The present invention relates to a sanitary beverage container with an enclosed straw and more particularly to an improved beverage container wherein upon opening the container, the straw is automatically relocated to a drinking position outside of the container.
Straws or tubes which are enclosed in beverage containers containing carbonated or non-carbonated drinks have been developed whereby an enclosed straw pops out of a container when it is opened. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,656,654 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,247,016, the straws utilized therein have multiple bends in order to cause them to pop up as soon as the container is opened. Also the straws are of sufficient length to enable the user to avoid touching the container with the mouth. However, it is unreasonable to expect that the straws will pop up automatically when opening the container even though they are sometimes secured to a tear-out strip or overlay sheet, disposed on the top of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,226,356 discloses a liquid container having a straw disposed therein which pops up by itself due to its bending power when the container is opened. But some difficulty is experienced in making the straw become straight because of a weakening of its bending power while being held in the container. In such a case, an unsanitary use of the fingers is sometimes required to adjust the position of the straw over the top of the container. In another example of the prior art U.S. Pat. No. 4,462,503 provides a beverage container with an enclosed straw and including a retainer and a spring stiffener. There are many disadvantages in this container including high manufacturing costs because of a complicated structure and great difficulty in maintaining the form of the straw.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds