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Beverage packageRelated Patent Categories: Food Or Edible Material: Processes, Compositions, And Products, Foraminous Material Infusion Type, Or Foraminous Container Per SeBeverage package description/claimsThe Patent Description & Claims data below is from USPTO Patent Application 20060188609, Beverage package. Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims
[0001] The present invention relates to a novel type of beverage infusion package which allows the infusion product contained inside or supported thereon to be identified by a printed logo or brand. In particular the infusion product is coffee or tea. The beverage infusion package is formed of paper or other non-woven material used for beverage packages and can be used in a whole range of coffee and tea beverage filtration packaging such as tea bags, hard pods, soft pods, coffee pouches and systems in which a container incorporates the paper with the tea, coffee or other infusion beverage. The beverage package may be a "one-cup" style bag containing sufficient infusion material, eg tea, for a single serving or may be a "multi-brew" style bag containing sufficient material for more than one serving. The present invention enables printing to be applied to the package without any deleterious effects to the integrity of the package and without the risk of introducing hazardous materials into the product. [0002] Beverage infusion packages comprise a beverage precursor material (e.g. tea leaves or ground coffee) enclosed within a bag, pouch, sachet or the like (all conveniently referred to herein as a bag) of a paper usually having a basis weight in the range 9 to 40 g/m.sup.2. The paper or other non-woven material is frequently referred to as "tissue" or "tea bag tissue" and is typically formed by a conventional wet-laying technique in which at least one layer is in an aqueous suspension of paper forming fibres is laid onto a traveling, water pervious paper-forming screen with water then being drained through the screen to produce the paper. The paper may be of the "heat seal" or "non-heat" type. [0003] The second or further layers may be added using the same methods or by laying a layer using other paper making techniques such as melt blown techniques. [0004] Paper webs suitable for forming beverage packages, such as tea bags, and including polypropylene scrims are made by dry laying techniques known in the art. Such materials can also be printed in accordance with the invention. [0005] The present invention is also concerned with the production of both heat-seal and non-heat seal beverage infusion packages based on conventional papers used in the manufacture of tea bags and coffee infusion packages, or on papers containing a high percentage of wood pulp described herein which have their own particular advantages due to the high wood pulp content. In either case, the papers have been treated to impart the required properties but the papers may optionally also contain an antioxidant or other additives as desired in accordance with the invention. The packages of the present invention consequently enjoy a good shelf life whilst providing convenience to the consumer. [0006] The tissue may be of the heat seal type which incorporates thermoplastic fibres and from which the beverage infusion bag is produced by heat sealing two layers of the tissue together. Alternatively the tissue may be of the non-heat seal type from which the closure seams (s) of the beverage infusion bag is/are produced by a mechanical, eg crimping, action without heat sealing. [0007] Heat seal paper comprises a web of one or more layers. A single layer heat sealed paper contains cellulosic and thermoplastic fibres. In the case of webs having two or more layers, one layer may contain cellulosic fibres and the other layer may incorporate thermoplastic fibres which are to form the basis of the heat seal. In another arrangement the inner (structural) layer comprises both cellulosic fibres and thermoplastic fibres. The entrained thermoplastic fibres provide a stronger heat seal between two webs of the tissue paper because the thermoplastic forming the heat seal is an integral part of the structural layer. The second or third layer which forms the outer layer is an insulating layer of material whose primary function is to protect the rollers of the processing machinery from the thermoplastic-containing structural layer during processing. [0008] Non-heat seal paper usually comprises a web of material which is a single layer of cellulosic fibres. However, such webs may be formed from two or more layers. A package is formed by folding the paper and forming a mechanical closure seam to seal the package. [0009] It is often required that the tissue be produced with a pattern. Various examples of patterns are used, e.g. the initials and/or logo of the manufacturer of the beverage infusion packages. Alternatively the pattern may comprise a repeat of small circular or diamond-shaped "dots" that are intended to give the impression of perforations in the tissue. [0010] Various methods of producing patterns in tissue are known. [0011] One such technique is fluid jet-patterning. In this technique, the pattern is formed using fluid jets (usually water) directed at the web whilst it is still on the paper forming screen during the process of manufacture by wet-laying. In more detail, a cylindrical patterning screen rotating about a horizontal axis is provided above the paper forming screen and its wall is pierced by apertures that define the pattern to be produced. Within the cylindrical patterning screen is a source of fluid jet pressure (e.g. a water supply) which is directed radially outwardly so as to traverse the apertures in the patterning screen and issue as jets which form the pattern in the web. [0012] This technique does however have the disadvantage that there can be a reduction in the mechanical strength of the web as compared to that obtainable without fluid jet patterning due to disruption of the fibre structure of the web. In extreme cases the web may be ripped. Additionally the sifting characteristics of the web may be poor allowing fines of beverage precursor material to be lost from the final infusion bag. [0013] Moreover water jet patterning requires large amounts of water over and above those used for forming the wet laid suspension in the paper forming screen. [0014] In the case of a pattern which is comprised of repeating dots (to give the impression of perforations) this may be produced by protrubences (so-called "knuckles") projecting from the paper-forming screen of a wet laid manufacturing process. The fibre density (I.e. the number of fibres per unit area) in the region of the paper formed on the knuckle is less than in the other regions thereby giving the impression of a pattern. This technique does however suffer the disadvantage that the localized open area and reduction in fibre density created by the wire knuckles causes (i) an area of mechanical weakness in the paper web at that point; (ii) poor sifting characteristics; and (iii) poor and variable pattern definition. [0015] Furthermore the use of "knuckles" limits the morphology of fibres that may be used due to the sheet release characteristics of the wire design. A further disadvantage is that there is only limited scope for "personalising" papers (e.g. with a particular logo or other trade mark). [0016] British Patent No 2286159 discloses a method of embossing tissue paper used in the production of filtration bags used for infusion beverage products such as tea bags. However, this document also discloses that the process of patterning or providing discreet logo images in the tissue paper during production can disrupt the fibre distribution and create regions of high and low fibre density. Although this is desirable in that, when viewed against the darker content of the bag, a pattern is revealed by optical contrast, there is the problem that subsequent regions of low fibre density result in significant reductions in paper strength. There is a further problem that the loss of ingredient particles may occur due to the existence of voids within these contrast regions. An alternative method used in the prior art involves hot calendering to provide the combined action of heat and pressure on tissue paper in order to compact fibres and reduce the thickness. However, the same problems remain because the action of heating and compacting the paper necessarily disturbs the fibre web and may lead to a loss in structural integrity. [0017] It is the aim of the present invention to provide a paper web which can be printed and then formed into packaging material which is suitable for packing individual portions of an infusion beverage. The invention seeks to avoid the need for unnecessary additives being required in a printed product. A further aim is thus to provide a printed package which is safe to use and which does not require the use of additives not normally present in such packages absent printed regions and hence which does not require further regulatory approval by food agencies. Ideally, the package should be ready for immediate use and yet also be able to be stored for an extended period of time. It is another aim of the invention to provide a beverage package which comprises the paper web of the invention together with an infusion product. It is a further aim that the beverage package contains an individual portion of the beverage such as coffee or tea for single use without the need for unwrapping the package. It is a further aim that the packaging material used to make the beverage package, and the beverage package itself, be biodegradable to at least some extent so that once the package has been used and disposed of by the consumer it will not have a deleterious effect on the waste stream and on the environment in general. It is also an aim that the tissue paper acts as a filter. [0018] More particularly, it is intended that the printed paper should be capable of use in both heat seal and non-heat seal packages. It is a further aim that the paper should have good wet and dry strength and be resistant to bursting so that the product is retained securely. It is thus an aim of the present invention to provide a beverage infusion package which retains its structural integrity. It is also desired that the resulting package has a good crimp strength once sealed to form a closed package. It is thus an aim of the present invention to provide a paper which can be used in the production of a non-heat sealed package eg a coffee bag having a high crimp strength and a resistance to failure. It is a further object of the invention to provide a package and a paper web for the production of a package which is easy to process and economical to product. It is a further aim to produce a relatively light weight paper suitable for packaging or retaining coffee. Another aim is to produce a package formed from a printed paper web which is acceptable for use in food products. It is also an aim to provide a process for preparing the printed paper web used in the package. [0019] The present invention satisfies some or all of the above objects. [0020] According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a paper web of porous, fibrous, material suitable for producing a beverage infusion package wherein the paper web has a grammage of 9 to 40 gm.sup.-2 and wherein the paper web includes a printed region bearing printed matter in which the printing ink is derived from an infusion beverage. [0021] In another aspect of the present invention there is provided a beverage infusion package formed of porous, fibrous, material and having a grammage of from 9 to 40 gm.sup.-2, wherein the package contains an infusion beverage and wherein the paper web includes a printed region bearing printed matter in which the printing ink is derived from an infusion beverage. [0022] The material forming the paper web is preferably of cellulosic origin. [0023] The printed infusion beverage package comprises a sealed body having at least one internal compartment, said internal compartment containing an infusion beverage, wherein said sealed body is constructed of a web of porous, fibrous, material which allows the flow of fluid through the sealed body to extract material from the internal compartment. The internal compartment usually contains from 2 to 10 g of the infusion beverage but may contain up to 200 g in exceptional circumstances. [0024] In an embodiment, the majority of particle size of the beverage is from 0.05 to 5.0 mm and is preferably in the range 0.20 to 0.50 mm. In this context, the majority means 75% or more, and ideally 90% or more, of the particles. The web may also contain embossing so that one or both sides of the package contain, separately, one or more embossed markings in addition to the printing. Continue reading about Beverage package... Full patent description for Beverage package Brief Patent Description - Full Patent Description - Patent Application Claims Click on the above for other options relating to this Beverage package patent application. ###  How KEYWORD MONITOR works... a FREE service from FreshPatents1. Sign up (takes 30 seconds). 2. Fill in the keywords to be monitored. 3. Each week you receive an email with patent applications related to your keywords. Start now! - Receive info on patent apps like Beverage package or other areas of interest. ### Previous Patent Application: Oral compositions comprising edible oils and vitamins and/or minerals and methods for making oral compositions Next Patent Application: Modular apparatus with timer and method for nutrition system utilizing portions determined by the eater's weight Industry Class: Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products ### FreshPatents.com Support Thank you for viewing the Beverage package patent info. 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