Patent Publication Number: US-2021177050-A1

Title: Portable smoking pipe for outdoors travel

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application claims priority over U.S. Pat. No. 1,511,603A, entitled “Tobacco Pipe”, filed on Jun. 21, 1921. This application claims priority over U.S. Pat. No. 3,342,187A, entitled “Tobacco Pipe”, filed on Apr. 16, 1965. This application claims priority over U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,711A, entitled “Smoking pipe with tool”, filed Feb. 21, 1973. This application claims priority over U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,435B2, entitled “Folding Smoking Pipe”, filed on Dec. 29, 2000. This application claims priority over US20160324211A1 entitled “Smoking apparatus: flat smoking pipe”, filed May 4, 2015. 
    
    
     FIELD OF INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to smoking pipes generally, to include pipes that utilize liquids for the purposes of cooling or flavor. In part, this invention pertains to a portable pipe design that facilitates improved heated air flow for ignition of combustible materials. 
     The invention also pertains to a cap that mounts to the pipe bowl. Pipe caps are widely described in the prior art. In the present invention the cap is detachable, and is also re-attachable to a location, or locations on the pipe body other than the bowl. The plurality of attachment locations for the cap may be used to provides a means to stabilize the pipe on flat surfaces. Moreover, the re-attachable cap helps prevent losing the cap when access to the combustion chamber is required. 
     Finally, the cap, and combustion chamber each have an elongated shape, with the cap having a spatula-like edge. This allows the smoker to access the combustion chamber with the cap. In this way the cap also serves as a tool for the purposes of cleaning, tamping, or stirring of combustible material, or deposits from smoking. This feature is applicable for bowls having a deep combustion chamber which tend to impede access to the combustion chamber interior. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Pipe caps attach onto the top of a pipe bowl and are used for multiple reasons. In some instances the cap is ornamental, in others the cap prevents smoke from exiting the pipe while combustible material smolders. For the purpose of portability, caps often attach to the bowl to prevent un-smoked combustible materials from spilling from the pipe bowl. Often, the cap require smokers to remove the cap prior to smoking. In other cases that relate to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the cap includes one or more vents that are large enough to permit heated air, or flames, to enter the bowl. Yet, the vent is also made small enough to prevent a substantial amount of materials from spilling out of the bowl. Rather than remove the cap at the time that the pipe is smoked, flame is instead drawn through the vented cap, and into the combustion chamber of the bowl. In this way a smoker might remove the pipe from their pocket, light combustibles material while inhaling smoke, and return the pipe to their pocket in an uncoordinated, or hasty fashion during exercise, recreational activities, or while wearing gloves. Smoker may also use the cap as a means of protection from wind, rain, or snow in outdoor settings. 
     There are several drawback in using a vented cap. First, for caps having only a single vent, flames tends to flow along a single narrow path through the combustible material leaving the neighboring material unburned. An alternative design in the prior art is to use a plurality of apertures, or a perforated vented cap. The chief limitation to perforated cap ventilation is that the air flow divides among the plurality of apertures while the flame is limited to flowing through a minority of apertures, or perhaps only a single aperture. This results in poor ignition of combustible material, and an uncontrolled thinning of the smoke. Perforated caps, having a plurality of small vents, also increase the likelihood of spilling materials from the combustion chamber. Using a non-circular combustion chamber tends to exacerbate these difficulties because a larger proportion of combustible material becomes located at a greater distance from the flame path. Thus, a circular shape is typically employed for the combustion chamber and bowl. While a circular bowl shape is not necessarily a hindrance during smoking, it does make for a wider, bulkier pipe when inserted into a pocket or bag. 
     An additional difficulty with removable caps is that they are easily lost while the combustion chamber is loaded or serviced. To remedy this, some caps in the prior art stay attached to the pipe. Several attachment methods include jointed caps that swing or slide side open and closed, or caps that attach to the pipe body with a string, chain, or cable. While these means of attachment significantly reduces the possibility of misplacing the cap, the cap remains attached in the vicinity of the pipe bowl, thus hindering proper manipulation of the combustion chamber. Furthermore, smoking pipes often have irregular, or rounded geometry at their base. This geometry may provide a pleasing feel or aesthetic. However, such pipes tend to tip over onto one side or the other when placed onto a flat surface. If a cap is not attached to the bowl of such a pipe to secure its contents, the pipe may fall to its side and spill the contents of the bowl in an unintended way. 
     A common difficulty associated with pipe smoking, whether done with or without a cap, is that the contents of the combustion chamber must be stirred, tamped, or scraped. If such actions are required in an outdoor or public setting, manipulation of the combustion chamber is often accomplished ad hoc wherein the smoker fashions whatever tool is immediately available, such as a lighter, pen, or stick. The undesirable consequences that result could include soiling the object being used as tool, or having to fashion a tool with questionable sanitation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In the present invention the cap and pipe have several improvements. First, the combustion chamber, and arrangement of apertures at the base of the combustion chamber, follow a common elongated geometry that is in line with the airway of the pipe stem. This allows for a narrow frontal profile of the pipe so that it easily fits inside a pocket or bag for portability. Further, this geometry helps facilitate a broader flame front for the purposes of igniting a larger proportion of combustible material within the combustion chamber. In this way heated air flow is improved. When a vented cap is used, the smoking experience is less interrupted with removal and reattachment of the cap for the purposes of stirring or reloading. The smoking experience is also improved without the cap because a greater proportion of material is ignited, resulting in thicker smoke. 
     A second improvement is that the cap and combustion chamber are elongated with the cap having a spatula-like, elongated edge. This allows the cap to double as a stirring, tamping, or cleaning tool. The elongated bowl allows significant access for the cap to contact the combustible chamber. 
     A third improvement is that after the cap is removed from the bowl it can re-attach to an alternative location on the pipe body. In the preferred embodiment, the cap attaches to a location that stabilizes the pipe when the pipe and cap are placed on flat surfaces. In this way the pipe is less likely to tip over and spill its contents. The ability to reattach the cap has an added benefit that it helps prevent the smoker from dropping or misplacing the cap when accessing to the bowl. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
         FIG. 1  is a representative perspective view of the smoking pipe of the present invention with the cap attached to the bowl. 
         FIG. 2  is a representative front view of the smoking pipe of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is representative cutaway view of the preferred embodiment with the cap attached and heated air flowing through the pipe body. 
         FIG. 4  is a representative perspective view of the preferred embodiment of the smoking pipe of the present invention with the cap being removed. 
         FIG. 5  is a top plan view of the preferred embodiment of the smoking pipe of the present invention with the cap removed from bowl. Shading is used to indicate the relative proportions of the combustion chamber and cap. 
         FIG. 6  is a representative perspective view of the smoking pipe of the present invention with the cap being used to stir combustible material. 
         FIG. 7  is a representative perspective view of the smoking pipe of the present invention with the cap being attached to the bottom of the pipe. 
         FIG. 8  is a representative perspective view of the smoking pipe of the present invention with the cap stabilizing the pipe body on a flat surface. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG. 1 through 8  depicts the preferred embodiment of smoking pipe  10  of the current invention and is not intended to be limiting of the invention.  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 3  depicts smoking pipe  10  defined as having an combustion chamber  21 , aperture airway  17 , and an elongated cap  12 , which all extend substantially along the stem  14  airway. In the preferred embodiment demonstrated in  FIG. 3 , aperture airway  17  is pictured as a plurality of apertures. Alternatively, aperture airway  7  may also comprises a single elongated aperture that extends substantially along the stem  14  airway. The elongated combustion chamber  21  is visible from the top view in  FIG. 5 . In the preferred embodiment, pipe body  24  includes a metering aperture  16 , see  FIG. 2 . The narrow frontal profile of pipe  10  is accomplished by this arrangement and is apparent in  FIG. 2 . Much like a flattened drinking flask, this narrow profile lends itself to comfortable carriage when stowed in a clothing pocket or pack. Referring to  FIG. 3 , when air is pulled through mouthpiece  15 , cap vent  13  allows heated air H to flow through combustion chamber  21 , thus igniting combustible material  23  to generate smoke. Smoke then flows through aperture airway  17 , through the airway defined by stem  14 , and ultimately to mouthpiece  15 . When metering aperture  16  is fully or partially obstructed, typically by a finger of the smoker, a greater proportion of air flows through combustion chamber  21 . However, even when metering aperture  16  is unobstructed, some air continues to flows through combustion chamber  21 . This results in a diluted stream of smoke that still reaches mouthpiece  15 . Diluted smoke is sometimes desired. When air is pulled through mouthpiece  15  while cap  12  is removed, air flows directly through combustion chamber  21 . Thus, use of the cap  12  during smoking is optional. Together, cap  12  and pipe body  24  comprise the preferred embodiment of smoking pipe  10 . 
     If combustible material  23  is inserted into combustion chamber  21  it tends to conform to the shape of combustion chamber  21 . Referring to  FIG. 3 , below the combustible material  23  is aperture airway  17 , which substantially position the apertures along the stem  14  airway. The aperture airway  17  directs heated air H through combustion chamber  21  such that a greater proportion of combustible material  23  is exposed to heated air H. Thus, the shaping of combustible material  23 , in combination with the shaping of heated airflow entering and exiting combustion chamber  21 , will ignite a greater volume of combustible material  23  despite bowl  11  having a narrow, elongated shape. This arrangement allows smokers to obstruct metering aperture  16  to obtain a richer mixture of smoke, if desired. It also allows the smoker to ignite a greater proportion of combustible material without having to stir the combustible material  23  during smoking. Avoiding the need for stirring is especially preferred when smoking is performed in combination with a vented cap. 
     Referring to the preferred embodiment in  FIG. 4 , bowl magnets  20  provide a first receiving area that functions as an interface for cap  12  to attach to bowl  11 . In the preferred embodiment, when cap  12  is attached to bowl  11  it is held by the attractive force of bowl magnets  20 . This assumes that the cap is composed of ferromagnetic material. Equivalently, the cap might include integrated magnets (not pictured) that attract cap  12  to the first receiving area. Though magnetism is used to fixate the cap  12  to bowl  11  in the preferred embodiment, alternative means of attaching the cap may include spring loaded clips, threads, or friction between mating parts. In the preferred embodiment, cap  12  is prevented from translating or rotating relative to bowl  11  with the fixation bosses  19 , see  FIG. 7 . When cap  12  is attached to bowl  11  the fixation bosses contact the walls of combustion chamber  21  thus keeping cap  12  aligned with bowl  11 . 
       FIG. 5  depicts pipe body  24  next to the detached cap  12 . The shaded area of pipe body  24  corresponds to the surface of combustion chamber  21 . The furthest extents of the of the shaded combustion chamber along the horizontal direction defines the major axes of combustion chamber  21 . The extents of the shaded region for cap  12  along the vertical direction defines the minor axes of the cap  12 . Because the length of the minor axes of cap  12  is less than the length of the major axes of combustion chamber  21 , cap  12  may be inserted significantly into combustion chamber  21 . In the preferred embodiment, this allows the edges of cap  12  to contact a significant proportion of the surface of combustion chamber  21 , to include its deepest locations in the vicinity of aperture airway  17 , see also  FIG. 6 . This facilitates using cap  12  as a tool to scrap debris from the combustion chamber  21  surface, or to stir and tamp combustible material  23  during smoking. Use of the cap as a cleaning tool is not limited to scraping of combustion chamber  21 . Cap  12  may also include a protrusion for the purpose of clearing debris from aperture airway  17 . Thus, the shape of cap  12  in combustion with the shape of combustion chamber  21  allows the smoker to access combustion chamber  21 , and aperture airway  17 , with an appropriately designed tool that doubles as a cap. 
       FIG. 7  depicts the preferred embodiment of stem pocket  18  being used as second receiving area. In the preferred embodiment, stem pocket  18  functions as an interface for attaching cap  12  to pipe body  24 . In the preferred embodiment, the second receiving area is located beneath stem  14 . Stem magnets  22  attract cap  12  to the second receiving area. However, alternative means of attaching cap  12  may include spring loaded clips, screws, or friction between mating parts. In the preferred embodiment, when cap  12  is attached to pipe body  24 , fixation bosses  19  contact the walls of stem pocket  18  to prevent translation or rotation of cap  12  relative to pipe body  24 .  FIG. 8  shows the preferred embodiment wherein the cap is interposed between pipe body  24  and surface S such that smoking pipe  10  is stabilized by cap  12 . In the preferred embodiment, the second receiving area positions cap  12  so that the center of mass C of pipe body  24  is not substantially above cap  12 . Instead, center of mass C of smoking pipe  10  is located between cap  12  and mouthpiece  15 . Thus, the contact between mouthpiece  15  and surface S, in combination with the contact between cap  12  and surface S, helps stabilizes smoking pipe  10  from tipping over. One of many alterative means to stabilize pipe  10  might involve positioning cap  12  underneath center of mass C so that cap  12  supports the entire weight of pipe body  24 . Further alternatives might involve attaching cap  12  to pipe body  24  at locations that do not necessarily stabilize the pipe on surface S. In those cases, the second receiving area is used primarily to prevent accidental misplacement of cap  12  when access to combustion chamber  21  is required.