Antibacterial and biodegradable extracting container

Details Antibacterial and biodegradable extracting container Antibacterial and biodegradable extracting container

2002-09-16

2004-06-01

Kim, John (Department: 1723)

Liquid purification or separation

Filter

Material

C210S501000, C210S503000, C426S321000, C428S034100, C428S035700, C428S036100

Reexamination Certificate

active

06742660

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a biodegradable extracting container. More particularly, the present invention relates to a biodegradable extracting container for extracting a drink material, for example, coffee, black tea, green tea, or oolong tea, with hot water or cold water.
BACKGROUND ART
In conventional extracting bags for extracting a drink material, for example, coffee, black tea, green tea or oolong tea with hot water or cold water, the bags are usually formed from woven fabrics, nonwoven fabrics comprising synthetic fibers selected from, for example, nylon filaments and polyester filaments, or paper sheets.
After the synthetic fiber bags are used to extract the drink material such as tea, the used bags are discharged as home waste. In this case, as the synthetic fibers from which the bags are formed, per se have no biodegrability, the used bags are necessarily sent to a reclaiming treatment or to a burning and then reclaiming treatment, and this necessity causes an increase in the amount of wastes which is currently a social problem.
Compared with the synthetic fiber bags, the paper bags exhibits a biodegradability and thus the discharge of the used paper bags does not cause the above-mentioned problems.
When the drink material is contained in a bag formed from conventional synthetic fibers or paper sheets, and stored in storing surroundings having a high humidity and a high temperature, the problem such that in the contained material in the bag, various molds and bacteria grow thereon due to non-antibacterial property of the bag itself. In the prior art, to solve the above-mentioned problem, the bag is covered with a non-gas-permeable sheet by which the bag is protected from moisture.
For this covering, complicated and costly procedures are needed.
It is known that the anti-bacterial property can be imparted to the synthetic fibers by knead-mixing an antibacterial agent into a fiber-forming material during filament-forming procedures, or fixing the antibacterial agent on the surfaces of the filaments made by the filament-forming procedures with a resinous binder. The above-mentioned application of the anti-bacterial agent to the synthetic fibers are not appropriately in view of the possibility of such an occurrence that the antibacterial agent is extracted into hot water or cold water during an extracting procedure, and the fragrance and safety of the extracted drink are degraded.
Also, before the used extracting bag is discarded as a waste, the extraction residue in the bag is retained in a water-holding condition. During this stage, as the conventional fiber bag has no antibacterial property, various bacteria and molds are grown on portions of the residual material contacting with water, and a slimy substance and an offensive odor are generated. Therefor, when the used bag is discharged as waste, a strong offensive odor is felt and a discharging operation becomes difficult. Particularly, in the summer season, the bacteria vigorously propagate and, thus, there is a possibility of occurrence of poisoning through hands brought into contact with the waste.
As stated above, the extracting bag formed from the conventional synthetic fibers does not exhibit a biodegrading property and, therefore, when tea leaves contained and sealed in an extracting bag are stored, for the purpose of inhibiting the propagation of the various mold and bacteria, the extracting bag is packaged with a water-proof sheet. However, the above-mentioned packaging is disadvantageous in that complicated and costly procedures are needed. Also, in this case, before the extracting bag is used, a procedure of removing the packaging sheet from the bag is needed, and the removed packaging sheet which is completely unnecessary for the extraction using the extracting bag must be discharging. Namely, the use of the packaging sheet is disadvantageous in that a discharging procedure is needed and a waste is generated.
Also, with respect to the treatment of the used drink-extracting bags, it should be noted that, as the conventional synthetic fiber bags do not have biodegradability, the used bag waste must be sent to a reclaiming treatment or a burning and then reclaiming treatment. This necessity causes an increase in the amount of waste.
Also, the conventional extracting bags formed from the synthetic fibers are disadvantageous in that various bacteria and molds propagate on the extraction residue in the used bags so as to cause slimy substances and offensive odor are generated, and there is a possibility of occurrence of poisoning through the hands contacting the used bags.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide an antibacterial, biodegradable extracting container formed from an extract-filtering material which can prevent propagation of bacteria and mold on the material contained in the container and to be subjected to extraction, and which, per se, is bio-degradable.
The antibacterial, bio-degradable extracting container of the present invention has a filtering surface formed from a water-permeable sheet selected from woven and knitted fabrics, and is characterized in that fibers from which the water-permeable sheet is formed comprises, as a principal component, an antibacterial, biodegradable polylactate polymer, and have a thickness of 1 to 100 dtex.
In the antibacterial, biodegradable extracting container of the present invention, the filtering surface may form at least a portion of surfaces of a bag-formed container.
In the antibacterial, biodegradable extracting container of the present invention, the water-permeable fabric sheet from which the filtering surface is formed preferably has a cover factor K of 1600 to 6400, determined in accordance with the following equation:
K
=(
N
×(
A
)
1/2
/T
)+(
M
×(
B
)
1/2
/S
)
wherein, N represents a warp density (yarns/10 cm), M represents a weft density (yarns/10 cm), A represents a thickness (dtex) of the warp yarns, B represents a thickness (dtex) of the waft yarns, T represents a specific gravity of the warp yarns and S represents a specific gravity of the weft yarns.
BEST MODE OF CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
The filtering surface of the antibacterial, biodegradable extracting container of the present invention is formed from a water-permeable sheet selected from water-permeable woven and knitted fabrics formed from fibers comprising an antibacterial, biodegradable polylactate polymer and having a thickness of 1 to 100 dtex.
In the present invention, the term “antibacterial property” refers to a characteristic of preventing propagation of bacteria and molds on a material contained in the extracting container of the present invention and to be subjected to extraction, namely, coffee particles or various types of tea leaves.
Namely, the extracting container of the present invention has a characteristic of controlling the propagation of bacteria and molds and exhibits a bactericidal activity value of O or more. The bactericidal activity value is a parameter representing an antibacterial property, determined in JIS L 1902. When the bactericidal activity value is less than 0, the bacteria can propagate and thus the object of the present invention cannot be attained.
The antibacterial, biodegradable extracting container of the present invention has a filtering surface through which an extract solution obtained by extracting the material contained in the container and to be extracted with cold water or hot water, is filtered. The filtering surface is formed from a water-permeable sheet selected from woven and knitted fabrics. The fibers from which the woven and knitted fabrics are formed comprises, as a principal component, an antibacterial, biodegradable polylactate polymer, and has a thickness of 1 to 100 dtex. Preferably, 50% by weight or more of the fibers from which the filtering surface of the water-permeable sheet are formed from the antibacterial, biodegradable polylactate polymer. More preferably, 100% by weight of the filtering surface-forming fibers are formed from the polylactate

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