Abstract:
A smoking apparatus includes a main, a lighter unit including a coil attached to the main body to receive electricity to heat the coil, and a control unit to control a supply of the electricity to the lighter unit. Accordingly, the smoking apparatus allows a user to light a smoking implement when the user does not have access to a personal lighting device.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present general inventive concept relates to a smoking apparatus, and more particularly, to a smoking apparatus that allows a user to light and ventilate a smoking implement when the user does not have access to a personal lighting device and/or ventilation device.  
         [0003]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0004]     Due to growing public health concerns, smoking in public areas is generally limited to designated smoking areas. However, smoke odors and smoke pollution are not always contained in the designated smoking areas. Accordingly, it is desirable to reduce the smoke odors and smoke pollution occurring in and around the designated smoking areas.  
         [0005]     In light of recent security concerns, many public areas do not permit personal sources of heat, ignition, or fire, including cigarette lighters and matches. This is inconvenient for smokers because it prevents smoking even in the designated smoking areas. Accordingly, it is desirable to allow smokers to light smoking implements (i.e. cigarettes, cigars, etc.) without the use of a personal lighting device.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]     The present general inventive concept provides an apparatus that allows a user to light a smoking implement, such as a cigarette, a cigar, etc., when the user does not have access to a personal lighting device.  
         [0007]     The present general inventive concept also provides an apparatus that reduces smoke pollution and odor of a smoking implement, such as a cigarette, a cigar, etc.  
         [0008]     Additional aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the general inventive concept.  
         [0009]     The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept are achieved by providing a smoking apparatus, including a main body, a lighter unit including a coil attached to the main body to receive electricity to heat the coil, and a control unit to control a supply of electricity to the lighter unit.  
         [0010]     The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a smoking apparatus, including a lighter unit to light a smoking implement, a smokeless ashtray to reduce smoke emitting from the smoking implement, and a currency acceptor unit to accept currency and to activate the lighter unit and the smokeless ashtray after accepting a predetermined amount of the currency.  
         [0011]     The foregoing and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept are also achieved by providing a main body, a lighter unit provided at an outer surface of the main body, a smokeless ashtray disposed at the outer surface of the main body to draw smoke emitting from a smoking implement into the main body and filter the drawn smoke, a coin accepting unit to accept coins and to provide a current signal to the lighter unit for a first predetermined amount of time and to the smokeless for a second predetermined amount of time after calculating a predetermined amount of currency from the accepted coins, and a bill accepting unit to accept bills and to provide a current signal to the lighter unit for the first predetermined amount of time and to the smokeless ashtray for the second predetermined amount of time after calculating the predetermined amount of currency from the accepted bills. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0012]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the present general inventive concept will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0013]      FIG. 1  is a view illustrating a smoking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept; and  
         [0014]      FIG. 2  is an interior view illustrating the smoking apparatus of  FIG. 1 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0015]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present general inventive concept, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present general inventive concept while referring to the figures.  
         [0016]      FIGS. 1 and 2  illustrate a smoking apparatus according to an embodiment of the present general inventive concept. Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , the smoking apparatus includes a main body  1 , a door  2  disposed at a side portion of the main body  1  to access an interior portion of the main body  1 , a smokeless ashtray  5  provided at an upper surface of the main body  1 , at least one lighter  6  provided at the upper surface of the main body  1 , a coin machine  9  to accept coins and activate the smokeless ashtray  5  and the lighter  6 , and a bill acceptor  8  to accept bills and activate the smokeless ashtray  5  and the lighter  6 . The smoking apparatus can be connected to an external power source, such as a wall outlet, to supply power to the smokeless ashtray  5 , the lighter  6 , the coin machine  9 , and the bill acceptor  8 . The smoking apparatus can further include a transformer  10  to convert the power supplied from the external power source into a power compatible with the lighter  6 . The smokeless ashtray  5  can be an ashtray with an electric fan drawing smoke through a filter  11 .  
         [0017]     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the main body  1  can be provided in the form of a box, and can have the dimensions of 5″×15″×18″ in order to fit conveniently on a wall in public places. However the present general inventive concept is not limited to this configuration, and the main body  1  may be provided in any shape or size that is convenient to a user or a location of use.  
         [0018]     The coin machine  9  includes a coin slot  3  opened at an outer surface of the main body  1  and a coin reject button  4  protruding from the outer surface of the main body. The user can insert coins into the coin slot  3  and can retrieve the coins inserted into the coin slot  3  by pressing the coin reject button  4  if the coins have not been accepted. The coin machine  9  counts the coins inserted into the coin slot  3  and provides a closed circuit for electricity to flow to the smokeless ashtray  5  from the external power source and to the lighter  6  from the transformer  10  when a predetermined amount of currency has been inserted. The coin machine  9  stores the coins inserted into the coin slot  3  and is accessible through the door  2 .  
         [0019]     The bill acceptor  8  includes a bill slot opened at an outer surface of the main body  1  to insert bills therein. The bill acceptor  8  counts the bills inserted into the bill slot and provides a closed circuit for electricity to flow to the smokeless ashtray  5  from the external source and to the lighter  6  from the transformer  10  when the predetermined amount of currency has been inserted. The bill acceptor  8  stores the bills inserted in the bill slot and is accessible through the door  2 .  
         [0020]     The lighter  6  is provided at the upper surface of the main body  1  and contains coils (not shown) to allow the user to light a smoking implement (i.e., a cigarette, a cigar, etc.). The lighter  6  is attached to the main body  1  by a security chain  7  to prevent the lighter  6  from being removed from the smoking apparatus, and wiring to provide electricity to the coils of the lighter  6 . The lighter  6 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , can include an automobile type lighter having the coils that heat up to light the smoking implement, and a lighter port to accommodate the automobile style lighter. The lighter port is a 12 volt power source to supply the electricity to the coils of the automobile type lighter when the automobile type lighter is pressed into the lighter port.  
         [0021]     The transformer  10  receives the power supplied by the external power source and outputs a 12 volt direct current signal to the lighter port. For example, when the external power source is the wall outlet, the transformer  10  receives a 110 volt alternating current signal from the wall outlet, converts the 110 volt alternating current signal into the 12 volt direct current signal, and transmits the 12 volt direct current signal to the lighter port.  
         [0022]     The smokeless ashtray  5  includes an air filter  11  to filter smoke emitted from the smoking implement of the user. The smokeless ashtray  5  controls elements, such as smoke odors and pollution, caused by the smoking implement to reduce the impact of these elements on a nonsmoker.  
         [0023]     The user can activate the smoking apparatus by inserting coins into the coin slot  3  of the coin machine  9  or inserting bills into the bill slot of the bill acceptor  8 . When the user inserts the coins into the coin slot  3 , the coin machine  9  receives and counts the coins, when a predetermined amount of currency is calculated, the coin machine  9  provides a closed circuit between the external power source and the smokeless ashtray  5  and between the transformer  10  and the lighter  6  to activate the smokeless ashtray  5  and the lighter  6 , respectively. Similarly, when the user inserts the bills into the bill slot of the bill acceptor  8 , the bill acceptor  8  counts the bills, and when the predetermined amount of currency is calculated, the bill acceptor provides a closed circuit between the external power source and the smokeless ashtray  5  and between the transformer  10  and the lighter  6  to activate the smokeless ashtray  5  and the lighter  6 , respectively.  
         [0024]     When the coin machine  9  or the bill acceptor  8  provides the closed circuit between the transformer  10  and the lighter  6 , electricity flows to the lighter  6  for a first predetermined amount of time to allow the user to operate the lighter  6  to light a smoking implement. For example, when the lighter  6  includes the automobile type lighter and the lighter port, electricity flows to the lighter port for the first predetermined amount of time, the lighter port supplies power to the coils of the lighter  6  for an amount of time long enough to heat up the coils, and the user lights the smoking implement from the heated coils.  
         [0025]     When the coin machine  9  or the bill acceptor  8  provides the closed circuit between the external power source and the smokeless ashtray  5 , electricity flows to the smokeless ashtray  5  for a second predetermined amount of time to operate the smokeless ashtray such that the smoke odors and pollution are drawn into the smokeless ashtray  5  and filtered while the user smokes the smoking implement. The electricity flows from the external source to the smokeless ashtray  5  for the second predetermined amount of time, which in turn operates the air filter  11  for the second predetermined amount of time.  
         [0026]     Although the smoking apparatus is described above as being activated by the user inserting currency into the coin slot  3  or the bill acceptor  8 , the present general inventive concept is not limited thereto. The smoking apparatus can alternatively operate without inserting money therein. For example, the smoking apparatus can be configured as illustrated in  FIGS. 1 and 2 , but set to bypass the coin machine  9  and the bill acceptor  8 , or the smoking apparatus can be configured without the coin machine  9  and the bill acceptor  8 .  
         [0027]     When the smoking apparatus operates without accepting currency, the lighter  6  can be operable at all times to allow the user to light the smoking implement. For example, when the lighter  6  includes the automobile style lighter and the lighter port, the coils of the lighter  6  heat up whenever the lighter  6  is pushed into the lighter port. The smokeless ashtray  5  can operate continuously to allow the user to smoke the smoking implement at any time. Alternatively, the smokeless ashtray  5  can be activated according to a signal sent from the lighter  6  when the lighter  6  is operated, and operate for a predetermined amount of time to allow the user to smoke the smoking implement.  
         [0028]     According to another embodiment of the present general inventive concept, the smoking apparatus of  FIGS. 1 and 2  can alternatively be configured without the smokeless ashtray  5 . With this configuration, the lighter  6  can be activated by the coin machine  9  and the bill acceptor  8 , as described above, or the lighter  6  can be activated by a switch, or the like, such that the user does not require currency to operate the lighter  6 .  
         [0029]     As described above, a smoking apparatus according to the present general inventive concept allows a user to light a smoking implement when the user does not have access to a personal lighting device.  
         [0030]     Although a few embodiments of the present general inventive concept have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the general inventive concept, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims and their equivalents.