DRIP BAG
20230150757 · 2023-05-18
Assignee
Inventors
Cpc classification
B65D85/812
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
A47J31/02
HUMAN NECESSITIES
International classification
B65D85/804
PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
A47J31/02
HUMAN NECESSITIES
Abstract
A drip bag includes a bag main body formed of a water permeable filter sheet and hooking members made of a thin plate-like material on two opposite outer surfaces. Each hooking member includes upper bonded, central, and a pair of arm portions from the central to toward the upper bonded portion, and a pair of hooking portions. The arm portions are mutually spaced with a bag main body width center line between them. Each hooking portion extends downward in and are not bonded onto the bag main body. Each arm portion can be pulled up from the bag main body at an upper part, and has a fixed side on the bag main body at a lower part. The fixed side is inclined relative to a bag main body width direction. A bag main body opening portion opens wider even when a cup opening diameter is small.
Claims
1. A drip bag comprising: a bag main body formed of a water permeable filter sheet; and hooking members made of a thin plate-like material provided on two opposite outer surfaces of the bag main body, wherein each of the hooking members provided on the two surfaces includes: an upper bonded portion provided along an upper side of the bag main body; a central portion provided in a center of the hooking member, the central portion being unable to be pulled up from the bag main body; a pair of arm portions provided from the central portion to a direction toward the upper bonded portion, the pair of arm portions being spaced apart from each other with a center line of a width of the bag main body located between them; and a pair of hooking portions continuous with upper parts of the arm portions, the pair of hooking portions each extending between a side of the bag main body and the arm portion downward in the bag main body, the pair of hooking portions being not bonded onto the bag main body, and each of the arm portions is capable of being pulled up from the bag main body at an upper part thereof, each of the arm portions has a fixed side fixed onto the bag main body at a lower part thereof, and the fixed side is inclined with respect to a width direction of the bag main body or extends downward vertically with respect to the width direction of the bag main body from a lower end of a side, closer to the side of the bag main body, out of left and right sides of each of the arm portions.
2. The drip bag according to claim 1, wherein the upper bonded portion includes a protruding portion in which a center portion thereof in the width direction of the bag main body protrudes downward, and a pair of oblique folding lines provided with the center line located between them, with the oblique folding lines extending in a direction away from the center line from a lower part of the protruding portion to an upper side of the upper bonded portion, without touching an edge side of the protruding portion.
3. The drip bag according to claim 1, comprising an upper connecting portion that connects the pair of arm portions to each other at the upper parts of the arm portions.
4. The drip bag according to claim 1, comprising a lower connecting portion that connects the pair of hooking portions to each other at lower parts of the hooking portions.
5. The drip bag according to claim 1, wherein sides of the arm portions are curved into an arc shape at an adjoining portion to the fixed side.
6. The drip bag according to claim 1, wherein the bag main body is filled with an extraction material, and the bag main body is closed at a top end portion of the bag main body.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
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DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS
[0048] The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, the same reference numerals indicate identical or equivalent components.
Overall Configuration of Drip Bag
[0049]
[0050] The drip bag 1A has the bag main body 10 formed of a water permeable filter sheet, and the hooking members 20 made of a thin plate-like material provided on two opposite outer surfaces of the bag main body 10. The bag main body 10 is filled with an extraction material, and an opening portion 11 of the bag main body 10 is closed.
[0051] Each of the hooking members 20 on the front and back of the bag main body 10 has an upper bonded portion 24 provided along an upper side of the bag main body 10, a central portion 21 provided in the center of the hooking member 20 so as not to be pulled up from the bag main body 10, a pair of arm portions 22 that extend from the central portion 21 to a direction of the upper bonded portion 24 and that are spaced apart from each other with a center line A of the width of the bag main body 10 located between them, and a pair of hooking portions 23 each of which is continuous with an upper part of the arm portion 22 and extends between a side 10b of the bag main body and the arm portion 22 downward in the bag main body 10. The hooking portions 23 are not bonded to the bag main body 10. The pair of arm portions 22 can be pulled up from the bag main body 10 at upper parts thereof. The pair of arm portions 22 each have a fixed side 22a, which is fixed onto the bag main body 10 at a lower part thereof. The fixed side 22a is inclined with respect to a width direction of the bag main body.
[0052] In the drip bag 1A of the present embodiment, the hooking members 20 are independently provided on two opposite surfaces of the bag main body 10 and the hooking members 20 are symmetrically formed, but in the present invention, the hooking members 20 on the two opposite surfaces of the bag main body 10 may be continuous with each other.
Bag Main Body
[0053] The bag main body 10 is formed of a water permeable filter sheet, and filled with coffee powder as an extraction material.
[0054] As the water permeable filter sheet forming the bag main body 10, for example, various types of sheet that are capable of leaching coffee when a predetermined amount of coffee powder is filled and hot water is poured can be used. Generally, as the sheet for leaching, for example, a woven or non-woven fabric made of synthetic fibers such as polyester, nylon, polyethylene, polypropylene, and vinylon, semi-synthetic fibers such as rayon, and natural fibers such as broussonetia and edgeworthia chrysantha individually and in composites, paper including mixed paper made of Manila hemp, wood pulp, polypropylene fibers, and the like, tea bag base paper, metal mesh sheet; and the like are known, and these can be used in the present invention. However, from a viewpoint of disposability after use of the drip bag, biodegradable fibers are preferably contained in the water permeable filter sheet material. Examples of the biodegradable fiber include polylactic acid, polybutylene succinate, and polyethylene succinate. In order to provide a moderate steaming effect to the coffee powder when dripping, when producing the water permeable filter sheet from these fiber materials, the porosity of fiber layers is preferably adjusted so as to create a sparse-dense multi-layer structure in which a layer in direct contact with the coffee powder is made “sparse” and a layer not in direct contact with the coffee powder is made “dense”. It is preferable to increase the content of hydrophobic fibers in the layer that is in direct contact with the coffee powder, and to decrease the content of hydrophobic fibers in the layer that is not in direct contact with the coffee powder (Japanese Patent No. 3674486).
[0055] In the present embodiment, the bag main body 10 is a rectangular flat bag in plan view with an upper side 10a and left and right sides 10b sealed, and has two opposite surfaces. In the vicinity of the upper side 10a of the bag main body 10, an opening guide line 12 is formed along the upper side 10a. As the opening guide line 12, perforations or the like can be formed. As the perforations, micro-perforations are preferred from the viewpoint of facilitating opening. Instead of the perforations for opening, a seal at the upper side 10a of the bag main body may be a weak seal. That is, the seal strength of the upper side 10a is made weaker than seal strengths of the other sides of the bag main body 10 so that the upper side 10a of the bag main body 10 may easily open by pulling the hooking portions 23 provided on the two opposite surfaces of the bag main body 10 in opposite directions to each other, although the seal does not peel off unintendedly except in opening operation. In the present invention, a bottom portion and side portions of the bag main body 10 may be gusseted as necessary.
[0056] The net planar dimension of the bag main body 10 can be appropriately set according to the size of a cup or container onto which the drip bag is to be hooked. For example, the net planar dimension should be large enough to be used with commercially available coffee cups.
Hooking Member
[0057] The hooking member 20 can be formed by, for example, punching out the thin plate-like material such as paperboard, plastic sheet, thin metal sheet, or the like. The thin plate-like material is also preferably formed of a biodegradable material such as polylactic acid, polybutylene succinate, or polyethylene succinate, from the viewpoint of disposability after use of the drip bag 1A.
[0058] The hooking member 20 has the upper bonded portion 24 provided along the upper side 10a of the bag main body 10. The upper bonded portion 24 is bonded to the bag main body 10, but the bonded region need not be the entire surface of the upper bonded portion 24. For example, as illustrated in
[0059] In the present invention, the upper bonded portion 24 may be formed as a band shape with a constant width, but as illustrated in
[0060] In the present embodiment, there is no folding line formed on the upper bonded portion 24 of the drip bag 1A, other than the oblique folding lines L1. This enables an opening portion of the bag main body to be opened wider and the opening shape to be closer to a circle than when vertical folding lines of the bag main body are formed just below the oblique folding lines L1.
[0061] The oblique folding lines L1 can be formed by perforations, half-cutting, streak pressing, or the like. The oblique folding lines L1 can also be formed by cut lines through the front and back of the hooking member 20 so that the upper bonded portion 24 is easily folded at the oblique folding lines L1, as long as underlying water permeable filter sheet of the bag main body 10 is continuous.
[0062] From left and right ends of the upper bonded portion 24, reinforcing portions 26 extend along the sides 10b of the bag main body 10 toward the bottom side of the bag main body. In the present invention, the reinforcing portions 26 are provided as necessary.
[0063] In the present invention, the central portion 21 is a portion that is provided at the center of the hooking member 20 and cannot be pulled up from the bag main body 10. The central portion 21 is preferably provided on the center line of the width of the hooking member 20, but is not limited thereto. In order to make the central portion 21 unable to be pulled up from the bag main body, a bonded region, which is bonded to the bag main body 10, may be formed in the central portion 21, as with the drip bag 1A of the present embodiment, or regions connected to the top and bottom of the central portion 21 may be bonded to the bag main body 10 while the central portion 21 itself may not be bonded to the bag main body 10.
[0064] From the left and right sides of the central portion 21, the pair of arm portions 22 are provided to the direction of the upper bonded portion 24 with the center line A located between them. The arm portions 22 are separated by a central bonded portion 27 extending upward from the central portion 21.
[0065] Each of the arm portions 22 can be pulled up from the bag main body 10. An upper part of each of the arm portions 22 is continuous with the hooking portion 23. In a lower part of each of the arm portions 22, the fixed side 22a fixed onto the bag main body 10 is formed.
[0066] The reason why the pair of arm portions 22 are provided with the center line A located between them is, as described below, to make the fixed sides 22a at the lower parts of the arm portions 22 inclined with respect to the width direction of the bag main body. In contrast, if the central bonded portion 27 is omitted and a single arm portion is provided as described in FIG. 1 of Patent Literature 1 by connecting the arm portions on the left and right of the center line A, it becomes difficult to provide inclined fixed sides at a bottom part of the arm portion.
[0067] In the drip bag 1A according to the present embodiment, the fixed sides 22a are inclined with respect to the width direction of the bag main body. To make the fixed sides 22a inclined like this with respect to the width direction of the bag main body, in the drip bag 1A, one of both left and right sides of each arm portion 22, a side 22c closer to the side 10b of the bag main body is curved into an arc shape at an adjoining portion to the fixed side 22a relative to the position of a lower end of a side 22b closer to the center line A, thereby shifting the position of the lower end of the side 22c to the side closer to the bottom side 10c of the bag main body.
[0068] Due to this inclination of the fixed sides 22a, when the hooking portions 23 provided on the two opposite surfaces of the bag main body 10 are pulled in opposite directions to each other, a tensile force more strongly acts on, out of both left and right end portions of the fixed side 22a of the arm portion 22, the end portion closer to the center line A than the end portion closer to the side 10b of the bag main body. The arm portion 22 is twisted and the lower part of the arm portion 22 becomes difficult to bend. Therefore, the tensile force not only bends the lower end of the arm portion 22 to move an upper end of the arm portion 22 in a pulling direction by a movement amount Δx1, but also moves the bag main body 10 at a portion fixed to the lower end of the arm portion 22 in the pulling direction by a movement amount Δx2. Therefore, the arm portions 22 are pulled up from the bag main body 10 while pulling the bag main body 10. Not only in a case in which, as illustrated in
[0069] When the fixed side 22a of the arm portion 22 is inclined with respect to the width direction of the bag main body, the inclination angle αα(
[0070] The pair of arm portions 22 provided with the center line A located between them are connected to each other at upper parts thereof by an upper connecting portion 28. The provision of the upper connecting portion 28 prevents the pair of hooking portions 23 from coming apart when the pair of hooking portions 23, which are continuous with the upper parts of the pair of arm portions 22, are hooked onto the opening wall of the cup or the like, thereby facilitating hooking the hooking portions 23 onto the opening wall of the cup or the like.
[0071] In the present invention, the hooking portions 23 are continuous with the upper parts of each of the arm portions 22 provided on the left and right of the center line A. In the drip bag 1A according to present embodiment, the hooking portion 23 is continuous with the upper part of the arm portion 22 at one end of the upper part of the hooking portion 23, has a portion 23a extending in the width direction of the bag main body at a middle of the upper part of the hooking portion 23, and extends between the arm portion 22 and the reinforcing portion 26 downward in the bag main body 10 at the other end of the hooking portion 23. The provision of the portions 23a extending in the width direction of the bag main body at the upper parts of the hooking portions 23, as illustrated in
[0072] The pair of hooking portions 23 located on the left and right of the center line A are connected at lower parts thereof by a lower connecting portion 29. This facilitates operation of hooking the pair of hooking portions 23 onto the opening wall of the cup or the like.
[0073] Second central bonded portions 30 are each formed between the arm portion 22 and the hooking portion 23. With this configuration, end portions of the arm portions 22 on the side closer to the fixed sides 22a can each be enclosed by the central portion 21, the central bonded portion 27, and the second central bonded portion 30. In particular, providing bonded regions to the bag main body in these portions that surround the end portions of the arm portions 22 on the side closer to the fixed sides 22a is preferred because the stability of the arm portions 22 is improved in the direction of pulling up the arm portions 22.
Variations of Drip Bag
[0074] The drip bag of the present invention can take various forms. For example, in comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0075] In comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0076] In a drip bag 1E illustrated in
[0077] On the other hand, in a drip bag 1y illustrated in
[0078] In comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0079] In comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0080] In comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0081] In comparison to the drip bag 1H illustrated in
[0082] In comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0083] In comparison to the drip bag 1J illustrated in
[0084] In comparison to the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0085] The above-described variations of the drip bag can be combined with one another as appropriate.
Drip Bag Usage
[0086] An aspect of the drip bag according to the present invention that is not filled with an extraction material can be used as a filter to be filled with an extraction material when obtaining an extraction liquid from the extraction material. On the other hand, as a use method of an aspect of the drip bag according to the present invention filled with an extraction material while the bag main body being closed, for example, the bag main body 10 is opened at the opening portion 11 when obtaining an extraction liquid, the hooking portions 23 on the two opposite surfaces of the bag main body are pulled in opposite directions to each other and hooked onto a cup, and hot water is poured into the opening portion 11 of the bag main body 10, thereby obtaining an extraction liquid. In this case, regardless of the opening diameter of a cup, the opening portion 11 of the bag main body 10 is formed to spread easily, facilitating pouring hot water.
Producing Method of Drip Bag
[0087] The drip bag according to the present invention can be produced by applying a drip bag production sheet to a known filling and packaging machine. For example, when producing the drip bag 1A illustrated in
[0088] Next, as illustrated in
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST
[0089] 1x, 1A, 1B, 1C, 1D, 1E, 1F, 1G, 1H, 1I, 1J, 1K, 1L drip bag
[0090] 10 bag main body
[0091] 10a upper side of bag main body
[0092] 10b side of bag main body
[0093] 10c bottom side of bag main body
[0094] 11 opening portion
[0095] 12 opening guide line
[0096] 20 hooking member
[0097] 21 central portion
[0098] 22 arm portion
[0099] 22a fixed side
[0100] 22b side closer to center line
[0101] 22c side closer to side of bag main body
[0102] 23 hooking portion
[0103] 23a portion of hooking portion
[0104] 24 upper bonded portion
[0105] 25 protruding portion
[0106] 25a edge side of protruding portion
[0107] 26 reinforcing portion
[0108] 27 central bonded portion
[0109] 28 upper connecting portion
[0110] 29 lower connecting portion
[0111] 30 second central bonded portion
[0112] 40 drip bag production sheet
[0113] 41 water permeable filter sheet
[0114] 100 cup
[0115] 100A cup with large opening diameter
[0116] 100B cup with small opening diameter
[0117] A center line of width of bag main body
[0118] L1 oblique folding line
[0119] L2 vertical folding line
[0120] L3 vertical folding line
[0121] L4 vertical folding line
[0122] α inclination angle