TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a disposable tea and coffee bag, and more particularly, to a disposable tea and coffee bag having a detachable stirrer to allow a user to mix strained contents with added ingredients such as milk, sugar, or cream, the detachable stirrer being easily fixed to the tea and coffee bag in the manufacturing process. BACKGROUND ART

Changing lifestyles in many parts of the world have necessitated making many tasks simpler and more convenient. Foods and beverages are no exception. There are many examples of foods that are cooked in their eating tray (e.g., TV dinners, microwave deserts, etc.), which is then thrown away after being used. Tea bags are used in much the same way in that the relatively longer process of making tea is circumvented and the tea bag is thrown out after being used. With regard to the latter example above, tea bags are made of non-woven material, or straining material, which is filled with tea, an amount of which is sufficient for one cup. These individually packaged bags are thrown away after making a single cup of tea. To make tea, a cup is filled with hot or boiling water and the tea bag is place in the cup. A string is attached to an upper end of the tea bag and a tab is connected to a free end of the

string. The tab is held by the user to repeatedly dunk the tea bag in the water until the tea is at a strength suitable to the user's taste.

Such a tea bag is shown in Fig. 3. As shown in the drawing, the prior art tea bag includes a straining bag 1, made of non-woven material and which is normally square or rectangular-shaped; a string 3, attached to an upper end

(with regard to the direction which the straining bag 1 is placed in a cup) of the straining bag 1 by being inserted therein, a length of which is predetermined; and a tab 4, fixed on a free-end of the string 3.

In the prior art tea bag structured as in the above, the part of the manufacturing process in which the string is inserted in the straining bag is a highly precise step that is complicated and can only be performed with the use of expensive machinery. This, of course, acts to increase manufacturing costs. DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention has been made in an effort to solve the above problem.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tea and coffee bag with a detachable stirrer which allows a user to mix strained contents with added ingredients such as milk, sugar, or cream, the detachable stirrer being easily fixed to the tea and coffee bag in the manufacturing process.

To achieve the above object, the present invention

provides a tea and coffee bag with a detachable stirrer comprising a straining bag, which is square or rectangle- shaped, and a stirrer, made of a thermoplastic material and attached to a center portion of an upper end of the straining bag on one side thereon.

According to a feature of the present invention, the straining bag is made of drip paper which is a non-woven fabric constructed by mixing pulp and thermoplastic material, the straining bag being thermally sealed using a three-side packaging machine.

According to another feature of the present invention, the stirrer is attached to the straining bag by being thermally fused to an upper sealed edge thereon. Also, the stirrer is made of thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyamide, or polychloride vinyl, or it is made of paper having one or both sides coated using a polyethylene film.

The stirrer further includes a living hinge and a spoon/tab portion. The spoon/tab portion can be shaped in a variety of ways. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate an embodiment of the invention, and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a tea and coffee bag with a detachable stirrer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of different design examples of the detachable stirrer shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3A and 3B are views used to explain the usage of the tea and coffee bag shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a perspective of the prior art tea bag. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, a tea and coffee bag with a detachable stirrer according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a straining bag 1, made of a non-woven material and which is square or rectangle- shaped; and a stirrer 7, made of a thermoplastic material, which is also used as a handle to allow for dunking of the straining bag 1 by a user, the stirrer 7 having an attachment end 71 which is attached to a center portion of an upper end of the straining bag 1 on one side of thereon. The stirrer 7 also includes a living hinge 72 formed near the attachment end 71, and a spoon/tab portion 73. The straining bag 1 is sealed using a three-side packaging machine which is commonly used in the food industry. Application examples for the above three-side

packaging machine are pre-mixed single use coffee bags, single use sugar bags, bags containing various snacks, etc. The three-side packaging machine can seal various materials such as polyethylene film, polypropylene film, and polyamide film. Further, drip paper, which is a non- woven fabric used for straining and made by a pulp and thermoplastic resin compound, can also be sealed using the three-side packaging machine. The straining bag 1 of the present invention is made using drip paper. The stirrer 7 can be made of thermoplastic materials such as polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyamide, or polychloride vinyl, or it can be made of paper having one or both sides coated using a polyethylene film. In the latter case, it is preferable that the paper used is rigid as in the type used for paper cups.

The stirrer 7, made of one of the thermoplastic materials mentioned above, can easily be attached to the straining bag 1 by being thermally fused to an upper sealed edge of the straining bag 1. Further, as shown in Fig. 2, the spoon/tab portion 73 of the stirrer 7 can be designed a variety of ways.

Referring now to Figs. 3A and 3B, the usage of the tea and coffee bag of the present invention will now be explained. First, as shown in Fig. 3A, the stirrer 7 is bent upward by the user along the living hinge 71 such that the stirrer 7 is positioned over the straining bag 1. Here, the stirrer 7 will remain attached to the straining

bag 1. With the stirrer 7 positioned in this fashion, the user grasps the spoon/tab portion 73 and repeatedly dunks the straining bag 1 in hot water such that the water becomes mixed with the resulting tea or coffee liquid. After this process, the stirrer 7 and straining bag 1 is lifted out of the water and the former is detached from the latter by the user exerting a sufficient amount of upward pulling force on the stirrer 7. Next, after adding sugar, milk, cream, etc., according to the user's taste, the stirrer 7 is inverted such that the spoon/tab portion 73 is facing downward to be used to mix the contents in the cup as shown in Fig. 3B.

In the present invention structured as in the above, the user is able to use the detachable stirrer to mix the strained contents with the added ingredients such as milk, sugar, or cream. Further, the detachable stirrer can be easily fixed to the tea and coffee bag by using a simple heating process, the complicated process of inserting a string into the bag as in the prior art is not needed and neither is the expensive machinery used to perform this process.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to the skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with the true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following

claims ,