摘要 |
A dispensing container for beverage straws and the like, intended for disposition on a restaurant table or counter, comprises a base portion on which rests a cylindrical housing having a concave, preferably frustoconical, floor and a vertically elongated side aperture for egress of straws. A dome-like closure rests over the housing with a hinged door for feeding straws into the housing. An axial rod extends from the dome through the housing and carries one or more radial, resilient vanes or pushers for feeding straws toward the egress aperture. The rod is keyed at its lower extremity to a rotary element having radial lugs extending through the base portion and exposed for digital engagement, whereby rotation of the rotary element turns the pushers, the latter acting on the straws to feed them toward the aperture. Consequently, a single straw at a time is tipped outwardly from the container for convenient grasping by the user. Straws usually employed in my dispenser are of resilient material such as plastic and paper wrapped for sanitation. The straws as well as the pusher vanes may temporarily be bent in the course of their normal movement, but will promptly resume their normal shape due to their resilience and no permanent distortion or damage will occur.
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