Patent Application
20240122386
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The disclosure relates to beverage preparation devices and more particularly pertains to a new beverage preparation device for preparing beverages by infusion. The present invention discloses a beverage preparation device for use in making tea, coffee, and the like via infusion and straining.
The prior art relates to beverage preparation devices, which may comprise spoons having holes in their bowls with hinged lids that cover the bowls, pairs of spoons in scissor configurations that have holes in their bowls, tea bag holding devices, and infusion/straining devices that are spoon shaped. What is lacking in the prior art is a beverage preparation device comprising a spoon to which a shell is attached proximate to a bowl of the spoon. The shell is configured for insertion and retention of a substrate for preparing a beverage.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a spoon and a shell. The spoon comprises a bowl that is attached to a first end of a handle. The shell comprises a first piece, which is attached to the handle proximate to the bowl, and a second piece, which is selectively attachable to the first piece. The shell is configured for insertion and retention of a substrate for preparing a beverage, such as, but not limited to, tea bags, shredded tea leaves, coffee grounds, and the like. A plurality of openings is positioned in the shell. The handle is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user, positioning the user to submerge the shell in water and to stir the water. The openings are configured to allow for passage of the water through the shell to infuse the water to generate the beverage.
Another embodiment of the disclosure includes a beverage infusion, straining, and stirring system, which comprises a substrate for preparing a beverage and a beverage infusion, straining, and stirring device, as described above.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The first piece 22 and the second piece 24 may be cylindrical, as shown in
The first piece 22 is circumferentially larger than the second piece 24 and internally threaded adjacent to its perimeter 26. The second piece 24 is externally threaded adjacent to its circumference 28 so that the second piece 24 is threadedly attachable to the first piece 22. The present invention also anticipates the second piece 24 being attachable to the first piece 22 by other attachment means, such as, but not limited to, clasps, snaps, and the like. The second piece 24 also could be hingedly attached to the first piece 22.
The shell 14 is configured for insertion and retention of a substrate 30 for preparing a beverage 32, such as, but not limited to, tea bags, shredded tea leaves, coffee grounds, and the like. A plurality of openings 34 is positioned in the shell 14. The openings 34 may be sized for retention of the substrate 30 in a filter bag, such as a tea bag. The openings 34 also may be sized for retention of the substrate 30 in shredded leaf form, such as shredded tea leaves. The openings 34 also may be sized for retention of the substrate 30 in ground form, such as ground coffee. As shown in
The handle 20 is configured to be grasped in a hand of a user, positioning the user to submerge the shell 14 in water and to stir the water. The openings 34 are configured to allow for passage of the water through the shell 14 to infuse the water to generate the beverage 32. The bowl 16 of the spoon 12 facilitates stirring of the water, but also has other practical uses in preparing the beverage 32, such as, but not limited to, portioning of sweeteners, dairy products, and the like, which are optionally added to such beverages 32.
The present invention also anticipates a beverage infusion, straining, and stirring system 40, which comprises a substrate 30 for preparing a beverage 32 and a beverage infusion, straining, and stirring device 10, as described above. In one embodiment of the beverage infusion, straining, and stirring system 40, the second piece 24 is fused to the first piece 22 during manufacturing, with the substrate 30 for preparing a beverage 32 in the shell 14 upon completion. Such a beverage infusion, straining, and stirring system 40 would be suitable for single use.
In use, the substrate 30 is positioned in the shell 14 and retained therein by attachment of the second piece 24 to the first piece 22. The handle 20 is grasped in a hand of a user and the user then submerges the shell 14 in water, which typically is hot or near boiling. The user can stir the water with the spoon 12, which facilitates passage of water through the plurality of openings 34 to infuse the water to generate the beverage 32. The substrate 30 is retained in the shell 14 and is removed along with the beverage infusion, straining, and stirring device 10.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
