Patent Publication Number: US-2007098850-A1

Title: Tea bags for children

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates, generally, to beverage infusion devices intended for use in small quantity beverages for children and, more particularly, to a composition and process of manufacturing a tea bag having a color, flavor, and shape suitable for small quantities and pleasing to adolescents.  
      2. Background  
      Common tea bags are mainly designed to be used with ten to twelve ounce volumes of water and are constructed of liquid permeable materials in a shape and size conducive to economically producing a robust cup of tea. Current art tea bags are generally square and are too large to fit into a demetasse cup or smaller cup intended for children. Furthermore, common tea bags are often un-pleasing to children with a plain geometric shape and white color appearance. Another known problem with tea is its brewed color and flavor are often inconsistent, especially in smaller quantities.  
      Processes for enhancing the color and flavor of tea are known in the art, see for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,135,00, issued to Edmonds. Such processes involve adding artificial ingredients to the tea mixture contained within the tea bag container. Artificial colorants are sometimes added to alter the color of the brewed tea product as well as artificial or additional natural flavorings are added to modify the taste of the brewed tea product. Most of the methods to enhance the color and flavor of tea bags involve adding ingredients to the tea extract itself not to the infusion device. Another problem with current small tea bags is that the small quantity of tea does not produce a good quality small cup of tea—it is preferable that the tea be a dark color similar to that most recognizable by adult tea drinkers. Similarly, in a child application it is desired not to have to steep the tea for a prolonged period of time or use especially hot water. It is preferred that the process of making the cup of tea be quick yet still produce a robust cup of tea in a flavor and taste consistent with a regular adult size cup of tea.  
      Different size and shape beverage infusion devices are also known in the art, but most are sized and shaped with the goal of producing a certain tea consistency. Most tea bags are rectangular in shape and do not appeal to a child in color or shape.  
      Accordingly there is a need in the art for a tea bag that is a small size in order to fit in a small volume cup yet is capable of producing a robust flavor and color tea. There further remains a need for a tea bag that has a pleasing and inviting shape and color to children when placed in a kit for children&#39;s tea parties.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention is a small volume tea bag in the shape of teddy bears and hearts and other child pleasing shapes. The tea bags themselves are colored with food coloring around the seam line that enhances the appearance of the normally white bag. The food coloring used is an adhesive gel type which serves several functions: 1) helps bond the tea bag material together, 2) adds to the before used color of the tea bag, 3) adds to the color of the tea produced making small quantities of tea appear more like the color of normal tea, and 4) adds to the flavor of a small quantity of tea, 5) requires a shorter steep time to produce the desired tea product, 6) allows for a lower temperature water to be used to produce the desired tea product. When combined these features create a tea bag and tea product that is pleasing to children.  
      Accordingly, in accordance with the above goals and advantages, the present invention is, briefly, a small size tea bag of irregular shape assembled by using a gel type food coloring that adds to the appearance of the tea bag, the color and taste of the tea product and assists in bonding the tea bag together.  
      Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.  
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      The present invention will become more fully understood from the detailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  depicts a perspective view of a representative embodiment  
       FIG. 2  depicts a side view of a representative embodiment  
       FIG. 3  depicts a flow diagram of the method 
    
    
      Throughout the drawings, like parts are indicated by like element numbers.  
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merely exemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention, its application, or uses.  
      Referring to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numbers indicate like elements,  FIG. 1  depicts a tea bag generally in the shape of a teddy bear. The tea bag  1 , comprises a water permeable top sheet  2 , with an outer edge  4 . The outer edge  4  is irregular in shape, preferably in the shape of a child pleasing character or symbol such as a teddy bear or heart The top sheet  2  is bonded to a water permeable bottom sheet,  3  in  FIG. 2 , by stitching  6  and through a layer of adhesive food coloring  8 . The layer of adhesive food coloring  8  contains a non-neutral color pigment thereby coloring the outer edges of the top sheet  2  and bottom sheet  3 . The pigment coloring is a color contrasting the color of the top and bottom sheets in order to draw distinction to the perimeter of the tea bag. The layer of adhesive food coloring  8  is of a gel type with a consistency sufficient not to require special fixtures to perform the bonding operation. The layer of adhesive food coloring  8  also serves to darken the color of the tea product produced, improve the taste of the tea product by containing an additive similar to the taste of natural tea leaves or another artificial flavor, shorten the time required to produce the tea product, and lower the temperature of the water required to produce the tea product.  
      There exists a first edge  10  of the outer edge  4  of the tea bag  1  that is no greater than 1.5 inches in length from a second edge  12  of the outer edge  4  of the tea bag  1 . There also is a top edge  18  that is no greater than 1.5 inches in length from a bottom edge  14  of the tea bag  1 . These measurements ensure a size of tea bag  1  that is sufficiently small to fit in a small tea cup.  
      The preferred embodiment includes the method of manufacturing such tea bags  1  including the steps of bonding the water permeable top sheet  2  to the water permeable bottom sheet  3  along an outer edge  4  with an adhesive food coloring gel. The top sheet  2  and bottom sheet  3  are optionally further stitched together for further bonding.  
      As various modifications could be made to the exemplary embodiments, as described above with reference to the corresponding illustrations, without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the foregoing description and shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative rather than limiting. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims appended hereto and their equivalents.