US2678000A - Tea bag holder - Google Patents

Description

May 11, 1954 J. SCHEIDT ET AL TEA BAG HOLDER Filed May 22, 1952 Joseph .Sc/reidf Lester Allen Eegardin JNVENTORS.

BY waoin.

Patented May 11, 1954 TEA BAG HOLDER Joseph S'cheidt and Lester Allen Teegardin, Streator, Ill.

Application May 22, 1952, Serial No. 289,302

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in a simple and practical hand implement which may be generally referred to as a tea bag holder and has more particular reference to one which functions to support the tea bag while immersed in hot water in a cup during the brewing step, and thereafter serves as a practical and satisfactory means for lifting the hot saturated bag from the brew for handy disposition.

More specifically, the invention has to do with an implement as stated, which is characterized by a pair of complemental relatively movable gripping jaws which perform aptly when the device is used as a stirrer and then comes into use to compress the bag and in this manner to squeeze the surplus solution therefrom so that it may be retrieved after which the then fully used bag may be lifted out of the brew and placed in the usual saucer or otherwise disposed of.

In carrying out a preferred form of the invention, a structure characterized by two complemental units is utilized. One unit is in the form of a tubular handle which may be suspended from the tea cup and this is provided with a relatively stationary main jaw. A spring biased plunger is slidable in the handle at which time the handle serves as either a cylinder or sheath and the plunger is characterized by a rod carrying a jaw forming a secondary jaw, which is opposed to and cooperable with the first jaw for maintaining the bag between the jaws for holding, stirring, and the subsequent squeezing step.

Other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and accompanying sheet of illustrative drawings.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a view showing the holder, the manner in which it leans and is held in the cup and with portions of the cup and saucer broken away and shown in section.

Figure 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view through the holder with the plunger rod appearing in elevation.

Figure 3 is an elevational view of the holder at right angles and observing the construction of the same in a direction from left to right in Figures 1 and 2.

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the holder.

Referring now to the drawings by the way of reference numerals and accompanying lead lines, the saucer which is conventional, is denoted by the numeral 6 and the complemental tea cup by the numera1 8. As is stated, these are shown partly in section and partly in elevation to satisfactorily bring out the practical usefulness of the novel holder for the tea bag H]. The latter is of any suitable or conventional form and, as usual, is provided with an attached cord or string ill carrying, if desired, a tag l4 with the brand name (not shown) appearing thereon.

The aforementioned holder is characterized by two primary units, one of which is denoted by the numeral l6 and the other by the numeral [8. These units will be of appropriate heat resisting and non-corrosive materials. Unit H comprises a cylindrical open ended handle which is provided at its lower end with a grip herein defined as a relatively stationary jaw. This takes the form or" a simple flat plate of any suitable mar ginal shape, said plate being denoted at 22 and being rigidly secured as at 24 to the lower end of the handle. The lower end portion of the plate is formed into an appropriate bend 26 providing a trough-like receiver and holder for the tea bag It. It is usually desirable to suspend the handle in the cup in the manner illustrated in Figure l and this is accomplished by way of a hanger hook 28 having an attaching shank 30, superimposed against and appropriately secured to the intermediate portion of the handle. The plunger unit [8 comprises a linearly straight rod 32 which is slidably mounted in the handle. This gives the handle the additional function of a sheathlike cylinder and provides a highly satisfactory mount and guide for the plunger rod. The rod is of a length greater than the length of a cylinder and one end of the rod is provided with a plate 34 which is opposed to the bent por tion of the jaw and in this manner performs as a complemental relatively movable jaw. One edge portion of the plate 34 is preferably provided with a lateral flange 36 which constitutes a sort of a hook and provides a highly satisfactory arrangement for grasping and clamping the tea bag in a squeezable position between the jaws. The upper end of the rod is provided with a suitable button or finger-piece 38. Then there is a coil spring 49 which surrounds the exposed upper end portion of the rod and bears beneath the knob at one end and has its opposite end surrounding and fixedly secured at 42 to the upper end of the handle. The spring obviously serves to bias the plunger rod upwardly and. hence the jaws are normally spread apart or are in opposed ready-to-use open positions.

Not only does the jaw means serve as a clamping and squeezing element but the trough-like portion 26 coacting with the backing plate 22 provides satisfactory stirrup in which the bag may be received at the time it is initially immersed in the hot water in the cup. In other words, in using the device all that is necessary is to lodge the tea bag in the receiver or trough thus provided. The cord is then drawn up and releasably engaged with the keeper hook provided therefor on the handle, the latter hook being denoted by the numeral 44. After the liquid in the cup starts to transform into the desired brew, the bag being in the holder and submerged in the manner shown, the user may press the plunger down and squeeze the jaws slightly against the bag and then swish the bag around in the liquid in a well-known muddling manner. After the brew is satisfactorily made to suit the taste of the user, the plunger is forced down further and the jaws are squeezed against the bag and the excess liquid tea in the bag is expressed and. retrieved in the main brew in the cup. After the holder and bag are lifted out of the cup, the bag may be dumped in the saucer for future disposal or may be handled in any manner that the requirements call for.

It is thought that persons skilled in the art to which the invention relates will be able to obtain a clear understanding of the invention after considering the description in connection with the drawings. Therefore, a more lengthy description is regarded as unnecessary.

Minor changes in shape, size and arrangement of details coming within the field of invention claimed may be resorted to in actual practice, if desired.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A tea bag holder, stirrer, and squeezer comprising an open ended cylinder providing a hollow handle, a lateral teacup engaging and supporting member secured to the upper end portion of said handle, a cord keeper hook carried by said handle, a tea bag holding and squeezing jaw secured to the lower end of said handle, a plunger comprising a rod slidable in said handle, said rod being provided with a finger-piece on its upper end and being provided on its lower end with a jaw which is movable toward said first named jaw, said bag holding and squeezing jaw being in the form of a plate secured to the lower end of said handle, said plate having a flat portion and an arcuate portion providing a trough-like receiver for holding the tea bag in a prescribed manner, and the jaw on the lower end of said rod being at right angles to the flat portion of said plate and opposed to the receiver, the normal distance between said rod jaw and said receiver being such that a conventional tea bag may be arranged in the space therebetween and backed up and sustained in position by the plate.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 400,273 Valiquet Mar. 26, 1889 845,180 Kraift Feb. 26, 1907 1,503,898 Hott 1- Aug. 5, 1924 1,539,221 Tennant May 26, 1925 1,851,126 Mikkelsen Mar. 29, 1932 2,061,130 Balzer Nov. 17, 1936 2,454,878 Marler Nov. 20, 1948

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