CIGAR SHAPED SMOKING DEVICE WITH REVERSE CALABASH CHAMBER

• US 20140360513A1
• Filed: 08/27/2014
• Published: 12/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/04/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Christopher D. Morgan
• Original Assignee: Christopher D. Morgan
• Inventors: Morgan, Christopher D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,848,638 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 131/328
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 1/28 Tubular pipes, e.g. in the form of cigars
• CPC Class Codes: A24F 1/32 Selection of materials for pipes

Abstract

A cigar shaped pipe, ideally made from premium materials such as briar, yet designed to be low cost to manufacture. The device uses a comparatively thin-walled combustion chamber, which both keeps material costs to a minimum, as well as an in-line reverse Calabash chamber to reduce the temperature and moisture of the smoke. In some embodiments, the pipe will further use an end cap, ether for pipe storage or during smoking This optional end-cap will ideally be made of the same materials as the main pipe body, and thus will have similar thermal expansion properties, as well as having the same beneficial combustion chamber properties. This end cap may utilize O-rings or screw threads to hold the pipe'"'"'s end cap onto position, thus enabling easy loading and cleaning.

Claims

1. A substantially cylindrical smoking pipe, said pipe comprising:

a substantially cylindrical body comprised of a heat resistant porous material, said body having a first radius;

said body being hollow, the interior of said body being configured into a distal and substantially cylindrical burning chamber with a second radius, a substantially cylindrical airway chamber with a third radius, and a proximal and substantially cylindrical mouthpiece chamber with a fourth radius;

said burning chamber being connected by a first junction to said airway chamber, said airway chamber being connected by a second junction to said mouthpiece chamber;

said second radius being larger than said fourth radius, and said fourth radius being larger than said third radius;

a hollow mouthpiece inserted into the proximal end of said mouthpiece chamber, and protruding past the proximal portion of said body, said mouthpiece comprising a substantially cylindrical tenon portion configured to be partially inserted into the mortise region created by said mouthpiece chamber, thereby creating both a mortise and tenon joint that helps hold said mouthpiece in place in said body, as well as a gap between said mouthpiece and said airway chamber that acts as a Calabash chamber allowing smoke from material burning in said burning chamber to expand, and moisture in said smoke to condense on walls of said mouthpiece chamber;

said burning chamber, said airway chamber, said Calabash chamber, and said mouthpiece chamber all being aligned in a straight line about a common axis;

said mouthpiece being substantially cylindrical, and having a maximum sixth radius that is less than said first radius;

said mouthpiece having a hollow interior extending from the proximal portion of said mouthpiece to the distal portion of said mouthpiece, so that a linear airway extends from at least the proximal end of said mouthpiece to the distal end of said body, and from the distal end of said body.

2. The pipe of claim 1, wherein said heat resistant porous material is selected from any of the group consisting of wood or wood-like natural organic materials consisting of bog-wood, briar, cherrywood, corncob, olivewood, maple, mesquite, oak and other woods.

3. The pipe of claim 1, wherein said heat resistant porous material is selected from the group consisting of porous non-organic materials consisting of catlinite, clay, meerschaum, and soapstone.

4. The pipe of claim 1, wherein said mouthpiece is made materials selected from the group consisting of amber, polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride (Bakelite), polyoxymethylene (Delrin), ebonite, Poly(methyl methacrylate) (Lucite), or other plastic polymer.

5. The pipe of claim 1, further comprising a stepped cylindrical end cap, said end cap comprised of a distal first cylinder with a radius substantially similar to said first radius, said first cylinder stepping down in radius to a proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius.

6. The pipe of claim 5, wherein at least the portion of said end cap visible when said end cap is affixed to said body is colored darker than said body and further has a textured surface so as to resemble the ash surface of a partially smoked cigar;

and

wherein said end cap is comprised of the same heat resistant porous material as the body of said pipe.

7. The pipe of claim 5, wherein said proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius has a first screw thread, and the interior of said distal end of said body has a complementary screw thread, so that said end cap is held in place by a screw thread fit.

8. The pipe of claim 5, wherein said second cylinder further comprises a cylindrical outer indentation configured to hold a deformable O-ring, a deformable O-ring being mounted in said cylindrical outer indentation;

said deformable O-ring comprised of a heat resistant deformable material, so that when said second cylinder is placed in the distal end of said body, said end cap is held in place by a friction fit caused by the elastic deformation of said O-ring, thereby affixing said end cap to the distal portion of said body.

9. The pipe of claim 5, wherein said end cap further comprises at least one hollow air opening that extends from the proximal radius of said second cylinder through at least a portion of the distal first cylinder of said end cap and to the outside, thereby allowing air to flow from outside said pipe to said burning chamber when said end cap is affixed to said body.

10. The pipe of claim 1, wherein said first junction and said second junction are tapered so as to create an angle greater than 90 degrees at said junction, thereby reducing turbulence in the air flow through the pipe and lowering the amount of moisture condensation at said junctions.

11. The pipe of claim 1, wherein the hollow interior of said mouthpiece is tapered from a first distal radius substantially similar to said third radius of said airway, to a smaller proximal second radius that is less than 80% of said third radius of said airway.

12. The pipe of claim 1, wherein the thickness of said material at said burning chamber, said thickness being the difference between said first radius of said body and said second radius of said burning chamber, is between 2 mm and 6 mm.

13. The pipe of claim 12, wherein said material and the thickness of said material are chosen so as to produce a pipe with a burning chamber capable of between 300 and 2500 burning events before burn-through.

14. The pipe of claim 1, wherein the length of said body is between 6 cm and 25 cm, and the radius of said body is between 8 mm and 30 mm.

15. A method of reducing the temperature and moisture content of smoke produced by a substantially cylindrical smoking pipe, said method comprising:

obtaining a substantially cylindrical smoking pipe comprising;

a substantially cylindrical body comprised of a heat resistant porous material, said body having a first radius;

said body being hollow, the interior of said body being configured into a distal and substantially cylindrical burning chamber with a second radius, a substantially cylindrical airway chamber with a third radius, and a proximal and substantially cylindrical mouthpiece chamber with a fourth radius;

said burning chamber being connected by a first junction to said airway chamber, said airway chamber being connected by a second junction to said mouthpiece chamber;

said second radius being larger than said fourth radius, and said fourth radius being larger than said third radius;

a hollow mouthpiece inserted into the proximal end of said mouthpiece chamber, and protruding past the proximal portion of said body, said mouthpiece comprising a substantially cylindrical tenon portion configured to be partially inserted into the mortise region created by said mouthpiece chamber, thereby creating both a mortise and tenon joint that helps hold said mouthpiece in place in said body, as well as a gap between said mouthpiece and said airway chamber that acts as a Calabash chamber;

said burning chamber, said airway chamber, said Calabash chamber and said mouthpiece chamber all being aligned in a straight line about a common axis;

said mouthpiece being substantially cylindrical, and having a maximum sixth radius that is less than said first radius;

said mouthpiece having a hollow interior extending from the proximal portion of said mouthpiece to the distal portion of said mouthpiece, so that a linear airway extends from at least the proximal end of said mouthpiece to the distal end of said body, and from the distal end of said body;

placing a burnable substance in said substantially cylindrical burning chamber, and lighting said substance on fire, thereby producing high temperature smoke containing moisture from said burnable substance;

applying negative pressure to said hollow mouthpiece;

wherein, when smoke produced by said burnable substance is drawn by said negative pressure into said Calabash chamber, said smoke expands and cools in temperature, and moisture in said smoke condenses on the walls of said Calabash chamber, thereby producing the temperature and moisture of said smoke.

16. The method of claim 15, further applying a stepped cylindrical end cap to seal at least one end of said substantially cylindrical burning chamber, said end cap comprised of a distal first cylinder with a radius substantially similar to said first radius, said first cylinder stepping down in radius to a proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius;

said end cap further comprising at least one hollow air opening that extends from the proximal radius of said second cylinder through at least a portion of the distal first cylinder of said end cap and to the outside, thereby allowing air to flow from outside said pipe to said burning chamber when said end cap is affixed to said body;

wherein said proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius has a first screw thread, and the interior of said distal end of said body has a complementary screw thread, so that said end cap is held in place by a screw thread fit;

or

wherein said second cylinder further comprises a cylindrical outer indentation configured to hold a deformable o-ring, a deformable o-ring being mounted in said cylindrical outer indentation;

said deformable o-ring comprised of a heat resistant deformable material, so that when said second cylinder is placed in the distal end of said body, said end cap is held in place by a friction fit caused by the elastic deformation of said o-ring, thereby affixing said end cap to the distal portion of said body.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein said material is briar, and wherein the thickness of said material are chosen so as to produce a pipe with a burning chamber capable of between 300 and 2500 burning events before burn-through;

wherein the length of said body is between 6 cm and 25 cm, and the radius of said body is between 8 mm and 30 mm;

and wherein said Calabash chamber has an open portion with a minimum length of 15 mm and a maximum length of 35 mm, and a minimum diameter of 7 mm and a maximum diameter of 15 mm.

18. A method of reducing the temperature and moisture content of smoke produced by a substantially cylindrical smoking pipe, said method comprising:

obtaining a substantially cylindrical smoking pipe comprising;

a substantially cylindrical body comprised of a heat resistant porous material, said body having a first radius;

said body being hollow, the interior of said body being configured into a distal and substantially cylindrical burning chamber with a second radius, a substantially cylindrical airway chamber with a third radius, and a proximal and substantially cylindrical mouthpiece chamber with a fourth radius;

said burning chamber being connected by a first junction to said airway chamber, said airway chamber being connected by a second junction to said mouthpiece chamber;

said second radius being larger than said fourth radius, and said fourth radius being larger than said third radius;

a hollow mouthpiece inserted into the proximal end of said mouthpiece chamber, and protruding past the proximal portion of said body, said mouthpiece comprising a substantially cylindrical tenon portion configured to be partially inserted into the mortise region created by said mouthpiece chamber, thereby creating both a mortise and tenon joint that helps hold said mouthpiece in place in said body, as well as a gap between said mouthpiece and said airway chamber that acts as a Calabash chamber;

said burning chamber, said airway chamber, said Calabash chamber and said mouthpiece chamber all being aligned in a straight line about a common axis;

said mouthpiece being substantially cylindrical, and having a maximum sixth radius that is less than said first radius;

said mouthpiece having a hollow interior extending from the proximal portion of said mouthpiece to the distal portion of said mouthpiece, so that a linear airway extends from at least the proximal end of said mouthpiece to the distal end of said body, and from the distal end of said body through the at least one hollow air opening of said end cap to the outside;

wherein said material is briar, and wherein the thickness of said material are chosen so as to produce a pipe with a burning chamber capable of between 50 and 1000 burning events before burn-through;

wherein the length of said body is between 6 cm and 25 cm, and the radius of said body is between 8 mm and 30 mm;

and wherein said Calabash chamber has an open portion with a minimum length of 15 mm and a maximum length of 35 mm, and a minimum diameter of 7 mm and a maximum diameter of 15 mm;

placing a burnable substance in said substantially cylindrical burning chamber, and lighting said substance on fire, thereby producing high temperature smoke containing moisture from said burnable substance;

applying a stepped cylindrical end cap to seal at least one end of said substantially cylindrical burning chamber, said end cap comprised of a distal first cylinder with a radius substantially similar to said first radius, said first cylinder stepping down in radius to a proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius;

said end cap further comprising at least one hollow air opening that extends from the proximal radius of said second cylinder through at least a portion of the distal first cylinder of said end cap and to the outside, thereby allowing air to flow from outside said pipe to said burning chamber when said end cap is affixed to said body;

wherein said proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius has a first screw thread, and the interior of said distal end of said body has a complementary screw thread, so that said end cap is held in place by a screw thread fit;

applying negative pressure to said hollow mouthpiece;

wherein, when smoke produced by said burnable substance is drawn by said negative pressure into said Calabash chamber, said smoke expands and cools in temperature, and moisture in said smoke condenses on the walls of said Calabash chamber, thereby producing the temperature and moisture of said smoke.