US3057729A - Tea bag package - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 9, 1962 w. H. GRANT 3,057,729

TEA BAG PACKAGE Filed Aug. 11, 1961 INVENTOR. WE Grant United States If atent 3,057,729 TEA BAG PACKAGE William H. Grant, Rte. 1, Mount Qlare, W. Va. Filed Aug. 11, 1961, Ser. No. 130,900 1 Claim. (Ci. 99--77.1)

This invention relates generally to the individual packaging of tea bags, and more specifically to certain new and useful improvements in the construction of such packages to form a dual purpose of protecting the tea bag during storage and performing as a means of squeezing the tea bag-s after infusion of the bag in hot water.

The conventional method of packaging tea involves the provision of a thin paper infusion package which contains suflicient tea for a single cup. In order to maintain these packages in a fresh and undamaged condition, each package is disposed in an envelope. The package must be removed from the envelope before making the tea and is normally dispensed with at this stage. After the tea has been steeped sufficiently, the package containing the tea is removed and disposed of. The removal operation is very messy and tends to drip and stain about the areas on which it is laid, and further the tea which is retained in the bag in liquid form is excellent in flavor and should preferably be used rather than thrown away. My invention is directed to a new economy bag or envelope which performs to provide protection for the tea package during storage and subsequently as a means for draining the bag by means of squeezing during the removal of the same from the cup of tea.

It is therefore a primary object of this invention to provide a dual purpose tea bag package which performs to protect the flavor of the tea during storage, and subsequently as a means of draining the tea bag upon removal of the same from a cup of tea.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a tea bag package which constitutes an economical envelope for the bag and performs with novel utility for the user.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description of several embodiments thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional tea bag showing the protective envelope of my invention in the raised position for inserting the bag into a cup of boiling water.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention showing the envelope returned to its original position for enabling the bag to be efiiciently squeezed and drained during removal.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tea bag package and one means of connecting the same to the tea bag.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the bag being squeezed after replacing the surrounding envelope.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a modified form of the invention wherein the surrounding envelope is packaged with the string retained in the envelope.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the bag being squeezed by means of the envelope shown in FIG. 5.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, the numeral 7 represents a conventional rectangular tea bag which is secured by a staple 8 to one end of a string 9. In the first embodiment of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the string 9 extends through a hole 10 disposed centrally through a rectangular sheet of paper 11. The paper is folded in half at 12 and is adapted to overlappingly extend over opposite sides of the tea bag, the peripheral edges 13 thereof being crimped together about the bag if so desired. The outer end of the string terminates with a small tab 14 which provides means for easily grasping the end of the string. In operation, the folded paper 11 which forms the envelope is opened around the crimped periphery and is withdrawn towards the outer end of the string as indicated in FIG. 1. After steeping the tea bag in a cup of boiling water, the bag is lifted by means of the tab 14 out of the water and the envelope is returned to its original position to provide a protective covering for squeezing the tea bag with the thumb and forefinger as indicated in FIG. 2.

The embodiment disclosed in FIGS. 3 and 4 of the drawing dispenses with the use of a tab such as 14. In this instance, a string 15 secured by a staple to the upper end of the tea bag extends outwardly through the abutting sides of a folded envelope 16 and terminates centrally of the fold 17 of the envelope for connection by means of a staple 18. The bag is squeezed in a similar manner by the thumb and forefinger of one hand whilst retaining the looped end 19 of the string in the other hand, as indicated in FIG. 4. In FIGS. 5 and 6, an envelope 20 is folded centrally at 21 and is sealed about .a tea bag 22 in an overlapping manner such that a tearing strip 23 may be incorporated about the peripheral sides and end 24 and 25 to give a more effective initial seal about the bag. A string 26 is secured in a convention-a1 manner by a staple 27 to one end of the tea bag and is folded into loops 28 beneath the fold 21 and within the envelope 20 such that its knotted end 29 protrudes through a central hole 30 disposed in the fold 21 of the envelope. The convenience provided by the latter embodiment will be quite apparent to the reader since the string is completely retained within the envelope prior to use and cannot become entangled with other envelopes during packaging and storage. The tearing strip 23 also provides a quick and eificient method of opening the envelope, the said envelope being already located at the extreme end of the string in preparation for the first operation that of steeping the tea bag in boiling water. The squeezing action of this embodiment is identical to that used in the previous embodiments and is shown in detail in FIG. 6.

Having described the invention with considerable particularity, it should be understood that various modifications may be made to the precise detail of the embodiments shown, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

I claim:

A tea bag package for storage of a tea bag and subsequent squeezing of the same after use, comprising in combination, a tea bag, a string connected at one end to the tea bag, a rectangular sheet folded to form an envelope having sides for selectively overlapping the sides of the tea bag, said envelope having a tearing strip around part of its periphery frangibly completely enclosing said tea bag, a string looped within said envelope having one end connected to said tea bag and the opposite end extending through a small opening formed centrally through the fold of said envelope, said tea bag being extensible from said envelope a distance, corresponding to the length of said string in response to tearing of said strip for temporary removal of said bag from said envelope, whereby withdrawal of said string through said opening is operative to return said tea bag between the fold of said envelope for squeezing between the sides thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

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