DISSOLVING SUBSTRATE WITH REMAINING MESSAGE

Abstract

Described is a dissolving substrate with a remaining message. The substrate is formed of water-soluble paper such that it dissolves when exposed to water. Notably, printed upon the substrate is an offset printing ink that is water-resistant. Thus, when the substrate dissolves, the message or imagery as printed with the offset printing ink remains and floats upon the water for further use or enjoyment.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

(1) Field of Invention

The present invention relates to an apparatus having a message affixed to a dissolving substrate.

(2) Description of Related Art

Paper is traditionally a flexible cellulosic material that is generally formed to withstand a certain amount of moisture. Such existing paper items allow for ink to be printed thereon and remain intact upon getting wet. However, while generally stable, such papers do not provide for the unique affect of disappearing or otherwise dissolving to reveal a printed message.

Thus, a continuing need exists for a water-soluble substrate that reveals a message upon dissolving.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus having a message (formed of water-resistant ink) affixed to a dissolving substrate. The substrate is formed of water-soluble paper such that it dissolves when exposed to water. Notably, printed upon the substrate is an offset printing ink that is water-resistant. Thus, when the substrate dissolves, the message or imagery as printed with the offset printing ink remains and floats upon the water for further use or enjoyment.

In another aspect, the dissolving substrate is formed in the shape of a toy item

In yet another aspect, the toy item is shaped like a tea bag that further comprises other toy items contained therein.

Further, the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of at least wood pulp and carboxy methyl cellulose.

In another aspect, the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of between 30% and 70% wood pulp and between 30% and 70% carboxy methyl cellulose.

In yet another aspect, the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of approximately 50% wood pulp and approximately 50% carboxy methyl cellulose.

In another aspect, the water-resistant ink is formed of carbon black, a coloring pigment, a phenolic resin, one or more oils, and a wax.

Finally, as can be appreciated by one in the art, the present invention also comprises a method for forming and using the invention described herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed descriptions of the various aspects of the invention in conjunction with reference to the following drawings, where:

FIG. 1A is an illustration depicting a dissolving substrate with a water-resistant ink positioned thereon, depicting an aspect in which the substrate is a tea bag;

FIG. 1B is an illustration depicting the water-resistant ink with colors reversed to illustrate that the color of the water-resistant ink can be similar to that of the dissolving substrate;

FIG. 2 is an illustration depicting example print sheets for forming the tea bag and upon which the water-resistant ink is printed; and

FIG. 3 is an illustration depicting an example playset that can be packaged to include a dissolving substrate with water-resistant ink.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention relates to an apparatus having a message affixed to a dissolving substrate. The following description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and to incorporate it in the context of particular applications. Various modifications, as well as a variety of uses in different applications will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be applied to a wide range of embodiments. Thus, the present invention is not intended to be limited to the embodiments presented, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a more thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without necessarily being limited to these specific details. In other instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in order to avoid obscuring the present invention.

The reader's attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with this specification and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference. All the features disclosed in this specification, (including any accompanying claims, abstract, and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is only one example of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

Furthermore, any element in a claim that does not explicitly state “means for” performing a specified function, or “step for” performing a specific function, is not to be interpreted as a “means” or “step” clause as specified in 35 U.S.C. Section 112, Paragraph 6. In particular, the use of “step of” or “act of” in the claims herein is not intended to invoke the provisions of 35 U.S.C. 112, Paragraph 6.

Please note, if used, the labels left, right, front, back, top, bottom, forward, reverse, clockwise and counter clockwise have been used for convenience purposes only and are not intended to imply any particular fixed direction. Instead, they are used to reflect relative locations and/or directions between various portions of an object.

(1) Description

The present invention relates to an item formed of a dissolving substrate with an image or message attached thereto. The substrate upon which the image or message is applied to is made from any dissolving material, a non-limiting example of which includes a water-soluble paper, such as a cellulosic mixture paper. A non-limiting example of such a cellulosic mixture paper includes paper formed of wood pulp (CAS.65996-61-4) and carboxy methyl cellulose (CAS.9004-32.4), mixed as desired to form the paper. For example, each of said components can be between 0.1 and 99.9% of the material, to collectively form 100%. However, desirably, the wood pulp to carboxy methyl cellulose is between 30-70% each of the mixture paper and, more desirably, approximately 50% each. Thus, although not limited thereto, the cellulosic mixture paper is formed of approximately 50% wood pulp and approximately 50% carboxy methyl cellulose.

Further, the water-resistant ink or material that forms the image or message is formed of any printable or otherwise apply-able material that will remain upon dissolving of the substrate. It is important that the ink be water resistant to resist water-in-ink emulsification (e.g. repel rather than absorb water). A non-limiting example of such a water-resistant ink includes an offset printing ink. A non-limiting example of such an offset printing ink is the ink mixture formed from the following:

	Substance	CAS#	Contents (%)
	Carbon Black	1333-86-4	10-30
	Pigment blue	147-14-8	0-6
	Rosin modified phenolic	68512-70-9	20-40
	resin
	Soybean oil	8001-22-7	20-30
	Mineral oil	8042-47-5	10-20
	Polyethylene wax	9002-88-4	02.-10

Thus, the invention is generally directed to a dissolving substrate (e.g., water soluble paper) with a water-resistant ink positioned thereon (e.g., printed thereon). The invention can be formed into a variety of products with a variety of uses.

As a non-limiting example and as depicted in FIG. 1A, the dissolving substrate 100 can be shaped as a real or toy tea bag with the water-resistant ink 102 positioned or otherwise printed thereon. Also depicted in FIG. 1A is a tea bag hang tag 104 that can be attached to the substrate 100 using any suitable technique, such as a string being heat sealed to the substrate 100.

In use, a child or user would position the tea bag in a cup of water, at which point it would dissolve. After the water-soluble paper dissolved, the water-resistant ink 104 (e.g., offset printing ink) would remain and float on the surface of the water to reveal the message that was printed on the side of the tea bag. The message can be any desired message, including text, symbols, or images, as desired and/or appropriate.

The water-resistant ink 104 could be clear or a color that is similar to the water-soluble paper such that the message is difficult to see until the water-soluble paper dissolves. For example, the colors were reversed in FIG. 1B to illustrate that the colors of the water-resistant ink can be clear or matched to the color of the substrate 100 as shown in FIG. 1A. For further illustration, FIG. 2 depicts the substrate 100 as print sheets for forming the tea bag and upon which the water-resistant ink 104 is printed.

In other aspects, the water-resistant ink 104 could be colored to be dissimilarly colored from the water-soluble paper. In yet another aspect, the ink may include thermal ink therein to change colors upon changing temperatures due to the water.

Thus, a can be appreciated, there are a variety of embodiments/applications in which the present invention can be implemented. As a non-limiting example and as described herein, the substrate 100 can be shaped and formed to operate as a tea bag, either a real tea bag or toy tea bag. For example and as shown in FIG. 3, the tea bag (as a toy) can be included in a playset that includes a variety of play toys.

In this non-limiting example, the playset includes a cup 300 in which the various toys can be packaged, such a doll 302, play creamer 304 with doll accessories, a faux sugar packet 306 with doll accessories, a tea bag 308 that holds other small toys 310, and a lid 312 that fits atop the cup 300. In this aspect, the toy tea bag 308 is formed of the dissolving substrate 100 with the water-resistant ink 104 printed thereon. Thus, in this particular playset, a user can place the toy tea bag 308 within water which will cause the substrate 100 to dissolve and reveal the small toys 310 and the remaining message formed of the water-resistant ink. Therefore and as can be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the invention as described herein has many applications in accordance with the scope of the present invention.

Finally, while this invention has been described in terms of several embodiments, one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize that the invention may have other applications in other environments. It should be noted that many embodiments and implementations are possible. Further, the following claims are in no way intended to limit the scope of the present invention to the specific embodiments described above. In addition, any recitation of “means for” is intended to evoke a means-plus-function reading of an element and a claim, whereas, any elements that do not specifically use the recitation “means for”, are not intended to be read as means-plus-function elements, even if the claim otherwise includes the word “means”. Further, while particular method steps have been recited in a particular order, the method steps may occur in any desired order and fall within the scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A dissolving item, comprising: a dissolving substrate, anda water-resistant ink formed upon the dissolving substrate.

2. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper.

3. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 2, wherein the water-resistant ink is an offset printing ink that is printed upon the dissolving substrate.

4. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 3, wherein the dissolving substrate is formed in the shape of a toy item

5. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 4, wherein the toy item is shaped like a tea bag that further comprises other toy items contained therein.

6. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 5, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of at least wood pulp and carboxy methyl cellulose.

7. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 6, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of between 30% and 70% wood pulp and between 30% and 70% carboxy methyl cellulose.

8. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 7, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of approximately 50% wood pulp and approximately 50% carboxy methyl cellulose.

9. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 8, wherein the water-resistant ink is formed of carbon black, a coloring pigment, a phenolic resin, one or more oils, and a wax.

10. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the water-resistant ink is an offset printing ink that is printed upon the dissolving substrate.

11. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the dissolving substrate is formed in the shape of a toy item

12. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 11, wherein the toy item is shaped like a tea bag that further comprises other toy items contained therein.

13. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of at least wood pulp and carboxy methyl cellulose.

14. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of between 30% and 70% wood pulp and between 30% and 70% carboxy methyl cellulose.

15. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the dissolving substrate is a water-soluble paper formed of approximately 50% wood pulp and approximately 50% carboxy methyl cellulose.

16. The dissolving item as set forth in claim 1, wherein the water-resistant ink is formed of carbon black, a coloring pigment, a phenolic resin, one or more oils, and a wax.