Sucking Hole Structure for an Aluminium Foil Beverage Container

Conventional aluminium foil beverage containers have a round sucking hole provided at the top side face only covered with a layer of aluminium without a layer of paper. In drinking the beverage in the container, a straw is inserted through the sucking hole, but the chances are that dust and bacteria may gather around there and pushed into the beverage by the straw. Then the health of the drinker may be impaired.

Besides, a straw is usually attached on the container for convenience, but it can be completely sunk inside the container, impossible to suck because it is shorter than the height of the container. Or maybe a drinker has to put his/her mouth very close to the sucking hole, and if there should be dust or bacteria lying around there, the dust or the bacteria can be swallowed together by the drinker.

The object of this invention is to provide a kind of sucking hole structure wherein the hole cannot be polluted and a straw cannot sink down in the container.

The beverage containers with this sucking hole structure are made of three layers of materials, i.e. a coated paper layer as the outmost, a simile paper layer as the middle and an aluminium foil layer as the innermost. An oval peeling line is punched on the coated paper layer and a round peeling line is punched on the simile paper layer at the corresponding location with the oval peeling line. The part surrounded by the round peeling line is compressed less thick than the rest part and adhered to the part surrounded by the oval peeling line of the coated paper layer. Therefore, when the part surrounded by the oval peeling line is peeled off, the part surrounded by the round peeling line can also be peeled off to become a round hole exposing the aluminium foil layer. Then a straw can be made to prick at the hole through the aluminium foil to suck the content.

This invention will now be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the aluminium foil beverage container in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a magnified view of the part marked 2 on FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the coated paper layer peeled off its position shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a conventional beverage container.

First, as shown in FIG. 1, a rectangular beverage container 1 is provided near a corner on the largest side with a sucking hole which is to be peeled off in case of drinking.

Next, the wall of the container 1 shown in Figures 2 and 3 consists of a coated paper layer 1a, a simile paper 1b and an aluminium foil layer 1c. The coated paper layer 1a is punched with an oval peeling line 11 which becomes a peeling opening 12 when the part surrounded with the peeling line 11 is peeled off the coated paper layer 1a. A round peeling line 21 is punched on the simile paper layer 1b under the part enclosed by the oval peeling line 11, and the enclosed part of the round peeling line 21 is compressed to be thinner than the thickness of the simile paper layer 1b and adhered to the part of the oval peeling line of the coated paper layer 1a.

As shown in FIG. 3, after the oval peeling line 11 and the round peeling line 21 has been punched, the parts enclosed by said lines 11 and 21 are still remained in its original position in the coated paper layer 1a and the simile paper layer 1b and an aluminium foil layer 1c is attached under the simile paper layer 1b.

When a person wants to drink the content of the container 1, he/she peels the part enclosed by peeling line 11 off the coated paper layer 1a together with the round part enclosed by the round peeling line 21. Then the part enclosed by the oval peeling line 11 becomes an opening 12 and the part enclosed by the round peeling line 21 becomes a round hole 22 in the simile paper layer 1b and the aluminium foil layer appears. Then a straw is made to prick at the hole 22 through the aluminium foil layer 1c for sucking the content.

The sucking hole 22 is made near a corner on the largest side of the container 1 and the straw is made as long as the longest side face of the container 1, so the straw can never completely drop inside the container 1 when inserted through the sucking hole 22 for drinking. Besides, the sucking hole 22 is wholly covered before using so that dust or bacteria can hardly attach around the sucking hole 22 to endanger the health of a drinker.