hored inside the mug by virtue of the spring action of support element 23 and the anchoring of cutout 36 around mug handle 44. Ground coffee beans 11 are immersed in liquid 41 and become wetted by the liquid. A significant inner volume 19 of filter bag 10 remains above the liquid surface 42. Vapors and gasses emanating during the brewing process accumulate and inflate the filter bag volume 19. Buoyant force due to these vapors is reduced by virtue of volume 19 being above the liquid surface. Filter bag 10 and contents 11 can oscillate back and forth about hinge 26 to 27 in response to convection currents that occur when the water is heated. Filter bag 10 is held vertically above the liquid by the height of hinge as at 26, this prevents the volume 19 from drooping over the mug rim 43 and spilling coffee outside the mug. The handling edges 39 described in FIG. 1, remain outside the liquid at all times. consequently , they do not experience a large increase in temperature, therefore upon removal from the microwave oven the disposable brewing device (FIG. 1) may be comfortably grasped and removed from the mug and discarded.
From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that the resilient support element having the filter bag attached to its inner surface enables the support element to maintain the filter bag in a vertical alignment inside a mug containing water.
Another feature of the invention that a tab securely anchors this invention to the mug handle. This feature enables the disposable brewing device to be properly positioned during the unattended brewing process. Another feature of the invention large filter bag inner volume which remains above the liquid surface and restricts and contains the vapors and gases and prevents spillage.
1. A disposable brewing device for brewing coffee in a cup comprising: an elongated filter bag enclosing a measured amount of ground coffee beans sealed therein and a thin, elongated flexible filter bag support element secured to said filter bag over a portion of both the length to the filter bag and the length of the support element leaving an upper portion of the bag relative to its vertical orientation in said cup and a lower portion of the support element unattached to each other; the filter bag being secured to said support element along a longitudinal edge of said filter bag so that the bag is oriented relatively transversely from said support element relative to the transverse direction of the bag when said device is placed in said cup, the attachment between said bag and said support element is such as to allow said bag to move freely from side to side relative to said support element; said support element comprising a tab element which extends away from the support element and the bag and which includes a cut out region sized and configured to engage a handle of said cup when said device is place in said cup, said lower unattached portion of said support element having an inward bend in a direction away from the tab element; the length and configuration of the unattached lower portion of said support element being sufficient such that when said device is placed in said cup with said tab element extending outside the cup with its cut out region engaging a handle of said cup, said lower unattached portion of said support element is in contact with the inner surface of the lower portion of said cup and is flexed so that it is concave upward to provide a spring action which pushes the attached portion of the support element against the inner wall of the cup, which, in combination with the cut out portion, anchors said filter bag in said cup; said bag is dimensioned such that in its anchored position in said cup, said unattached upper portion of said bag as well as a portion of said attached portion of said bag remains above the upper rim of said cup.
|4141997||February 27, 1979||Syroka et al.|
|4551336||November 5, 1985||Chen|
|4688479||August 25, 1987||Cunningham|
|4715271||December 29, 1987||Kitagawa|
|4726956||February 23, 1988||Christie|
|4756915||July 12, 1988||Dobry|
|48