Patent ID: 8516949

Claim:
A tea pot comprising: an upper container assembly comprising a releasable top, an open bottom, a beverage chamber occupying a predetermined portion of space of the upper container assembly, and a funnel in the beverage chamber, the funnel extending from top of the beverage chamber to bottom thereof; a check valve comprising a cylindrical seat comprising a central, axial, bossed hole having a conical top surface, an opening spaced from the central, axial, bossed hole and being sealingly aligned with a stem of the funnel, and a plurality of equally spaced, rectangular, vertically directed guide slots on an annular surface of the cylindrical seat; a plastic, conical valve unit comprising a central, axial, stepped-diameter tunnel, the valve unit being seated upon the matingly shaped conical top surface of the cylindrical seat; and a sliding assembly comprising a hollow body, a plurality of equally spaced, rectangular tabs on an annular outer surface of the hollow body, the tabs being slidably received in the guide slots, and a top shaft including a plurality of equally spaced, surficial grooves with an L-shaped protrusion formed between any two adjacent grooves, and a cylindrical top projection shaped to matingly fasten in the tunnel wherein the top shaft is slidably inserted into the central, axial, bossed hole of the cylindrical seat for blocking with the protrusions engaging with underside of the cylindrical seat; and a lower container assembly comprising a top releasably secured to the bottom of the upper container assembly, a releasable bottom cap, a lower ingredient chamber, and an intermediate strainer for separating the ingredient chamber from the check valve which is positioned above the ingredient chamber in the lower container assembly, wherein in response to inverting the tea pot, opening the bottom cap of the lower container assembly, placing tea leaves in the ingredient chamber, securing the bottom cap to the lower container assembly, inverting the tea pot, opening the top of the upper container assembly, and pouring hot water into the ingredient chamber via the funnel, the opening, and the strainer, the tea leaves are soaked for extraction; wherein liquid level in the ingredient chamber rises to move the sliding assembly upward as the tabs move upward along the guide slots until being stopped with the upward moving the top shaft disengaging the valve unit from the cylindrical seat to open the central, axial, bossed hole; wherein brewed beverage in the ingredient chamber flows into the beverage chamber for accumulation via the grooves in the central, axial, bossed hole; and wherein after a first predetermined period of time in response to closing the upper container assembly, inverting the tea pot, elapsing a second predetermined period of time, and inverting the tea pot, the top shaft moves downward to block the central, axial, bossed hole due to weights of the beverage in the beverage chamber, the sliding assembly, and the valve unit.