WO2000024298A1

WO2000024298A1 - Disposable cup having tea bag

Info

Publication number: WO2000024298A1
Application number: PCT/KR1999/000592
Authority: WO
Inventors: Kyung Min Kim
Original assignee: KIM JI HUN
Current assignee: KIM JI HUN
Priority date: 1998-10-24
Filing date: 1999-10-05
Publication date: 2000-05-04
Anticipated expiration: 2001-04-24
Also published as: KR19990004163U; AU6008699A; KR200234235Y1

Abstract

Disclosed is a disposable cup having a tea bag, comprising: a side wall section; a bottom wall section coupled to a lower end of the side wall section, the side wall section and the bottom wall section cooperating with each other to form a leg part which serves to sustain a weight of water poured into the cup, the leg part defining an outside space which is opened downward; and a perforated board member coupled to an upper surface of the bottom wall section such that an annular space into which the leg part of another cup can be inserted is defined between a periphery of the perforated board member and an inner surface of the side wall section, a center portion of the perforated board member being separated from the upper surface of the bottom wall section to define a receiving space for receiving space for receiving the tea bag, the center portion of the perforated board member having a plurality of perforations formed therein, the receiving space being communicated through the plurality of perforations with an inside space of the cup which is opened upward and into which the water is poured.

Description

DISPOSABLE CUP HAVING TEA BAG

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a disposable cup having a tea bag, in which a perforated board member for receiving the tea bag is coupled to a bottom wall section of the disposable cup such that an annular space into which a leg part of another cup can be inserted, is defined between a periphery of the perforated board member and a side wall section of the disposable cup, thereby preventing volume occupied by a multitude of disposable cups, from being increased when the disposable cups are stacked one upon another in a nested manner.

Background Art

Generally, disposable cups are used in such a manner that hot water and a separately prepared tea bag are instantly placed into a disposable cup, or, after a seal member such as a silver paper is removed from a lip part of the disposable cup, hot water is poured into a disposable cup to brew a tea bag which is originally packed in the disposable cup.

However, disposable cups used in the ways as described above, according to the conventional art, suffer from defects in that, in the former case, the tea bag should be separately prepared, and in the latter case, a multitude of disposable cups cannot be stored or shipped in a state wherein they are stacked one upon another in a nested manner.

To cope with these problems, a disposable cup having an improved structure is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. Sho 50-112475. However, the disposable cup disclosed in the Japanese Publication still suffers from drawbacks in that, since a content such as tea leaves or the like is received in a space which is defined below a separately partitioned wire mesh screen, for example, if hot water is poured into the disposable cup upon use and comes into contact with the tea leaves through the wire mesh screen having fine meshes to brew the tea leaves, the hot water should be circulated up and down through the wire mesh screen. Hence, it is necessary to stir the hot water with a spoon or the like. In this respect, in the case that the wire mesh screen has large meshes, while the hot water flows smoothly without any hindrance through the wire mesh screen to properly and easily brew the tea leaves, the tea leaves must have a size which is larger than the meshes of the wire mesh screen, from which a poor choice is resulted. Furthermore, a content having a powder composition cannot be used, and, when a multitude of disposable cups are stacked one upon another in a nested manner, volume occupied by the multitude of disposable cups is increased.

Moreover, although, in order to resolve the problems just described above, another disposable cup is disclosed in Korea Utility Model Application No. 96-30477 which is filed in the name of the present applicant, the disposable cup has a shortcoming in that it still cannot overcome a problem that a height of a multitude of disposable cups which are stacked one upon another is increased, whereby stackability is deteriorated.

Disclosure of the Invention Accordingly, the present invention has been made in an effort to provide a disposable cup having a tea bag, which has a new construction thereby to solve the problems occurring in the related art.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a disposable cup having a tea bag, which defines at a lower end thereof a receiving space capable of receiving the tea bag.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a disposable cup having a tea bag, which can prevent volume occupied by a multitude of disposable cups when they are stacked one upon another in a nested manner, from being increased even though the respective disposable cups have receiving spaces for receiving the tea bags.

A third object of the present invention is to provide a disposable cup having a tea bag, which prevents aroma of the tea bag from leaking to the outside before the tea bag is brewed.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a perforated board member which defines a receiving space for receiving a tea bag, a tea or the like, is coupled to an upper surface of a bottom wall section of a disposable cup, such that an annular space into which a leg part of another cup can be inserted, is defined between a periphery of the perforated board member and an inner surface of a side wall section of the disposable cup.

By the features of the present invention, when a multitude of disposable cups are stacked one upon another in a nested manner, since a leg part of a disposable cup is inserted into an annular space of another disposable cup, it is possible to prevent a height of the stacked disposable cups from being increased due to the fact that a perforated board member for receiving a tea bag is coupled to an upper surface of a bottom wall section of the disposable cup.

Further, according to another aspect of the present invention, a closure sheet having a tab portion is removably attached to an upper surface of the perforated board member thereby to close a plurality of perforations which are formed in the perforated board member, whereby aroma of the tea bag is prevented from leaking to the outside before the tea bag is brewed and thereby, integrity of the tea bag, tea or the like is ensured.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The above objects, and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent after a reading of the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a partially broken-away front view of a disposable cup having a tea bag in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially broken-away front view illustrating a state wherein the disposable cup having a tea bag of FIG. 1 is used;

FIG. 3 is a partially broken-away front view illustrating another state wherein a multitude of disposable cups each having a tea bag are stacked one upon another in a nested manner; and

FIGs . 4 and 5 are partially broken-away front views illustrating a variation of the present invention, wherein FIG. 4 depicts a state in which a closure sheet is removably attached to an upper surface of a perforated board member and FIG. 5 depicts another state in which the closure sheet is removed from the perforated board member. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is a partially broken-away front view of a disposable cup having a tea bag in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

The disposable cup according to the present invention, which has a drawing reference numeral 100, includes a side wall section 110, and a bottom wall section 120 which is coupled to a lower end of the side wall section 110. The side wall section 110 and the bottom wall section 120 cooperate with each other to form a leg part 140 which serves to sustain a weight of water poured into the disposable cup 100. The leg part 140 defines an outside space B which is opened downward. A perforated board member 130 which is formed with a plurality of perforations 131, is coupled at a contact part 132 to an upper surface of the bottom wall section 120 such that an annular space into which the leg part 140 of another cup can be inserted, is defined between a periphery of the perforated board member 130 and an inner surface of the side wall section 110. A center portion of the perforated board member 130 is separated from the upper surface of the bottom wall section 120 to define a receiving space 133 in which a tea bag TB is received. The receiving space 133 is communicated through the plurality of perforations 131 with an inside space A of the disposable cup 100 which is opened upward and into which hot water is poured.

By the aforementioned construction of the disposable cup 100 according to the present invention, when a multitude of disposable cups 100 are stored or shipped in a state wherein they are stacked one upon another in a nested manner, the tea bags TB are originally received in the respective receiving spaces 133. At this time, since the leg part 140 of each disposable cup 100 is inserted into the annular space of another disposable cup 100 which is defined above the contact part 132, an original shape of the disposable cup 100 is not likely to be adversely affected by the presence of the perforated board member 130.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that, when a multitude of disposable cups 100 are supplied into, for example, a vending machine in a state wherein they are stacked one upon another in a nested manner, efficiency of managing the vending machine is influenced by the number of disposable cups 100 which can be stacked in a predetermined height. Therefore, it is to be noted that, in the present invention, nevertheless the perforated board member 130 is coupled onto the upper surface of the bottom wall section 120, stackability of the disposable cup 100 is reliably ensured as when no perforated board member is provided in the conventional art.

That is to say, because the multitude of disposable cups 100 are stacked one upon another so that the outside space B of one disposable cup effectively covers the perforated board member 130 of another disposable cup, efficiency in stacking the multitude of disposable cups 100 is enhanced (see FIG. 3) . Moreover, with this, the problems of the conventional art which are caused by the fact that a height of a multitude of cups is increased by the sum of their respective perforated board members, is convincingly removed.

As shown in FIG. 2, if hot water is poured into the disposable cup 100, after the hot water flows into the receiving space 133 through the plurality of perforations 131 which are formed in the perforated board member 130, the hot water flows upward as a matter of course, whereby it is possible to simply drink the tea, etc. As described above, the drawing reference numeral A represents the inside space which is opened upward and into which hot water is poured.

Referring to FIGs . 4 and 5, there is illustrated a disposable cup 100 in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, a closure sheet 150 which has a guide tab portion 151, is removably attached to an upper surface of the perforated board member 130 thereby to close the plurality of perforations 131 which are formed in the perforated board member 130. As can be readily seen from shown in FIG. 5, when the disposable cup 100 according to the present embodiment is used, if the guide tab portion 151 is pulled, the closure sheet 150 is peeled off from the upper surface of the perforated board member 130, and according to this, the plurality of perforations 131 are opened, whereby the tea can be drunken via the same procedure as described with reference to the first embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings and specification, there have been disclosed typical preferred embodiments of the invention and, although specific terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A disposable cup having a tea bag, comprising: a side wall section; a bottom wall section coupled to a lower end of the side wall section, the side wall section and the bottom wall section cooperating with each other to form a leg part which serves to sustain a weight of water poured into the cup, the leg part defining an outside space which is opened downward; and a perforated board member coupled to an upper surface of the bottom wall section such that an annular space into which the leg part of another cup can be inserted is defined between a periphery of the perforated board member and an inner surface of the side wall section, a center portion of the perforated board member being separated from the upper surface of the bottom wall section to define a receiving space for receiving the tea bag, the center portion of the perforated board member having a plurality of perforations formed therein, the receiving space being communicated through the plurality of perforations with an inside space of the cup which is opened upward and into which the water is poured.

2. The disposable cup as claimed in claim 1, wherein the side wall section has a cylindrical or frustoconical configuration, and the perforated board member has substantially a cap-shaped configuration.

3. The disposable cup as claimed in claims 1 or 2, wherein a closure sheet having a tab portion is removably attached to an upper surface of the perforated board member thereby to close the plurality of perforations.