Drinking straw for use with a beverage cup, adapted to support signage

Abstract

The outer wall of a drinking straw has a uniform circular diameter except for one or more locally deformed regions causing the straw to bulge outwardly. This allows the straw to be pushed through a hole in an article using a gentle force, with the bulges preventing back-out from the hole without an applied force in the opposite direction. Holes slightly larger than the diameter of the tube but smaller than the bulged region(s) enables the straw to cooperate with, engage, retain or capture an article or articles, including the cap of a drinking cup and signs with opposing holes that cooperate with spaced-apart bulges on the straw. A signage system includes a straw with multiple bulges, a drinking vessel with an aperture cap, and a sign or other article supported on the straw above the vessel. Each deformed region is formed only by heating the plastic tube enabling the straws packaged in a parallel, nested arrangement.

1 . A drinking straw adapted to engage with an article, comprising:
 an elongated cylindrical plastic tube having an outer wall;   wherein the outer wall defines a circular cross section having a consistent diameter with the exception of at least one locally deformed region along the length of the tube;   wherein, in the locally deformed region, the tube bulges outwardly beyond the outer wall of the tube, such that when the tube passes through an article having a hole slightly larger than the diameter of the tube, the locally deformed region may be forced through the hole to engage the article.   
     
     
         2 . The drinking straw of  claim 1 , wherein the article is a cap of a drinking cup. 
     
     
         3 . The drinking straw of  claim 1 , including two spaced-apart deformed regions configured to capture an article. 
     
     
         4 . The drinking straw of  claim 3 , wherein:
 the article includes opposing holes spaced apart at a predetermined distance; and   the deformed regions are spaced apart at a distance slightly less or greater than the distance between the holes to capture the article.   
     
     
         5 . The drinking straw of  claim 1 , wherein the article includes textual or graphical visual indicia. 
     
     
         6 . The drinking straw of  claim 1 , wherein each deformed region is formed only by heating the plastic tube. 
     
     
         7 . The drinking straw of  claim 1 , wherein each deformed regions is formed by heating and pinching the plastic tube to create two opposing bulges on opposing sides of the tube. 
     
     
         8 . The drinking straw of  claim 1 , including a plurality of tubes, each with at least one deformed region; and
 wherein each deformed region includes two indents and two bulges that alternate around the circumference of the tube enabling the tubes to be packaged adjacent and parallel to one another with the intent of each tube receiving the bulge of another.   
     
     
         9 . A drinking straw and article combination, comprising:
 a drinking straw comprising an elongated cylindrical plastic tube having an outer wall;   wherein the outer wall defines a circular cross section having a consistent diameter with the exception of at least one locally deformed region along the length of the tube causing the tube to bulge outwardly beyond the outer wall of the tube; and   an article having a hole greater than the diameter of the straw but less than the cross section of the locally deformed region such that the locally deformed region of the straw may be pushed through the hole in the article to engage the article.   
     
     
         10 . The combination of  claim 9 , wherein the article is the cap of a drinking cup. 
     
     
         11 . The combination of  claim 10 , wherein the cap has a center and the hole is in the center. 
     
     
         12 . The combination of  claim 9 , wherein:
 the article has two spaced-apart holes; and   the straw has two spaced apart bulges corresponding to the spacing of the holes in the article to prevent the article from sliding on the straw when engaged.   
     
     
         13 . The combination of  claim 12 , wherein:
 the article includes a panel and a peripheral rim extending from the panel; and   the rim includes the two spaced-apart holes.   
     
     
         14 . The combination of  claim 12 , wherein the panel is a substantially flat panel. 
     
     
         15 . The combination of  claim 12 , wherein the panel is a circle. 
     
     
         16 . The combination of  claim 12 , wherein the peripheral rim is substantially normal to the panel. 
     
     
         17 . The combination of  claim 12 , wherein the article includes a panel with textual or graphical visual indicia. 
     
     
         18 . A signage system, comprising:
 a drinking cup having a cap with a hole in it;   a sign with two opposing holes;   a drinking straw having an outer diameter with three thermally formed bulges, including a distal bulge adapted to engage with the hole in the cap to prevent the straw from being pulled out of the cup through the cap, and two proximal bulges corresponding to the holes in the sign to prevent the sign from sliding on the straw when positioned above the drinking cup.   
     
     
         19 . The signage system of  claim 18 , wherein all of the holes are larger than the outer diameter of the straw except in the vicinity of the bulges. 
     
     
         20 . The signage system of  claim 19 , wherein:
 the sign includes a flat panel and a peripheral rim substantially normal to the panel;   the peripheral rim includes the two holes; and   the panel includes textual or graphical visual indicia.