of the liquid outlet portion  32  through the inclination of the cup bottom  12  to facilitate suction. 
     Preferably, referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 4  and  FIG. 5 , the top opening portion  31  is provided with a plug  40  to prevent foreign matter from entering the top opening portion  31 , so as to reduce the pollution of the accommodating room  13 . 
     Furthermore,  FIG. 6 ,  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 8  illustrate a second embodiment of the present invention. The upper lid  20  is formed with a straw body connecting portion  23  extending outward. The straw body connecting portion  23  has a straw body connecting hole  231  correspondingly connected to the top opening portion  31 . The upper lid  20  is formed with a top lid nozzle  232  extending upward from the top of the straw body connection hole  231 . The upper lid nozzle  232  is configured to directly suck the beverage in the cup body  10  for drinking conveniently. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 ,  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 6  and  FIG. 7 , the hot drink opening  22  of the upper lid  20  is provided with a hot drink opening sealing sticker  221  that can be torn. The top lid  20  has an opening  24  for adding Coffee mate® or sugar. The opening  24  is provided with an opening sealing sticker  241  to prevent foreign matter from entering the accommodating room  13 , thereby reducing the pollution of the food. 
     Finally, referring to  FIG. 8 , the bottom edge of the cup bottom  12  of the cup body  10  extends downward to form a cup bottom holding portion  14  for the user&#39;s hand to hold thereon. 
     In detail, because the mold release surface  321  of the liquid outlet portion  32  of the straw body  30  is parallel to the central axis  131  of the accommodating room  13 , in the injection molding process, the male mold of the accommodating room  13  can be directly removed from the mold release surface  321  to form the liquid outlet portion  32 . The cup body  10  is integrally formed with the straw body  30 , which can easily achieve injection molding release. When the accommodating room  13  of the cup body  10  is filled with a low temperature or normal temperature beverage (including solid food or liquid food, such as Konnyaku Jelly, fruit, smoothie, etc.), the user can suck the low temperature or normal temperature beverage from the liquid outlet portion  32  through the top opening portion  31  of the straw body  30 . When the accommodating room  13  of the cup body  10  is filled with a high-temperature beverage, the user can directly drink a high-temperature beverage through the hot beverage opening  22 . The cup can be used for cold or hot beverages, having commonality and universality to enhance the benefits of convenient drinking. Therefore, the present invention is an innovative structure with convenience, environmentally sustainable development, and commercial application. 
     Although particular embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail for purposes of illustration, various modifications and enhancements may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, the present invention is not to be limited except as by the appended claims.