US3415656A - Compressible infusion bag - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 10, 1968 LU'NDGREN 3,415,656

COMPRESSIBLE INFUS ION BAG Filed Sept. 9, 1965 7 INVENTOR PHILIP L LuNuGREN' ATTORNEYS 3,415,656 COMPRESSIBLE INFUSION BAG Philip L. Lundgren, Box 124, Saugatuck Station, Westport, Conn. 06880 Filed Sept. 9, 1965, Ser. No. 486,116 3 Claims. (Cl. 99--77.1)

ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An infusion beverage bag comprising a body of permeable material, a channel about the periphery of said body which forms a central chamber for the material to be steeped, an infusion material in said central chamber and a single string means in said channel encircling the periphery of said body whereby the periphery is constricted and the surface area of the said bag is reduced simultaneously upon pulling the string ends.

Bags or envelopes in which tea or the like is packaged for immersion in hot Water for brewing purposes are usually subjected to pressure to expel the liquid remaining in the tea bags, after an infusion beverage has been prepared.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an important object of the invention to provide a simple infusion beverage bag, and more particularly, a tea bag wherein a single string attached to the bag for effective handling of the tea bag, is interlaced through the bag in such a way that when the string of the bag is pulled, the pressure directed to the tea in the bag will be directed equally on all sides of the bag.

A further object is to provide a means for extracting a greater amount of the essence from an infusion beverage bag in the preparation of an infusion beverage, and more specifically a tea bag, so that more cups of tea may be obtained from each bag or conversely, less tea may be used in a bag than heretofore for obtaining the same number of cups of tea as previously obtained.

Another important object of the invention is to provide means for temporarily attaching the free ends of the string together so they will not become entangled when handling the infusion bag.

These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become obvious from the following detailed de- 'scription.

THE INVENTION The novel infusion beverage bag of the invention is comprised of a body of permeable material and a single string means encircling the periphery of said body whereby the periphery is constricted and the surface area of the said bag is reduced simultaneously by pulling the string ends. As the string is tightened about the bag, liquid is expelled from the bag without the necessity of contacting the bag with the fingers of the hand or applying mechanical pressure means thereto.

The body of the beverage bag may be made of any permeable material such as filter cloth, paper or similar material although paper is the most commonly used material. The size and shape of the infusion bag will be determined by the requirements of use although tea bags are usually square or rectangular in shape.

REFERRING NOW TO THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of an infusion beverage bag of the invention with the ends of the string attached to avoid entanglement thereof.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the bag of FIG. 1 just prior to draining the ends of the string.

United States Patent 3,415,656 Patented Dec. 10, 1968 FIG. 3 is a plan view illustrating the bag constricted by pulling the string ends.

Referring to the drawings in detail, the infusion beverage bag 1 has a square shape and may be made of two separate pieces or one folded piece as well known in the art. The bag 1 is provided with a peripheral channel 2 formed by securing the opposing faces of bag 1 by stitching, adhesive or other suitable securing means along lines 3 and 4. A string or cord 5 is passed through one of the openings 6 and looped around through channel 2 and out opening 6' to form a complete encirclement of the central compartment 7 of the bag 1 which holds the material to be steeped. The ends of string 5 are attached to a tab 8 which is perforated along line 9.

The beverage 'bag is held by tap 8 during immersion of the bag and when the bag is ready to be removed from the hot water, tab 8 is separated along perforated edge 9 and the two ends of the string are pulled in the direction of the arrows shown in FIG. 2. The cord 5 thereby setting up a constricting action in channel 2 around the periphery of compartment 7 of bag 1.

It will be understood, of course, that when the bag is filled with tea leaves in compartment 7, as shown by FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the edge 4 of the bag is closed and sealed to confine the tea leaves to the bag structure for immersing in hot water to prepare an infusion beverage. Edge 4 has no openings as edge 3 does.

Thus, it will be seen that due to the construction shown and described, I have provided an infusion beverage bag wherein the string 5 which forms a part thereof and provides means for effecting handling of the tea bag, may be drawn tightly around the periphery of the bag, constricting the periphery to a substantially circular shape, and reducing the surface area of compartment 7, compressing the bag into a small and compact substantially spherical shape. Thus, while the material such as tea leaves absorb water and tend to increase in volume, the walls of the bag are decreasing in area and the available volume is decreasing, creating a pressure against the Water soaked tea leaves remaining in the bag from all directions inward to expel the liquid remaining in the tea bag. This action also has a tendency to rearrange the teag leaves in the bag, thus obtaining the flavor from tea in the center of the mass.

It will be noted that pressure may be applied to the bag to squeeze the liquid from the tea leaves therein, without the necessity of touching the tea bag with the fingers or using other mechanical means for directing pressure to the bag. Moreover, the compression of the wet tea leaves is accomplished in the most eflicient manner possible since a uniform compression is effect on the entire body of the contents.

Because of the maximum compression on the tea leaves, my invention has a number of advantages. Since a greater amount of the essence is extracted, a greater number of cups of tea can be made from one tea bag than previously possible.

This fact may be taken advantage of in another way It is possible to put less tea in each tea bag and obtain the same number of cups as heretofore. With this, the tea bag can be made smaller, thus obtaining an economy both in bag material and tea. I have found that from 25 to 30 percent, or more, tea bags may be made per pound of tea, since less tea is required in each bag for obtaining an equivalent amount of tea. Thus, my invention has important economic and commercial advantages.

While I have described certain specific embodiments and preferred modes of practice of my invention, it will be understood that the invention is not limited thereto and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure and the scope of the 3. The bag of claim 1 wherein the string ends are atappended claims. tached to a separable means.

I claim:

1. An infusion beverage bag comprising a body of References C t opposing faces of permeable material, the faces being 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS secured around the outer periphery and also being secured around an inner portion of the permeable mate- 2466281 SBhaw 99*771 rial so as to form a central compartment surrounded by 2791505 5 957 amen 99 771 a channel, said channel having peripheral openings in 2881910 4/1959 Murphy 206 '5 opposite edges of the said body, an infusion material in 10 3'237550 3/1966 Chnstopher 99*287 said central compartment and a single string means in A LOUIS MON ACELL Primary Examiner said channel completely encircling the central compartment With the free ends passing out through said pe- S-B'DAVIS,ASSiSlmt Examine!- ripheral openings.

2. The bag of claim 1 wherein the body of opposing 15 faces are substantially rectangular.

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