US3334803A - Beverage infusion bag - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 8, 1967 H. D. ABBEY BEVERAGE INFUSION BAG Filed June 16, 1965 FIG! FEGZ:

IN VENTOR. HYMAN D. ABBEY ATTORNEYS terial employed. This is a United States Patent 3,334,803 BEVERAGE INFUSION BAG Hyman D. Abbey, 69 Vine Road, Larchmont, N.Y. 10538 Filed June 16, 1965, Ser. No. 464,402 2 Claims. (Cl. 22953) This invention relates to the brewing of beverages by infusion, and more particularly to beverage infusion bags used for that purpose.

This application has claims to the beverage infusion bag. A continuation-in-part application has claims directed to the method of making the perforated film.

The general object of the invention is to improve beverage infusion bags, typically and mainly tea bags. However, the bags also may be used for coffee, and in an enlarged size may be used as the filtering medium in coffee urns.

More particular objects are to provide a beverage infusion bag which is low in cost, improved in appearance, and which avoids staining or discoloration in use. This object is fulfilled by using a solid plastic film instead of a porous paper. The solid film is impermeable, but in accordance with my invention is perforated with a very large number of minute holes which are formed by piercing with a sharp point so that no chad is produced. An ancillary object therefore is to avoid the production of chad.

A further object concerns the method of providing the vast number of perforations required, as a part of the process of making the infusion bag, and at minimum cost.

To accomplish the foregoing general objects, and other more specific objects which will hereinafter appear, my invention resides in the infusion bag and its manufacture, as are more particularly described in the following specification. The specification is accompanied by a drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view bodying features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a section drawn to enlarged scale and taken approximately in the plane of the line 2-2 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic view drawn to small scale and explanatory of the method of forming the perforations.

Referring to the drawing, and more particularly to FIG. I, the illustrated infusion bag 12 is a tea bag which may be of usual dimension, say two inches square. It may be fabricated in any known fashion, and in the present case a rectangular piece of material is folded at the bottom 14 and heat sealed around three edges as indicated at 16, 18 and 20, with a measured quantity of tea confined in the resulting bag. An identification tag 22 is connected by means of a suitable string or thread 24, the latter being secured to the bag in any known manner, as by use of a small aluminum staple 26.

Thev tea bag may be conventional except for the maplastic film 28 (FIG. 2) which has been perforated with a large number of minute perforations 30. The plastic is selected to be odorless, taste less, non-toxic and heat sealable. Good examples are polyethylene film, and vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymer film a well-known commercial form of which is sold under the trandemark Saran.

The film preferably has a thickness ranging from say 0.0005 to 0.001 inch, but could be thicker. It has about 1,000 or more holes per square inch. Although the holes are tiny, to prevent escape of tea dust, they are so numerous that the area of the holes preferably occupies about 20 percent or more of the area of the film. An area of 22 percent results in an infusion rate comparable to most presently used tea bags. A greater hole area increases the infusion rate, but an area greater than 40 pershowing a tea bag em- 3,3 34,803 Patented Aug. 8, 1967 cent would be greater than wanted or needed. A number of holes greater than 3,000 would be difiicult to provide with tapered pins and while still keeping the holes small enough to hold back tea dust.

The holes are formed by piercing the film with a sharp point, so that no chad or scrap is formed. The usual punch and die method would form chad, and incomplete removal of the scrap or chad would lead to later difficulty on immersion of the tea bag, because of release of chad or scrap in the beverage.

One method of perforating the plastic material economically and without the formation of chad may be described with reference to FIG. 3 of the drawing. In that figure the plastic web 32 is being rolled onto a core 34 on a drive shaft 36. As the material is rolled it is penetrated by rolling contact with a drum 38 having sharp needles 40 disposed about and projecting from the said drum 38.

Drum 38 rolls in contact with the web at the roll 42. It is urged against the roll in any suitable fashion, here schematically suggested by arms 44 pivoted at 46 and urged downward by compression springs 48.

In one example the needles are spaced say one-eighth inch apart and protrude say three-siXteent-hs of an inch. In this length they taper from a sharp point to a diameter of say 0.055 inch. The roll 48 itself would produce only 64 holes per square inch, but by piercing simultaneously through many layers of film at the roll, and recognizing that the distribution of the holes is random, there then are produced a large number of holes. For example, by penetrating sixteen layers there would be 1,024 holes per square inch, instead of 64. If the film has a thickness of say 0.001 inch the needles then would be applied with sufiicient pressure to pierce to a depth of 0.016 inch. If the film has a thickness of say 0.00075 inch the needle pressure would be adjusted to penetrate to a depth of 0.012 inch in order to penetrate sixteen layers.

It will be understood that as the web is rolled up each increment of the web is penetrated sixteen separate successive times, and because of the growth in diameter of the wound roll, there is a random displacement of one set of perforations compared to another, thus producing the desired dense array of closely spaced holes. At the end of the web the roll 42 may be driven some extra turns if it be desired to avoid discarding the last few turns of web.

Because the holes are formed by a sharp point they are formed without chad. The perforating operation may be combined with some other needed operation which anyway involves rewinding, including for example, the slitting operation of the film manufacturer.

The extent of perforation is related to the time required for infusion of the beverage, and the number and area of holes suggested above provides a relatively rapid infusion of tea. In any case, the quantitative values have been given solely by way of example, and not intended to be in limitation of the invention.

It is believed that my improved infusion bag and the advantages thereof will be apparent from the foregoing detailed description. Plastic films such as polyethylene and vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymer are not discolored by the dye action of tea leaves, as is the case with ordinary tea bags. The film used may be transparent, or if preferred may be either a translucent or opaque white film. It has greater wet strength than the material used in ordinary tea bags; it is readily heat scalable; it is low in cost; and it is odorless and tasteless.

It will be understood that while I have described the beverage infusion bag in a preferred form, changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as sought to be defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. A beverage infusion bag made of a plastic film which has been perforated with a large number of minute perforations, said plastic film being selected to be odorless, tasteless, non-toxic and heat sealable, said film having from about 1000 to about 3000 holes per square inch, said holes being formed by piercing with a sharp point so that they have no scrap or chad, and occupying about 20% or more of the area of the film.

2. A beverage infusion bag made of a plastic film which has been perforated with a large number of minute perforations, said plastic film being polyethylene or vinylidene chloride-vinyl chloride copolymer, said film having a thickness of from 0.0005 to 0.001 inch, said film having from about 1,000 to 3,000 holes per square inch, and constituting about 20% to 40% of the area of the film,

4 said holes being formed by piercing with a sharp point so that they have no scrap or chad.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 22,490 5/ 1944 Rambold 229-53 2,115,122 4/1938 Prudden 206-0.5 2,817,596 12/1957 Schur 9977.l

10 3,085,608 4/1963 Mathues 150-1 JOSEPH R. LECLAIR, Primary Examiner.

D. M. BOCKENEK, Assistant Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. A BEVERAGE INFUSION BAG MADE OF A PLASTIC FILM WHICH HAS BEEN PERFORATED WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF MINUTE PERFORATIONS, SAID PLASTIC FILM BEING SELECTED TO BE ODORLESS, TASTELESS, NON-TOXIC AND HEAT SEALABLE, SAID FILM HAVING FROM ABOUT 1000 TO ABOUT 3000 HOLES PER SQUARE INCH, SAID HOLES BEING FORMED BY PIERCING WITH A SHARP POINT SO THAT THEY HAVE NO SCRAP OR CHAD, AND OCCUPYING ABOUT 20% OR MORE OF THE AREA OF THE FILM.

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