Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Foraminous material infusion type – or foraminous container...
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-16
2002-04-16
Weinstein, Steven (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Foraminous material infusion type, or foraminous container...
C426S066000, C426S083000, C426S112000, C426S115000, C426S120000, C215SDIG008, C206S219000, C099S316000, C099S322000, C099S323000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06372270
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices and methods for brewing tea or mixing other beverages, and more specifically to various embodiments of containers, caps, and dry drink mix or substance containers, for brewing sun tea and/or for making or mixing other beverages from dry powders or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The art of brewing tea has been well known for generations. More recently, it has become popular to brew “sun tea,” by placing the tea in a container of water, and leaving the container (preferably clear glass) in the sun where the water is warmed due to the infrared radiation produced by the glass from the solar radiation received. In addition, many manufacturers have developed powdered beverage mixes (Kool-Ade, tm, powdered coffees and teas, lemonade and other fruit flavored mixes, etc.) which are adapted for mixing with water to make a beverage.
Various means have been developed for making such beverages, depending upon whether the product must be brewed (i. e., heated and steeped for some period of time), or merely mixed and dissolved. In the case of powdered instant drink mixes, the means used is generally conventional, comprising a container and a mixing spoon, whisk, or the like. The brewing of tea is generally somewhat more involved, due to the need to heat the water and to steep the tea in the heated water for some period of time. Generally, the lower the water temperature, the longer the period of time the tea must steep in the water. However, some hold that the longer steeping process in lower water temperatures is advantageous, in that the tea flavor is not altered to the extent that occurs when it is steeped in nearly boiling water. In any event, various devices have been developed for holding complete or shredded tea leaves for steeping in a container of water, as indicated in the discussion of the related art further below.
In addition, some persons have developed liquid containers including externally accessible compartments for holding various articles (mixes, etc.) which might be associated with the liquid contained within the container. However, these compartmented containers of the prior art each contain some deficiency in comparison to the containers of the present invention, which are specially adapted for separately holding a tea bag or other dry substance for making a beverage, from the liquid contained within the container.
Another aspect of mixing beverages, and particularly the tea brewing process, is that many manufacturers of tea bags and the like produce such bags in a low, flat shape in order to maximize the surface area of the bag relative to the internal volume. While this is beneficial in terms of diffusing the tea more rapidly throughout the liquid, it does no good whatsoever if it is not possible to insert the tea bag into the liquid container. Accordingly, along with the specially adapted containers for the mixing of beverages and brewing of tea therein, the present invention also includes tea or other beverage mix bags which are specially configured for passing easily through the neck of a container having a relatively narrow neck. This aspect of the invention, as well as others described in detail further below, provide significant differences and distinction over the related art of record. A discussion of the related art of which the present inventor is aware, and its differences and distinctions from the present invention, is provided below.
U.S. Pat. No. 180,132 issued on Jul. 25, 1876 to Benjamin F. Hoard et al., titled “Bottle Attachment, ” describes a bottle for containing a liquid (medicine, etc.). The bottle has a concave side with flanges extending therefrom, along which a cooperating lid may be slid into place. The resulting receptacle provides for the insertion of an information or advertising brochure or other document therein. The bottle and external container of the present invention differ in that no separate rigid closure need be provided; the present closure is formed by the bottle label.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,489,806 issued on Apr. 8, 1924 to Harry C. Anderson, titled “Paper Container Or Receptacle,” describes various shapes of perforated paper elements for holding tea and for submersing in a container of hot water for brewing tea. The Anderson tea containers teach away from the “tea balls” of the prior art, which are formed as openable rigid, hard, perforated metal shells. However, Anderson does not anticipate the need to use a tea bag type container for brewing tea in a larger vessel, where the tea bag cannot be accessed by the fingers. Rather, his tea containers each have an elongate shape with an unperforated upper end, with the upper ends serving as handles. Such a configuration is unworkable with the necked containers of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,465 issued on Sep. 3, 1963 to Lewis Montesano, titled “Leak-Proof Packaging Infusion Unit,” describes a telescoping tubular device in which the outer sleeve forms a cover for the perforated inner sleeve surrounding the tea contents therein. The outer sleeve is extended beyond the inner perforated sleeve, and the perforated sleeve is immersed in the water to diffuse the tea therein. As in the devices of the Anderson '806 U.S. Patent, the Montesano device does not include a string or other means allowing it to be released in a container; rather, the Montesano device must be held in the container during the time the tea is steeping. This renders the Montesano device unsuitable for use with larger containers or for longer periods of time, as in brewing sun tea or the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,346,388 issued on Oct. 10, 1967 to Frederick P. Andrews et al., titled “Tea Packet,” describes a specially formed tea bag having a toroidal configuration. The Andrews et al. tea bag is unsuited for use in a container having a relatively small neck and cap, as Andrews et al. note that their tea packet is in the configuration of “a ring of a size compatible with a tea cup” (column 1, lines 46-47). The Andrews et al. tea packet thus could not be inserted into the neck of a bottle.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,590,989 issued on Jul. 6, 1971 to John C. Wittwer, titled “Protective Bottle Display And Shipping Container,” describes a double bottle type container, in which a glass container is encased within a liquid filled plastic container for shock absorption purposes. Wittwer discloses other articles encased in a separate compartment within an outer bottle, but the receptacle is in the center of the bottle, rather than being formed in the outer wall of the bottle, as in the case of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,657,994 issued on Apr. 25, 1972 to Norman W. Post, titled “Combination Container And Dispenser,” describes a small, double walled container which hooks over the edge of a cup. The two walls are perforated, and may be turned relative to one another to align the perforations for allowing a drink mix contained therein to be diffused through the liquid in the cup. The device is too large for immersion in a bottle having a relatively narrow neck, and cannot be sealed to a bottle top for dispersing its contents, as in another of the present embodiments.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,732,999 issued on May 15, 1973 to Rodney G. Rounkles, titled “Bottle With External Compartment,” describes a bottle having a hinged lid for closing over a compartment formed in the side of the bottle. The device is more closely related to the bottle of the Hoard et al. '132 U.S. Patent discussed further above, than to any of the embodiments of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,861,284 issued on Jan. 21, 1975 to Albert D. Costello, titled “Cup Lids For Use With Teabags And The Like,” describes various lid embodiments having a wide, flat protrusion for holding a conventional flat tea bag therein. The tea bag is lowered into the water in the cup and allowed to steep, then drawn back upwardly into the protrusion by means of the conventional string on the tea bag. The Costello assembly is not adapted for use in brewing tea o
Litman Richard C.
Weinstein Steven
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