Patent Publication Number: US-7717259-B2

Title: Tobacco and cigarette container with poker and magnetic closure

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   The invention concerns a smoking system and more particularly a smoking system to hold smoking tobacco, a pipe and/or a cigarette and additionally a metallic poker. The invention concerns a container or case and lid with a novel closure. It has a similar purpose to and is an improvement on the smoking system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,658. 
   U.S. Pat. No. 4,214,658 discloses a container with separate chambers for receiving a pipe, or a tubular item in one chamber and for receiving other smoking material, such as loose tobacco, in another chamber. A lid over the container covers the openings into the two chambers and the lid is slid laterally in a slideway to allow access to one or the other chamber. 
   In the &#39;658 patent and other prior art, the lid of a container for a smoking system is attached mechanically, e.g., by being slid between positions or by being otherwise attached to the top of the container. The present invention concerns another mode of attachment of a lid. 
   Further, if a smoking system includes a metal poker, which would be used for example to clean a pipe or to work with tobacco in a pipe bowl, and the poker is made of metal, particularly steel, the prior art does not disclose a manner of using the material of the poker for securely retaining the poker in the container of the system. In contrast, the present invention provides the possibility of securely retaining a metal poker in the container by using the material of the poker. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The object of the invention is to provide a smoking system including receptacles for holding smoking materials, such as tobacco, possibly a cigarette and possibly a pipe, and a metallic poker that might be used, for example, for working with or on a pipe. 
   The invention concerns a container for holding and storing smoking articles. The container includes at least two separate chambers, one for holding loose tobacco or loose smoking material, and the second one sized and shaped to hold a cigarette or pipe. A third chamber provides a means for holding the poker. 
   A wall inside the container separates the first and second chambers. The wall inside the container may include an additional hole, i.e., the third chamber, which is shaped and sized to receive a poker extending into the wall from below. The poker is typically used to compact tobacco in a pipe or for cleaning the pipe. Since the poker is typically made of steel and is attracted to a magnet, the system includes a magnet positioned preferably in the top of the hole or third chamber to retain the poker in a removable manner within its small hole or chamber. The poker can be removed simply by hand. 
   A lid attached to the top of the container is preferably rotatable around a pivot at the top of the container, preferably in the wall inside the container. In a closed position, the lid covers the tobacco chamber and other smoking article chamber, and prevents access into the chambers and prevents material exiting the chambers. In a first rotated position, the lid may block the cigarette or pipe chamber while providing free access to the tobacco chamber. In a second rotated position, the lid may at least partially cover the tobacco containing chamber while leaving the cigarette or pipe chamber uncovered. 
   In order to retain the poker in its hole or third chamber, the lid has an additional magnet which is positioned to be over the top of the hole or third chamber when the lid is closed. This magnet holds the poker in the hole magnetically when the poker is not in use while it enables the poker to be easily removed from the container for use. 
   Prior art systems do not disclose a poker held magnetically. Further, there is a novel lid closure on the container of the invention which is not suggested in the prior art reference. It includes a magnetic lock in the lid closed condition. 
   Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent form the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrates by way of example the principle of the invention. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is an external view of a container with lid closure of the present invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a front cross section of the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a cross sectional, side view of the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 4  is an opposite side cross-sectional side view of the view shown in  FIG. 3 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a bottom view of the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a top view of the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a bottom view of a lid for the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 8  is a top view of the lid for the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 9  is a top view of the lid showing the lid covering the top of the container shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 10  illustrates the lid shown in  FIG. 9  opened in one orientation; and 
       FIG. 11  illustrates the lid shown in  FIG. 9  opened in a different orientation to that shown in  FIG. 10 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   The container  10  for a smoking system of the invention includes two separate chambers, including a first chamber  12  for tobacco or loose smoking material and a separate second chamber  14  sized and shaped to hold a cigarette, and which alternatively may be shaped and sized for holding a pipe or another smoker&#39;s article. A wall  18  inside the container separates the chambers  12  and  14  and is thick enough to also rigidify the container. 
   Further, as seen in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the wall  18  has a third chamber or hole  22  extending into it from below, shaped and sized, e.g., with a diameter of 3.2 mm, to receive a poker  23  that may be used for compacting tobacco in a pipe or for cleaning a pipe, for example. 
   As seen in  FIGS. 2 and 5 , the body  10  of the container includes a large and deep notch or recess  26  at its underside  28 , in which the curved, hooked end region of a poker  23  may be contained. The notch or recess  26  is large enough, e.g.,  11  mm wide across the narrow dimension of the body, so that a finger can be inserted in the recess in order to grab the poker. This recess or notch  26  also shortens the height of the chamber  12  in comparison with the height of the chamber  14 . The top wall defining the recess  26  closes the bottom of the chamber  12 . The underside  28  of the container covers the bottom of the cigarette chamber  14 . 
   A compressible, normally extended spring  32  may be disposed inside the chamber  14 . It exerts only light spring force, sufficient to push a cigarette  34  slightly out of the chamber  14  when the below described lid  40  opens the top end of the chamber  14 . 
   At the top end of the poker hole  22  in the wall  18  is installed a first permanent magnet  24 , which closes the top end of the poker hole  22 . The poker  23  is typically made of steel and is magnetically attracted to the magnet  24 . This magnetic attraction between the poker  23  and the magnet  24  retains the poker in the hole  22  when the poker  23  is not in use, but enables simple removal of the poker by the hand of a user when the poker is to be extracted from the container  10 . The magnet  24  serves an additional function of holding the lid  40  in its closed position, as described below. For this reason, the top of the magnet  24  is also exposed at the top side of the container  10 . 
   The top side of the container  10  at the wall  18  has a screw shank receiving hole  36  at which the below described lid  40  is attached. A lid  40  for being attached on the container  10  has the same peripheral profile as the container  10 , as seen in FIGS.  1 , 6  and  10 . The lid has a screw hole  42  through it, which is alignable with the screw receiving hole  36  in the wall  18  of the container  10 . A screw  46  is passed through the lid hole  42  and is threaded into the container hole  36 . This holds the lid  40  to the container  10  and enables positioning the lid  40  in a manner which enables the lid  40  to be rotated around the screw  46  to pivot between three positions illustrated in  FIGS. 9 ,  10  and  11 . 
   To retain the lid  40  in a closed position of  FIG. 9  blocking the open top ends of both of the chambers  12  and  14 , a second permanent magnet  44  is disposed on the underside of the lid  40  and is positioned to directly overlie and be aligned with the magnet  24  exposed at the top of the container wall  18  when the lid  40  is closed over the body, as shown in  FIG. 9 . When the lid  40  is in the closed position and the magnets  24  and  44  are aligned as in  FIG. 9 , the lid  40  is held in the closed position by the cooperating magnets  24  and  44 . 
   Various positions of the lid with respect to the body and the chambers  12  and  14  are illustrated in  FIGS. 9 ,  10  and  11 . The closed position is illustrated in  FIG. 9  with the lid  40  covering the top ends of both of the chambers  12  and  14 . When it is desired to extract tobacco or other smoker&#39;s article from the tobacco chamber  12 , the lid  40  is rotated in one direction as in  FIG. 10  around the pivot at  42 ,  46  to expose the chamber  12 , providing access so that that tobacco may be removed from that chamber  12 , while blocking the chamber  14  so that anything in the chamber  14 , like a cigarette, would not be removable and would not pop out. 
   By rotating the lid  40  further to the position shown in  FIG. 11 , the chamber  12  is at least in part blocked and the chamber  14  is unblocked. The spring  32  in the chamber  14  would force the cigarette or the pipe within that chamber  14  to extend out from the top of the chamber  14  where it could be extracted, without having to invert the container  10  with the open end down, and so that tobacco or loose material within the chamber  12  would not fall out while a cigarette is being extracted. Continuing to rotate the lid  40  around its pivot  42 ,  46  brings it back to the closed position or one of the alternate open positions. 
   Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims.