DE29609717U1 - Individually packed tea bags - Google Patents

Description

STENGER, WATZKE & RjNG.: .·*..·· ..Kaiser-Friedrich-Ring 70

PATENT ATTORNEYS ———-—

I:'* 'K^eS 47 DÜSSELDORF

DIPL.-ING. WOLFRAM WATZKE

DIPL.-ING. HEINZ J. RING

DIPL.-ING. ULRICH CHRISTOPHERSEN

Our reference· 96 0229 DIPL.-ING. MICHAEL RAUSCH

DIPL.-ING. WOLFGANG BRINGMANN

TEEPACK Special Machinery Patent Attorneys

,-. . &ugr;&ogr; o« vr EUROPEAN PATENT ATTORNEYS

GmbH & Co. KG

Düsseldorfer Strasse 73, 40667 Meerbusch

31 May 1996

Date

Individually packed soaking bag l

The invention relates to an individually packaged infusion bag for a substance to be leached out by an infusion liquid, in particular tea, with at least one chamber containing a quantity of substance and a thread with a label attached to a side edge closing the chamber, as well as with an outer packaging made of a flexible material which can be closed along at least one edge.

Tea bags are available in various designs. In particular, the use of double-chamber tea bags has become popular. These have two chambers arranged side by side, adjacent to one another, each containing a quantity of dried and chopped tea leaves. The two chambers are connected to one another at the bottom by a cross fold and are closed together at the top by a connection to which a thread with a label is attached. To do this, a top closure fold is usually formed in several steps, in which the corners of the tea bag are folded in in a first step and the trapezoidal part remaining at the top is folded over in a second step, whereupon the folded parts are connected to one another by a closure clip while simultaneously fastening one end of the thread. A rectangular label is usually also attached to the other end of the thread using a closure clip. In addition to informing the user about the tea contained in the tea bag by means of a print on the label, the label also serves to prevent the thread from falling into the tea bag.

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prevent the label from becoming stuck, for example, between the upper edge of a teapot and the lid of the teapot and, on the other hand, to allow the teabag located in the teapot liquid to be safely and easily removed from the teapot liquid by means of the thread after the substance contained in the teabag has been leached out.

Such infusion bags are often individually packaged in outer packaging made of a flexible material, such as paper or aluminum composite film, in order to preserve the aroma of the tea in the infusion bag, especially when used as tea infusion bags. In practice, a form of outer packaging is known in which the label attached to the end of the thread is designed as part of the outer packaging. In this known individually packaged infusion bag, the end of the thread is attached via a closure clip to a part of the outer packaging, which is almost completely separated from the rest of the outer packaging material by several cuts. After opening the outer packaging, the tea bag is removed from the outer packaging and the label attached to the end of the thread is torn off the outer packaging by gently pulling. A disadvantage of the design of the labels to be attached to one end of the thread is that, in addition to attaching the label to the infusion bag, a further process step is necessary, namely that of attaching the thread to the label, which lengthens the manufacturing process of such an infusion bag and thus makes it more expensive.

Furthermore, it has proven to be disadvantageous in many cases that the labels of the known infusion bag shapes are quickly pulled into the infusion liquid together with the thread when the infusion bag, which has swollen and become heavier due to the absorption of the infusion liquid, sinks to the bottom of the infusion vessel.

In view of this state of the art, the invention is based on the task of developing an individually packaged infusion bag of the type described above, in particular for tea, while avoiding the disadvantages mentioned, in such a way that a secure hold of the label outside the infusion vessel is ensured and a simple connection

for attaching the thread to the label without a metal clamp is possible.

The object is achieved according to the invention in that the outer packaging forms the label attached to the thread, with the thread being secured at the end from the inside of the outer packaging between two edges of the outer packaging that are to be connected to one another. By securing the end of the thread between the edges of the outer packaging that are to be connected to one another in order to close the outer packaging, a particularly simple and cost-effective connection of the end of the thread to the label is created. By securing the end of the thread to the outer packaging designed as a label, a surprisingly practical label is also created, which, due to its size and weight, ensures that the label is not drawn into the interior of the infusion container even by an infusion bag that is soaked with the infusion liquid.

Advantageously, according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the edges of the outer packaging are sealed together by the action of heat. This heat sealing has proven particularly useful when producing the outer packaging from a moisture- and air-impermeable material, such as aluminum composite film. When using cold sealing media applied to the material of the outer packaging, the edges of the outer packaging can also be connected to one another by a cold sealing seam.

According to a further embodiment of the invention, the edges of the outer packaging can also be glued together.

In order to prevent the edge of the outer packaging holding the thread from being torn off the outer packaging when the outer packaging is torn open, a tear-open aid, for example in the form of a cut or a notch, is formed on one edge of the outer packaging in such a way that after the outer packaging is torn open, the thread remains on the larger part of the outer packaging.

Further details, features and advantages of the subject matter of the invention emerge from the following description of the accompanying drawing, in which an exemplary embodiment of an individually packaged infusion bag designed according to the invention is shown schematically. In the drawing shows:

Fig. 1 a sealed outer packaging with an infusion bag arranged inside and

Fig. 2 an opened packaging with an infusion bag removed from it.

In Fig. 1, an outer packaging 1 with an infusion bag 2 arranged therein is shown. The outer packaging 1 shown consists of a rectangular blank of a flexible material, which is folded along a folding edge 3 around half the long side of the material sheet to form the outer packaging 1 and then closed along three edges 4. In the embodiment shown, the outer packaging 1 is heat-sealed along the edges 4 by the action of heat.

The infusion bag 1 shown in Fig. 1 inside the outer packaging 1 has a chamber 5 in which a predetermined quantity of substance, in particular tea, to be leached out by an infusion liquid is contained. As can be seen from Fig. 1 and 2, a head closure fold 6 is formed at the upper end of the chamber 5, which is closed by a closure clamp 7, for example a metal clamp. In addition to closing the chamber 5 of the infusion bag 2, the closure clamp 7 serves to attach a thread 8 to the infusion bag 2. The other end of the thread 8 is firmly connected to the outer packaging 1. Of course, it is also possible to close the head of the infusion bag 2 and to attach the thread 8 by sealing. As can be seen from Fig. 1 and 2, the fastening of the thread 8 to the outer packaging 1 is designed in that the thread 8 is arranged with its thread end 9 from the inside of the outer packaging 1 between two edges 4 of the outer packaging 1 that are to be connected to one another. This type of fastening of the thread 8 to the outer packaging 1 that represents the label is particularly simple and

quickly, since it takes place simultaneously with the process step of closing the outer packaging 1 along the edges 4.

In order to prevent the edge 4 holding the thread end 9 from being torn off when the outer packaging 1 is torn open, a tear-open aid 10, for example in the form of an incision, is formed on one edge 4 of the outer packaging 1 so that after the outer packaging 1 is torn open, the thread 8 remains attached to the larger remainder of the outer packaging 1. The outer packaging 1 can then, for example, be torn open along only the long edge 4 as shown in Fig. 2 and the infusion bag 2 can be removed from the outer packaging 1. The infusion bag 2 and the outer packaging 1 remain firmly connected to one another via the thread 8. In order to create a tight outer packaging 1, the thread 8 should not protrude beyond the edge 4 of the outer packaging 1, since otherwise the thread end 9 creates a kind of wick effect. By printing on the outer packaging 1, this then simultaneously serves as a label indicating the contents of the infusion bag 2.

An infusion bag 2 designed in this way for individual packaging in an outer packaging 1 is characterized in that the fastening of the thread 8 to the outer packaging 1 forming the label is carried out simply and inexpensively by combining the fastening of the thread 8 to the outer packaging 1 with the closing of the outer packaging along the edges 4. Due to the size and weight of the outer packaging 1 forming the label connected to the thread 8, it is also ensured that the end of the thread 8 lying outside an infusion vessel is not drawn into the infusion vessel even when the infusion bag 2 is soaked with the infusion liquid.

Reference symbol list

1 outer packaging

2 tea bags

3 Folding edge

4 Edge

5 chamber

6 Head closure fold

7 Locking clamp

8 threads

9 Thread end

10 Tear-off aid

Claims (5)

►· · · 4 claims 1. Individually packaged infusion bag for a substance to be leached out by an infusion liquid, in particular tea, with at least one chamber (5) containing a quantity of substance and a thread (8) with a label attached to a side edge closing the chamber (5), as well as with an outer packaging (1) made of a flexible material, which can be closed along at least one edge (4), characterized, that the outer packaging (1) forms the label attached to the thread (8), wherein the thread (8) is fixed at the end from the inside of the outer packaging (1) between two edges (4) of the outer packaging (1) that are to be connected to one another. 2. Individually packaged infusion bag according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges (4) of the outer packaging (1) are sealed by heat, 3. Individually packaged infusion bag according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges (4) of the outer packaging (1) are connected to one another by a cold-sealed seam. 4. Individually packaged infusion bag according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges (4) of the outer packaging (1) are glued together. 5. Individually packaged infusion bag according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that on one edge (4) of the outer packaging (1) a tear-open aid (10) is designed in such a way that after the outer packaging (1) has been torn open, the thread (8) remains on the larger remainder of the outer packaging (1) along the tear-open aid (10). R/HR/Ii