BEVERAGE INFUSION DEVICE
The present invention is directed generally to a beverage infusion device and specifically to an improved device for brewing tea, coffee, or other beverage.
Background of the Invention
Traditionally, devices for brewing dry beverages are simple pouches containing portions of the dry beverage material. Tea bags are probably the most widely known and used dry beverage brewing devices. When a tea bag is submerged in liquid, typically water, the tea sinks to the bottom of the bag where it forms a dense clump making it difficult for the tea and water to interact most efficiently. The tea bag has to steep in the water for a lengthy amount of time to obtain the full flavor of the tea. On many occasions, by the time the tea is sufficiently brewed, the water is cold. This is fine for iced tea, but not for hot tea. Many people, especially those who do not like strong tea, like to reuse a particular tea bag. When a typical tea bag is removed from the water, it is a sopping wad of tea leaves.
This wad takes a long time to dry and is very unattractive after it finally dries.
Tea bags have been developed that attempt to increase the surface area of the tea bag, thereby creating more interaction between the leaves and the water. For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,366,741 to Van Der Zon and U.S. Patent No. 4,055,668 to Kopp disclose infusion packages having a pair of attached pouches to allow for better infusion. U.S. Patent No.
4,290,521 to Mitchell discloses a foldable tea bag having a three-dimensional interior space.
Further U.S. Patent No. 5,952,028 to Lesser discloses a beverage filter that attaches to the drinking container and is suspended within the container, allowing for free flow of the liquid and dry beverage material.
Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides for a beverage infusion device having an increased surface area for infusion of a dry beverage material, thereby facilitating faster brewing and more intense flavor. The infusion device includes a liquid permeable pouch divided into smaller sections, which hold the dry beverage material, thus preventing the dry beverage material from clumping at the bottom of the pouch. The pouch basically comprises two layers of permeable material attached in a pattern of strategic points that preferably form a multidimensional grid. The attachment points divide the layers into the smaller beverage holding sections. This design increases the exposure of the dry beverage material to the liquid. This increased exposure allows for better infusion.
The beverage infusion device of the present invention provides a method for infusing a dry beverage material that is quicker than traditional brewing methods and produces full flavor in less time.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Figure 1 shows a front view of the grid configuration of the beverage infusion device.
Figure 2a shows an end view of the beverage infusion device of Figure 1.
Figure 2b shows an alternate end view of the beverage infusion device of Figure 1.
Figure 3 shows a schematic view of the beverage infusion device of Figure 1 inside a cup of water.
Figure 4 shows a front view of the beverage infusion device having a circular grid configuration.
Figure 5 shows a front view of the channel configuration of the beverage infusion device.
Figure 6 shows an end view of the channel configuration of Figure 5. Figure 7 shows an end view of an alternate channel configuration of Figure 5.
Detailed Description of the Invention
The beverage infusion device of the present invention is a pouch divided into sections, each of which contains a small portion of dry beverage material. The beverage material can be any that requires infusion to be in drinkable form such as tea and coffee. For simplicity, the present invention will refer to tea as the beverage material, but this reference is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.
The tea pouch of the present invention is made of at least two layers of a permeable material that are bonded at strategic points to create sections within the pouch. These sections can have various configurations such as a grid configuration and a channel configuration.
In a grid configuration as shown in Figure 1, tea pouch 10 is comprised of at least two layers of permeable 14a and 14b bonded at points 12 to create sections 11. As shown in the end view of the grid configuration in Figures 2a and 2b, the layers 14a and 14b are preferably coffered to further define each section 11 which holds a small amount of tea 13. The bonding must be significant enough to keep the tea from moving outside of its respective section. Preferably the bonding is accomplished with an embosser, a heat embosser, or pattern stitching, but may also be achieved with a non-soluable, non-toxic adhesive. The sectioned pouch prevents the tea from piling up at the bottom of the pouch as in typical tea bags, thereby increasing the surface area for infusion of the water with the tea. Unlike traditional tea bags, the beverage infusion device of the present invention also allows convected liquid to pass through since there is less resistance due to the increased surface area and thin disbursement of the beverage material.
In a preferred embodiment, the device is divided into sections and subsections as shown in Figures 2a, 2b, and 3. In this embodiment, the layers 14a and 14b are coffered into
a series of large sections, which are in turn coffered to form a series of smaller subsections within each large section.
The pouch can be of any desired shape, such as the circular shape of Figure 4 and the rectangular shape of Figure 1. The pouch can contain a string or a simple tab end 15, as shown in the Figures, that remains cool and dry while allowing the pouch to be dipped in and out of the liquid.
As mentioned, the layers 14a and 14b of permeable material are preferably not simple flat layers, but are instead preferably coffered as shown in Figures 2a and 2b. This coffering of the layers maximizes liquid contact with and flow through the tea 13 and also yields sections having a larger volume capacity thereby allowing for the expansion of the tea as it steeps in the water.
In an alternative embodiment, the tea pouch is divided into parallel channels 20 as shown in Figure 5. These parallel channels 20 can be configured in a variety of arrangements, some embodiments of which are shown in Figures 6 and 7. In the embodiment shown in Figures 5 and 7, one layer 21 is corrugated to have a series of high points 22 and low points 23 that form channels and another layer 24 is bonded to either of the series of points 22 and 23 of the corrugated layer 21. The tea is held inside the individual channels 20, thereby preventing the tea from clumping together and providing better infusion. Figures 5 and 6 demonstrate an alternative configuration wherein two layers 25a and 25b are both corrugated having peaks 26 and valleys 27. Each peak 26 of layer 25b is bonded to a valley of layer 25a thereby forming a series of parallel channels 20, having a tube-like configuration. The bonds of peaks and valleys prevent the passing of tea between channels.
The configurations disclosed herein are possible embodiments of the present invention, and other embodiments having different channel, pouch, and sectional configurations could also be used.
The sectioned tea bag facilitates faster brewing because the tea is held in a thin layer rather than a thick clump, thereby maximizing exposed surface area and allowing liquid to pass through many times faster than a conventional tea bag. Faster brewing allows the beverage to come to full flavor before it becomes too cold. Further, the sectioned tea bags dry faster for those tea drinkers who like to reuse tea bags. The beverage infusion device of the present invention is easy to use and familiar to customers because it is used in the same way as traditional infusion packages, but works faster and more efficiently.
The beverage infusion device of the present invention requires less dry beverage material than is required in traditional tea bags due to its increased surface area and increased exposure of the beverage material to liquid, thereby allowing the manufacturer to use half the amount of the beverage material normally required, and possibly less. The savings on materials can yield extra profitability to the manufacturer or reduced price to the consumer. Also, smaller beverage material requirements results in reduced weight of the dry beverage material product and can produce savings in packaging, shipping, and retailing. One possibility for manufacturing the beverage infusion device at high speed with simple machinery is to coffer a first layer of permeable material, cover this layer of material with a thin layer of dry beverage material, and then layer a second permeable layer of material on top of the first layer and beverage material. More particularly, the first layer travels upon a bed that vibrates to distribute the dry beverage material into the coffered sections. The second layer is then laid upon the first layer and an attaching mechanism, preferably an embosser, fuses the two layers together in a sectioned configuration. The fused layers are then cut into the finished beverage infusion device. Other manufacturing methods obvious to those skilled in the art could also be used to produce the beverage infusion device.