TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The invention disclosed herein generally relates to alternative biodegradable straw manufacturing methods. More particularly, the present disclosure discloses a method of manufacturing a biodegradable straw using a plant material while eliminating the use of toxic adhesives.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Drinking straws are utensils for supplying liquid from containers (into which the straws are inserted) to users when suction is employed. Although the earliest known straws were made of metal and rye grass, drinking straws have been manufactured in recent times from thermoplastic polymers such as polypropylene and other plastic materials such as polyethylene (PE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Other materials that have been used include glass, treated paper, starch-based plastics, aluminum based and the like.

[0003] Traditionally, plastic drinking straws are made of material extracted from petroleum. When such straws are used to consume high-temperature beverages or liquids, toxic components such as plasticizers are released. Like other plastic products, drinking straws containing plasticizer when come into long-term contact with children can induce precocious puberty and infertility and increase the risk of asthma and allergy, raising concerns about health and safety. Moreover, plastic drinking straws release toxic compounds when exposed to acidic drinks. As such, plastic straws pose health risks to users under these conditions. Another drawback of plastic straws includes the lack of incentive for disposal or recycling post use. This is largely due to the small size, plastic content, and the sheer number of straws pose a large difficulty for extraction from landfills. Yet, due to their sheer numbers used and their small size, plastic drinking straws continue to present an ever-growing environmental pollution problem. As such, it is highly desirable to seek ways to either improve recycling efficiency of these items or making them from materials that are more safely and efficiently degradable.

[0004] Another material that is used to manufacture drinking straws include glass. Typically, glass drinking straws are made of silica (SiO2) and other auxiliary components mixed in different proportions through different processes depending on their final applications. In manufacturing, glass drinking straws are formed at a temperature as high as 1600° C. and then cooked in an annealing furnace. However, the highly brittle nature makes glass drinking straws to accidentally break and cause production loss. Alternatively, stainless steel has also been used for manufacturing straws. However, stainless steel drinking straws are made with high energy consumption. Three of the four furnaces used in the manufacturing process have to be heated to about 1500° C. Although some modern factories have their own cogeneration systems and/or waste heat recovery systems, there is still a considerable amount of waste gas and heat emitted to the environment. The fact that steel needs huge energy to perform transformation makes such a product unavoidably require high environmental costs.

[0005] From the perspective of manufacturing, both glass drinking straws and stainless-steel drinking straws consume huge energy from material input to production. This energy consumption terribly exploits natural resources and aggravates the greenhouse effects. On the other hand, plastic drinking straws may contain a great quantity of plasticizer, which can be dissolved by and enter drinks of high temperature or containing esters. The human body may have difficulty in decomposing or excreting the ingested plasticizer. There have been attempts to create reusable aluminum-based drinking straws, but they have been relatively unsuccessful due to their high relative cost which limits their wide usage. There also have been attempts to create edible drinking straws, but their acceptance has also been very limited, since, in addition to their high cost, they lack wide attractiveness for the users outside consumption of milkbased products, and are quickly degraded by aqueous solutions

[0006] Previous attempts to develop viable degradable materials have been focused on materials which would be degraded by action of sunlight or of microorganisms found in landfills. Various treated paper- and starch-based plastic products have been tried for bio- or photo-degradable food packaging items, to largely disappointing results. It has been found that many landfills do not provide enough light or suitable living environments for microorganisms and so the discarded products do not get reliably degraded. Also, the drinking straws have to be water-resistant. This presents technical problems for their degradable design.

[0007] Various materials have been used to modify the conventional paper base used for degradable items, such as impregnation with various water-resistant compounds, such as waxes, or applying water-resistant surface coatings such as paraffin wax and the like. These chemicals used with paper may not be safe for consumers, offer reasonable protection or be, ideally, degradable. Hence, there is a long felt but unresolved need for an alternative manufacturing method or material, that prevents improves degradability while ensuring consumer safety. Moreover, there is a need to address the foregoing problems and shortcomings seen in the prior art.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0008] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further disclosed in the detailed description of the invention. This summary is not intended to identify key or essential inventive concepts of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended for determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0009] The method, disclosed herein, addresses the above-mentioned need for an alternative manufacturing method or material, that prevents improves degradability while ensuring consumer safety.

[0010] A method of manufacturing a biodegradable straw includes collecting plant material from a tree. The collected plant material is soaked in a liquid solution such that the liquid solution comprises salt. The soaked plant material is treated with steam. The steam treated plant material is cut into a plurality of plant strips. At least one of the plant strips is rolled into a straw while simultaneously applying an adhesive. Finally, the rolled plant strip is heat treated to cause drying of the applied adhesive.

[0011] In an exemplary embodiment according to the disclosure, the apparatus comprises a rotatable rod adapted to receive torque from a drive assembly. A portion of the rotatable rod is positioned between two fixed jaw members. A closing die houses the portion of the rotatable rod such that the closing die is movable between an open configuration and a closed configuration.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The foregoing summary, as well as the following detailed description of the invention, is better understood when read in conjunction with the appended drawings. For the purpose of illustrating the invention, exemplary constructions of the invention are shown in the drawings. However, the invention is not limited to the specific methods and structures disclosed herein. The description of a method step or a structure referenced by a numeral in a drawing is applicable to the description of that method step or structure shown by that same numeral in any subsequent drawing herein.

[0013] FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a side view of an apparatus for manufacturing a biodegradable straw;

[0014] FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the apparatus for manufacturing a biodegradable straw shown in FIG. 1; [0015] FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates a rear view of the apparatus for manufacturing a biodegradable straw shown in FIG. 1; and

[0016] FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a method of manufacturing a biodegradable straw.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0017] FIG. 1 exemplarily illustrates a side view of an apparatus 100 for manufacturing a biodegradable straw. FIG. 2 exemplarily illustrates a top view of the apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 exemplarily illustrates a rear view of the apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1. The apparatus 100 includes a rotatable rod 101 adapted to receive torque from a drive assembly 102. In an embodiment, the drive assembly 102 includes an electric motor 102a, a belt 102b and pulley 102c arrangement adapted to transfer rotary motion from an output shaft of the electric motor 102a to the rotatable rod 101. In an embodiment, the drive assembly 102 may include a mechanical drive assembly instead of an electric drive assembly. A portion of the rotatable rod 101 is positioned between two fixed jaw members 103. A closing die 104 houses the portion of the rotatable rod 101 between the two fixed jaw members 103. In an embodiment, the distance between the two fixed jaw members 103 is approximately equal to the length of the biodegradable straw. Moreover, the closing die 104 is movable between an open configuration and a closed configuration.

[0018] In the open configuration, a rectangular strip of a biodegradable material, such as leaves, stems, fibrous extracts, and the like of a coconut tree is inserted into the closing die 104 such that the rectangular strip of biodegradable material contacts the rotatable rod 101. When the rotatable rod 101 is driven by the electric motor 102a, the rotary motion transforms the rectangular strip into a cylindrical tube enclosing the rotatable rod 101. As such, the rotary motion of the rotatable rod 101 forms the biodegradable straw. Simultaneously, during rotation, the rolled plant strip is heat treated to cause drying of the applied adhesive. In an embodiment, a heater gun is directed towards the rolled plant strips to make sure that an applied adhesive is dried quickly thereby keeping the straw in its desired shape. Different methods of drying of the adhesive may be envisioned apart from the heater gun based on the scale of application. In an embodiment, the apparatus 100 further includes a plurality of feeder tubes in fluid communication with a space enclosed by the closing die 104 housing the rotatable rod 101. The feeder tubes are adapted to supply heated air into the space for drying the at least one plant strip disposed around the rotatable rod 101. The heated air ensures quick drying of the adhesive applied on the plant strip disposed around the rotatable rod 101.

[0019] FIG. 4 exemplarily illustrates a method of manufacturing a biodegradable straw. The method 400, disclosed herein, includes collecting plant material from a tree. The plant material may include different parts of the tree, for example, the leaves, stems, fibrous extracts, and the like. Preferably, the plant material includes the leaves of a coconut tree. As such, the leaves of the coconut tree are first harvested and collected in Step 401. At Step 402, the collected plant material is soaked in a liquid solution, wherein the liquid solution comprises salt. During this step, the plant material is subjected to the soaking step for a period of at least two days. At Step 403, the soaked plant material is treated with steam. In an embodiment, the soaked plant material is dried at a first predefined temperature to obtain the dried plant material before the steam treatment. The steam treatment may include an additional step of flattening the dried plant material to obtain the flattened plant material by using steam iron at a second predefined temperature. At Step 404, the steam treated plant material is cut into a plurality of plant strips. Preferably, the plant strips have a length of around 27mm which is the average length of a straw. At Step 405, at least one of the plant strips is rolled into a straw while simultaneously applying an adhesive. In an embodiment, the adhesive is a food grade adhesive. Preferably the plant strips are wound around a rotating shaft of a machine to complete the rolling process. The machine shaft which turns diagonally is attached to a motor controlled by a foot pedal that helps in the desired rotation, the strips are then rolled into the shape of the desired straw. At Step 406, the rolled plant strip is heat treated to cause drying of the applied adhesive. In an embodiment, a heater gun is directed towards the rolled plant strips to make sure that the adhesive is dried quickly thereby keeping the straw in its desired shape. Different methods of drying of the adhesive may be envisioned apart from the heater gun based on the scale of application.

[0020] The foregoing examples have been provided merely for the purpose of explanation and are in no way to be construed as limiting of the apparatus 100, disclosed herein. While the apparatus 100 has been described with reference to various embodiments, it is understood that the words, which have been used herein, are words of description and illustration, rather than words of limitation. Further, although the apparatus 100 has been described herein with reference to particular means, materials, and embodiments, the apparatus 100 is not intended to be limited to the particulars disclosed herein; rather, the apparatus 100 extends to all functionally equivalent structures, methods and uses, such as are within the scope of the appended claims. Those skilled in the art, having the benefit of the teachings of this specification, may effect numerous modifications thereto and changes may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the apparatus 100 disclosed herein in their aspects.