Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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BEVERAGE INFUSION CONTAINER
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
_5 The present invention is related to a beverage infusion
container having two divisions. The two divisions are respectively
designed with communicating tube and ventilating tube for easy
convection of the air and liquid respectively contained in the two
divisions.
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Figs. 5 and 6 show a conventional tea infusion cup 7. A
partitioning board 71 is disposed in the tea infusion cup 7 to divide
the interior of the cup into a first division 78 and a second division
79. The first and second divisions 78, 79 respectively have two
15 covers 77a, 77b. The partitioning board 71 is formed with a central
draining hole 711 communicating the first and second divisions 78,
79 with each other.
A mesh rack 72 is disposed above the partitioning board 71.
20 A filtering mesh 721 is paved over the mesh rack 72. The center of
the mesh rack 72 has an upward extending tube 73 in which a pull
rod 74 Is fitted. The top end of the pull rod 74 extends out of the
tube 73 and is formed with a holding section 741. The bottom end
of the pull rod 74 downward extends out of the tube 73 and is fitted
25 with a spring 75. A valve body 76 is connected with the bottom
end of the pull rod 74. In normal state, the valve body 76 is pushed
downward by the spring 75 to block the draining hole 711.
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in use, the tea is placed into the first division 78 and infused
with hot water. After a period of time, the holding section 741 is
pinched to pull up the pull rod 74. At this time, a locating plate 742
of the pull rod 74 is separated from a locating slot 731 of top end
of the tube 73. Then the pull rod 74 can be turned to move the
locating plate 742 to a locating notch 732.
When the pull rod 74 is pulled upward, the valve body 76 is
moved upward to compress the spring 75 and unblock the draining
hole 711. Under such circumstance, the tea in the first division 78
is permitted to flow through the draining hole 711 into the second
division 79. Then, the user can turn the pull rod 74 to make the
valve body 76 again block the draining hole 711. Thereafter, the
cover 77a is closed and the cup 7 i5 turned upside down. Then,
the other cover 77b is opened for drinking the made tea.
However, when the tea flows from the first division 78 into
the second division 79, the air in the second division 79 must be
exhausted therefrom. The filtering mesh 721 is formed with
multiple fine meshes. Due to the surface tension of the tea water,
the fine meshes will be blocked by the tea water so that the air can
not pass through the filtering mesh 721 into the first division 78. In
addition, the gap between the pull rod 74 and the inner face of the
tube 73 is very small so that the air in the second division 79 can
hardly pass through the gap to leave the second division 79.
Therefore, the tea cannot flow down into the second division 79.
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In order to allow the tea water to flow into the second division
79, the user must again close the upper cover 77a and then tilt the
cup 7 to a state in which the filtering mesh 721 is not totally sunk
in the tea water. Under such circumstance, the air in the second
division 79 can pass through the emerged part of the filtering
mesh 721 into the first division 78. At this time, the tea water 78 is
allowed to flow from the first division 78 into the second division 79.
However, the draining hole 711 is positioned at the center of the
partitioning board 71. Therefore, after the tea water gradually flows
from the first division 78 into the second division 79, the water
level in the first division 78 will descend to a height lower than the
draining hole 711. At this time, it is necessary to gradually turn the
cup 7 to an upright position to keep the level in the first division 78
higher than the draining hole 711 so that the tea water can flow
from the first division 78 into the second division 79. Such
operation is quite troublesorne.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to
provide a beverage infusion container in which the tea water in the
first division can smoothly flow into the second division. A
communicating tube is formed on the partitioning board adjacent
to the circumferential wall of the container for communicating the
first division With the second division. The mesh rack is formed
with a ventilating tube corresponding to the draining hole of the
partitioning board. The ventilating tube extends toward the
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opening of the first division. The communicating tube and the
ventilating tube serve as two air flow ways for convection of the air
between the first and secorvd divisions. Therefore, the tea water in
the first division can more smoothly flow into the second division.
In addition, multiple downward extending posts are arranged
under the bottom face of the mesh rack_ The posts serve to
destruct the surface tension of the tea water on the bottom face of
the filtering mesh. Therefore, the tea water in the first division can
more easily flow down into the second division.
The present invention can be best understood through the
following description and accompanying drawings wherein:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Fig. 1 is a perspective assembled view of the present
invention;
Fig. 2a is a perspective exploded view of the present
invention;
Fig. 2b shows the block body of the mesh rack of the present
invention;
Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the present invention;
Fig. 4a shows that the draining hole of the partitioning board
is blocked by the valve body of the present invention in a normal
state;
Fig. 4b shows that the rotary button is turned to lift the valve
body so as to unblock the draining hole of the present invention;
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Fig. 5 shows a conventional tea infusion cup; and
Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing the top end of the tube
and the top end of the pull rod of the conventional tea infusion of
Fig. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Please refer to Figs. 1 to 4. The beverage infusion container
of the present invention includes a circumferential wall 10 and has
an upper opening 11 a and a lower opening 11 b_ An upper cover 12
and a lower cover 13 are respectively screwed on the upper and
lower openings.
A partitioning board 14 is transversely disposed in the
container to divide the interior of the container into an upper first
division 15 and a lower second division 116. The center of the
partitioning board 14 is formed with a draining hole 141. A
projecting support block 143 is formed on the partitioning board 14
in the first division 15 near the circumferential wall 10 of the
container. The top end of the support block 143 is formed with a
notch 144. A communicating tube 145 is formed on the partitioning
board 14 radially opposite to the support block 143. The
communicating tube 145 extends into the first division 15 and is
formed with a tunnel 146 communicating the first division 15 with
the second division 16. In addition, the partitioning board 14 is
formed with multiple abutting plates 142 arranged along the
circumference of the draining hole 141. The abutting plates 142
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vertically extend into the first division 15.
A mesh rack 17 is disposed in the first division 15 over which
a filtering mesh 176 is paved. The center of the mesh rack 17 is
S formed with an upward extendingventilating tube 172
corresponding to the draininghole 149.In this embodiment,
the
top section of the ventilatingtube 172 is upward tapered into
a
substantially conic shape. Accordingly, the top section of the
ventilating tube defines therein a small diameter passage 173,
while the bottom section thereof defines a large diameter passage
175. Multiple downward extending posts 174 are annularly
arranged at equal intervals along the circumference of the bottom
of the large diameter passage 175.
The mesh rack 7 7 is formed with a block body 19 adjacent to
the inner face of the container. The block body 19 has a hollow
section 191 radially passing through the mesh rack 17 and open to
lower side. The hollow section 191 and the support block 143 are
up and down opposite to each other. The hollow section 191 has a
wider section 192 on one side near the draining hole 141 of the
partitioning board. The wider section 192 is adapted to
accommodate the support block 143 therein. One side of the
hollow section 191 near the inner face of the container is formed
with a narrower section 193.
The blocking/unblocking of the draining hole 141 is
controlled by a controlling mechanism 2. The controlling
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mechanism 2 includes a rotary member 21, a link 22, a valve body
23 disposed at a rear end of the link 22 and a spring 24.
The rotary member 21 is rotatably disposed on the
S circumferential wall 10. One end of the rotary member 21
extending out of the circumferential wall 10 is connected with a
rotary button 211. The other end of the rotary member 21 has a
radially projecting press block 212. When turning the rotary button
211, the press block 212 is rotated to press the link 22 so as to lift
the valve body 23 for unblocking the draining hole 141.
The link 22 is passed through the notch 144 of the support
block 143 of the partitioning board and supported on the support
block 143. A front end of the link 22 opposite to the valve body 23
is snugly fitted in the narrower section 193 of the block body The
valve body 23 is positioned between the abutting plates 142 for
blocking the draining hole 141. The valve body 23 is formed with a
socket 231 in which the rear end of the link 22 is inserted.
The spring 24 is accommodated in the large diameter
passage 175 of the ventilating tube above the valve body 23. In
normal state, the spring 24 downward pushes the valve body 23 to
block the draining hole 141..
fn use, the tea is placed onto the filtering mesh 176 in the
first division 15 and infused with hot water. After a period of time of
infusion, the rotary button 211 is turned to make the press block
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212 depress the link 22 and engage with the link 22. At this time,
the valve body 23 is kept lifted and the draining hole 141 is kept
unblocked.
Under such circumstance, the tea water in the first division
will flow down due to its own weight. The tunnel 146 of the
communicating tube 145 and the ventilating tube 172 serve as two
air flow ways for convection of the air. Therefore, the air in the
second division 16 can filow into the first division 15. Accordingly,
10 the tea water in the first division 15 can easily flow through the
draining hole 141 into the second division 16. Under such
circulation, the beverage in the first division 15 can smoothly flow
into the second division 16. The tea remainder is hindered by the
filtering mesh 176 and remains in the first division 15.
Then, the upper cover 12 is closed and the container is
turned upside down. Then the lower cover 13 is opened for
drinking the beverage in the second division 16.
According to the above arrangement, the present invention
has the following advantages:
1. The ventilating tube 172 disposed on the mesh rack 17
and the communicating tube 145 disposed on the
partitioning board 14 serve as two air flow ways for
convection of the air. Therefore, the air in the second
division 16 can flow upward from the second division 16
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through the tunnel 146 of the communicating tube 145
into the first division 15. Accordingly, the tea water in the
first division 15 can more smoothly flow down through the
draining hole 141 into the second division 16.
2. Multiple downward extending posts 174 are arranged
along the circumference of the bottom of the ventilating
tube 172. The posts 174 serve to destruct the surface
tension of the tea water on the filtering mesh 176.
Therefore, the tea water in the first division 15 can easily
pass through the filtering mesh 176 and flow down into
the second division 16.
The above embodiment is only used to illustrate the present
invention, not intended to limit the scope thereof. Many
modifications of the above embodiment can be made without
departing from the spirit of the presenfi invention.
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