Beverage container

Abstract

Disclosed herewith is a beverage container. The beverage container includes a container body that is comprised of a main body and a lid. The main body is comprised of a bottom and a sidewall, and is provided with a recess. The lid covers the open top of the main body, and has container opening means. A straw is attached to the sidewall of the main body within the recess. The rear surface of the recess may be flat, concave or convex. The straw may be attached to the sidewall of the main body within said recess while being sealed by a film. The beverage container of the present invention is capable of not only preventing its straw from being undesirably separated from its container body, but also being inexpensively fabricated regardless of its material.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates generally to beverage containers, and more particularly to a beverage container in which a straw is attached to its container body, such as a can.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Many users including children like to drink beverage contained in a beverage container using a straw. For the purpose of fulfilling this need, various attempts have been made to provide beverage containers in which straws are attached to their container bodies, and such beverage containers have been utilized.

[0005] Of such beverage containers, there is known a beverage container in which a straw is simply attached to the surface of a container body made of paperboard, called a brick pack. This kind of beverage container can be fabricated inexpensively because of the easy attachment of a straw to a container body and can be utilized by users without serious inconvenience, so this beverage container is widely used currently. However, this beverage container is problematic in that the straw is frequently separated from the container body by rubbing and collision between the containers and collision between straws. It is apparent that a straw is easily separated from a cylindrical container body in a case where the straw is simply attached to the surface of the container body such as a can in such a manner as that used for the brick pack.

[0006] Accordingly, various attempts have been made to solve the above problem that a straw is undesirably separated from a beverage container body.

[0007] One of these attempts is to situate a straw in a beverage container body. U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,679 issued to Pfahler on Dec. 30, 1969, U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,297 issued to Rosello on Jul. 11, 1995 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,219 issued to Cornel et al. on Sep. 26, 2000 disclose beverage containers in which straws are inserted into container bodies. These straws each comprise upper and lower portions. When the beverage containers are closed, the upper and lower portions of the straws are situated in the container bodies; while the beverage containers are opened, the upper portions of the straws are exposed through the opened portions of the container bodies.

[0008] Another of these attempts is to integrate a straw with a beverage container body into a single structure. U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,089 issued to Smith on Jan. 28, 1997 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,983 issued to Miller on Oct. 11, 1994 disclose beverage containers in which straws are extended from the bottoms of container bodies. These straws are extended from the bottoms of container bodies to communicate with the interiors of the container bodies. A straw and a container body constituting a single beverage container are integrally fabricated of the same material, such as synthetic resin, through a blow molding process.

[0009] In accordance with the above-described two conventional techniques, there can be prevented a problem that a straw is undesirably separated from a container body during the fabrication, handling or circulation of a beverage container.

[0010] However, in the former art, the structure of a straw and the structure of securing the straw in a container body are complicated, thus causing high fabricating costs; in the latter art, a straw cannot be integrated with a container body made of paper or metal different from the material of the straw.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a beverage container with a straw, which is capable of not only preventing its straw from being undesirably separated from its container body, but also being inexpensively fabricated regardless of its material.

[0012] In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a beverage container, comprising: a container body comprised of a main body and a lid, the main body being comprised of a bottom and a sidewall and being provided with a recess, the lid covering the open top of the main body and having container opening means; and a straw attached to the sidewall of the main body within the recess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a beverage container in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

[0015] FIG. 2a is a cross section of FIG. 1;

[0016] FIGS. 2b and 2c are the cross sections of other beverage containers in accordance with other embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 3a is a front view showing a straw of FIGS. 1 and 2a;

[0018] FIG. 3b is a front view of another straw in accordance with another embodiment; and

[0019] FIG. 4 is a view in which the vertical cross section of FIG. 1 and two beverage containers in contact with each other are depicted.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] Reference now should be made to the drawings, in which the same reference numerals are used throughout the different drawings to designate the same or similar components.

[0021] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a beverage container in accordance with the present invention. Reference numeral 1 designates a beverage container in which a straw 30 is attached to a cylindrical container body 10. By way of example, the container body 10 is illustrated as a can in the drawing.

[0022] The container body 10 is generally made of aluminum, and is comprised of a main body 12 and a lid 16. The main body 12 includes a bottom and a sidewall, and the lid 16 is attached to the upper end of the main body 12 through a seaming process.

[0023] In accordance with a feature of the present invention, a recess 18 is formed on the sidewall of the main body 12 and a straw 30 is attached to the main body 12 in the recess 18.

[0024] Referring to FIG. 2a, the rear surface of the recess 18 to which the straw 30 is attached is flat. However, as shown in FIGS. 2b and 2c, the rear surface of the recess 18 can be concave or convex. When the rear surface of the recess 18 is concave, the horizontal section of the recess 18 forms a circular arc that crosses the principle circular arc of the horizontal section of the sidewall of the main body 12 (refer to FIG. 2b). When the rear surface of the recess 18 is convex, the horizontal section of the rear surface of the recess 18 forms a circular arc that is concentric with the principle circular arc of the horizontal section of the sidewall of the main body 12 (refer to FIG. 2c). Meanwhile, the recess 18 does not need to be extended over the entire length of the main body 12, but the recess 18 is spaced apart from the top and bottom of the main body 12.

[0025] The lid 16 includes opening means. The opening means is comprised of a lever ring 20 secured to the lid plate of the lid 16 by a pin and a closure tab 22 defined on the lid plate by a score line. As the lever ring 20 is rotated, the closure tab 22 is pushed into the interior of the container body 10 by the front end of the lever ring 20, thus forming in the lid 16 a hole into which the straw 30 can be inserted.

[0026] As shown in FIG. 3a, the straw 30 is vertically attached to the sidewall of the main body 12 in the recess 18 by an adhesive, and is sealed in the recess 18 by a film 32. A tear line 34 is formed on the circumferential area of the film 32, so the film is easily torn apart by a weak force. Although the straw 30 is depicted as a telescopic straw in FIG. 3a, the straw 30 is not limited to a straw having a specific structure. That is, as shown in FIG. 3b, the straw 30 can be a straw with a bellows portion or other type of straw.

[0027] FIG. 4 clearly shows the structural characteristics of the beverage container in accordance with the present invention. As illustrated in the drawing, the straw 30 is vertically attached to the main body 12 in the recess 18 by an adhesive while being sealed by the film 32. In this case, the straw 30 should be kept within vertical lines L that each connect an upper outermost point P1 and a lower outermost point P2 of the main body 12. The positions of the outermost points P can be varied, depending on the shape of the main body 12.

[0028] The beverage container 1 constructed as described above is fabricated by providing the main body 12 to which straw 30 is attached, filling the main body 12 with beverage, attaching the lid 16 to the main body 12 by a seaming process, and discharging a finished product. In this fabrication procedure, rubbing and collision between beverage containers 1 or main bodies 12 may occur. Additionally, the finished beverage containers 1 may be rubbed together and collide with each other during the circulation and handling of the beverage containers 1.

[0029] In FIG. 4, there is illustrated a state where one beverage container 1 shown by a solid line is in contact with another beverage container 1 shown by a phantom line. As described above, the straw 30 is attached to the sidewall of the main body 12 in the recess 18 of the main body 12. In this case, the straw 30 should be kept within vertical lines L that each connect an upper outermost point P1 and a lower outermost point P2 of the main body 12. When the two beverage containers 1 are in contact with each other, the contact positions become the outermost points P of the beverage container bodies. As a result, even though rubbing or collision between beverage containers or between main bodies occurs during the fabrication, circulation or handling of the beverage containers, straws 32 are not affected by the rubbing or collision and are kept safe in the recesses 18 of the container bodies 10.

[0030] Although the container body 10 is described as an aluminum can in this embodiment, the container body 10 can be a container body made of paper or synthetic resin.

[0031] As described above, the present invention provides a beverage container in which a straw is attached to a container body in a recess formed on the container body. Accordingly, the beverage container of the present invention is capable of preventing its straw from being undesirably separated from its container body, the same as the beverage containers of the prior arts. Additionally, the beverage can of the present invention is inexpensively fabricated regardless of its material, differently from the beverage containers of the prior arts.

[0032] Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims.

Claims

1. A beverage container, comprising:

a container body comprised of a main body and a lid, said main body being comprised of a bottom and a sidewall and being provided with a recess, said lid covering the open top of said main body and having container opening means; and

a straw attached to the sidewall of said main body within said recess.

2. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein the rear surface of said recess is flat, concave or convex.

3. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein said straw is attached to the sidewall of said main body within said recess while being sealed by a film.

4. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein said straw should be kept within vertical lines that each connect an upper outermost point and a lower outermost point of said main body while being attached to the sidewall of said main body.

5. The beverage container according to claim 1, wherein said container body is an aluminum can.