A straw (1) made from paper or paper-like material and comprising a tubular body (3) having a circumference formed by a wall (5) surrounding a central axis and a bendable part extending axially along the central axis (6), wherein said bendable part comprises at least two corrugated profiles (8A-D) provided in the wall, and each corrugated profile comprises inward corrugations (9A-D) and outward corrugations (10A-D) being positioned one after the other in axial direction along the central axis, and a system and method to produce the straw.

Method and apparatus for making a corrugated zone to a bendable drinking straw. The drinking straw is made of a web that is moved along a guided path in a wanted speed and the corrugated zone is created by clamping the web with a clamping mechanism against the guided path for a wanted period of time to stop the motion of the second part of the web after the clamping mechanism.

A flexible paper straw includes a paper tube which is a spiral tube having a tube wall with at least two layers and formed by using glue and paper material while the paper material is paper sheet material having at least two layers of paper, a first layer of paper and a second layer of paper; and a compressed corrugated portion which is a circular tube having parallel ridges and grooves on longitudinal sections thereof, formed on the tube wall of a part of the paper tube with a certain length and able to be bent freely.

Machine (10) comprising a feed unit (16) configured to feed a plurality of tubular elements, preferably made of paper, toward different working units (18, 19, 20, 21) configured to automatically carry out different workings on the tubular elements (12), including a deformation to make a bellows (13), a cut to make a pointed end (14), or an end cut obliquely, a bending in correspondence with the bellows and a packaging of each straw, the deformation being carried out before the cut.

Machine (10) to produce straws (11), preferably made of paper, comprising a feed unit (16) configured to feed a plurality of tubular elements, preferably made of paper, to different working units (17, 19, 20, 21) configured to automatically carry out different workings on the tubular elements (12), including at least one cut to make a pointed end (13), or an end cut obliquely, a deformation to make a bellows (14), a bend in correspondence with the bellows (14) and the packaging of each straw (11).

An apparatus and a method for shaping tubular elements (100), preferably made of paper, to make straws. In particular, a flexible shaped portion, defined by a succession of annular ridges and throats, is made on each tubular element (100) by means of internal shaping members (32) and external shaping members (35) mutually cooperating with each other.

A method for manufacturing flexible paper straws and flexible paper straws are revealed. The method includes the steps of preparing a paper tube which is a spiral tube by glue and paper, inserting a support shaft into the paper tube axially, placing the paper tube with the support shaft between a first roller and a second roller before curing of the glue while the first and second rollers are in parallel and having a plurality of circular grooves on a cylindrical surface thereof, rolling the paper tube by the first and second rollers to form a corrugated portion on a part of the paper tube, squeezing the corrugated portion to compress the corrugated portion for a period of time for curing the glue and holding shape of the corrugated portion, and removing the support shaft to get a flexible paper straw which is bendable at the corrugated portion.

The present disclosure generally relates to a paper straw comprising a flexible portion having a compressed and an extended state, wherein the paper straw comprises a stretchable paper. The disclosure also relates to a drinking kit comprising the paper straw and to a process and a machine equipment for manufacturing the paper straw.

A method for manufacturing flexible paper straws and flexible paper straws are revealed. The method includes the steps of preparing a paper tube which is a spiral tube by glue and paper, inserting a support shaft into the paper tube axially, placing the paper tube with the support shaft between a first roller and a second roller before curing of the glue while the first and second rollers are in parallel and having a plurality of circular grooves on a cylindrical surface thereof, rolling the paper tube by the first and second rollers to form a corrugated portion on a part of the paper tube, squeezing the corrugated portion to compress the corrugated portion for a period of time for curing the glue and holding shape of the corrugated portion, and removing the support shaft to get a flexible paper straw which is bendable at the corrugated portion.

A method of manufacturing a bendable paper straw and a paper straw made in accordance with the method, the method including the steps, in any convenient order, of coating plies of flexible material, such as paper, with a generally liquid adhesive, such as food grade glue, forming on a mandrel having a generally smooth outer surface a tube composed of a plurality of plies of such coated flexible material, such as helically-wound plies, if necessary, cutting the tube into lengths suitable for forming finished straws, and before the adhesive has set, mounting the or each tube on a respective mandrel having a smooth outer surface and thereafter forming a series of generally concentric grooves on the outside the tube, such as by rolling, pressing or crimping the grooves, and thereafter moving one end of the tube towards the other end along its major axis, such as by pushing or pulling, whereby to axially compress the series of grooves to form a set of annular corrugations, and thereafter allowing the adhesive to set, whereby to form a straw bendable around the corrugated region into a temporarily deformed shape.