SHE WILL REPRESENT TURKEY AT THE 6TH KOREAN-INTERNATIONAL WOMEN INVENTOR'S EXHIBITON WITH HER "SQUEEZABLE TEA BAG" INVENTION THAT DOES NOT BURN HANDS OR SPLASH TEA EVERYWHERE

Prof. Dr. K. Nazan Turhan, IUE Dean of Faculty of Agricultural Technology and Food Sciences, has been invited to the International Women Inventors’ Exhibition to represent Turkey with her “Squeezable Tea Bag” invention that she developed for tea bags which have an everyday use in many people’s lives but may result in burning hands or being splashed around.   

Prof. Dr. K. Nazan Turhan stated that tea had a very significant place in Turkish kitchens. She said, “When people do take a tea-break in today’s fast-paced lifestyle, they use tea-bags thus facing some problems.” She stated that when tea-bags were diffused into the water, they absorbed most of the water and resulted in loss of water for tea. She also pointed out that it was even more problematic trying to take the tea-bag out. Prof. Turhan said, “The consumers were trying to squeeze the tea-bags with the help of a tea spoon or coming up with some other methods to prevent it from dripping. People faced problems such as burning hands or unhygienic methods. I also use tea-bags a lot. This bothered me thus letting me into finding a solution, and my student Onursal Bozan and I started working on this.”

EASY AND HYGIENIC

 Prof. Turhan, who indicated that as a result of their studies they came up with “Squeezable Tea Bag”, said, “The product has a very simple working principle in fact. The invention is based on squeezing the tea-bag with tiny strings going through the holes on the tea-bag.   The tea-bag is attached to the apparatus with strings. When you take the tea-bag, attached to the stick out of the cup, you pull up the string and without getting your hands burned or splashing tea everywhere; you get most of the tea.  We designed the squeezable tea bag for one time use only and used recyclable materials.” Prof. Turhan said that the design was a big convenience for producers and provided hygiene and prevented loss of tea. She said, “We designed a product that prevents splashing, burning hands, or losing some amount of tea where people can enjoy during their tea breaks. Squeezable Tea Bag design can be adjusted to the sizes of the teabags on the market.  The number of squeezing strings, therefore number of holes on the design, may be increased /decreased; the size and location of the holes maybe changed. The design may easily be used for black tea, green tea, fruit or herbal tea, instant coffee, cocoa, and such products.”

Prof. Turhan said that they applied to Turkish Patent Institute, and they are awaiting the final process. She also stated that they received an invitation from the Institute. Prof. Turhan said, “I was invited to attend the International Women Inventors’ Exhibition to represent Turkey, where approximately 500 women from 30 countries will get together to share their ideas, and experiences, and follow the latest trends. The Exhibition will take place on May 1-4, 2013 at Seoul, South Korea. It is such an honour and joy to represent my country and the University at Korea.”