Abstract:
This disclosure relates to tea machines that utilize infusion bag dispensing systems to dispensing tea or other substances from canisters into the infusion bag. The tea machine comprises: a canister housing; one or more removable canisters, each canister configured to be refillable with loose tea and/or infusible sweetener; a plurality of empty infusion bags configured to contain tea and/or other infusible substance; an infusion bag dispenser adapted to hold a plurality of empty porous-walled infusion bags and configured to retrieve an empty infusion bag and hold and open the retrieved bag for filling with tea and/or other infusible substance; and a measuring cup adapted for determining the quantity of tea or other infusible substance to be extracted from the canister(s) and dispensed into the infusion bag. The tea machine of the present invention may be manually operated, or may be operated electronically, or may be controlled by a microprocessor or/and be programmed by the end user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to tea machines, and relates more particularly to tea machines utilizing an infusion bag dispensing system that can be used to make tea at home, within a store environment or within a work or office setting. 
     Description of Related Art 
     Infusion bags used for preparing tea, herbal beverages or the like are known in the prior art. More specifically, by way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,235,273 to Ruston discloses an infusion bag having a means for selectively inserting any desired dry beverage material. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,605,123 to Goodrum et. al. discloses an infusion bag for particulated food products such as tea, coffee and the like, constructed of a tube of perforated thermoplastic film or other porous material. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,746,699 to Lohrey et al. discloses an infusion bag especially for tea, which has a top part with folded down corners and a middle part folded over it, to which a string with two free ends is attached. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,551,336 to Chen discloses an improved infusion bag for preparing an infusion of tea or other infusible substance, which makes the infusible substance less compacted and overcomes the constraint. This gives a higher quantity and higher concentration of infusion liquor. 
     To package one&#39;s own infusion bags for tea, for herbal tea beverages, or the like for which separation of the infusible substance from liquid is desired often times results in a tedious and cumbersome process. Tradition is such that a person needs to get a sachet, hold it open, and transfer the desired infusible material into the sachet. Therefore, it is desirable to have a device, for example, an infusion bag dispenser, which can help to facilitate such packaging and remove the need for a preparation process that requires many ancillary items stored and employed by the end-user. 
     However, there is no infusion bag dispenser available for people to help or facilitate for them the packaging of their own infusion bags at home, within a store, or within a work setting—to prepare their own tea or herbal beverage or the like. 
     Therefore, there is a need for tea machines that utilize an infusion bag dispensing system for tea, herb leaves, and the like. Such a tea machine can store the empty infusion bags in a container, retrieve the bag, hold the bag and open the bag for a user to dispense the infusible substance from one or multiple canisters for use. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     One primary object of the present invention is to provide a tea machine for tea, herb leaves, and the like which includes an infusion dispensing system that can dispense tea or herbal leaves from one or more tea or herbal canisters into an infusion bag for making tea or herbal tea drink. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronically operated tea machine. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a microprocessor controlled tea machine. 
     In order to reach the aforementioned objectives, the principle of the infusion bag dispensing system (See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/250,434, “infusion bag dispensing system”, submitted on Apr. 11, 2014; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference) is used in the infusion bag dispenser design of the present invention. 
     The tea machine of the present invention may be manually operated, or may be operated electronically, or may be controlled by a microprocessor or/and be programmed by the end user. 
     The tea machine of the present invention can dispense metered quantities of substances using weight or volume sensor. Alternatively, a user can estimate the quantity by looking at marking lines indicated on a measuring cup. The tea machine can dispense multiple substances, of same or different sizes (weight or volume), from one or more removable canisters into an infusion bag. 
     The tea machine can dispense sugar and/or other sweetener into an infusion bag. The tea machine can store a plurality of infusion bags, extract an infusion bag, open the Infusion bag, dispense metered quantities of multiple substances into the infusion bag, and dispense a filled infusion bag into a cup. The tea machine can dispense substance(s) of different size(s) into the Infusion bag. 
     The tea machine of the present invention can store water, heat water, and dispense hot water into a cup. 
     In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a tea machine for filling tea bags and making tea, the tea machine comprising: a canister housing; one or more removable canisters, each canister configured to be refillable with loose tea and/or infusible sweetener an infusion bag dispenser adapted to hold a plurality of empty infusion bags, such infusion bags having a porous-walled bag configured to contain tea and/or other infusible substance, an open/close clip, and two holes at two ends of the clip; a retriever and opener mechanism operable to retrieve the empty infusion bag individually from the infusion bag dispenser, hold and open the retrieved bag for filling with the infusible substance; and a measuring cup adapted for determining the quantity of tea or other infusible substance to be extracted from the canister(s) and dispensed into the Infusion bag. 
     In another embodiment, the tea machine further comprises control levers or control buttons to actuate the dispensing of substances from canisters to the measuring cup, and from measuring cup to the infusion bag. 
     In another embodiment, the tea machine further comprises microprocessor, user interface and computer display for allowing the user to create their own tea recipes and save the recipes for future use. 
     In another embodiment, the tea machine further comprises water tank or water inlet, and a water heater to add hot water to the cup to make tea. 
     The tea machine&#39;s measuring cup may utilize one of a weight sensor or volume sensor to measure the quantity of substances to be dispensed. Alternatively, the quantity is measured or estimated according to the marking lines indicated on the measuring cup. 
     In another embodiment, the tea machine further comprises a cup sensor or detector to ensure the presence of cup before releasing the filled infusion bag into the cup and before dispensing hot water into the cup. 
     The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow. 
     Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention. 
     The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the single canister manual tea machine. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of the multi canister manual tea machine. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of an alternative version of the multi canister manual tea machine. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of the electric multi canister tea machine. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the electric multi canister with hot water tea machine. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the computer controlled multi canister tea machine. 
         FIG. 7  is a perspective view of the computer controlled multi canister with hot water tea machine. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The tea machines according to the principle of the present invention utilize the principle of the infusion bag dispensing system (See U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/250,434, “infusion bag dispensing system”, submitted on Apr. 11, 2014; the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference). 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , there is disclosed the first embodiment of tea machine, the single tea canister manual tea machine  100 . The single tea canister manual tea machine  100  has a canister housing  101 , a release lever  102 , measuring cup  103 , measuring cup release knob  104 , bag storage  105 , bag opening mechanism  106 , and bag dispenser lever  107 . The measuring cup  103  may have marking lines to indicate quantity. 
     To use the single tea canister manual tea machine  100 , the user opens a canister  108  and places the canister  108  onto the canister housing  101 . The user uses the release lever  102  to release tea leaves into the measuring cup  103 . The quantity can be measured or estimated by looking at the marking lines indicated on the measuring cup. Once the desired amount of tea is placed in the measuring cup  103 , the tea release lever  102  is closed. The user then pushes down on the bag dispenser lever  107  to dispense the infusion bag  109 . The infusion bag dispenser mechanism is described in patent application Ser. No. 14/250,434. The bag retrieving and opening mechanism  106  then opens up the bag for the user to turn the measuring cup release knob  104  to dispense the tea leaves from the measuring cup  103  to the infusion bag  109 . After the tea leaves are placed inside the infusion bag  109 , the infusion bag  109  is then closed and ready to be used. The bag retrieving and opening mechanism  106  can be returned to its original position by pulling the bag dispenser lever  107  up. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , there is disclosed the second embodiment of tea machine, the multi canister manual tea machine  200 . Multi canister manual tea machine  200  has a canister selector  210 , canister housing  201 , a canister housing lid  211 , a release lever  102 , measuring cup  103 , measuring cup release knob  104 , bag storage container  105 , bag opening mechanism  106 , and bag dispenser lever  107 . The canister housing  201  contains multiple canister slots to hold the canisters (which may contain tea or sugar/sweetener)  108 . To use the multi canister manual tea machine  200 , the user opens a canister  108  and places the canister  108  onto one of the canister slots in the canister housing  201 . User may continue to put additional canisters  108  into each of the remaining canister slots. The user can then use the canister selector  210  to rotate the canisters to the one the user wants to use. On the bottom of each canister slot is a hole that is closed off by a cover. The user uses the release lever  102  to open the cover to release tea or sugar/sweetener into the measuring cup  103 . Once the desired amount of tea or sugar/sweetener is placed in the measuring cup  103 , the release lever  202  is closed. At this point, the user can select another canister  108  to mix by turning the canister selector  210  to the desired canister  108  and follow the above steps again. The user then pushes down on the bag dispenser lever  107  to dispense the infusion bag  109 . The bag retrieving and opening mechanism  106  is described in patent application Ser. No. 14/250,434. The bag retrieving and opening mechanism  106  then opens up the infusion bag  109  and is ready for the user to turn the measuring cup release knob  104  to release the tea leaves inside the measuring cup  103 . After the tea leaves are placed inside the infusion bag  109 , the infusion bag  109  is then closed and ready to be used. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , there is disclosed an alternative embodiment of the tea machine, the alternative multiple canister manual tea machine  300 . The alternative multi canister manual tea machine  300  has a canister selector  210 , canister housing  201  to hold canisters  108 , a canister housing lid  211 , a release lever  102 , measuring cup window  303 , measuring cup release knob  104 , infusion bag dispenser  309 , and bag dispenser lever  107 . The alternative multiple canister manual tea machine  300  functions the same way as the multi canister manual tea machine  200 . The measuring cup shown in  FIG. 2  is covered by a plastic wall and is invisible in  FIG. 3 . However, there is a measuring cup window  303  through which to observe the quantity of the infusible substance in the measuring cup. The tea measuring cup window  303  is removable for cleaning. Also, the infusion bag dispenser  309  including the bag retrieving and opening mechanism  106  and the bag storage container  105  shown in  FIG. 2  is surrounded by a plastic wall and is invisible in this figure. The infusion bag dispenser  309  is discussed in the patent application Ser. No. 14/250,434. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4-5 , there are disclosed another two embodiments of the tea machine, the multiple tea canister electric tea machine, one without water supply  400  and one with water supply  500 . The user first presses the first or leftmost button  413  to turn the unit on. Once the unit is turned on, pressing the leftmost button  413  rotates the storage canisters by one position. The user presses the leftmost button  413  until their desired canister  108  is selected. The rotating mechanism inside the canister housing  201  may be any rotating mechanism known in the art. Instead of using bag dispenser lever  107 , the second button  414  displaces an infusion bag  109  in the “to be filled” position. Instead of using the release lever  102 , the third button  415  dispenses a fixed amount of tea into the measuring cup. In another embodiment, the selected tea leaves are dispensed while the user holds down the third button  415  and stops dispensing when the user lets go of the third button. For example, if the user wants to dispense 2 grams of tea leaves from the currently selected canister, the user holds down the third button  415  to dispense the tea leaves while monitoring the measuring cup window  303 . Once the tea leaves fill up to the 2 gram mark in the measuring cup  103 , the user releases the third button  415  to stop further tea leaves to be dispensed. If the user wants to select another tea to mix, he/she can press the first button  413  to rotate the canisters  108  and hit the second button  414  again to get a fixed amount of another tea. Instead of using measuring cup release knob  104  as shown in  FIG. 3 , the rightmost button  416  dispenses the tea from the measuring cup into the infusion tea bag  109 . Pressing the rightmost button  416  again releases the “filled” infusion tea bag  109  and turns the electric tea machine  400  off. The configurations of the buttons and their functionality may be setup differently. 
     In addition to all elements of embodiment  400 , the embodiment  500  disclosed in  FIG. 5  further has a water supply which is a water tank  518  to store water, small opening  517  to manually fill water into the water tank  518 , and a water level indicator  519 . An additional rightmost or fifth button  516  is included that when pressed dispenses water. The embodiment may further comprise a heater  520  to heat water for making tea. In another embodiment, the water supply may be a water inlet which is connected to a water pipe and thus water is automatically supplied. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6-7 , there are disclosed another two embodiments of the tea machine, the computer controlled tea machine, one without water supply  600  and one with water supply  700 . The computer controlled tea machine  600  has one or more buttons, a small display screen  616  preferably a LCD screen, a microprocessor, and motorized tea selector  210 . In  FIG. 6 , four buttons are shown as an example; the configurations of the buttons and their functionality may be setup differently. To start to use the tea machine  600 , the user presses a button to turn on the computer controlled tea machine  600 . The display  616  will provide two options: 1) select a pre made tea mixture recipe, 2) create new tea mixture recipe. If the user selects option #2 (by pressing on the button corresponding to option #2) create new tea mixture, the display  616  will ask the user to select the teas for the mixture by displaying all the types of tea. The user presses a button until the desired tea is selected. The computer display will ask the user to enter the amount for the tea. The amount can be input in many different ways. In one of the embodiments, the amount will start at 0.0. The user can press a button to increase the amount at a small preset increment and press another button to decrease the amount at a preset decrement. In another embodiment, the display may show several quantities and the user may use the buttons assigned for up (increase quantity) and down (decrease quantity) to select the quantity. The display  616  may ask whether to add additional tea leaves? To add additional tea leaves into the mixture, the user repeats the above steps. The user lets the computer controlled tea machine  600  know that the mixture is complete and to save the mixture recipe. There may be an option for the user to input a name for the mixture recipe using the buttons. 
     The computer controlled tea machine  600  will ask the user if they want the newly created tea mixture to be made into an infusion tea bag  109 . If the user selects yes, the computer controlled tea machine  600  will open and dispense an infusion tea bag  109  and dispense the selected tea leaves until the weight or volume scale/sensor reaches the quantity that the user input. Repeating the process with each tea leaves input for the mixture until the tea mixture recipe is completed. Then the infusion tea bag  109  is closed, released, and ready to be used. Next time the user wants to make the same tea mix he/she selects #1 pre made tea mixture option and selects the saved pre made tea mixture recipe of their choice. If they want to make a tea with different recipe they can choose #2 create new tea mixture option and create a new pre-made tea mixture recipe to saved in the computer controlled tea machine  600 . 
     In addition to all elements of embodiment  600 , embodiment  700  disclosed in  FIG. 7  further comprises a water tank  518  to store water, small opening  517  to fill water into the water tank  518 , and a water level indicator  519 . In another embodiment, the device can have water inlet connected to a water pipe to supply water. The device may also contain a water heater  520  to heat the water. 
     The electric tea machine with hot water  500  of  FIG. 5  and the computer controlled tea machine with hot water  700  of  FIG. 7  both have a cup sensor. The tea machine only dispenses hot water if the cup sensor detects a cup is present to prevent water from being dispensed when no cup is present. 
     Each embodiment of the device may dispense sugar and/or other sweetener or creamer into the infusion bag which may be stored in one of the canisters  108 . 
     While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.