Quantities, Intended more Especially for Making Tea.
Year: 1885

page_text: Quantities, Intended more Especially for Making Tea.
I, JAMES HOBBS, of 13 Springfield Road, Brighton, in the County of Sussex,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING INFUSIONS IN SMALL QUANTITIES, INTENDED
MORE ESPECIALLY FOR MAKING TEA," to be as follows:-
There are many circumstances in which it becomes desirable to make a single
cup of tea, and the ordinary method of doing this by means of a small teapot is
cumbersome and expensive, necessitating the washing up of the teapot as well as
the cup and presenting other disadvantages-Now my invention is intended to
facilitate the making of a single cup of tea, so as to reduce the work attending the
same to a minimum, and, by the very perfect infusion of the leaves, to produce an
article of better flavour and at lower cost than is generally done by the means
heretofore in common use.
I construct a vessel generally of copper tinned or plated, but it may be of any
other suitable metal or combination of metals or suitable material such as of
porcelain, earthenware, or glass, of approximately the shape of, but rather smaller
than, the inside of a cup, usually a breakfast cup, and with it's edge turned
outward and over, so as to form a rim which when the said vessel is placed in a
cup may rest on the edge thereof and thus support the vessel so that it may not
come in contact with the bottom or any part of the cup except the top edge-In
the lower part of the vessel I pierce a number of small holes, and I provide a lid
which I prefer should be detached and which will fit tolerably accurately over the
top of the vessel.
In order to make a cup of tea I proceed as follows: I place one of: my said
vessels in a breakfast cup (or such other cup as it may be made to fit) and place
inside it the quantity of tea to be used, I then pour the boiling water on the tea
until the cup is nearly full and place the lid over the whole-In about three
minutes I lift the vessel containing the tea-leaves out of the cup and the tea is
ready for drinking.
"
In this process the boiling water which is first poured on the tea-leaves passes
through them, and then through the perforations in the vessel, into the bottom of
the cup, in which it rises and fills the annular space forming a hot water jacket
between the cup and the vessel, where it remains until the latter is withdrawn,

page_text: and assists in keeping the water within the vessel at an equable temperature by
which the strength of the tea is more thoroughly extracted than when any of the
means generally in use are employed.
In restaurants, and other places where many cups of tea have to be made, great
economy of space is effected by employing my apparatus as compared with the use
of separate teapots, because my said vessels will fit one within another so that a
great number may, when not in actual use, be placed in a small space.-They are
also much more easy to wash than are teapots.
My invention may also be used for making other infusions.
An Improved Apparatus for Making Infusions in Small
Quantities, Intended more Especially for Making Tea.
I JAMES HOBBS, of 13, Springfield Road, Brighton, in the County of Sussex,
Hat Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention for "AN
IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR MAKING INFUSIONS IN SMALL QUANTITIES, INTENDED
MORE ESPECIALLY FOR MAKING TEA," and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement to be as follows:-
There are many circumstances in which it becomes desirable to make a single
cup of tea, and the ordinary method of doing this by means of a small teapot, is
cumbersome and expensive, necessitating the washing up of the teapot as well as
of the cup and presenting other disadvantages. Now my Invention is intended to
facilitate the making of a single cup of tea, so as to reduce the work attending the
same to a minimum, and by the very perfect infusion of the leaves to produce an
article of better flavour and at lower cost than is generally done by the means
heretofore in common use.
I construct a vessel of Porcelain, earthenware Glass, copper tinned or plated, or
other suitable metal or combination of metals or material, of approximately the
shape of, but rather smaller than the inside of a cup, usually a breakfast cup, and
with its edge turned outward and over, so as to form a rim which when the said
vessel is placed in a cup may rest on the edge thereof and thus support, the vessel
so that it may not come in contact with the bottom or any part of the cup except
the top edge. In the lower part of the vessel I pierce a number of small holes and
I provide a lid which I prefer should be detached and which will fit tolerably
accurately over the top of the vessel.

page_text: In order to make a cup of tea, I proceed as follows. I place one of my said
vessels in a breakfast cup, (or such other cup as it may be made to fit) and place
inside it the quantity of tea to be used, I then pour boiling water on the tea until
the cup is nearly full, or I first pour in the water and then throw the tea into it,
and place the lid over the whole. In about 5 minutes more or less. I lift the vessel
containing the tea-leaves out of the cup, and the tea is ready for drinking.
1
In this process the boiling water which is first poured into the vessel passes
through the perforations in the vessel into the bottom of the cup in which it rises,
and fills the annular space, thereby forming a hot water jacket between the cup
and the vessel where it remains until the latter is withdrawn and assists in keeping
the water within the vessel at an elevated and equable temperature, by which the
strength of tea is more thoroughly extracted than when any of the means
generally in use are employed.
In restaurants and other places where many cups of Tea have to be made great
economy of space is effected by employing my apparatus as compared with the use
of separate tea pots, because my said vessels will fit one within another, so that a
great number may, when not in actual use, be placed in a small space. They are
also much more easy to wash than are Tea pots.
My Invention may also be used for making other infusions.
In the drawings hereunto annexed and forming part of this my Specification,
Fig. 1, is a representation of my said infusing vessel; Fig. 2, is a representation of
the lid or cover inverted; Fig. 3, is a vertical section of a cup with my apparatus
in place as it would appear whilst in use and during the time when tea for instance
is being allowed to "draw" and Fig. 4, is a sectional elevation of the apparatus
when removed from the cup, say after use, the inverted lid serving as a convenient
stand or saucer whereon to place the infusing vessel.
Like letters show like parts in all the figures. A, is the infusion vessel; B is the
lid thereof which is intended to be used also as a stand or saucer for the vessel A.
C, is an ordinary tea or breakfast cup, and D the saucer therefor both of the usual
construction.
I construct the vessel A with a flange c, which, when the vessel is in use,
supports it on the rim of the cup, and otherwise of a shape corresponding pretty
closely with that of the interior of an ordinary cup, but less deep, and somewhat
more spreading at the top, so that when placed in a cup somewhat smaller than
the average size, the spreading upper part of the vessel may rest on the top of the
cup and support the vessel at a proper elevation. The lower part of the vessel A is
perforated with moderately fine holes a a, or, with a series of narrow cuts or slots.
The lid or cover B, shown separately in Fig. 2, I make slightly larger than the
flange of the vessel A, so that it may be easily lifted off separately, and I make
the surface b to fit closely over the flange c, as shown in section in Fig. 3.
The central part of the cover B is formed conveniently to receive the perforated
bottom of A, as shown in Fig. 4.
The apparatus is used as follows, the vessel A being placed in an empty vessel
say a teacup of appropriate relative size, the material whereof an infusion is to be
made, say tea, is placed within the vessel A. The liquid to be used as a menstruum,
boiling water for instance, is next poured in, or the water is poured in first, and
then the tea thrown in, and the cover B put on, as shown in Fig. 3.
When the infusion has attained the requisite strength, the cover B is taken off,
turned upside down, as shown in Fig. 2, and the vessel A lifted out of the cup and
placed upon it as shown in Fig. 4.
It has to be noticed that various forms of infusion apparatus have heretofore
been known, but they are ill designed and not sufficiently advantageous for the
purpose, I therefore lay no claim to such older forms, but the shapes of the various
parts as shown in the drawings are those which I have found most advantageous
for the purpose and which I prefer to use, and it will be readily understood that
the details of construction may be varied, although experiment has led me to adopt
the form shown in the drawings.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. An infusion vessel nearly fitting into a cup so as to leave a narrow annular
space all round substantially as described, into which the water first poured in
passes and forms a hot jacket surrounding the infusion vessel and maintaining the
water in the latter at a higher temperature than it would otherwise have.
2. An infusion vessel so shaped as to fit readily into a cup or such like utensil,
leaving a narrow space all round and a deeper space beneath it and having a flange
such as c which rests on the edge of the cup, and which vessel is perforated or
pierced at or near the bottom and is also provided with a lid having an annular
groove which rests upon the flange c of the infusion vessel substantially as specified
and shown.
.
3. An infusion apparatus consisting of the vessel A and lid B substantially as
described and for the purposes set forth.