US3363633A - Smoker's pipe and means for keeping same lighted - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 16, 1968 c. J. WEBER 3,363,633

- SMOKER'S PIPE AND MEANS FOR KEEPING SAME LIGHTED Filed Feb. L, 1966 I INVENTOR. CLAUDE .1 M5556 United States Patent M 3,363,633 SMOKERS PIPE AND MEANS FOR KEEPING SAME LIGHTED Claude J. Weber, Coles Park, Spring Lake, Mich. 49456 Filed Feb. 1, 1966, Ser. No. 524,149 7 Claims. (Cl. 131-178) This invention relates to smoking pipes, and more particularly to a novel apparatus for such a pipe which continuously maintains the same in a lighted or ignited condition, so that the pipe will not go out when it is temporarily laid aside and not actually smoked.

As all persons are aware who have even attempted to smoke a piper, smoking pipes have a notorious habit of going out during any period, however brief, when smoke is not actually being drawn through the stem of the pipe. Indeed, pipes will sometimes go out even when one is steadily smoking them. This is annoying enough to the verteran pipesmoker who long since has become used to it, but to a person having only brief experiences with pipe smoking the persistent annoyances are often great enough to discourage and dissuade one from even attempting to actually get to enjoy the pipe smoking. This is particularly true of people who have previously become accustomed to making cigars and cigarettes, especially the latter, and who in accordance with present-day trends have become aware of the alleged dangers and hazards of cigarette smoking and would like to switch to a pipe.

One of the great attractions of cigarette smoking is felt to be in the freedom which it affords the smoker. That is, a cigarette can be lighted and laid aside for any desired perido, and so long as at least part of it remains unconsumed, whenever the smoker again picks up the cigarette it will still be lighted and his first puff will immediately bring the desired smoke into his mouth and lungs without delay. The pipe, on the other hand, is a completely different instrument. As stated above, the tobacco in a pipe does not remain lighted even for brief periods of time if the pipe is not continuously smoked. Since constant puffing does not correspond to many peoples concept of a satisfying or satisfactory smoking technique, pipe smokers, whether veteran or novice, frequently allow their pipes to go out and are constantly seen to be relighting them.

Accordingly, it is a major object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for substantially continuously causing air from without the pipe to enter the bowl thereof and pass over the lighted tobacco located therein, to thereby constantly maintain the pipe in a lighted condition.

A further important object of this invention is to provide an apparatus of the character described which is arranged to direct a steam of ambient air from without the pipe into the top of the bowl thereof, and against the lighted tobacco therein.

A still further important object of the invention is to provide an apparatus of the foregoing nature which may be removably secured to a conventional pipe, or transferred from one such pipe to another, to convert any such pipe into the new form contemplated by the invention, which does not go out when not constantly smoked.

Additional objects, together with the alvantages provided thereby, will become increasingly apparent to persons familiar with smoking pipes upon consideration of the ensuing specification and its appended claims, particularly when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings setting forth a preferred embodiment of the novel device.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a typical pipe with the inventive device attached thereto;

3,363,633 Patented Jan. 16, 1968 FIG. 2 is a front elevation of the structure seen in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation, with portions in central section, of the device apart from the pipe to which it is normally mounted for use.

Referring now in more detail to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show for purposes of illustration a typical pipe having a bowl portion 10 and stem portion 12, to which a preferred embodiment of the device, seen at 14, may be secured for use, preferably in a detachable manner. As is evident from the drawings, the device is housed within a generally L-shaped housing or body having a pair of generally right- angled leg portions 16 and 18. Leg por* tion 16 preferably lies parallel to and immediately adjacent the stem 12 and lower portion of the bowl 10 beneath the pipe, while leg portion 18 rises vertically alongside the bowl. Leg portion 18 has a laterally-oriented terminus 20, which extends over the edge of the bowl 10 and over the customary opening in the top of the bowl. Both legs 16 and 18 are generally tubular in form, as is the terminus 20 of leg 18, and leg 16 is preferably rounded or cylindrical in form. Thus, an hourglass-shaped clip of thin, resilient material such as spring steel or the like may conveniently be utilized to mount the composite device 14 in the illustrated position wtih ample rigidity for normal use, while nonetheless allowing the device to be detached from the pipe whenever desired.

As best seen in FIG. 3, the rounded tubular leg 16 sli-dably receives a miniaturized DC motor 24 and a small battery 26, preferably of the pen lite size. The motor 24 has a rotory blower or impeller 28 attached to its drive shaft and projecting into the area at the base of the L-shaped tubular structure, where leg 16 joins leg 18. An annular stop ring 30 is preferably mounted within leg 16 for the purpose of locating or positioning the motor 24 therewithin, with the forward lateral edges of the motor abutting against the stop ring. Also, a tubular sleeve 32 of resilient padding material such as foam rubber or the like preferably is inserted into tubular leg 16 so as to surround the motor 24 and provide a mounting therefor, for absorbing the minute vibrations inherent in all such motors. The motor 24 is of a known commercially available type, which is energized at the rear or bottom of its case, and the axial alignment of the motor and battery is such as to bring the protruding anode of the battery into contact with the rear of the motor to energize it when the battery is forced against the same. A cap structure 34 is provided for closing the battery end of the leg 16, with the cap preferably threading onto the end extremity of the leg. In order to provide means for actuating and deactuating the motor, cap 34 may have a threaded aperture at its center, through which a threaded plunger 36 may extend to contact the rear or end of the battery 26 and push the same against the end of the motor 24 when threaded inwardly, as by turning a control knob 38. This of course actuates the motor to drive the blower 28, and deactuation is accomplished by opposite rotation of the control knob 33.

Tubular leg 18 of the device defines an inlet aperture 40 located in the front surface of the device, i.e., forwardly of the pipe bowl 10 (FIGS. 2 and 3). Inlet aperture 48 is preferably located in axial alignment with the blower 28 and is relatively close thereto. The hollow interior of leg 18 and its offset terminus 20 thus provide an open conduit leading from the rotory blower 28 through a discharge or outlet aperture in the end of the terminus portion. From this, it will be clear that when control knob 38 is turned sufiiciently to bring battery 26 into contact with the case of the electric motor 24, the blower 28 will be driven so as to draw air inward through the inlet 40 and provide a gentle stream or current of air which flows upward through leg 18 and outward through the terminus 20 and its outlet, directly into the top of the bowl 10, and against the burning embers of tobacco located therein. Only a gentle stream of air is required to maintain the tobacco in a lighted condition even though one may not actually be smoking the pipe by drawing smoke through the stem portion 12, and the noise level and vibration of the motor 24 is so minute and the stream of air provided thereby is so gentle that neither are really discernible to the smoker.

From the foregoing, it will be clear that the invention provides a means for greatly enhancing the smoking of a pipe, since one may lay the pipe down even for prolonged intervals, and it will nonetheless remain lighted and provide the desired quantities of smoke immediately upon the very first draw or puff. Further, the smoke so produced will be as mellow and flavorful as when the pipe was initially filled and lighted, and consequently the satisfaction of pipe smoking is considerably augmented.

It is quite conceivable that upon considering the foregoing disclosure, others may design embodiments of the inventive concept involved which are different from the preferred embodiment shown and described herein, or certain changes in structural details which nonetheless directly utilize the basis of the invention. Consequently, all such further embodiments and changes in structure as clearly incorporate the concepts of the invention are to be considered as within the scope of the claims appended herebelow, unless these claims by their language specifically state otherwise.

I claim:

1. In a smoking pipe of the type having vertically disposed bowl portion in which tobacco is burned to produce smoke and a stem portion through which such smoke may be drawn from said bowl, the improvement comprising: means for maintaining such tobacco in an ignited condition; said means including apparatus physically associated with said pipe to be carried thereby, for substantially continuously causing air from without the pipe to enter said bowl at greater than atmospheric pressure and pass over the lighted tobacco located therein, said apparatus being arranged to direct at least one stream of ambient air from without said bowl into the bowl and against the lighted tobacco therein, and at least one conduit means through which said presurized air is passed, said conduit means extending over said bowl and having a generally open end portion oriented generally downwardly toward the top of said bowl to thereby direct said stream out said end and into said bowl for maintaining the combustion of tobacco in said bowl.

2. The improvement in smoking pipes defined in claim 1, wherein said apparatus further includes a rotating impeller means arranged to pump said ambient air through said conduit means and out said end.

3. The improvement in smoking pipes defined in claim 4. 2, wherein said apparatus further includes a self-contained source of motive power for operating said impeller means.

4. The improvement in smoking pipes defined in claim 3, wherein said apparatus is removably securable to said pipe.

5. The improvement in smoking pipes defined in claim 1, wherein said apparatus comprises: a tubular structure removably securable to said pipe; a self-contained source of electrical power located in said structure; an electric motor Within said structure and coupled to said power source to be energized thereby; a rotary blower within said structure and arranged to be driven by said motor; an inlet means in said structure for providing air to said blower; and an outlet means communicating with said structure and oriented downwardly toward the top of said bowl for directing a stream of air provided by said blower into said bowl.

6. The improvement in smoking pipes defined in claim 5, wherein said tubular structure is generally L-shaped, having one leg located generally parallel to and adjacent said stem portion and another leg generally parallel to and adjacent said bow portion, the end extremity of said other leg extending the top edge of said bowl and forming said outlet means.

7. The improvement in smoking pipes defined in claim 6, wherein said source of power, said motor, and said blower are all located in said one leg of said structure, with said blower located nearest the conjunction of said one leg with said other leg; said other leg defining an opening in proximity with said conjunction to form said inlet means; said other leg forming a conduit means through which said blower forces air drawn through said inlet opening upward over the top of said bowl and then downward into the top of said bowl.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 402,681 5/1889 Lindeman 131178 XR 1,671,899 5/1928 Hilshansky 131-178 1,855,524 4/1932 Martini 131 2,293,225 8/1942 Terrill 13117O 2,510,909 6/1950 Schuelein 131-171 2,590,488 3/1952 Bade 131171 2,703,442 5/1955 Long 131 171 2,709,441 5/1955 Motsinger 131171 XR 2,761,456 9/1956 Pirrone 131185 XR 3,204,642 9/1965 Anspach et al. 131-178 3,318,315 5/1967 'Orter 131-178 XR FOREIGN PATENTS 113,911 3/1918 Great Britain. 503,791 4/1939 Great Britain.

SAMUEL KOREN, Primaly Examiner.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Examiner.

Claims (1)

1. IN A SMOKING PIPE OF THE TYPE HAVING VERTICALLY DISPOSED BOWL PORTION IN WHICH TOBACCO IS BURNED TO PRODUCE SMOKE AND A STEM PORTION THROUGH WHICH SUCH SMOKE MAY BE DRAWN FROM SAID BOWL, THE IMPROVEMENT COMPRISING: MEANS FOR MAINTAINING SUCH TOBACCO IN AN IGNITED CONDITION; SAID MEANS INCLUDING APPARATUS PHYSICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH SAID PIPE TO BE CARRIED FROM THEREBY FOR SUBSTANTIALLY CONTINUOUSLY CAUSING AIR FROM WITHOUT THE PIPE TO ENTER SAID BOWL AT GREATER THAN ATMOSPHERIC PRESSURE AND PASS OVER THE LIGHTED TOBACCO LOCATED THEREIN, SAID APPARATUS BEING ARRANGED TO DIRECT AT LEAST ONE STREAM OF AMBIENT AIR FROM WITHOUT SAID BOWL INTO THE BOWL AND AGIANST-THE LIGHTED TOBACCO THEREIN, AND AT LEAST ONE CONDUIT MEANS THROUGH WHICH SAID PRESURIZED AIR IS PASSED, SAID CONDUIT MEANS EXTENDING OVER SAID BOWL AND HAVING A GENERALLY OPEN AND PORTION ORIENTED GENERALLY DOWNWARDLY TOWARD THE TOP OF SAID BOWL TO THEREBY DIRECT SAID STREAM OUT SAID END AND INTO SAID BOWL FOR MAINTAINING THE COMBUSTION OF TOBACCO IN SAID BOWL.

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