Foods and beverages: apparatus – Beverage – Infusors
Reexamination Certificate
2002-05-24
2002-11-19
Simone, Timothy F. (Department: 1761)
Foods and beverages: apparatus
Beverage
Infusors
C099S297000, C099S299000, C099S306000, C099S323000, C099S495000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06481337
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is related to a controlling mechanism of beverage infusion container. By the controlling mechanism, a user can from outer side of the container control the communication between two divisions of the interior of the container.
FIGS. 5 and 6
show a conventional tea infusion cup. The tea infusion cup is equipped with two covers
77
a
,
77
b
. A partitioning board
71
is disposed in the tea infusion cup to divide the interior of the cup into a first division
78
and a second division
79
. The partitioning board
71
is formed with a central draining hole
711
.
A mesh rack
72
is disposed above the partitioning board
71
. A filtering mesh is paved over the mesh rack
72
. The center of the mesh rack
72
has an upward extending tube
73
in which a pull rod
74
is fitted. The top end of the pull rod
74
extends out of the tube
73
and is formed with a holding section
741
. The bottom end of the pull rod
74
downward extends out of the tube
73
and is fitted with a spring
75
. A valve body
76
is connected with the bottom end of the pull rod
74
. In normal state, the valve body
76
is pushed downward by the spring
75
to block the draining hole
711
.
In use, a user can place the tea into the first division
78
and infuse the tea with hot water. The cover
77
a
is then closed to keep the water in the first division
78
having a necessary temperature. After a period of time of infusion, the user needs to turn open the cover
77
a
and pinch the holding section
741
to pull up the pull rod
74
. At this time, a locating plate
742
of the pull rod
74
is separated from a locating slot
731
of top end of the tube
73
. Then the pull rod
74
can be turned to locate the locating plate
742
in a locating notch
732
. At this time, the valve body
76
is moved upward to unblock the draining hole
711
. Under such circumstance, the tea in the first division
78
is permitted to flow through the draining hole
711
into the second division
79
. Then, the user can turn the pull rod
74
to make the valve body
76
again block the draining hole
711
. Thereafter, the cover
77
a
is closed and the cup
7
is turned upside down. Then, the other cover
77
b
is opened for drinking the made tea.
When the tea is soaked in the hot water with the cover
77
a
closed, the tea will expand and stretch. Under such circumstance, the holding section
741
of the pull rod
74
will be surrounded by the hot tea. When the user turns open the cover
77
a
to pinch the holding section
741
for pulling up the pull rod
74
, the user's fingers are easy to be burnt by the hot tea or hot tea water. Moreover, when pinching the holding section
741
with fingers, the fingers often touch the tea water. This is unsanitary. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the above structure in which the pull rod
74
is used to control blocking/unblocking of the valve body
76
.
FIG. 7
shows a coffee infusion container. The bottom of the main body
81
of the container is formed with a draining hole
82
. The blocking/unblocking of the draining hole
82
is controlled by a controlling mechanism. The controlling mechanism includes a press rod
83
, a link
84
and a steel ball
85
fixed at a rear end of the link
84
. In normal state, the steel ball
85
will drop down due to gravity to block the draining hole
82
. When the press rod
83
is pressed down, the steel ball
85
is driven and lifted by the link
84
to unblock the draining hole
82
.
A switch member
88
is disposed at a pivoted section of the cover
87
pivotally connected with a handle
86
of the container. A leaf spring
89
abuts against and controls the switch member
88
. The cover
87
is formed with a through hole
871
corresponding to a rear end of the switch member
88
. The rear end of the switch member
88
passes through the through hole
871
and is adapted to contact with the top end of the press rod
83
. When the switch member
88
is pressed downward and locked by the leaf spring
89
as shown in
FIG. 8
, the rear end of the switch member
88
will press down the press rod
83
to unblock the draining hole
82
.
The above controlling mechanism can be applied to the double-opening tea infusion cup of
FIG. 5
to avoid burn of a user. However, when turning the cup upside down for drinking the tea, the steel ball will drop down due to gravity to again unblock the draining hole. Under such circumstance, the tea water will flow back to the first division or even leak out through the gap between the cover
77
a
and the container.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide a controlling mechanism of beverage infusion container. The controlling mechanism includes a controlling member passed through the circumferential wall of the container. One end of the controlling member extends out of the circumferential wall and is provided with a controlling section. The other end of the controlling member is linked with a valve body positioned at the draining hole of the partitioning board. The valve body is controllable by the controlling section on outer side of the container to block or unblock the draining hole.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3631793 (1972-01-01), Bednartz
patent: 3724359 (1973-04-01), Masters et al.
patent: 5125327 (1992-06-01), Winnington-Ingram
patent: 5632193 (1997-05-01), Shen
patent: 5632194 (1997-05-01), Lin
patent: 5813317 (1998-09-01), Chang
patent: 5913964 (1999-06-01), Melton
patent: 5924354 (1999-07-01), Court et al.
patent: 5943946 (1999-08-01), Chen
patent: 5947004 (1999-09-01), Huang
patent: 6164190 (2000-12-01), Tien Lin
patent: 6279460 (2001-08-01), Pope
patent: 6327965 (2001-12-01), Lin Tien
Rosenberg , Klein & Lee
Simone Timothy F.
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