Patent Publication Number: US-2003234024-A1

Title: Cigarette holder

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0002] This invention is related to an improvement in the structure of the cigarette holder, and in particular to one which has two filters, to filter the smoke being inhaled by the user two times, thereby largely reducing the amount tar and nicotine being inhaled by the user, and effectively reducing the smell of the cigarette fumes upon inhalation.  
       [0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art  
       [0004] The cigarette holder sold on the market generally falls under two categories. The first one is disposable (see FIG. 1), which includes a mouth piece  100  formed with a passage  101 , and a filter seat  200 , in which is fitted a filtering element  201 . The front end of the filter seat  200  has a recess  301  for receiving the filter portion of a cigarette S. The recess  301  is formed with a center through hole  302  which is communicated with the passage  101  of the mouthpiece  100 , so that the smoke of the cigarette can pass through the center hole  302  and the filtering member  201 , thereby filtering the tar and nicotine of the smoke. However, such kind of cigarette holder only utilizes a filtering member  201  to remove the tar and nicotine, and so the filtering effect is not sufficient, and thus the user may still inhale tar and nicotine.  
       [0005]FIG. 2 illustrates another commonly used cigarette filter B, which is reusable. The cigarette holder B includes a front portion  400  having a cavity  401  for receiving a filter of a cigarette S, filtering member  500 , and a mouthpiece having a passage  602 . The filtering member  500  is fitted in a chamber  402 , formed at the other end of the front portion. The filtering member  500  is provided with a threaded rod portion and engaged with internal threads of the mouthpiece  600 . The recess  401  of the front portion  400  has a through hole  403  which is communicated with the chamber  402 , so that the smoke of the cigarette S can pass through the hole  403  into the chamber  402  and the passage  602 . Nevertheless, as the cigarette holder A, the cigarette holder B only uses a filtering member  500  to filter the tar and nicotine of the smoke, and therefore suffers from the same drawback. Furthermore, the tar will even flow into the passage  602 , causing a blockage of the passage  602 , and thus difficulty in smoking.  
       [0006] Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improvement in the structure of a cigarette holder which can obviate and mitigate the above-mentioned drawbacks.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] This invention is related to an improvement in the structure of the cigarette holder which has two filters, to filter the smoke being inhaled by the user two times, thereby largely reducing the amount tar and nicotine being inhaled by the user, and effectively reducing the smell of the cigarette fumes upon inhalation.  
       [0008] It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a cigarette holder includes a mouthpiece formed with a longitudinal passage and a filter seat in which is fitted a filtering member, an end of the filter seat having a recess, the recess being formed with a center through hole which is communicated with the passage, a front portion having an end formed with a cavity for receiving a filter of a cigarette and a filtering member, the filtering member being fitted in a chamber formed at another end of the front portion, the filtering member being with a threaded rod portion, the cavity having a through hole which is communicated with the chamber, and a connector having an end formed with a threaded hole engaged with the threaded rod portion and another end which is conical in shape and formed with a through hole which is communicated with the threaded hole, the another end being snugly fitted into the recess of the mouthpiece, whereby the smoke being inhaled by the user will be filtered two times, thereby largely reducing the amount tar and nicotine being inhaled by the user, and effectively reducing the smell of the cigarette fumes upon inhalation.  
       [0009] The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.  
       [0010] Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.  
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0011]FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a prior art cigarette holder;  
     [0012]FIG. 2 is a sectional view of another prior art cigarette holder;  
     [0013]FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a connector according to the present invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 4 is another perspective view of another connector according to the present invention;  
     [0015]FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the present invention; and  
     [0016]FIG. 6 illustrates an application of the present invention.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
     [0017] The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.  
     [0018] Referring to FIGS. 3, 4 and  5 , the cigarette holder according to the present invention generally comprises a connector  10 , a front portion  400 , and a mouthpiece  200 . The connector  10  has a front end  12 , formed with a threaded center hole  11 , and a conical rear end  40 , having a through hole  13 . The through hole  13  is in communication with the threaded center hole  11 . The front portion  400  is the same as that of cigarette holder B in FIG. 2. The mouthpiece  200  is the same as that of cigarette holder FIG. 1. However, this invention is characterized in the combination of the front portion  400  and the mouthpiece  200 , which are joined by a connector  10 .  
     [0019] When in assembly, the front end  12  of the connector  10  is first fitted into the rear end of the front portion  400  with the threaded hole  11  engaged with the threaded rod  501 , thereby fixing the connector  10  to the rear end of the front portion  400 . The rear conical end  14  of connector  10  is snugly fitted into the recess  301  of the mouthpiece  100 , so that the smoke of the cigarette has to pass the filtering members  500  and  201  before being inhaled into the lungs of the user. When the mouthpiece A is blocked by the tar, the user may throw away the mouthpiece A and exchange it for a new mouthpiece A 2  (see FIG. 7). In addition, the front portion  400  may be provided with a clip  404  (FIGS. 5, 6 AND  7 ), so that the cigarette holder according to the present invention will be easily kept in the clothes pocket.  
     [0020] It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.  
     [0021] While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.