US3421431A - Tea bag disposers - Google Patents

Description

Jan; 14, 1969 L. w. ROSEN TEA BAG DISPOSERS Filed Aug. 15, 1967 INVENTOR.

United States Patent 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A protective device against drippings from a steeped tea bag on outer surfaces while being transferred by its string from a cup, consisting of a mountable platform leading to an integrated well along its path for the reception of such bag, concentrically adjustable at its front end on a top edge of said cup, the rear end of which being shaped as a handle for manually supporting said device in operative position, with means thereon for the central guidance of said bag through such string while being slidably withdrawn from said cup in the course of such transfer.

My invention relates to the use of the conventional tea bag for brewing tea in a cup or the like, involving the insertion of the bag, in a dry state, in the liquid contents of such cup by means of a dangling string attached to said bag, and finally removing it therefrom by the same means, this time in a very saturated state and with consequent drippings from said bag that could stain some outside surface such as that of a table cloth that may be susceptible to such damage, or that could otherwise create some mess, and which disclosure would protectively avoid all these consequences.

The object of my invention is to provide a handy device that would safeguard those drippings while the bag is being removed from the cup after sufficient brewing has been accomplished, so that none of it will spill anywhere except in a complemental well or enclosure forming part of said device. A further object is to include in such device a co-existing removal method, available to one with unsteady hand, whereby said bag may, instead, he slid from said cup to such well in a pulley-like operation by means of the conventional string being pivoted around centralized lugs in alignment with said well, rather than lifted by said string for the purpose of such transfer, with resultant tendency of the bag to dangle and get out of precise control when manipulated in the latter way. A further object is to have such device of light weight and inexpensive construction, and of such form whereby it can be stamped or molded through one operation, preferably out of plastic, such form to encompass a flat bottom for table rest when not in use in addition to a suitable handle for manipulation or hanging purpose.

Other features of my invention and of the application thereof, and further details of my improvement will be set forth as this specification proceeds. It is understood, however, that the invention is not limited to this particular disclosure, but is susceptible of many changes and modifications which may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

For a more particular description of my invention, reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of my device showing it in operational position over the top edge of a cup, the latter being depicted in fragmentary form sufficient to reveal the overlapping arrrangement between the two, and showing also through broken lines the location of a tea bag inside the well, with its string in centrally guided position between lugs in the rear thereof.

Patented Jan. 14, 1969 ICC FIG. 2 is a vertical section taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal section taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of my device in fragmentary form sufficient to show a variation in the area surrounding the well 9, whereby the shallow bead 22,. in juxtaposition with the top of the wall 10, is here made to reach from the left partition 2 to the right partition 3 as extra precaution in completely fencing in any stray drippings, the intention being that this illustrated variation takes in a similar provision in juxtaposition with the top of the wall 11.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of my device, also in fragmentary form, sufiicient to show an alternate variation for containing any stray drippings, in this instance by means of having the entire platform 1, from its concentric end and as far up as the bottom of the handle 4, slope all around toward the well 9, as illustrated by part 1A, so as to provide a sort of shallow funnel for directing those drippings toward said well. This slope can easily be effected in the contour of a mold cast for the production of this device, while yet maintaining the basic design of my device in all of the parts disclosed herein.

Throughout the drawings, similar reference characters indicate similar parts.

In the accompanying drawings my device consists of the platform 1, otherwise shown as 1A in the modification depicted in FIG. 5, integrated with which platform is the left partition 2 and the right partition 3. At the upper end of said platform, and in elongation thereof, is the handle 4, on which appear the bifurcated and centrally aligned lugs 5 and 6, the former on the left and the latter on the right, uniformly fashioned out of said handle and sufficiently freed to have them upturned as respectively shown in FIG. 1 and illustrated in FIG. 2. At the lower end of said platform is the terminal 7, arced as shown in concentric relation to a side portion of a conventional cup, having along its entire distance the under-lip 8 substantially at right angles thereto as clearly shown in FIG. 2. Leading downwardly from said platform is the well 9, formed by the upper wall 10, the lower Wall 11, the left wall 12, the right wall 13 and the flat bottom 14. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 the said device is designed, by its concentric terminal, to overlap through its entire distance a corresponding arc of the top edge 15 of the cup 16, with the lip 8 on the inside of the cup as shown in FIG. 2.

The tea bag assembly, shown in broken lines for illustrative purpose only, consists of the bag proper 17, its string 18 attached to the bag at one end thereof by the staple 19, and attached at its other end by a similar staple 20 to a conventional advertising card 211. In FIG. 4 is shown the horizontal head 22 alongside the top of the wall 10, the purpose of which is fully explained in a description of said figure as appears above. For hanging purpose I have provided the hole 23 at the top of the handle 4.

In connection with the use of this device it is to be noted that the bifurcation of the lugs 5 and 6, in the position as shown, permits one to mount the string 18 either from the right or from the left, and yet have it in either instance in central alignment with the well 9 so far as the directional pull is concerned for sliding the bag into said well. This convenience should inure to the benefit of those who are right or left handed, as the case may be. In the illustration of tea bag and string shown by broken lines in FIG. 1, the mounting of the string has been from direction over the plug 5, leaving the free end of the string in loose position on the right side of said handle. It is obvious that reversely such mounting could be from directo fully contact the top edge of tion over the plug 6, in which case the free end of the string would be in loose position on the left side of said handle. In either instance, as mentioned, the directional pull on the bag remains in central position. It is also to be noted, from reference to FIG. 2, that the depth of the well 9 is less than that of the cup, obviously to permit the overlapping portion at the lower end of the platform 1 said cup as shown in said figure.

While I have shown and described one embodiment of my invention, it is obvious that it is not restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures that come within the scope of the annexed claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A disposer for conventional tea bags, comprising a platform with a lower end adapted to concentrically overlap the top edge of a cup or the like, a well surrounded by walls leading downwardly from said platform and located rearward of said end, of suflicient capacity to house one or more of said tea bags, and a handle in the rear of said well and platform to facilitate any manual manipulation of said disposer, principally in placing and keeping it in operational position with said cup for withdrawing said bag to the confines of said well after brewage with the former has taken place.

2. In a disposer as described in claim 1 Where said well is partitioned off at the top of said platform to confine any stray drippings from said bag within such enclosure.

3. In a disposer as described in claim 1 where sloping means are employed to cause drainage into said well of any stray drippings left on said platform from said bag in the course of transferring it into said well.

4. In a disposer as described in claim 1 where upper lugs are employed on a level with said platform and above and in central relation to said well, as a means for pivoting the conventional string on said bag for consummating its withdrawal from such cup without lifting said bag but rather, through pulley-like action, by a sliding operation thereof over the contacting surface of said platform.

5. In a disposer as described in claim 1 where said well is less in depth than that of the conventional cup and where its bottom is flat for positioning purpose when not in use.

6. In a disposer as described in claim 1 where its concentric end has an under-lip for the prevention of accidental shifting of said end from its overlapping position on said cup in the process of transferring said bag from the inside of said cup to the confines of said well.

7. In a disposer for conventional tea bags comprising a platform with a handle in the rear thereof, a pair of lugs on said handle carved out of its material in bifurcated formation for optionally sliding said bag after brewage from the inside of a cup into the confines of a well by means of operating the conventional string attached to said bag in pulley-like fashion through pivotal action thereof at the site of said lugs, the said string being centrally mountable on said lugs either from the right or left direction, and said well being centrally aligned and in lower position in relation thereto and of a capacity to freely admit one or more of said bags into its confines, the said platform surrounding said well being peripherly partitioned OE and sloped in the direction of the latter as a guard against stray drippings from said bag except in the direction of said well and its lower end being concentric in form with an under-lip along said form substantially at right angles thereto to fit in fixed position over a corresponding distance on the top edge of such cup.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,083,193 6/1937 Grassiani 99295 2,484,461 10/1949 Perry 99-295 FOREIGN PATENTS 116,016 l/1930 Austria.

ROBERT W. JENKINS, Primary Examiner.

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