Patent Publication Number: US-8973586-B2

Title: Disposable smoking pipe

Description:
BACKGROUND 
     Field 
     The present disclosure relates to smoking devices and more particularly pertains to a new disposable smoking pipe which may be natural, disposable and readily biodegradable. 
     SUMMARY 
     In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a disposable smoking pipe comprising a shaft having a mouthpiece end and a bowl end, a recess being formed in the bowl end, a mouth opening formed in the mouthpiece end, and a passage extending from the mouth opening to the recess to put the recess in fluid communication with the mouth opening. The shaft may have an exterior surface with a generally cylindrical shape between the mouthpiece end and the bowl end, and the shaft is formed from a corncob. 
     In one aspect, the present disclosure relates to a disposable smoking pipe comprising a shaft having a mouthpiece end and a bowl end, a recess being formed in the bowl end, a mouth opening formed in the mouthpiece end, and a passage extending from the mouth opening to the recess to put the recess in fluid communication with the mouth opening. The passage may be substantially straight from the mouth opening at the mouthpiece end to the recess at the bowl end. The shaft has an exterior surface between the mouthpiece end and the bowl end. The shaft is entirely formed from a corncob. 
     There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, some of the more important elements of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional elements of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. 
     In this respect, before explaining at least one embodiment or implementation in greater detail, it is to be understood that the scope of the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and implementations and is thus capable of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. 
     As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present disclosure. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure. 
     The advantages of the various embodiments of the present disclosure, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the disclosure, are disclosed in the following descriptive matter and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The disclosure will be better understood and when consideration is given to the drawings and the detailed description which follows. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic perspective view of a new disposable smoking pipe according to the present disclosure. 
         FIG. 2  is a schematic bowl end view of the pipe, according to an illustrative embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic mouthpiece end view of the pipe, according to an illustrative embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  is a schematic sectional view of the pipe taken along line  4 - 4  of  FIG. 2 , according to an illustrative embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to  FIGS. 1 through 4  thereof, a new disposable smoking pipe embodying the principles and concepts of the disclosed subject matter will be described. 
     The disclosure relates to a disposable smoking pipe  10  that may be used to smoke tobacco or other herbaceous material. The material to be smoked either by heating or burning typically includes dried leaves of plants. 
     The smoking pipe  10  may include a shaft  12  that is configured to be held by the hand, and more specifically the fingers, of the smoker. The pipe  10  may have a mouthpiece end  14  and a bowl end  16  at a location opposite of the mouthpiece end. The bowl end  16  has a bowl end surface  18  and the mouthpiece end  14  has a mouthpiece end surface  20 . In some embodiments, the bowl end surface  18  and the mouthpiece end surface  20  are oriented substantially parallel to each other, although this relationship is not critical. 
     A recess  22  may be formed in the bowl end  16  of the shaft  12  for receiving a quantity of material to be burned. The recess  22  may extend into the bowl end surface  18  toward the mouthpiece end  14 . A portion of the recess  22  may be substantially cylindrical in shape, and a portion of the recess may be semispherical in shape. A mouth opening  24  may be formed in the mouthpiece end  14 , and may be substantially circular in shape. 
     A passage  26  may extend from the mouth opening  24  to the recess  22  to put the recess in fluid communication with the mouth opening to thereby allow smoke from burning materials in the recess to reach the mouth opening when the smoker draws on the mouth opening. The passage  26  may be substantially straight and linear in shape from the mouth opening  24  to the recess  22 . 
     The shaft  12  has an exterior surface  28  which may be gripped by the hand of the smoker when the pipe is being used. The exterior surface  28  may be generally cylindrical in shape between the mouthpiece end and the bowl end. The exterior surface  28  has a diameter, and the diameter of the exterior surface at the mouthpiece end may be relatively smaller than the diameter of the exterior surface at the bowl end so that the exterior surface tapers smaller toward the mouthpiece end. In some embodiments, the exterior surface  28  may have a plurality of dimples  30  or small indentations that may enhance the finger grippability of the exterior surface. The dimples  30  may be aligned in rows that extend from the mouthpiece end  14  to the bowl end  16 , although the rows may only extend for a portion of the length. The exterior surface  28  may have a pair of flattened surface portions  32 ,  33  that are positioned toward the mouthpiece end  14  of the shaft that provides flats for being contacted by the lips of the smoker so that the lips have broader flat surfaces for the lips to rest on. The flattened surface portions  32 ,  33  may be positioned on opposite sides of the exterior surface to correspond to the positions of the upper and lower lips, respectively, when the smoker has the pipe in his or her mouth. 
     Significantly, the shaft  12  is formed from a corncob. For the purposes of this description, the term “corncob” is intended to indicate the center core of an ear of corn to which the kernels are normally attached, but have been removed. The corncob is also typically in a dried condition. The shaft  12  may be fully and completely formed from a corncob to form a completely natural and easily biodegradable pipe. The passage  26  may extend through the relatively softer pith of the corncob, which is surrounded by a relatively harder or firmer cylindrical shell to which the kernels have been removed. The dimples  30  may be formed by the cavities into which the roots of the kernels of the ear of corn extend. The recess  22  may be formed by removing a portion of the pith of the corncob at the bowl end  16 , and may be removed to the border where the pith meets the cylindrical shell, so that the shell forms a solid perimeter about the recess. The exterior surface of the shaft  12  may be formed by removing an outer layer of the corncob, such as by cutting or grinding, to provide a relatively smoother exterior surface that may include the rows of dimples, and the more material removed from the shell, the shallower the dimples may be. 
     The pipe  10  is thus formed of a natural and relatively inexpensive material that is biodegradable when disposed. The pipe  12  is intended to be disposable after one use, although the pipe may be used more than one time although the usability may degrade. The type of corncob utilized is not critical to the invention, although sweet corn cobs and corn cobs from corn used for grain and feeding cattle have been used. The form of the pipe does not include appendages or other elements added to the corncob shaft, thus simplifying the structure of the pipe for making the pipe, and minimizing the amount of materials utilized in forming the pipe, particularly as the pipe is intended to be used less than a few times and discarded, thus also minimizing the burden on landfills. 
     In some illustrative embodiments of the pipe  10 , the length of the shaft from the mouthpiece end to the bowl end may be from approximately 1.5 inches to approximately 5 inches, and the most preferred lengths are from approximately 2 inches to approximately 4 inches. The end surfaces are generally, although not necessarily perfectly, round. The mouthpiece end may have a diameter of less than approximately 0.75 inches, and some of the most preferred embodiments from approximately 0.4 inches to approximately 0.6 inches. The bowl end may also be round, although in many cases not perfectly so, and may have a diameter of less than approximately 1 inch, and may be from approximately 0.5 inches to approximately 1 inch. 
     It should be appreciated that in the foregoing description and appended claims, that the terms “substantially” and “approximately,” when used to modify another term, mean “for the most part” or “being largely but not wholly or completely that which is specified” by the modified term. 
     It should also be appreciated from the foregoing description that, except when mutually exclusive, the features of the various embodiments described herein may be combined with features of other embodiments as desired while remaining within the intended scope of the disclosure. 
     With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of the disclosed embodiments and implementations, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by the present disclosure. 
     Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosed subject matter to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to that fall within the scope of the claims.