Patent Publication Number: US-2009223528-A1

Title: Cigar With Support Embedded Therein

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the general art of smoking, and to the particular field of cigars. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Tobacco has an ancient history. It is thought that the tobacco plant began growing in the Americas some 8,000 year ago. By 100 AD tobacco had spread throughout the Americas and it was being used in some form by native peoples, including by smoking. The indigenous people of some islands in the Caribbean and in Central America were smoking cigars as early as the 10th century. 
     Cigarette smoking has been and remains a popular activity for many people. Most modem cigarettes are made by the use of standard industrial, mass-production cigarette manufacturing machines using choice tobacco and fine cigarette paper, admittedly produce a generally high-quality, consistent cigarette. All known manufactured cigarettes are of a common physical structure; a quantity of tobacco homogeneously contained and dispersed throughout a cylindrical cigarette paper wrapper, with or without an integral, typically fibrous filter portion on one end. Such a structure for a cigarette may be common and accepted. 
     Since the 17th century, after Sir Walter Raleigh brought tobacco (the dried leaf of a variety in the family of the deadly nightshade) to England, the smoking of herbs and various weeds has increased enormously and is socially accepted without regard to pronouncements by certain groups. Incompletely smoked cigars and short cigarette butts which were discarded by our grandparents were often smoked by others by passing a common pin through the butt or stub and using such a pin as a holder (according to O. Henry, Damon Runyon and H. L. Mencken, among other notables). The younger generations of modem times have found the smoking of other weeds and herbs, such as grass and variations of the species Cannabis Sativa to give them pleasure, and the butts, stubs and roaches of their hand-rolled cigarettes, sticks or joints are deemed sufficiently worthy to be treasured and smoked. 
     However, the pin is a very unsatisfactory holder, since it perforates and ventilates the paper wrapper and does not hold the stub firmly in a readily manipulatable position. Moreover, even a lowly pin may not be easily available for use. 
     Cigars as a superior form through which to enjoy tobacco began spreading in the early 19th century. In 1810 a Cuban cigar roller was taken to Suffield, Conn. to train local workers in the art. In 1826 England was importing only 26 pounds of cigars a year. However, cigars became so popular there that a mere four years later England would be important 250,000 pounds of cigars a year. During the 19th century cigar smoking was common while cigarettes were still rare. 
     Recent years have seen renewed interest in, and growing awareness of, the fine art of smoking cigars. However, nobody enjoys burning their fingers while trying to enjoy the last few draws on a good cigar. 
     While some claim that a cigar should be put down while two or more inches are left unsmoked, not every cigar aficionado will agree with that assessment. For those people, it is a waste to stop smoking a fine cigar before it is entirely turned to ash. For those people, there is a need for a simple but ingenious device which will allow easy, comfortable smoking of a cigar past the two-inch point without burning one&#39;s fingers. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     These, and other, objects are achieved by a cigar with a rod a thin material placed in between the cigar leaf and the tobacco. A thin, strong, bendable strip is embedded in the outer rolling leaf of a cigar. As the cigar is smoked more and more, the rod will be more and more exposed to prevent fingers, and/or fingertips to be burnt and/or injured. When the cigar becomes too short to hold, the rod is bent and used as a handle. Thus, with the device of the present invention, one can smoke the cigar all the way to the ashes. 
     As the cigar is smoked the strip is exposed. As the cigar butt becomes inconveniently short, the strip may be bent to form a handle, by means of which the cigar butt may be comfortably held until no more cigar ash remains. The bent strip can also serve as a hook for suspending the cigar butt temporarily, rather than resting it on the surface of an ashtray. 
     The rod or strip is formed of material that can be incorporated into a cigar but which will not become so hot as to influence the burning of the cigar or too hot to be touched after the cigar has been lit. The material will also be bendable and strong enough to support the cigar. A material which is a composite of metal, fabric and the like will be used. 
     Other systems, methods, features, and advantages of the invention will be, or will become, apparent to one with skill in the art upon examination of the following figures and detailed description. It is intended that all such additional systems, methods, features, and advantages be included within this description, be within the scope of the invention, and be protected by the following claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES 
       The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings and description. The components in the figures are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating the principles of the invention. Moreover, in the figures, like referenced numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the different views. 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a cigar paper used in a cigar embodying the principles of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a rod that is inserted between the cigar paper and the tobacco in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a partially smoked cigar having a rod extending from the lit end thereof in accordance with the principles of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to the figures, it can be understood that the present invention is embodied in cigar  10  which comprises a main body  12  formed of cigar tobacco. Main body  12  has a first end  14  which is a lighted end when the body is in use, a second end  16  which is the smoked end when the body is in use and a longitudinal axis  20  which extends between the first and second ends of the body. As will be understood by those skilled in the art based on the teaching of this disclosure, the main body has an initial, unsmoked length L 1  measured between the first and second ends of the main body prior to the first end being lit and the first end of the main body will move toward the second end of the main body after the first end is lit during a smoking process whereby the length of the main body decreases during the smoking process as indicated by arrow  24 . Cigar  10  further includes a wrapping element  30 , such as cigar paper or cigar leaf, which is wrapped around the main body from the first end to the second end. 
     A strip  40  of bendable material is inserted between the wrapping element and the main body. The strip of bendable material has a first end  42  which is located near second end  16  of the body and extends from the second end of the main body toward first end  14  of the main body in the direction of longitudinal axis  20  of the main body. The strip of bendable material has a second end  44  which is spaced apart from the first end of the main body and a length L 2  which extends between first end  42  of the strip of bendable material and second end  44  of the strip of bendable material. The length L 2  of the strip of bendable material being less than then the initial length L 1  of the main body whereby the strip of bendable material will be unexposed prior to the beginning of the smoking process and will become exposed after the first end of the main body has burned down toward the second end of the main body during the smoking process. 
     It is noted that after being bent, the bent strip of material has a first leg defined between first end  42  of the bendable material and bend  46  and which has a length L 3  of strip  40  is measured between end  42  and bend  46 . Length L 3  is greater than two inches so the cigar can be smoked past the two-inch length discussed above. After the strip of bendable material has been exposed during the smoking process, it can be bent into an L-shape  40 ′ as indicated in  FIG. 3  whereby the L-shaped strip can be used as a handle to support the unsmoked portion of the cigar. The bent strip of material can also be used to support the lit end of the cigar off of a surface. 
     The strip of bendable material can be formed of a composite material, such as metal and/or phenolic or high heat acrylonitrile/butadiene/styrene copolymer (ABS) which is combined with the metal so it will be bendable and sufficiently strong to hold the cigar, but will not be sufficiently heat conducting to burn the user or to harm or adversely affect the wrapping material. Other materials and combinations will occur to those skilled in the art based on the teaching of this disclosure. The exact materials used in the strip of bendable material are not important to this invention and as such will not be claimed or further discussed. 
     While various embodiments of the invention have been described, it will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that many more embodiments and implementations are possible within the scope of this invention. Accordingly, the invention is not to be restricted except in light of the attached claims and their equivalents.