Abstract:
An electric hookah for the delivery of medicaments having vaporizable active ingredients, wherein the hookah delivers the vapors at a relatively low temperature, and wherein the hookah is made of parts readily available at local hardware stores is disclosed. The upper tube may retain a heating assembly for heating a medicament so as to produce a vapor. The tubular base may also house a cooling assembly. The electric vaporizer may be adapted so that the vapor flows from the heating assembly, then through at least a portion of a screen assembly and then through the cooling assembly and to an outflow tube for an end user.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application No. 62/083,457, filed 24 Nov. 2014, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention relates to vapor delivery systems and, more particularly, an electric hookah for the delivery of medicaments having vaporizable active ingredients, wherein the hookah delivers the vapors at a relatively low temperature. 
         [0003]    Current waterless electric hookahs—i.e., hookahs where the user is not required to add water to the device prior to operation—provide two vessels, and so two hoses to hold at the same time, and as a result are inconvenient to use as they require two hands to properly manipulate each hose. 
         [0004]    Current electric hookahs also typically do not provide temperature information related to their vaporizer chamber. Relatedly, said devices typically vaporize the subject medicament at relatively high temperatures, and so tend to produce harsh vapors. 
         [0005]    Furthermore, current electric hookahs are not easily repairable or serviceable by the owner because their replacement parts are not easily found. 
         [0006]    As can be seen, there is a need for an electric hookah for the delivery of medicaments having vaporizable active ingredients, wherein the hookah delivers the vapors at a relatively low temperature, and wherein the hookah is made of parts readily available at local hardware stores. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In one aspect of the present invention, an electric hookah includes a tubular base forming a cavity for receiving a cooling fluid; an upper tube supported by the tubular base so that the only fluid communication with the cavity is via a condenser tube hole and an outflow tube hole; a heating element housed in the upper tube; a vapor tube having a thermal input and at least one egress, wherein the heating element is coupled to the thermal input; a flexible condenser tube fluidly interconnecting a first egress of the at least one egress and the condenser tube hole; and an outflow tube extending from the cavity and through the outflow tube hole. 
         [0008]    In another aspect of the present invention, the electric hookah includes a tubular base forming a cavity for receiving a cooling fluid; an upper tube supported by the tubular base so that the only fluid communication with the cavity is via a condenser tube hole and an outflow tube hole; a support sleeve dispose between the tubular base and the upper tube, wherein an upper portion of the support sleeve slidably receives a lower portion of the upper tube, wherein the support sleeve forms the condenser tube hole and the outflow tube hole, wherein the lower portion of the upper tube forms a pair tube notches; a pair of aligned notches formed by the pairs of bowl and tube notches, wherein the pair of aligned notches receive a portion of the flexible condenser tube and the outflow tube, so that less than ten percent of the flexible condenser tube protrudes in the upper tube or the support sleeve; a heating element housed in the upper tube; a vapor tube having a thermal input and a first and a second egress, wherein the heating element is coupled to the thermal input; a flexible condenser tube fluidly interconnecting the first egress and the condenser tube hole; a thermal sensor operatively coupled to the second egress; an outflow tube extending from the cavity and through the outflow tube hole; two elbow tubes, a first elbow tube interconnecting the condenser tube hole and the condenser tube and a second elbow tube interconnecting the outflow tube hole and the outflow tube; a bowl tube interconnecting the cavity and the first elbow tube; and a cooling fluid in the cavity so that a portion of the bowl tube is submerged therein. 
         [0009]    These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, taken along line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 1 , with an soldering iron  32  and thermal sensor  24  simplified for clarity; 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a detail section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, taken along line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 3 ; 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is a detail section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is a detail perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with an elbow vapor tube  92  in place of a tee vapor tube  10 ; 
           [0016]      FIG. 7  is a detail exploded view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention with the elbow vapor tube  92 ; and 
           [0017]      FIG. 8  is a section view of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, taken along line  8 - 8  in  FIG. 6 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0018]    The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
         [0019]    Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides an electric vaporizer having a tubular base for supporting an upper tube in a vertical orientation. The upper tube may retain a heating assembly for heating a medicament so as to produce a vapor therefrom. The tubular base may also house a cooling assembly. The electric vaporizer may be adapted so that the vapor flows from the heating assembly, through at least a portion of a screen assembly, then bypassing the upper tube via flexible condenser tube, and then through the cooling assembly and to an outflow tube for an end user. 
         [0020]    Referring now to  FIGS. 1 through 8 , the present invention may include an electric vaporizer  100 . The electric vaporizer  100  may include a tubular base  84  for supporting an upper tube  54  in a vertical orientation, as illustrated in  FIG. 3 . The upper tube  54  may retain a heating assembly  31  and a screen assembly  21 . The heating assembly  31  may be adapted for heating a medicament  88  so as to produce a vapor  90 . The tubular base  84  may house a cooling assembly  71 . The electric vaporizer  100  may be adapted so that the vapor  90  caused by the heated medicament  88  flows through a portion of the screen assembly  21  and then, via a flexible condenser tube  62 , bypasses the upper tube before flowing through the cooling assembly  71  and to an outflow tube  64  for delivery to an end user. 
         [0021]    The cooling assembly  71  may include a support sleeve  78  dimensioned and adapted to be properly supported by a bowl chamber  80 , which in turn is supported by the tubular base  84 . The bowl chamber  80  may form a cavity adapted to receive a cooling fluid  86 , such as water, for cooling the vapor  90 . The support sleeve  78  may form a sleeve aperture fluidly in communication with the cavity of the bowl chamber  80 . A bowl plug  70  may be dimensioned and adapted to snugly fill the sleeve aperture so that the only fluid communication therethrough includes a plug condenser tube hole  72  and a plug outflow tube hole  74 . The cooling assembly  71  may include a condenser elbow tube  66  and an outflow elbow tube  68  adapted to be snugly secured in the tube holes  72 ,  74 , respectively, so that said only fluid communication is maintained through both. A bowl tube  76  may operatively engage the plug condenser tube hole  72  so as to protrude into the cavity and thus the cooling fluid of the bowl chamber  80 , fluidly interconnecting the condenser elbow tube  66  thereto. 
         [0022]    The support sleeve  78  may include a pair of bowl notches  82  formed along its periphery, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 . The lower portion of the upper tube  54  may form a pair of peripheral tube notches  60  dimensioned and adapted to align with the pair of the bowl notches  82  when the upper tube  54  and the support sleeve  78  are slidably engaged, as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 3 . When slidably engaged, each of the pair of aligned notches  60 / 82  may receive (in certain embodiments, sandwich) the flexible condenser tube  62  and the outflow tube  64  therein. Thereby allowing the tubing  62 ,  64  to controllably bypass the internal portions of the upper tube  54  which houses the heating element  34  and other components that may damage said tubing  62 ,  64  if too close. In certain embodiments, less than ten percent of the flexible condenser tube  62  protrudes in the upper tube  54  or the support sleeve  78 . 
         [0023]    The heating assembly  31  may be retained within the upper tube  54  by a retention assembly  41 . The retention assembly  41  may include a soldering iron rear plate  40  providing a spring clip  42  and a spacer  50  on a first side, the spring clip  42  and the spacer  50  being spaced apart. The spring clip  42  and the spacer  50  may be separately adapted to removably secure two different portions along the heating assembly  31 . The spacer  50  may include holder wing nuts  48  for securing a holder front plate  52  thereto. The retention assembly  41  may provide holder bolts  46  to connect to the upper tube  54 . The retention assembly  41  may be connected to the upper tube  54  by a holder screw  56  interconnecting a tube screw hole  58  and a holder rear screw hole  44 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 2 and 5 . 
         [0024]    The heating assembly  31  may include a soldering iron  32  for housing a heating element  34 . The heating element  34  may be adapted to provide a predetermined amount of heat to vaporize the medicament  88  housed in the screen assembly  21 . The heating element  34  may be powered by a power source such as an iron cord  36  and an iron plug  38 . A portion of the soldering iron  32  may be secured via soldering iron coupling  30  to the spring clip  42  of the retention assembly  41 . The soldering iron  32  may be operably coupled to a vapor tee tube  10  of the screen assembly  21  via a tee extension  28 , thereby allowing the predetermined amount of heat flow into the screen assembly  21  and the medicaments  88  housed therein. 
         [0025]    The screen assembly  21  may provide a horizontal screen  22  and a vertical screen  20 , both housed in the screen assembly  21 . The horizontal screen  22  may be disposed between the heating element  34  and the medicament  88 . In certain embodiments, the medicament  88  may be supported by the horizontal screen  22 . The vertical screen  20  may be disposed between the medicament  88  and the flexible condenser tube  62 . 
         [0026]    The screen assembly  21  may include a vapor tee tube  10  for securing the vertical screen  20 . The vapor tee tube  10  may provide a first egress and an opposing second egress, in addition to a thermal input coupled to the heating assembly  31  via the tee extension  28 , wherein the vertical screen  20  is secured within the first egress, as illustrated in  FIGS. 1-4 . A condenser tube coupler  16  and a rigid condenser tube  18  may be adapted to interconnect the flexible condenser tube  62  and the vapor tee tube  10  via first egress. The vertical screen  20  may be adapted to filter the resulting vapor  90  flowing from the heated medicament  88 . 
         [0027]    A thermal sensor  24  having a thermal sensor probe  26  may also be secured to the vapor tee tube  10 , wherein a tee plug  12  and probe support plugs  27  operatively secure the thermal sensor probe  26  within a portion of the opposing (second) egress. A tee plug vent  14  may be formed within the tee plug  12 . The thermal sensor  24  may be adapted to determine the temperature within the screen assembly  21 . In certain embodiments, the vapor tee tube  10 , the tee plug  12 , the tee plug vent  14 , and the condenser tube coupler  16  may be replaced by a vapor elbow tube  92  and an elbow coupling  94  having only one egress in addition to the thermal input coupled to the heating assembly  31 , as illustrated in  FIGS. 6-9 . 
         [0028]    A method of using the present invention may include the following. The electric vaporizer  100  described above may be provided. A user may place the medicament  88  on the horizontal screen  22  prior to attaching the screen assembly  21  to the heating assembly  31 . The heating assembly  31 , through the power source, urges the predetermined amount of heat over the medicament  88  so as to form the vapor  90 . The user may utilize their lungs to provide air pressure to urge the vapor  90  through the screen assembly  21 , through the flexible condenser tube  62 , into the cooling assembly  71  via the condenser tube elbow  66  and to and through the outflow tube  64  and into said lungs, while using only one hand to hold the outflow tube  64 . 
         [0029]    It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.