Coffee filter for coffee pots having a unitary filtering element

Claim 1

A coffee filter for drip-type coffee pots comprising a container and a filtering element, said container comprising a bottom surface having a plurality of openings, a lateral surface extending from the bottom surface around the periphery thereof to define the walls of the container, a plurality of axial ribs connected to the inside of the lateral surface, said axial ribs spaced equidistantly about the inside of the lateral surface, each of said axial ribs having an inclined edge surface such that the surface defined by the plurality of inclined edges of the axial ribs is in the shape of an inverted truncated cone, a filtering element comprising a pair of plastic frames having a circular cross-section, each of said frames comprising a central portion, and a circular rim, a filtering sheet comprising a fine mesh plastic material of circular shape, the diameter of said filtering sheet being greater than the diameter of said frames so that said filtering sheet has a portion extending beyond the periphery of said frames, said frames fixedly secured to said filtering sheet on either side of the filtering sheet to form a unitary filtering element, means for supporting said filtering element in said container comprising a plurality of supporting rims extending from the inclined edges of the axial ribs, said filtering element positioned within said container and supported on said supporting rims, said filtering sheet portion being dimensioned to extend beyond the periphery of the frames to form a filtering wall which is supported by said inclined edges of the axial ribs.