EP0597551B1 - Method and apparatus for perforating the wall of a drinking straw - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to a method for perforating the wall of a drinking straw, wherein at least one hole is arranged in the wall with a needle or such an organ.

For introducing air into a soft drink u. The like. It is known to soak up this drink through a drinking straw, wherein at least one hole is arranged in the wall of the drinking straw at such a distance from one end of the drinking straw that the hole is above the drink to be sucked up in use. Such a straw is particularly suitable for drinking foam-forming drinks. When the beverage is sucked up, air is sucked in through the hole, which mixes with the beverage and causes foaming in the drinking straw. The drink reaches the mouth of the consumer in a foam-like state. If the drink is brought into a foam-like state in the container, such a drinking straw has a foam-increasing effect.

Another advantage of using such a drinking straw with a hole in the wall is that the drink needs to be absorbed over a shorter distance in a foam-like, thick state, since the foaming only occurs at the top of the drinking straw or develops fully. This makes it much easier to drink foam-forming drinks through a drinking straw.

Even when drinking other, less stable foam-forming drinks, the use of such a straw has a taste-enhancing effect.

Such a drinking straw is known from US Pat. No. 2,943,794, the hole or holes being formed by perforating the wall of a drinking straw with a warm or cold needle.

The object of the invention is to provide a method with which drinking straws with at least one hole in the wall can be provided in a simple and economical manner.

For this purpose, according to the invention, the or each drinking straw is packed in film material and then perforated through the packaging.

Since the drinking straws are perforated in the already packaged state, it is possible in a simple manner to position the drinking straws in a perforating device with the aid of the packaging in such a way that the or each hole is arranged in the correct place.

The clear positioning of successive drinking straws can be further simplified by packing a number of drinking straws at regular intervals from one another to form a strand in film material, each drinking straw being accommodated in a separate packaging department.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the perforation of the successive drinking straws is carried out simultaneously with the separation of each packaging section containing a drinking straw from the strand.

According to an alternative embodiment of the method, the or each needle is moved by an organ that is movable relative to it and is essentially packed in the longitudinal direction of the strand, the straws being perforated one after the other.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a device with which the wall of a drinking straw is perforated in a simple and economical manner.

For this purpose, there is a device known, for example, from EP-A-0174656, provided with a knife and a counter-cutting surface cooperating with the knife and provided with transport means for moving a strand of straws packed into individual sections between the knife and the counter-cutting surface, the knife and the counter-cutting surface are arranged for cutting the departments apart, according to the invention, characterized in that at least one needle or similar element is arranged which is essentially perpendicular to the strand, means being provided which or each To move the needle through at least one of the surfaces of the strand when the knife is moved to cut loose the sections such that the or each needle forms a hole in each of the straws packaged in the sections to be cut.

With such a device, not only the compartments with the straws packed in them are separated from one another in a single movement, but also each of the straws is provided with the desired number of holes, no additional actions or separate devices being necessary to close the holes in the Arrange drinking straws. In a further elaboration of the invention, the or each needle can be attached to the knife in such a way that it follows the movement of the knife directly.

According to an alternative solution to the further object, in a device according to the preamble of claim 7, the transport means are formed by a roller device, at least one transport roller being provided with one or more needles or similar organs arranged on its circumference, and at such a distance from one another, that when passing through the strand of packaged drinking straws, each drinking straw is provided with at least one hole through one or the needle.

Such a device has the advantage that the movement required for passing a strand of packaged straws is also used to arrange the holes in the straws. Even so, it is possible in a simple and economical manner to provide drinking straws with the correct number of holes in the right place, without requiring additional devices or movements.

• Fig. 1 eine Anzahl Trinkhalme, je versehen mit einem harmonikaförmigen Zwischenteil;
• Fig. 2 eine Reihe von Trinkhalmen, die in einzelne Abteilungen in Folienmaterial verpackt sind, unter Bildung eines Stranges;
• Fig. 3a und 3b schematisch das gleichzeitige Trennen der Abteilungen und Perforieren der Trinkhalme mit einer Nadel;
• Fig. 4 eine Vorrichtung nach der Erfindung, in der eine Nadel so angeordnet ist, daß sie sich mit dem Messer mitbewegt;
• Fig. 5 eine Vorrichtung nach der Erfindung, in der die Trinkhalme durch auf einer Transportrolle angeordnete Nadeln perforiert werden; und
• Fig. 6 in vergrößertem Maßstab einen Teil der Rückansicht der Vorrichtung nach Fig. 5.

To clarify the invention, some exemplary embodiments are described below with reference to the drawing. Show it:

• 1 shows a number of drinking straws, each provided with a harmonic-shaped intermediate part;
• 2 shows a series of drinking straws, which are packaged in individual sections in film material, to form a strand;
• 3a and 3b schematically the simultaneous separation of the departments and perforation of the straws with a needle;
• Fig. 4 shows a device according to the invention, in which a needle is arranged so that it moves with the knife;
• 5 shows a device according to the invention, in which the drinking straws are perforated by needles arranged on a transport roller; and
• 6 shows, on an enlarged scale, part of the rear view of the device according to FIG. 5.

In Fig. 1 a drinking straw 1, preferably made of plastic material, is shown with a harmonic-shaped bendable part 2. The use of such a drinking straw 1 known per se when drinking a beverage from a container has the advantage that the harmonic-shaped part 2, which is closer to one end than the other end of the drinking straw 1, defines the upper end of the drinking straw 1.

FIG. 2 shows a series of drinking straws 1 shown in FIG. 1, which are packaged in film material 3. Each drinking straw is housed tightly enclosed in a single section 4, forming a strand 5 in which the drinking straws are at a regular distance D from one another.

In order to achieve or intensify foaming of the beverage absorbed by the drinking straw 1, a hole 6 (see FIG. 2) is arranged in the drinking straw 1, the passage area of which depends on the diameter of the drinking straw. For example, a passage area between 0.01 and 0.09 mm² is selected for a drinking straw with a diameter of 3.0 mm and a passage area between 0.01 and 0.16 mm² for a drinking straw with a diameter of 5.2 mm. The hole is arranged in the part of the drinking straw 1 above the harmonic-shaped part 2, so that the hole 6 at normal use of the straw 1 does not get under the surface of the beverage in the container.

To arrange the hole 6 in the drinking straw 1, it is known to insert a needle 7 through the wall 8 of the drinking straw 1. For this purpose, each drinking straw 1 must be positioned in relation to the needle 7 in such a way that the hole 6 in each drinking straw 1 is arranged at essentially the same location. For this purpose, in the method according to the invention the drinking straw 1 is provided with at least one hole 6 through the film material 3 of the packaging with the aid of at least one needle 7, the packaging of the drinking straws 1 being used to position the drinking straws in relation to the or each needle 7. The very fact that the drinking straws 1 are arranged at a regular distance D from one another in the strand 5 makes it possible to determine the position of the drinking straws 1 relative to the needle 7 in a simple manner, as a result of which it is possible for each drinking straw 1 in the strand 5 to be in the same position as to provide the preceding and following drinking straw 1 in the strand 5 with a hole 6.

3a and 3b show that the individual sections 4, each containing a drinking straw 1, are cut off from the strand 5 with the aid of a knife 9 and a counter-cutting surface 10 which cooperates therewith. Since the needle 7 is fastened to the knife 9, essentially at right angles to the surface of the strand 5, in the method according to the invention, each time a section 4 is cut off from the strand 5, the needle 7 is moved through the film material 3 by the movement of the knife 9 and the wall 8 of the drinking straw 1 'contained in the section 4' following the section 4 cut off, as a result of which the hole 6 is arranged in a very simple and economical manner at the same desired location.

4 schematically shows a device for feeding a strand into individual compartments of packed straws and for cutting the individual compartments off the strand. A strand 5 of packed straws 1 is made from a storage device, not shown, for example a supply roll, one by one Longitudinal axis rotatable drum 11 supplied. A guide surface 12 for pressing the successive, packaged drinking straws 1 against the drum 11 is arranged around at least part of the circumference of the drum 11. A transport roller 13, together with the drum 11, ensures that the strand 5 is moved. A number of counter-cutting surfaces 10 is arranged on the surface of the drum 11 essentially parallel to its axis of rotation, in such a way that the arc length B on the surface of the drum 11, enclosed between two adjacent counter-cutting surfaces 10, the distance D between those in the strand 5 packed straws 1 corresponds. A knife 9 is arranged parallel to the counter-cutting surfaces 10 and at a distance from the drum surface and can be moved between two outermost positions at right angles to the drum surface by known drive means, not shown, for example a pneumatic cylinder. When the knife 9 is in an outermost position, the strand 5 can be passed between the knife 9 and the surface of the drum 11 or the counter-cutting surfaces 10, while the knife 9 in the other outermost position bears against the counter-cutting surface.

According to a preferred embodiment of the device according to the invention, a needle 7 is fastened to the knife 9, essentially at right angles to the surface of the strand 5, the tip of the needle 7 being in such a position relative to the cutting surfaces that it is at a distance from the strand 5 lies when the knife 9 is in an outermost position, while the tip of the needle 7 is in a position inserted through the film material of a section 4 of the strand 5 and the wall of the straw 1 contained therein when the knife is in the other extreme position.

With the help of this device it is therefore possible to supply a strand of packaged drinking straws, one section with one contained in each, through which Packaging cut through perforated drinking straw, while at the same time the drinking straw is perforated in the section following in the strand.

In an alternative embodiment of the device according to the invention, as shown in Fig. 5, the drum 12 is provided with a number of needles corresponding to the number of counter cutting surfaces 10, which are arranged such that next to each counter cutting surface 10 the tip of a needle 7 from the surface the drum 12 protrudes. When a section 4 of the strand 5 is pressed against the drum 12 between two successive counter-cutting surfaces 10 by the transport roller 13, the tip of the needle 7 arranged there is simultaneously through the film material 3 of the department and the wall, as can clearly be seen in FIG. 6 8 of the straws 1 contained in this department.

With the aid of this device it is therefore possible to feed a strand of packaged drinking straws, the drinking straws packed in the strand being perforated automatically through the packaging during the feed before the departments are cut off from the strand in the manner known per se described above.

It is clear that the invention is not restricted to the exemplary embodiments shown. It is also possible to attach one or more needles to the transport roller 13 and the drinking straw can be designed as a straight drinking straw without a harmonic part. Furthermore, the knife and the counter-cutting surface can be designed such that the departments remain partially connected to one another after cutting. It is essential that the drinking straw is first packed and then perforated through the packaging.

Claims (7)

1. A method for perforating the wall of a drinking straw, which comprises making at least one hole (6) in the wall with a needle (7) or a similar device, characterized in that the or each drinking straw (1, 1') is packaged in foil material (3) and then perforated through the package.
2. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that a series of drinking straws (1, 1') is packaged in foil material (3) at regular distances (D) while forming a strip (5), each drinking straw (1, 1') being placed in an individual package compartment (4) and the drinking straws (1, 1') being perforated successively.
3. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the perforation of the successive drinking straws (1, 1') is carried out simultaneously with the separation from the strip (5) of each package compartment (4) containing a drinking straw (1, 1').
4. A method according to claim 2, characterized in that the or each needle is moved through a device moving substantially in the longitudinal direction of the strip (5) of packaged drinking straws (1, 1') relatively thereto, said drinking straws (1, 1') being perforated successively.
5. An apparatus for carrying out the method according to claims 1 through 3, comprising a knife (9) and a counter-cutting face (10) cooperating with the knife, and comprising conveyor means for moving a strip (5) of drinking straws (1, 1') packaged in individual package compartments between the knife (9) and the counter-cutting face (10), said knife (9) and counter-cutting face (10) being arranged to separate at least part of the package compartments (4) from each other, characterized in that there is provided at least one needle (7) or a similar device, positioned substantially normal to the strip (5), there being provided means for moving the or each needle (7), substantially normal to and through at least one of the surfaces of the strip (5), when the knife (9) is moved to separate at least part of the individual package compartments (4), in such a manner that the or each needle (7) makes a hole (6) in the drinking straw (1, 1') packaged in the package compartment (4) to be separated.
6. An apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that at least one needle (7) is attached to the knife (9) in such a manner that the movements of the needle (7) and the knife (9) in the direction towards the counter-cutting face (10) correspond to each other.
7. An apparatus for carrying out the method according to claim 1, 2 or 4, comprising a knife (9) and a counter-cutting face (10) cooperating with the knife, and comprising conveyor means for moving a strip (5) of drinking straws (1, 1') packaged in individual package compartments between the knife (9) and the counter-cutting face (10), said knife (9) and counter-cutting face (10) being arranged to separate at least part of the package compartments (4) from each other, characterized in that the conveyor means are formed by a roller device (11, 13), at least one conveyor roller (11 or 13) comprising one or several needles (7) or similar devices provided at its circumference, at such a distance (B) from each other that when the strip (5) of packaged drinking straws (1, 1') is passed through, each drinking straw (1, 1') is provided by one or the needle (7) with at least one hole (6).

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