Receptacles – Container attachment or adjunct – Drinking device
Reexamination Certificate
2002-10-07
2004-05-04
Hylton, Robin A. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Container attachment or adjunct
Drinking device
C712S029000, C712S029000, C229S404000, C426S077000, C426S080000, C426S083000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06729494
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The subject invention relates to apparatus and methods by which beverages may be prepared and consumed quickly and sanitarily. More particularly, the invention relates to apparatus and methods that facilitates the individual controlled preparation of a beverage from one or more beverage bags within a variety of containers and the quick and sanitary storage of the bag or bags once the beverage preparation has been completed.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Many liquid beverages are prepared by immersing a porous bag containing tea or coffee or other beverage preparation agent in a liquid for a given period of time. The immersion of the bag allows soluble components from the beverage preparation agent to go into solution thereby producing the beverage. This process is termed also steeping or brewing by infusion. The terms immersion, steeping, and brewing will be used largely interchangeably in the following to identify the step in the process and period when the bag is partially or wholly within the beverage preparation liquid. The beverage preparation agent will be identified in the following also as “bag contents” or simply “contents”. During the immersion process, and if the bag contents are a “non-instant” version of a dry or dried substance, such as ground coffee or leaf or shredded tea, the contents take up the liquid, thereby swelling in size and increasing in weight. Generally, the longer the bag remains in the solution, the stronger the beverage becomes. However, particularly with regard to tea, it is generally imperative that the bag not be allowed to remain in the liquid too long since the tea may become overly strong or bitter components from the tea may become solubilized. Preparing a beverage from a beverage bag provides the consumer with greater control over the steeping process since it can be stopped by removing the beverage bag from the liquid.
Beverage bags can be conventionally formed in a number of ways such as by the joining of two sheets of porous material at their edges such that the bag has opposing side walls and opposing edges or simply by gathering and/or joining a single sheet into a pouch-like shape having a generally continuous surrounding wall. The porous bag must provide a large inner volume to accommodate contents that increase in size and weight during immersion and have a structure so that the bag can freely be moved within and removed from the beverage without tearing. Conventionally, a string is attached adjacent to one edge of the bag to allow the consumer to immerse a bag within the liquid and remove it without having to come into contact with the bag or the immersion liquid. A finger tip-sized tag may be attached adjacent to the string at a place generally opposite to the place at which the string is attached to the bag to facilitate the removal of the bag by the string. In this application, the terms “beverage bag” or “bag” will mean to identify any such porous bag that is sized and shaped and structured such that it can: contain a beverage preparation agent—whether tea, coffee, or other flavoring or beverage preparation material—; be immersed in a liquid to produce a beverage; and, be drawn up from the beverage such as by a string that may also contain a tag. Because more than one bag can be used in certain embodiments of the present invention, the term “bag” in the following can mean also a plurality of bags in the following.
Some of the many apparatus and systems that are directed to facilitate the preparation of beverages from such bags will be discussed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,671 and U.S. Pat. No. 2,728,672 each describe a combination cover and beverage infusion commodity container in which the container is secured to a lower side of the cover so that the container is suspended from the cover. The combination apparatus is structured so that the cover may rest on the lip of a beverage making vessel and the commodity container is partially immersed in the liquid within the vessel to produce a beverage. Once the beverage has been produced, the steeping/infusion process cannot be stopped with the apparatus in place on the lip of the vessel. Also, the beverage cannot be consumed with the combination cover/container in place. To stop the steeping/infusion process and/or in order to consume the beverage, the entire combination cover/container must be raised from the lip of the beverage making vessel. To remove excess liquid from the dripping commodity container, the cover is folded over at a median fold line and the commodity container is squeezed between the divided portions of the cover. If the combination cover/container is placed back onto the beverage vessel—such as to keep a hot beverage from cooling down—the commodity container may become immersed in the beverage again thereby reinitiating the infusion process and preventing the beverage from being consumed until the apparatus is again separated from the lip of the vessel. After the cover to which is attached the wet commodity container is separated from the beverage vessel, the consumer must hold onto it or find a separate place on which it can rest or in which it can be properly discarded.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 2,800,408 describes an apparatus for preparing beverage in a cup from a tea bag, the apparatus comprising a thin cover formed from a sheet of material folded to provide two hinged sections and to which the tea bag is permanently secured. The cover includes an opening in the center of the sheet that is of a size and shape such that a string from the tea bag may be extended through it. The tea bag string is attached by a staple to the outside of the cover. The cover includes an inclined passage that leads from the edge of the cover to the central opening. In order to stop the steeping process and begin consumption of the beverage, the consumer must remove the cover/tea bag assembly. Dripping from the tea bag is prevented by the application of manual pressure on the outer surface of the two sections of the assembly so that the tea bag is squeezed therein between. The cover/tea bag assembly must be positioned on another receptacle or discarded altogether.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,878,927 is directed to a cord harness assembly including a supporting card and a suspension cord fastened to the tea or coffee bag. The supporting card is not sized and shaped to function as a lid but is shown and described as being of a size slightly larger than the periphery of a rolled-up compressed bag. Through the looping of the cord and drawing of the cord upward with one hand, while the supporting card is held by the other hand, the bag can be raised from the liquid and squeezed against the under surface of the card. Once in the undersurface squeezed position, the consumer must find a place to accommodate the cord harness assembly with wet bag in order to have free use of both hands.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,918,373 is directed to a tea brewing device described as including a disc member adapted such that the device may be placed on the rim of a tea cup. The disc member comprises a peripheral portion having a downwardly concave annular flange adapted such that the device may be placed on the tea cup rim and a circular inner portion that is depressed relative to the peripheral portion. The circular inner portion is formed with a pair of opposing substantially rectangular resilient fingers being of substantial width and closely adjacent straight free end edges that are spaced apart symmetrically on opposite sides of and parallel to the diameter of the disc member. The fingers may be formed by parallel slits spaced apart from each other so that a conventional tea bag may be received and gripped between the opposing edges of the slits. In use, a tea bag is gripped between the edges such that one portion of the tea bag is exposed above the disc and another portion is suspended below the disc. The disc is placed on the tea cup so that the suspended portion of the bag is within the hot water. After the infusion has been completed, the consumer may grasp the portion of the tea bag that is exposed abo
Portman Jill
Shinner Gary
Baniak Pine & Gannon
Hylton Robin A.
Mighty Leaf Tea
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