A drinking container has a spinner mechanism that includes a spinner housing for providing a spinner chamber. A spinner disk fits securely within the spinner chamber when rotatably mounted therein. The spinner mechanism includes a fluid input through the chamber perimeter surface, and a fluid outlet for allowing the liquid out of the spinner chamber once it has contacted the spinner disk. A jet nozzle directs a liquid from the fluid input across top and bottom surfaces of the spinner disk. The spinner disk does not include paddles, but relies primarily on viscous and adhesive forces to transfer energy from the flowing liquid to the surface of the spinner disk.

A personalized name straw of three co-linear segments, the middle one of which is in the nature of a personalized name of cursive, scripted letters hollowed out in forming a conduit between tubular first and third segments to channel liquids from a first end to a second end through the personalized nameand with the segments being either colorized or see-through as desired, when formed as a unitary component of an injection molding format manufacture process.

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.

A method of producing a device for protecting a beverage straw is provided. The method includes the steps of providing an outer body mold for use with an epoxy resin to form an outer body of the device. An inner cavity is then bored into the outer body of the device to receive a beverage straw. Finally, a fastener is attached to the device to allow a user quick and convenient access to the device when on the go.

An apparatus and method for a straw for testing and preventing consumption of an unsafe beverage are disclosed. The apparatus may include a control circuit. The control circuit may be to instruct an electrochemical sensor to test a beverage for a harmful substance. The control circuit may also be to receive testing data from the electrochemical sensor. The control circuit may additionally be to determine whether the beverage is safe to consume and activate an electrovalve to prevent the beverage from flowing through a straw based on a determination that the beverage is unsafe to consume.