Straw Having Built-in Amusement Unit

Disclosed herein is a straw having built-in amusement units, which can provide a user with pleasure and be used for advertisement or indoor decoration of a product since the amusement units mounted inside a through hole of the straw are rotated by the flow of a liquid inside the straw so as to stimulate the user's eyes.

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Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional straw.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an amusement unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the amusement unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where the amusement unit is mounted inside a straw.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state where the amusement unit mounted inside the straw is operated.

FIG. 6 is a separately perspective view of a structure of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of a straw according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

<Reference Numerals of Essential Elements in the Drawings>

100: amusement unit 110: guide member 120: support member 130: rotating member 200: case 300: cap

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a straw, and more particularly, to a straw having built-in amusement units rotated by the flow of a liquid through a through hole of the straw.

BACKGROUND ART

In general, as shown in FIG. 1, a straw 10 has a through hole 11 therein and serves to allow a user to simply drink or eat a beverage or a cocktail. In addition, the conventional straw facilitates waste of resources since it is disposable, and cannot be used for advertisement of a product or for fancy goods.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a straw having built-in amusement units, which can provide a user with pleasure and be used for advertisement or indoor decoration of a product since the amusement units mounted inside a through hole of the straw are rotated by the flow of a liquid inside the straw so as to stimulate the user's eyes.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a straw having built-in amusement units rotating by the flow of a liquid induced into the straw, and more particularly, to a straw having built-in amusement units capable of providing a user with not only a sense of drinking but also an amusement sense by stimulating the user's eyes when the user drinks a beverage.

In more detail, the straw includes the amusement units for providing the user with the amusement sense by moving or partially or wholly rotating according to the flow of the beverage flowing inside a through hole of the straw.

Here, the amusement unit operated inside the straw may include any design, picture or fluorescence so as to allow the user to feel an aesthetic sense or an amusement sense when the user drinks the beverage.

Hereinafter, the present invention will now be described in detail in connection with preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, but is not restricted to the embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an amusement unit according to a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the amusement unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a state where the amusement unit is mounted inside a straw, FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a state where the amusement unit mounted inside the straw is operated, FIG. 6 is a separately perspective view of a structure of a second embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an assembled state of a straw according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, a number of the amusement units 100 are accumulated and firmly mounted on the inner periphery of a through hole 11 of the straw 10. Each amusement unit 100 includes: a pair of guide members 110 separated in a fixed interval from each other and having semicircular guide holes 111 respectively, the semicircular guide holes 111 being positioned in the form of a zigzag; a pair of support members 120 fixed between the guide members 110 for supporting the guide members 110, opposed to each other and having support holes 121 formed at the center thereof respectively; and a rotating member 130 mounted on the support hole 121 in such a way as to rotate in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction. The rotating member 130 includes a body 131 formed in the same line as the support holes 121 of the support members 120 and having a hole 132 formed in the center thereof, three rotating wings 133 radially formed on the circumference of the body 131, and a rotary shaft 134 mounted in the hole 132 of the body 131 and assembled with the support holes 121 of the support members 120 in such a way as to rotate in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction.

Here, the outer periphery of the guide member 110 is equal to or larger than the inner periphery of the through hole 11, and the rotating member 130 is fluorescent.

Next, a used process of the present invention having the above structure will be described as follows.

First, in a state where the amusement units 100 accumulated at least in two stages are mounted inside the through hole 11 of the straw 10 as shown in FIG. 4, when a user puts the straw 10 into a glass containing a cocktail and drinks the cocktail with the straw 10, the rotating member 130 of the amusement unit 100 is rotated by the flow of the cocktail induced into the through hole 11 of the straw 10 as shown in FIG. 5.

At this time, the cocktail induced into the through hole 11 of the straw 10 is flown into the guide hole 111 of the guide member 110 located at the lower portion, and at the same time, moved while pushing the rotating wings 133 of the rotating member 130, so that the rotating wings 133 are rotated on the hole 132 together with the rotary shaft 134 in one direction.

Furthermore, the cocktail passing the rotating wings 133 of the rotating member 130 is discharged to the upper portion of the amusement unit 100 through the guide hole 111 of the guide member 110 located at the upper portion, and passes the inside of the other amusement unit 100′ accumulated inside the straw 10 through the above process.

The rotating member 130 has fluorescence for emitting light in a dark place, and so, emits light not only when the rotating member 130 is rotated but also when the rotating member 130 is not rotated. Therefore, the straw 10 having the built-in amusement unit 100 stimulates the user's eyes and allows the user to relish the taste of the cocktail induced into the user's mouth.

Here, the straw 10 having the built-in amusement unit 100 can be used not only when the user drinks the cocktail but also when the user drinks other beverages or water.

As shown in FIG. 6, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the amusement unit 100 includes: a pair of guide members 110 separated in a fixed interval from each other and having semicircular guide holes 111 respectively, the semicircular guide holes 111 being positioned in the form of a zigzag; a pair of support members 120 fixed between the guide members 110 for supporting the guide members 110, opposed to each other and having support holes 121 formed at the center thereof respectively; and a rotating member 130 mounted on the support hole 121 in such a way as to rotate in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction. The rotating member 130 includes a body 131 formed in the same line as the support holes 121 of the support members 120 and having a hole 132 formed in the center thereof, three rotating wings 133 radially formed on the circumference of the body 131, and a rotary shaft 134 mounted in the hole 132 of the body 131 and assembled with the support holes 121 of the support members 120 in such a way as to rotate in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction. A number of the amusement units 100 are accumulated and firmly mounted inside a transparent case 200 having a cylindrical body 210 for containing the amusement units 100 and a lower insertion hole 220 for holding the straw 10 therein. After that, a cap 300 having an upper insertion hole 310 for holding the straw 10 therein is covered on the upper portion of the case 200, and then, the straw 10 is inserted into the lower insertion hole 220 and the upper insertion hole 310.

Here, the outer periphery of the guide member 110 is equal to or larger than the inner periphery of the case 200, and the rotating member 130 is fluorescent.

The operation and effects of the second embodiment of the present invention are in fact equal to those of the first embodiment since the second embodiment is the same as the second embodiment in the structure of the amusement unit 100.

However, in lieu of the structure that the amusement units 100 are inserted into the straw 10, the second embodiment of the present invention has the structure which includes the case 200 having the cylindrical body for containing the amusement units 100 and the lower insertion hole 220 for holding the straw 10 and the cap 300 having the upper insertion hole 310 for holding the straw 10. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, the diameter of the amusement unit may be larger than that of the straw 10, so that the user can feel more aesthetic sense or amusement sense when the user drinks the beverage.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, the straw having a built-in amusement unit according to the present invention can provide the user with pleasure and be used for advertisement or indoor decoration of a product since the amusement unit mounted inside the straw is rotated by the flow of a liquid inside the straw so as to stimulate the user's eyes.

Claims

1. A straw (10) which includes a through hole (11) for allowing the flowing of a beverage therein, the straw comprising:

built-in amusement units contained inside the through hole of the straw and adapted to partially rotate according to the flow of the beverage in order to provide a user with an amusement sense.

2. The straw according to claim 1, wherein each amusement unit includes: a pair of guide members (110) separated in a fixed interval from each other and having semicircular guide holes (111) respectively, the semicircular guide holes (111) being positioned in the form of a zigzag; a pair of support members (120) fixed between the guide members (110) for supporting the guide members (110), opposed to each other and having support holes (121) formed at the center thereof respectively; and a rotating member (130) mounted on the support hole (121) in such a way as to rotate in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction, the rotating member (130) having a body (131) formed in the same line as the support holes (121) of the support members (120) and having a hole (132) formed in the center thereof, three rotating wings (133) radially formed on the circumference of the body (131), and a rotary shaft (134) mounted in the hole (132) of the body (131) and assembled with the support holes 121 of the support members (120) in such a way as to rotate in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction, and

wherein the amusement units are accumulated and firmly mounted on the inner periphery of the through hole (11) of the straw (10).

3. The straw according to claim 2, wherein the rotating member (130) is fluorescent.

4. A straw having built-in amusement units, each built-in amusement unit comprising: a pair of guide members (110) separated in a fixed interval from each other and having semicircular guide holes (111) respectively, the semicircular guide holes (111) being positioned in the form of a zigzag; a pair of support members (120) fixed between the guide members (110) for supporting the guide members (110), opposed to each other and having support holes (121) formed at the center thereof respectively; and a rotating member (130) mounted on the support hole (121) in such a way as to rotate in a clockwise direction and a counterclockwise direction, the rotating member (130) having a body (131) formed in the same line as the support holes (121) of the support members (120) and having a hole (132) formed in the center thereof, three rotating wings (133) radially formed on the circumference of the body (131), and a rotary shaft (134) mounted in the hole (132) of the body (131) and assembled with the support holes 121 of the support members (120) in such a way as to rotate in the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction,

wherein the amusement units (100) are accumulated and firmly mounted inside a case (200) having a cylindrical body (210) for containing the amusement units (100) and a lower insertion hole (220) for holding the straw (10), and then, a cap (300) having an upper insertion hole (310) for holding the straw (10) therein is covered on the upper portion of the case (200), and the straw (10) is inserted into the lower insertion hole (220) and the upper insertion hole (310).

5. The straw according to claim 4, wherein the rotating member (130) is fluorescent.

Patent History
Publication number: 20080179423
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 24, 2004
Publication Date: Jul 31, 2008
Inventor: Chun Haeng Cho (Seoul)
Application Number: 10/581,680
Classifications
Current U.S. Class: Portable Drinking Tubes And Straws (239/33)
International Classification: A47G 21/18 (20060101);