Patent Publication Number: US-11019950-B2

Title: Drinking straw and method for manufacturing a drinking straw

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS 
     This is a National Phase of International Application No. PCT/EP2017/076082, filed Oct. 12, 2017, which claims the benefit of European Application No. 16195103.3 filed Oct. 21, 2016. The entire contents of the above-referenced applications are expressly incorporated herein by reference. 
     The invention relates to a drinking straw for use with a package containing a liquid product. 
     The invention further relates to method for manufacturing a drinking straw for use with a package containing a liquid product. 
     As is known, many liquid or pourable food products, such as fruit juice, UHT (ultra-high-temperature treated) milk, wine, tomato sauce, etc., are sold in packages made of sterilized packaging material. 
     A typical example is the parallelepiped-shaped package for liquid or pourable food products known as Tetra Brik Aseptic (registered trademark), which is made by folding and sealing laminated sheet packaging material. 
     With particular reference to  FIG. 1 , the packaging material  2  comprises a base layer  4  for stiffness and strength, which may be made of fibrous material, e.g. paper, or mineral-filled polypropylene material, and a first covering layer  5   a  and a second covering layer  5   b , made of heat-sealable plastic material, e.g. polyethylene films, and covering both sides of the base layer  4 . In the case of an aseptic container for long-storage products, such as UHT milk, the packaging material  2  also comprises a barrier layer  6  made of gas-barrier material, e.g. aluminium foil or ethyl vinyl alcohol (EVOH) film, which is superimposed on the second covering layer  5   b  and is in turn covered with a third covering layer  5   c , made of heat-sealable plastic material, e.g. a polyethylene film, forming the inner face of the container eventually contacting the food product. In other words, the first covering layer  5   a , the second covering layer  5   b , the barrier layer  6  and the third covering layer  5   c  define lamination layers applied to the base layer  4  when producing packaging material  3  in the form of a continuous sheet. 
     The packages may comprise a pierceable portion that can be broken so as to define an opening through which a drinking straw can be inserted into the package and allow consumption of the liquid product. 
       FIG. 1  shows a pierceable portion  8  obtained by punching a hole  9  through the base layer  4  of the packaging material  2  and covering the hole  9  with the above-mentioned lamination layers, so that the hole  9  is sealed by a respective sheet cover portion  10 . 
       FIG. 2  shows a known drinking straw  11  comprising a tubular body  12 , for example made from a hollow tube of plastic material. The drinking straw  11  comprises a tip  13  intended to pierce the pierceable portion  8 . 
     A drawback of the known solutions is that a high piercing force may be needed to break the pierceable portion, in particular in case the sheet cover portion (i.e. the above-mentioned lamination layers) is made of a strong material. 
     An object of the invention is to improve the known drinking straws. 
     Another object of the invention is to provide a drinking straw that can easily pierce a pierceable portion of a package. 
     In a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a drinking straw comprising a tubular body intended to define a passage for a liquid product and a tip portion intended to pierce a pierceable portion of a container to allow consumption of the liquid product, characterized in that said tip portion is bounded by two stiffness promoting elements obtained by bending and permanently deforming said tubular body. 
     In a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing a drinking straw comprising the step of providing a drinking straw having a tubular body intended to define a passage for a liquid product and a tip portion intended to pierce a pierceable portion of a container to allow consumption of the liquid product, characterized in that the method further comprises the step of bending and permanently deforming said tubular body so has to form two stiffness promoting elements that bound said tip portion. 
     Owing to the invention, it is possible to increase the stiffness of the tip element. In this way, it is much easier for the user to break the pierceable portion. 
     In particular, the tip portion can easily penetrate the pierceable portion also in case the pierceable portion is made of a strong material, or a plurality of layers or strong materials. 
     The known drinking straws are subjected to damages and deformation when they are manufactured, when they are supplied to an applicator device, when they are applied to packages by the applicator device and when the packages they are applied to are conveyed and handled. 
     The piercing action of the known drinking straws, therefore, may be adversely effected by the above-mentioned damages and deformations. This means that penetrating the pierceable portion with a deformed, or damaged, drinking straw may be very difficult, or even impossible. 
     Owing to the increased stiffness, the drinking straw is much more resistant to deformations and damages when compared to the known drinking straws. 
    
    
     
       The invention will be better understood and carried out with reference to the enclosed drawings, which show some exemplifying and non limiting embodiments thereof, in which: 
         FIG. 1  is cross section showing a pierceable portion of a container; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of a know drinking straw; 
         FIG. 3  is a front view of the drinking straw of  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a side view of a first embodiment of a drinking straw according to the invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of the drinking straw of  FIG. 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a side view of a second embodiment of a drinking straw according to the invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of the drinking straw of  FIG. 6 ; 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective view of a third embodiment of a drinking straw according to the invention; 
         FIG. 9  is a schematic view that shows the steps of a method for manufacturing the drinking straw of  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     
    
    
       FIGS. 4 and 5  show a first embodiment of a drinking straw  20 . 
     The drinking straw  20  comprises a tubular body  21  intended to define a passage for a liquid product. 
     The drinking straw  20  further comprises a tip portion  22  intended to pierce a pierceable portion of a container to allow consumption of the liquid product packed in the container. 
     The drinking straw  20  comprises a suction hole  23  arranged on a plane P which forms and angle α with a reference plane R perpendicular to a longitudinal axis A of the tubular body  21 . 
     In this way, the tip portion  22  is provided with a pointed end  24  that is arranged on a longitudinal symmetry plane S of the drinking straw  20 . 
     The tip portion  22  is bounded by two stiffness promoting elements  25  obtained by bending and permanently deforming the tubular body  21 . 
     In particular, the tubular body  21  is bent and permanently deformed along a first bending line  26 , a second bending line  27  and a third bending line  28 . 
     The first bending line  26  and the second bending line  27  are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal symmetry plane S and the third bending line  28  is arranged on the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     The first bending line  26  and the second bending line  27  are symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     The stiffness promoting elements  25  comprise a first rib and a second rib  30  that are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal symmetry plane S and converge at the pointed end  24 . 
     The first rib  29  and the second rib  30  are symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     The first rib  29  is delimited by the first bending line  26  and the third bending line  28 . 
     The second rib  30  is delimited by the second bending line  27  and the third bending line  28 . 
       FIGS. 6 and 7  show a second embodiment of a drinking straw  20 . 
     The drinking straw  20  according to the second embodiment differs from the drinking straw  20  according to the first embodiment in that the tubular body  21  is also bent and permanently deformed along a fourth bending line  31  and a fifth bending line  32 . 
     The fourth bending line  31  and the fifth bending line  32  are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     The fourth bending line  31  and the fifth bending line  32  are symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     A third rib  33  is defined between the fourth bending line  31  and the fifth bending line  32 . 
     The third rib  33  extends across the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     The third rib  33  is symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     A first stiffening area  34  is defined between the first bending line  26  and the fourth bending line  31 . 
     A second stiffening area  35  is defined between the second bending line  27  and the fifth bending line  32 . 
     The first stiffening area  34  is interposed between the first rib  29  and the third rib  33 . 
     The second stiffening area  35  is interposed between the second rib  30  and the third rib  33 . 
     The first stiffening area  34  and the second stiffening area  35  are arranged on opposite sides of the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
     The first stiffening area  34  and the second stiffening area  35  are symmetrical with respect to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. 
       FIG. 8  shows a third embodiment of a drinking straw  20 . 
     The drinking straw  20  according to the third embodiment differs from the drinking straw  20  according to the first embodiment in that the stiffening promoting elements  25  are joined to each other to define a piercing body  36 . 
     In particular, the first rib  29  is permanently attached to the second rib  30 . 
     According to a possible variant, the first rib  29  and the second rib  30  are heat-sealed to each other. This may be obtained, for example, by means of ultrasonic sealing. 
     According to another possible variant, the first rib  29  and the second rib  30  are glued to each other. 
     The piercing body  36  has a width W that is twice the thickness T of the tubular body. 
     In this way, the piercing body  36  has an increased stiffness. 
       FIG. 9  shows in a schematic way a method for manufacturing the drinking straw of  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     The method comprises a first step during which the tubular body  21  is compressed along a first direction X perpendicular to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. In this way, the tubular body is bent and permanently deformed so as to form the first bending line  26 , the second bending line  27  and the third bending line  28 . 
     The method further comprises a second step during which the tubular body  21  is compressed along a second direction Y parallel to the longitudinal symmetry plane S. In this way, the tubular body is bent and permanently deformed so as to form the fourth bending line  31  and the fifth bending line  32 . 
     A method for manufacturing the drinking straw of  FIGS. 4 and 5  may comprise only the first step disclosed above. 
     A method for manufacturing the drinking straw of Figure may comprise the first step disclosed above and a second step during which the stiffness promoting elements  25  are joined to each other to define the piercing body  36 . 
     In particular, during the second step the first rib  29  is permanently attached to the second rib  30 . 
     The second step may comprise the step of heat sealing, for example ultrasonically heat sealing, the first rib  29  and the second rib  30  to each other. 
     The second step may comprise the step of gluing the first rib  29  and the second rib  30  to each other. 
     Owing to the invention, it is possible to increase the stiffness of the drinking straw, in particular of the tip portion of the drinking straw. In this way, a user can break the pierceable portion of a container much more easily than in the case of known drinking straws. 
     In addition, owing to the invention, it is possible to highly enhance the stiffness of the drinking straw without correspondingly increasing the cost of the drinking straw. This because the increased stiffness is obtained by bending and permanently deforming the tubular body so as to form the stiffness promoting means. In other words, the increased stiffness in not obtained by using a stronger (and more expensive) material compared with the known drinking straws, but by providing the tubular body with stiffness promoting means. In this way, a more effective piercing action may be obtained using the same material (and therefore at substantially the same cost) as the known drinking straws. 
     Moreover, the increased stiffness of the drinking straw is advantageous not only when breaking the pierceable portion, but also during handling and transportation of the drinking straw. The stiffer drinking straw according to the invention, in fact, is much more resistant and less subjected to damages and deformations.