Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/70—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for materials not otherwise provided for
  • B65D85/804—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package
  • B65D85/808—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package for immersion in the liquid to release part or all of their contents, e.g. tea bags
  • B65D85/812—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package for immersion in the liquid to release part or all of their contents, e.g. tea bags with features facilitating their manipulation or suspension
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B29/00—Packaging of materials presenting special problems
  • B65B29/02—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65D—CONTAINERS FOR STORAGE OR TRANSPORT OF ARTICLES OR MATERIALS, e.g. BAGS, BARRELS, BOTTLES, BOXES, CANS, CARTONS, CRATES, DRUMS, JARS, TANKS, HOPPERS, FORWARDING CONTAINERS; ACCESSORIES, CLOSURES, OR FITTINGS THEREFOR; PACKAGING ELEMENTS; PACKAGES
  • B65D85/00—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials
  • B65D85/70—Containers, packaging elements or packages, specially adapted for particular articles or materials for materials not otherwise provided for
  • B65D85/804—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package
  • B65D85/808—Disposable containers or packages with contents which are mixed, infused or dissolved in situ, i.e. without having been previously removed from the package for immersion in the liquid to release part or all of their contents, e.g. tea bags
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B29/00—Packaging of materials presenting special problems
  • B65B29/02—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package
  • B65B29/028—Packaging of substances, e.g. tea, which are intended to be infused in the package packaging infusion material into filter bags
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B65—CONVEYING; PACKING; STORING; HANDLING THIN OR FILAMENTARY MATERIAL
  • B65B—MACHINES, APPARATUS OR DEVICES FOR, OR METHODS OF, PACKAGING ARTICLES OR MATERIALS; UNPACKING
  • B65B51/00—Devices for, or methods of, sealing or securing package folds or closures; Devices for gathering or twisting wrappers, or necks of bags
  • B65B51/10—Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof
  • B65B51/22—Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof by friction or ultrasonic or high-frequency electrical means, i.e. by friction or ultrasonic or induction welding
  • B65B51/225—Applying or generating heat or pressure or combinations thereof by friction or ultrasonic or high-frequency electrical means, i.e. by friction or ultrasonic or induction welding by ultrasonic welding

Definitions

• the invention relates to a bag for a beverage preparation as presented in the preamble of the appended claim.
• a beverage preparation in the form of solid raw material for a beverage to be prepared by brewing or extracting is packed in a water-permeable bag (filter bag) in order to prevent this material from being mixed with the beverage.
• the filter bag in turn, can be packed in package material enclosing the bag and forming a single protective package for the filter bag.
• Such protective packages may be packed in a larger box-like sales package.
• the most common examples of such packages are packages of tea beverages to be prepared by brewing or extracting, that is, packages of tea bags.
• a conventional rectangular flat protective package, to which the string of the tea bag is also fastened, is disclosed, for example, in US patent 3,175,911.
• a number of patent documents disclose solutions to overcome these problems.
• a very common approach to overcome the problem is to make the package of the bag in a way "openable at the bottom", so that the bag can be lowered into a cup while carried by a string, and lifted by the string back into the package again, wherein the package can be used to squeeze the bag without staining one's fingers, and for holding the bag, as is disclosed, for example, in international publication WO 96/01773.
• it is difficult to pull the swollen bag into the package if the package is dimensioned to fit closely the dimensions of the dry bag.
• liquid can still run through the opened bottom of the package, if the package, after the use, is placed in a horizontal position on a table.
• tea bags are known, in which the suspension string has been guided in such a way that the bag can be squeezed dry by pulling the string. This requires special guiding arrangements of the string and a special attachment to the bag in order to obtain a loop for squeezing the bag dry, as disclosed, for example, in US 2004/071830.
• elongated bags which can be used as stirring sticks so that when water is being stirred, the material contained in the bag simultaneously dissolves in water through a porous wall.
• document US 2002/0162461 discloses the use of densely spaced micropores (smaller than 0.5 to 0.35 mm) in a bag material, whereby the effect of surface tension is reduced and water can enter the bag and the substances dissolved in water can come out of the bag by diffusion.
• the bag can be used for preparing beverages from a water-soluble or extractable material. When micropores are used, it is probably possible to reduce the leaking of water from the bag after the use, but contact with a surface may trigger dribbling of water out of the bag.
• the bag according to the invention is primarily characterized in what will be presented in the characterizing part of the appended claim 1.
• the bag comprises a supporting surface formed as a structure that is impermeable to water. This supporting surface comes against the counter surface, onto which the wet bag is placed after the infusion.
• the supporting surface provides the bag with supporting points which support the bag so that it will remain in a position where the supporting surface is lowermost against the counter surface.
• the water-impermeable structure of the supporting surface extends upwards (above the supporting points) as a collar of a given height, encircling the whole bag in the horizontal direction and preventing the dribbling of water out of the bag from the lowermost point of the wet beverage preparation straight in the horizontal direction.
• the water-impermeable structure is an integral part of the package material of the bag (the wrapping mate- rial enclosing the beverage preparation) which, in other parts, remains permeable to water, that is, has a filter structure.
• the bottom portion of a vertical bag that is, a bag whose height is greater than the largest dimension of the bag in a direction transverse to the height
• the bottom portion of a polyhedral bag is formed as a water-impermeable structure, above which the side wall of the bag extending in the height direction is permeable to water (having a filter structure) for infusing a beverage preparation contained in the bag, so that its components would dissolve in water.
• the water-impermeable zone of the bottom portion extends to a suitable height in the direction of the side wall of the bag, forming the above-described collar which extends to a given height and encircles the supporting plane formed by the bottom.
• a bag may be a bag made by folding and seaming of the package material of the bag, for example having the general shape of a conventional tea bag or the shape of a tetrahedron or another polyhedron. After the bag infused in water is placed upright on a table or another counter surface, the water tending to leak out from the beverage preparation will remain in a kind of a "trough" inside the bottom portion which is impermeable to water.
• the water-impermeable bottom portion can be provided, for example, at the bottom of a beverage preparation bag having the shape of an ordinary tea bag, or at the bottom face of a bag having the shape of a tetrahedron or another polyhedron, and to encircle the bottom. It thus covers a small part of the surface area of the wrapping material of the bag and does not impair the infusing efficiency. It is thus possible that said bottom portion is the area covering one face of the polyhedral bag, to be laid lowermost against the counter surface, and the area extending from the face in the height direction to the lower part of the other faces, or the area covering the bottom of the bag having the shape of an ordinary upright tea bag and the area extending from the bottom in the height direction to the lower part of the upright side wall.
• the water-impermeable structure extends in a large supporting surface in the bag, for example on one large side of a flat bag.
• the bag is thus placed in a horizontal position, with the supporting surface against the counter surface.
• the surface area available for infusing is smaller.
• the bag comprises two suspension points which determine two different inclination positions for the bag when the mass centre of the bag is placed by gravity below the suspension point: a setting position, in which the bag is hanging with the water-impermeable supporting surface facing downwards, and a draining position, in which the supporting surface is turned to an angle with respect to the setting position.
• a setting position in which the bag is hanging with the water-impermeable supporting surface facing downwards
• a draining position in which the supporting surface is turned to an angle with respect to the setting position.
• the side wall of the bag above the water-impermeable bottom portion is turned to a smaller angle with respect to the horizontal plane than in the setting position, and the lower surface of the bottom portion is correspondingly inclined to the side, that is, the bag is in an inclined position.
• this draining position in which the bag can be inclined or horizontal, or even with its upper end down, water can be drained more easily from the bag after the infusion through the water-permeable package material.
• this position can also be used as the infusing position, wherein the beverage preparation contained in the bag comes better in contact with the water in the cup or glass, when the solid beverage preparation accumulates onto the water-permeable side wall, the water flushes the beverage preparation contained in the bag, and the components of the preparation dissolve better in water.
• the bag infused in this position is lifted off the water, it can be drained dry in the same position.
• a bag infused in another position in water can also be lifted off the cup or glass and turned to the draining position.
• the setting position and the draining position obtained with the different sus- pension points can be utilized in all bags, irrespective of their general shape.
• the supporting surface in the setting position the supporting surface is located lowermost towards the counter surface, and in the draining position the supporting surface is turned to another position and the water-permeable area in the package material is turned more towards the horizontal plane.
• the beverage preparation contained in it When the bag is turned from the draining position to the setting position, the beverage preparation contained in it will be packed on top of the water-tight bottom portion again and will not cause problems of leaking when the bag is set with the water-impermeable supporting surface against a table or another counter surface. Water possibly leaking from the wetted beverage preparation will remain on top of the water-impermeable structure and does not leak to the sides, because the water-impermeable structure also has an upward dimension in the form of a collar.
• the suspension point of the setting position is in the bag on the side opposite to the supporting surface, and the suspension point of the draining position is closer to the supporting surface of the bag with respect to the above- mentioned point, for example in the side wall or in the bottom part in an upright bag.
• the supporting point is placed in the water- impermeable structure of the bag.
• the suspension points which support the bag against gravity can be fastening points of a suspension string. It is possible to use, for example, one suspension string which forms a loop between the fastening points.
• the bag itself is a disposable bag, inside which the solid beverage preparation is enclosed by sealing the enclosing package material in such a way that the bag can only be opened by tearing the package material or by opening a seam which has been formed by sealing the edges of the package material together, or by opening a seam of different kind which has been formed by sealing the package material permanently by means of a rivet, a self- adhesive label, a knot of a binding material, or another corresponding closing member.
• the bag can be made of a blank comprising a water-permeable area and a water-tight area by folding and seaming to form a closed structure, whose lower portion is provided with a water-impermeable structure consisting of the water-tight area of the blank.
• the bag is simultaneously formed to have a structure with a sufficiently large supporting surface so that the bag will remain in the setting position.
• the upright bag can be made in such a way that the bottom surface of the lower portion is sufficiently large and supports the bag in the upright position.
• the blank can be implemented as a combination of the water-permeable area (the area having the filter structure) and the water-tight area by covering the blank, which originally consists wholly of the material having the filter structure, partly with a film of a water-tight material, wherein the water- permeable area will remain outside the area covered by the water-tight material; or by starting from a blank originally consisting of a water-tight material and by modifying the material in such a way that a water-permeable area is formed on part of the surface area of the blank, outside which an unmodified area of water-tight material is left.
• the water-permeable area can be modified in the blank material, for example, by perforating with a given hole density and hole size, whose combined effect provides a sufficiently open surface area. It is also possible to modify a material which normally has a filter structure, for desired parts to become impermeable to water, for example by a coating technique, without needing to attach a separate impermeable finished piece of a material film onto the filter structure material.
• the tight material film may be fastened to the package material throughout or pointwise.
• the blanks may be provided one after the other as a blank web, from which blanks of a given size are separated, folded, filled in a suitable step with a solid beverage preparation, and finally sealed to form closed bags.
• Fig. 1 shows a bag according to the invention in a general view
• Fig. 2 shows the bag in the infusing position/draining position in a front view
• Fig. 3 shows the bag in the setting position in a front view
• Fig. 4 shows a blank web for making a bag according to Figs. 1 to 3
• Fig. 5 shows another blank web
• Fig. 6 shows a bag made of a blank from the blank web of Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 illustrates how the invention can be applied in a bag of any shape.
• the filter preparation is packed in a filter bag 1 consisting primarily of a material that is permeable to water.
• the beverage preparation is in solid state, for example powder or granules or various vegetable parts, from which a beverage can be prepared by infusing the bag 1 in water for a suitable time, wherein the components of the beverage dissolve from it in the water. The process is often called infusion. Tea and various spiced teas and herbal teas are one example, but the invention is not limited solely to bags containing the raw materials for such beverages.
• the bag 1 can have the general shape of a conventional flat filter bag 1 or a polyhedral bag (for example a tetrahedral bag, "pyramid bag") which has recently become more common. It can be made and filled by automated apparatuses of prior art starting from a bag blank which has been provided in advance with a water-impermeable i.e. water-tight area on part of its surface.
• the bag 1 is a disposable closed bag formed by folding and seaming of a suitable package material (wrapping material), inside which the beverage preparation is packed when the bag is partly open in the forming step.
• the beverage preparation is packed in such a way that it only fills a part of the inner volume of the bag (the degree of filling is only half or even less than half calculated on the basis of the volume of the freely settled preparation). This improves the dissolution of the components from the beverage preparation.
• the bag of Fig. 1 is an upright bag with the shape of a conventional tea bag.
• the bottom portion 3 of the bag is a structure 1 b which is impermeable to water from the lowermost bottom to a given height.
• the structure 1 b has an upward dimension; in other words, it has a collar that is impermeable to water and extends to a given height.
• the water-impermeable structure 1 b is an area impermeable to water and arranged on part of the surface area of the package material, placed in such a way in the package material that in the finished bag it also constitutes a water-impermeable collar extending to a given height above the horizontal plane determined by the supporting points of the bottom of the bag, to prevent leaking of the liquid.
• the bag Above the water-impermeable collar of the bottom part 3, the bag extends directly as side walls 2 formed of a water-permeable area 1a having a filter structure.
• the figure also shows two suspension points: a suspension point A corresponding to the setting position, and a suspension point B correspond- ing to the draining position.
• the suspension point A corresponding to the setting position is located at the upper end 2a of the bag, on a centre line of symmetry C; in other words, when the bag is supported from this point, the bag is hanging with the bottom portion 3 facing downwards.
• the suspension point B corresponding to the infusing position/draining position is placed off the said point so that when the bag is supported from this point, the side wall 2 of the bag located in the area 1a having the filter structure is turned to a smaller angle to the horizontal plane than in the setting position.
• This angle can be for example 0, wherein the side wall is approximately horizontal.
• the angle can also be negative, wherein the side wall is directed diagonally downwards.
• the suspension point B of the infusing position/draining position is at the edge of the water-tight bottom portion 3.
• the infusing position/draining position is arranged in such a way that the side edge 2b of the front wall and the rear wall (the point where there is a fold in the area 2 having the filter structure) is tilted so that its angle to the horizontal plane is reduced when the bag is supported from the suspension point B.
• This side edge is in the setting position (Fig.
• the infusing/draining position (Fig. 2).
• the fold at the side edge 2b of the front wall and the rear wall thus forms a wedge inside the bag, guiding water to drop via the edge and its vicinity through the material having the filter structure, when water is drained from the bag into a cup.
• the suspension point B of the infusing position/draining position is placed at the other edge of the bag, so that the opposite side edge 2b of the bag can be directed downwards in the infusing position and the draining position.
• the suspension point B can be placed, for example, at the edge of the bottom portion 3, which is between the front wall and the rear wall.
• the suspension points A, B can be marked or determined in the bag in a suitable way. They can be, for example, holes or loops, at which the bag can be gripped and suspended.
• the suspension points A, B are connected with a suspension string 4; in other words, they are fastening points of the same suspension string.
• Figure 2 shows the infusing position and the dripping position, in which the bag can be held in water and drained drier.
• the bag shown in Fig. 3 is in a setting position, in which the water-tight bottom portion 3 is lowermost, and the bag from which excessive water has been drained off can be placed against a counter surface 5, for example a table.
• a counter surface 5 for example a table.
• the bottom of the water-tight bottom portion 3 serves as a supporting surface that comes against the table.
• the bottom portion 3 prevents water from leaking from the beverage preparation inside the bag.
• the water-tight bottom part also prevents a direct contact between the surface and the wetted beverage preparation, which could cause seepage of water onto the surface.
• the bag of Fig. 1 has the general shape of a bag similar to an ordinary tea bag, which has been formed by folding double an intermediate form having the shape of a flat hose which, in turn, has been made by wrapping from a planar blank in such a way that the seam formed by overlapping edges of the blank is left in the centre of one of the flat surfaces of the hose, which in the hose folded double is left inside, the opposite flat surface forming the outermost front surface and rear surface (front wall and rear wall) of the tea bag.
• the ends of the hose are joined together and they form the upper end 2a of the bag.
• a corresponding collar is formed at the lower ends of the inner walls left behind the outermost front wall and the outermost rear wall and facing each other.
• the lower surface of the bottom consists totally of the water-impermeable area 1 b.
• the upper surface of the bottom on the opposite side, left inside the folded hose consists of the water-impermeable area 3.
• the package material of the bag can also be sealed totally together in the area between the folding lines L2 before the filling, wherein there is no beverage preparation in the bottom, and the bag 1 is, in a way, a "double bag” or a "double pouch", in which spaces containing beverage preparation and being totally closed below are formed between both folding lines L2 and the upper end 2a of the bag. Bags are also known in which the packaging material of the bag is not sealed together between the folding lines L2 but the bag is, in other respects, formed in the same way by an elongated hose-like piece.
• the suspension point B determining the draining position is, in the bag of Fig. 1 , placed at a point at the edge of the bottom where there is a central fold L3 between the folding lines L2, lifting the bottom slightly upwards at the centre.
• the suspension points A, B are placed in the same vertical plane that splits the bag into two symmetrical halves and extends between the front and rear walls and at the bottom equidistantly from the folding lines L2, parallel to them.
• Figure 1 also shows how the supporting surface impermeable to water does not need to be uniformly against the support 5 but it will suffice that there are supporting points (folds L2) coming against the counter surface, inside which points the mass centre of the bag is located as seen in a horizontal projection.
• Figure 4 shows a blank web which is suitable for manufacturing a bag shown in Fig. 1 in the above described manner.
• the bags are formed by cutting successive rectangular blanks at cutting lines S from the blank web, which blanks are folded along folding lines L1 to form flat hose-like intermediate forms which are open at both ends.
• the hoses are folded in the middle, along second folding lines L2 transverse to the preceding folding lines, to form bags.
• the blank web is made of a material having a filter structure, whose centre part is covered in the direction of the folding lines L2 with a strip of a water-tight material with a certain width, extending in the longitudinal direction of the blank web and constituting the water-impermeable zones 1 b in the blanks separated from the blank web.
• the second folding lines L2 are left inside the water-impermeable areas so that an edge zone is left between the folding lines L2 and the outer edges of the areas 1 b, said zone constituting a collar extending in the direction of the side walls in the bag.
• the material film constituting the water-impermeable zones 1 b may be, for example, plastic.
• the material may be, for example, a plastic film whose outermost surface is water repellent or treated to be water repellent.
• the material is attached to the web material having a filter structure by, for example, heat sealing.
• Packaging materials having a filter structure are also known, which can be subjected to ultrasonic sealing to close the bag, and the water-impermeable material film can also be attached to such a material by ultrasonic sealing.
• the material film which forms the water-impermeable areas can be attached to the packaging material having a filter structure over the whole surface or pointwise.
• the material film can also be off the packaging material at its edges, provided that in the finished bag these edges constitute an upward directed collar which prevents water from leaking.
• the beverage preparation can be fed into the bag when the bag is in the hose-like intermediate form.
• the material remains inside the bag when the bag is, after the filling, sealed up by seaming the ends of the hose together. If the hose is sealed up in the centre area of the bottom, the beverage preparation is introduced through both of the open ends of the hose before the bag is sealed.
• Figure 5 shows a different kind of a blank web which is used for making bags in the shape of a tetrahedron, and also here the material of the water-tight bottom part 1a is placed onto the blank web in such a way that when the blanks are cut out and folded, a water-tight bottom portion 3 is formed onto the bottom of the tetrahedron, having a collar extending to a certain height.
• the water-tight area 1 b is formed by a triangular area and a strip with a given height extending to the side therefrom in parallel to the base of the triangle.
• the bottom is formed in whole inside the triangular part, and the collarss are constituted of the areas bordered by the sides of the triangle and of the strip extending to the side.
• the tip of the triangle is blunt; in other words, the sides of the triangle do not join at the outer edge of the blank.
• the tip of the triangle also remains incomplete at both edges of the base of the triangle; at one edge it is joined by the strip, and at the other edge, the base and the side of the triangle are bordered by the edge of the blank.
• the blank is folded in the middle along a first folding line L1 extending in the joining point of the triangle and the strip to form a flat bag, and it is sealed up at the side edges and at the bottom edges limiting the base of the triangle and the strip, after which the beverage preparation can be inserted into the bag through the mouth that is left open.
• the mouth of the bag is closed by pressing the folds at the ends of the opening against each other, wherein the direction of the mouth is turned to right angles to the original, and one edge of the tetrahedron is formed.
• a broken line outlines the area inside the water-tight zone 1 b, which forms the lowermost bottom, the area left outside this area forming a water-tight collar extending upwards from the plane of the bottom.
• Figure 6 shows a bag for a beverage preparation folded from the blank of Fig. 5.
• the side wall 2 is formed by three triangular faces of the tetrahedron, extending upwards.
• the original folding line L1 which extends in the middle of one face, is depicted with a broken line.
• the suspension point A of the setting position is at the upper end 2a or "vertex" of the tetrahedron
• the suspension point B of the infusing position/draining position is, in turn, located lower at the centre line of one face of the side wall 2 of the tetrahedron, wherein the edge 2b located directly on the opposite side and extending in the same vertical plane with the centre line, can be directed downwards in the draining position, and water can be drained through this edge.
• the suspension point B is placed in the water- impermeable area of the bottom portion.
• the suspension points A and B are joined by a suspension string 4 which is fixed at one end (A) to the vertex of the tetrahedron and at the other end (B) to the material which is impermeable to water.
• a bag functioning in a corresponding manner can be formed to a cube, wherein one face of it forms a supporting surface, whose water- impermeable structure is continuous and extends in the height direction to a part of the area of the four other faces joining to said one face.
• Figure 7 shows a bag 1 whose surface is not polyhedral but curved, for example circular or oval. Also this kind of a bag can be provided with an area which is impermeable to water, forming a supporting surface coming against a counter support in the setting position, and a collar extending upwards from it
• the blank material having a filter structure can consist of a known material used e.g. in tea bags, such as a loose non-woven or a mesh fabric which has been woven or made in another way.
• the package material having a filter structure it is possible to use, for example, a thin gauze-like non-woven fabric which is food-compatible and is ultrasonically and thermally sealable, marketed by Ahlstrom under the trademark BioWeb and made of polylactic acid (PLA).
• PLA polylactic acid
• the water-tight area 1 can also be made biodegradable. If the same packaging material film is used, in which the water-permeable area is formed, this can be achieved by selecting a film made of a biodegradable material. If the water-tight area is formed by adhering a water-tight material piece onto a package material that is already permeable to water (having a filter structure) and biodegradable, this can be done by selecting, for example, a biodegradable plastic.
• biodegradable materials in view of both the water- permeable area and the water-tight area, it is possible to use, for example, a biodegradable plastic, such as polylactic acid (PLA) or some polyhydroxy- alcanoate (PHA).
• PLA and PHA are, as such, hydrophobic, but if one wants to increase the water-repellancy of the outer surface of the water-tight area, this can be done either by coating or another surface treatment technique.
• the packaging material having a filter structure can also be made of a biodegradable natural fibre, wherein the material piece to be attached as the water-tight area onto it can consist of a biodegradable plastic, for example PLA or PHA. This material piece of a biodegradable plastic can be surface treated by coating or another surface treatment technique.
• the invention is not limited solely to bags with suspension points to determine the setting position and the draining position, but it can be applied in bags containing a beverage preparation that are designed to be freely placed by hand, wherein they can be "soaked” in a cup or a glass and lifted up with a spoon or with fingers and kept in the draining position and then be placed by fingers or by an appliance to the setting position with the water-impermeable supporting surface against a counter surface.
• the water-impermeable structure 1 b which has been added as a separate material piece can be arranged to conform to the flexible packaging material in such a way that it will be located in a suitable place in the bag and will be formed as a water-tight supporting surface and a water-tight collar when the bag is formed, filled with the beverage preparation and sealed, as shown in Figs. 1 to 7.
• the water-impermeable structure can also be a rigid "tray” or "trough", for example of plastic, with an upwards extending collar, wherein it can be fixed in the area of its bottom to a suitable place in the package material in such a way that it forms a corresponding water-impermeable structure with corresponding functions in the finished bag.
• the surface area of the water-permeable area is preferably larger than that of the water- impermeable area.
• the ratio of the areas is advantageously greater than 3, more advantageously greater than 5.

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• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Packages (AREA)
• Tea And Coffee (AREA)
• Apparatus For Making Beverages (AREA)

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Citations (2)

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• 2011
  • 2011-09-29 FI FI20114131U patent/FI9924U1/fi not_active IP Right Cessation
• 2012
  • 2012-09-28 CN CN201280058722.1A patent/CN103946129B/zh not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-09-28 JP JP2014532442A patent/JP6074431B2/ja not_active Expired - Fee Related
  • 2012-09-28 RU RU2014117172A patent/RU2616115C2/ru not_active IP Right Cessation
  • 2012-09-28 KR KR20147011671A patent/KR20140072158A/ko not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 2012-09-28 WO PCT/FI2012/050935 patent/WO2013045765A1/en active Application Filing
  • 2012-09-28 AU AU2012314230A patent/AU2012314230B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 2012-09-28 EP EP12836061.7A patent/EP2760762B1/en not_active Not-in-force
  • 2012-09-28 US US14/348,185 patent/US20140227398A1/en not_active Abandoned
• 2015
  • 2015-01-22 HK HK15100695.1A patent/HK1200418A1/xx not_active IP Right Cessation

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