Patent Application
20110278314
The present invention relates to means for preparing hot, infused beverages. More particularly, it relates to sealing means for a hot beverage infusion device, used to prepare a single cup of coffee or tea.
The classical brewing principle, ‘presso’ brewing, where the coffee, tea or alike is blended with hot water and is separated from the liquid with a filter, is considered by many experts to be the best way to produce high quality coffee. However, this principle requires pots and filter-plungers and it is not ideal for the hot beverage to-go market. In recent years many attempts have been made to give customers a possibility to choose the type of beverage they want, with the base of only adding hot water or alike without investing in brewing machines. In US 2008/0035652 is described a drinking container with a top filter lid. This lid comprises a cover portion having an opening through which liquid can be consumed from the drink container and wherein a liquid permeable filter is positioned between the container attachment portion and the annular cover portion of the lid. The liquid permeable filter is positioned so as to intercept all liquid flowing from the container through the opening and hence to the mouth of the consumer.
The solution described seems to be a sturdy candidate for replacing the classical ‘presso’ brewing pot, but alas, this solution has a major disadvantage namely that, when using a filter to separate coffee powder and water, the filter tends to be filled with the small particles from the coffee. Therefore it is not possible to drink the coffee or tea from the cup with a normal flow. The filter will eventually be clogged.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a sealing means for improving the hot beverage market with “a one cup solution” where one only needs to add hot water, or any other type of liquid, such as milk or alike, to brew a hot beverage.
According to the invention this object is achieved by an improved sealing means, typically a lid, for a beverage container, wherein said sealing means comprises an annular cover portion for covering an opening at an upper end of a beverage container. This annular cover portion has an opening through which liquids can be consumed from the beverage container and also a peripheral side wall portion, which is disposed around an outer peripheral edge of the annular cover portion. The sealing means further comprises a liquid permeable filter that is positioned between the annular cover portion of the sealing means and an opening located at the upper end, rim, of the beverage container. The annular cover portion of the sealing means is further provided with at least one mounting member which is adapted to act as a guide for the liquid permeable filter during mounting thereof and as an engagement member for the liquid permeable filter for retaining said filter after mounting thereof.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the liquid permeable filter has an opening with an inner peripheral edge and said at least one mounting member has the form of a protrusion which through an outer peripheral surface thereof cooperates with said inner peripheral edge of the opening in the filter.
An advantage of the present invention is that the protrusion enables the liquid permeable filter to be attached both with accuracy and cost efficiency to the annular cover portion. This without any welding or need for expensive precision mounting tools.
According to another embodiment of the present invention, the sealing means further comprises another, second opening in the annular cover portion, providing access to the interior of the beverage container and to which a protrusion in the form of a tube is arranged. This tube extends from the second opening of the annular cover portion and downwards through the annular cover portion into the beverage container where the inner peripheral edge of the opening of the liquid permeable filter is attached around an outer peripheral side wall of the tube. This tube is, as indicated above, adapted to guide the liquid permeable filter and also to act as an attachment means between the tube and said opening in the filter.
Thus, a further advantage of the present invention is that the tube also provides the user with the ability to add milk and sweetener, such as sugar, without having to remove the lid and thereby risk of spilling of hot beverages.
A yet further advantage of the present invention is that since the filter is mounted on the protrusion/tube it is spaced apart from the annular cover portion such that the space defined between the underside of the lid and the filter allows fluid to flow freely, and at the same time use a larger area of the filter, thus minimizing clogging.
The invention will now be described more fully below with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
It should be emphasized that the term comprises/comprising, when used in this specification, is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, or components, but does not preclude the presence, or addition, of one or more other features, integers, steps, components, or groups thereof. The following detailed description illustrates the invention by way of example and not by way of limitation.
The described embodiments herein are created from the basic concept that the coffee or tea could be brewed directly in a cup or a mug, only by adding coffee or tea and liquid. Thus when utilizing the sealing means, the lid, of the present invention, the typical consumer merely places the desired coffee amount into the beverage container, adds hot water in the desired amount, and allows the coffee to steep for an appropriate amount of time, places the sealing means comprising a liquid permeable filter on top the beverage container and consumes the brewed coffee.
The sealing means 100 also comprises a liquid permeable filter 240 (see particularly
Furthermore, the annular cover portion 230 of the sealing means 100 is provided with at least one mounting member 250 which is adapted to act as a guide for the liquid permeable filter 240 during mounting thereof, enabling easy mounting of the filter to the sealing means, and as an engagement member for the filter, retaining said filter in position after mounting thereof.
Although said at least one mounting member may have any desired shape for the intended object of the sealing means according to the present invention, it has in the illustrated embodiment the shape of a protrusion 250. The protrusion 250 is in the illustrated embodiment located centrally on the underside 235 of the annular cover portion 230 and extends from said annular cover portion downwards beyond the lower edge 290 of the peripheral side wall portion 260 of said cover portion into the drinking container 110. The protrusion 250 may be made integral with the annular cover portion 230 or located thereon as a separate member. The protrusion 250 acts, as indicated above, as a guide for the liquid permeable filter 240 during mounting thereof, thereby enabling easy mounting of the filter to the sealing means, and as an engagement member for the filter in order to retain said filter in position after mounting. Since the liquid permeable filter 240 has an opening 400 with an inner peripheral edge 410, an outer peripheral surface of the protrusion 250 thereby cooperates with said inner peripheral edge of the liquid permeable filter for guiding said filter during mounting thereof and for retaining said filter after mounting. The liquid permeable filter 240 may be clicked or otherwise attached to the protrusion 250 in order to give an exact retaining position to the filter.
In the illustrated embodiment with a protrusion in the form of a conical tube 250, said tube is also used to add food additives, such as cream, milk and sugar, after the sealing means as been attached to the drinking container. This is done through another, second opening 220 in the annular cover portion 230, providing access to the interior of the beverage container and about which the tube 250 is arranged. Accordingly, said second opening 220 is in the illustrated embodiment also located centrally in the annular cover portion 230. Stirring of the beverage after the addition of said food additives is preferably performed through said second opening 220. Through said second opening 220 it is also possible to see how much liquid there is in the container 110.
Since, as shown in particularly
The beverage container 110 may be made of plastic, metal, ceramic, paper or another suitably strong and heat-resistant material, or a combination of the foregoing.
The liquid permeable filter 240 may be comprised of a mesh material, a porous material, a disk with holes and/or slits to permit the flow of liquid there through, and any other suitable filter which will remove undesirable solid substances from the liquid in the container 110 as the liquid flows from the container through said first opening 210 in the annular cover portion 230 of the lid. Typically the filter 240 is of nylon, PP or other plastic material with a typical mesh size of 150-200 μm.
The coffee/tea is consumed with a natural flow through the big liquid permeable filter and will therefore give a fully natural flow to the last drop. Another advantage is that you as a retailer can offer a beverage of any taste without any machines. Also, you can as a customer get a beverage of high quality even if you have access only to boiling water.
Thus, in summary, the embodiments of the present invention described above and illustrated in the drawings has, inter alia, the following advantages:
Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described and shown, the invention is not restricted thereto, and may also be embodied in other ways within the scope of the subject-matter defined in the following claims. Thus, in order to achieve the object of the invention, the number of mounting members may vary and consequently be more than the one mounting member according to the illustrated embodiment. The mounting member or members may be located otherwise, e.g. eccentric and, if more than one mounting member is provided, around the centre of the annular cover portion. Also, the mounting member or members may be smaller or larger than the mounting member according to the illustrated embodiment. Furthermore, the mounting member or members may e.g. be solid and accordingly shaped otherwise than as a tubular protrusion.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SE2009/051102 | 10/5/2009 | WO | 00 | 6/16/2011 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 61103807 | Oct 2008 | US |
| Child | 13122453 | US |
