Patent Publication Number: US-2019191761-A1

Title: Hookah appendage, kit, and system

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to the field tobacco smoking devices and more specifically to the field of hookahs. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Of the many proud traditions of Ottoman culture, few have achieved the world-wide fame of hookah smoking. Once confined to the Middle East and Near East regions, the hookah&#39;s notoriety was invigorated by Napoleon&#39;s invasion of Egypt and the stream of curious Westerners which followed thereafter. Painters, such as Eugene Delacroix and Jean-Leon Gerome, when depicting Oriental styles typically included a hookah as a symbol of the depicted culture. The hookah was elevated from a regional curiosity to a universal symbol of sophistication. 
     The hookah, which has maintained a constant popularity in the Middle East, presently enjoys in American culture a unique, niched function. Hookah smoking combines community and relaxation into a single event. Rarely does one witness a group smokers crowded about a single cigarette, cigar, or pipe. Though hookahs are often designed with a single smoke outlet; the presence of multiple hoses, each capable of simultaneous use, emanating from a single smoking instrument is unique to the hookah. Multiple hose hookahs form the centerpieces of hookah clubs in which hookah smokers gather to unwind and converse with other community members. A hookah combines fashion, art, and function into a single device. 
     A basic hookah includes a base, a pipe, at least one hose with a mouthpiece, and a bowl. The hookah bowl holds the hookah tobacco, frequently “massell.” Massell is a mixture of tobacco, molasses, and often a flavor or fruit extract. The molasses and fruit extract add a substantial amount of moisture to the massell that is missing in conventional tobacco. This added moisture makes massell more sensitive to the elements relative to conventional tobacco; prolonged exposure to air evaporates much of the moisture of massell and reduces its flavor. When properly protected, massell allows a smoker a more recreational, flavored smoke than the tobacco of cigars, cigarettes, pipes, and the like. An experienced hookah smoker will know to loosely distribute massell into a pile within the hookah bowl to allow heat to evenly circulate through the pile. 
     The heat that ignites the massell derives from coals positioned above the hookah bowl. The coals and massell preferably never contact one to the other. A common method of placing coals proximate to the massell involves spreading a foil upon the top of a hookah bowl, punching holes in the foil, and then placing the coals onto the foil. The heat from the lighted coals travels through the holes in the foil to ignite portions of the massell. Particulates from the massell travel in the smoke created by the ignition down through the hookah bowl into the hookah pipe. 
     The hookah pipe is the body of a hookah and is usually fabricated from brass, tin, or stainless steel. The pipe transports the massell smoke from the bowl to the hookah base, which is a cavern containing water. The base of the hookah is typically fabricated of glass or plastic and tends to be the most expressive portion of the hookah, ranging from translucent to wildly-colored. Within the cavern of the hookah base, the massell smoke is cooled by the water within. The cooled massell smoke then returns to the back to the pipe, though not through the same entrance by which the massell smoke enters the base. From the pipe, the massell smoke travels through the hose and out of the mouthpiece. 
     There are presently two prominent versions of hookah structures: the Lebanese style and the Egyptian style. Although the aficionado will explain that there are many differences between the two styles, the practical layman would quickly note the obvious difference: the connection point between the pipe and the hookah bowl. The Egyptian style hookah pipe tapers upward into what is generally referred to as a male connection. The Egyptian style hookah bowl includes a female connection which receives the pipe&#39;s male connection. In the Lebanese style hookah the bowl has the tapered male connection and the pipe has the female connection to accept the Lebanese style hookah bowl. In both styles, to allow a more airtight connection a collar is generally added to fit around the male connection. 
     Unfortunately, a hookah continues to be a niche instrument outside of its longtime centers of popularity. One of its impediments to popularity is portability; a hookah in use, and even setup but unused, is a gangly, awkward instrument. Mya Saray has spent a significant amount of resources in solving problems related to transport of a hookah generally, transport with coals, but there has not been a solution to the transport of an assembled hookah with one of more hoses. The present invention solves this deficiency. 
     SUMMARY 
     The present invention is directed to an appendage for use with a hookah and other hookah components, as well as systems and kits containing the same. The appendage both relieves pressure within the hookah and is capable of retaining a hookah hose in non-use. The appendage includes a connector for releasable affixation to a hookah stem and includes an ingress aperture. The appendage includes a housing that includes two portions, a central housing and a peripheral housing. The central housing includes an interior cavity in fluid communication with the ingress aperture, and the central housing further defines a pressure aperture in fluid communication with the interior cavity. There is an impediment for controlling pressure within the central housing. A peripheral housing defines a peripheral cavity co-linear or askew with the interior cavity and sealed from direct fluid communication with both the ingress aperture and the interior cavity. The appendage may also include an elastic sleeve, positioned within the peripheral cavity, adapted to compress in response to lateral force to a greater degree than the rigid peripheral housing. 
     Kits and systems of the present invention may include an appendage as well as another hookah component, such as a hose adapter, hookah hose, hookah, etc. Premier hookahs may include appendages that are substantially similar to other hookah components, particularly hose adapters. 
     These aspects of the invention are not meant to be exclusive. Furthermore, some features may apply to certain versions of the invention, but not others. Other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art when read in conjunction with the following description, and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a plan view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  is a revealed plan view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a perspective, revealed view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective, exploded view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective, revealed, exploded view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 7  is a revealed plan view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 8  is a perspective, exploded view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 9  is a plan, exploded view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 10  is a plan, revealed view of an embodiment of the appendage of the present invention. 
         FIG. 11  is a view of the kit of the present invention. 
         FIG. 12  is a plan view of the hose adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 13  is a revealed, plan view of the hose adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 14  is a revealed, perspective view of the hose adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 15  is a perspective, exploded view of an embodiment of the hose adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 16  is a perspective, exploded, revealed view of an embodiment of the hose adapter of the present invention. 
         FIG. 17  is a block diagram view of the kit of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Referring first to  FIG. 1-5 , a basic embodiment of the hookah port appendage  100  is shown. A hookah port is a term commonly used to describe the aperture in a hookah stem to which a hookah wet smoke component may attach. By wet smoke component, it is meant a component that affixes to a hookah that interacts with wetted smoke, including hookah hoses, hookah valves, hookah impediments, filters, etc. The present invention includes a connector  110  to affix the appendage to a hookah. The connector includes some form of affixation means  112  that attaches the appendage  100  to the hookah, whether such attachment is to a dedicated port (in other words, a port that is dimensioned to accept a single type of component, e.g., a hookah hose only) or a universal port (in other words, a port that is dimensioned to accept one or more component types interchangeably). The specific mode  112  of affixation is not pertinent to the present invention, except to the extent that the affixation reliably holds the appendage  100  to the hookah to permit the appendage to perform one or more of its functions as identified herein. Examples of affixation means may include threading, pressure fit retainers, male/female notching, etc. 
     The connector  110  may be integrated into the appendage  100  or removable to permit interchangeable attachment with other components. The connector  110  includes an ingress aperture  196  surrounded by a connector wall  118 . When the connector is removable, the connector can be removable both as to the hookah as well as the remainder of the appendage. In such cases, the connector may include affixation means  112   b  for both a hookah as well as affixation means  112   a  for the housing  102  of the appendage (or other interchangeable component). In such circumstances, the connector can form a universal fit with a hookah hose adapter or other component of the kit or system of the present invention. When the connector is wholly removable from both the hookah and appendage, it is preferred that the connector includes a retainer wall  192  for the accurate positioning of the housing  102 . 
     The housing  102  of the present invention serves two purposes, a repository for fluid flow control components and a portion for hookah hose storage. The fluid flow control occurs in the central housing  102   b , while the hose storage occurs in the peripheral housing  102   a . The central housing defines an interior cavity  198  in direct fluid communication with the ingress aperture  196 . The ingress aperture  196  allows wetted smoke from a hookah while the interior cavity  198  accepts the wetted smoke from the ingress aperture  196 . The interior cavity  198  may include an impediment  170  adapted to selectively obstruct the interior cavity from fluid flow from the ingress aperture. The impediment  170  acts as a seal during a “closed position” achieved when pressure from the hookah pulls the impediment toward the ingress aperture. Additionally, the closed position may be achieved due to a gravity-based impediment system, although such is not necessary for purposes of the present invention. Seals of a hookah may include any of the mechanisms as disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/063,503 titled Hookah filed on Mar. 8, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference. The impediment also occupies an “open position” when there is a pressure event in the hookah that urges the impediment away from the ingress aperture and into the cavity aperture. 
     The interior cavity  198  preferably includes dimensions that increase in the distal direction to permit any impediment to float freely therein when in the open position. The connector sidewall  118  may include a taper  114  of significant length that supports the impediment  170  during the closed position and guides the impediment to the closed position as it transitions from the open position. The impediment taper  114  may be formed upon any feature, e.g., the barrier wall  116 , capable of contacting the impediment. During the “open position” the impediment may be forced into the interior cavity  198  to allow a direct fluid path between the pressure aperture(s)  104  and the ingress aperture  196  through the interior cavity  198 . The pressure aperture(s)  104  can be any point of exit for fluid to escape to an environment exterior to a hookah. The size, quantity, and location of the pressure aperture(s)  104  can include any characteristics suitable to achieve the purpose of the aperture  104 . The preferred aperture network includes multiple holes in the base  102  that lead from the interior cavity  198  to the external environment. The holes are significantly smaller than the impediment, arranged symmetrically and are spaced distal to the impediment in the closed position. 
     A barrier wall  116  shields the interior cavity  198  from a peripheral cavity  194 . The peripheral cavity  194  is an aperture in the base  102  that accepts a portion of a hookah hose for intermediate storage. The peripheral cavity is sealed from the interior cavity by the barrier wall  116  or some other contrivance. The peripheral cavity  194  preferably accommodates an interior sleeve  130  that may make direct contact with a hookah hose portion the preferred embodiment of the appendage  100 . The peripheral cavity  194  is preferably tapered  134  to allow a hookah hose portion to be inserted until an interference fit is achieved with the sleeve. To ensure a suitable interference fit that compresses the hookah hose portion to achieve a fit that locks the hookah hose in place during periods of substantial turbulence and user locomotion, the sleeve  130  is preferably constructed of an elastic material. The preferred sleeve material is a deformable rubber. To hold the rubber in place, the present invention may rely on the inherently significant coefficient of static friction inherent in such rubbers, or the sleeve  130  may include a protrusion  134  that fits within a cavity recess  108 . It is preferred that the sleeve  130  be entirely removable from the cavity  194  because hookah hoses can house remnants of smoke debris, including contaminated fluids. 
     In the housing embodiment  100  of  FIGS. 1-5 , the peripheral housing  102   a  includes a floor such that a hookah hose cannot pass entirely through the peripheral cavity  194 . Turning now to  FIGS. 6-10 , the present invention may feature a peripheral housing  102   a  with a peripheral cavity  194  that is not co-linear with the interior cavity  198 . By co-linear, it is meant that if the volumes of the spaces contained center-lines, the center-lines of two or more spaces would point in roughly the same direction. The embodiment of  FIGS. 6-10  features an askew peripheral cavity  198 , in that it is not pointing in roughly the same direction as the interior cavity  194 . The preferred askew embodiment includes a peripheral housing  102   a  that points ninety degrees from the central housing  102   b . The orientation may include any that satisfies the purposes of the present invention; however, the more compelling idea is whether the arc is significant enough to form a floor or permit the hose to pass through the peripheral cavity. 
     The connector  110  of the askew embodiment  100  is similar to the connector  110  of the co-linear embodiment. Indeed, it is a central theme of the present invention  100  that a general connect may permit union between the appendage  100  and a hookah, as well as other more general component of a hookah. The connector  110  includes the hookah affixation means  112   b  as well as the appendage  100  (or general component) affixation means  112   a . The central housing  102   b  shares the attributes of the housing of the earlier embodiment; however, at the barrier wall  116 , the peripheral housing  102   a  includes a different orientation and structure. 
     The peripheral housing  102   a  is ninety-degrees to the central housing  102   b , and accordingly, the interior cavity  194  and peripheral cavity  198  are similarly differently oriented. Such an orientation permits a hookah hose to pass not only into, but through the peripheral cavity  194 . In such embodiments the sleeve  130  may occupy a different structure commensurate with the peripheral cavity  198 . The sleeve  130  may include a structure that mimics the peripheral cavity  198 , here a cylinder with two sleeve lips  132  that wrap about the exterior of the peripheral cavity. The lip  132  of the sleeve  130  may be utilized to indicate a stopping point in certain embodiments of the present invention, or otherwise retain the sleeve in a preferred orientation. Here, because the lip  132  may be constructed of the same compressible rubber as the sleeve, the lip  132  may contort (i.e., bend over) to permit the insertion of the sleeve  130  into the peripheral cavity  198 . 
     Turning now to  FIGS. 11-17 , kits and systems  200  of the present invention may be utilized. By kit  200 , it is meant a series of multiple components that operate together to create an interoperable synergy. A system  500  is the kit  200  as assembled. The kit  200  may include two or more appendages  100 , one or more appendages  100  and one or more hose adapters  300 , one or more appendages  100  and one or more hookah hoses  400 , or one or more hookahs  600  and one or more appendages  100 . A system  500  may include any of these kits  200  assembled. 
     A first kit  200  may include a hookah hose  400  and the appendage  100 . The hookah hose  400  includes three general components: a mouthpiece  410 , a hose connector  430 , and flexible hose body  430 . The hose connector  430  permits the releasable affixation to a hookah stem, and defines a hose ingress aperture  432 . There is a flexible hookah hose body  420 , affixed to the connector  430 , that defines a wet smoke conduit  422  in fluid communication with said hose ingress aperture  432 . There is a longitudinally-rigid hose mouthpiece  410 , in fluid communication with the wet smoke conduit  422 , defining a wet smoke outlet  412 . Although the sleeve  130  of the present invention may include an elastic body, in other embodiments, the hookah hose mouthpiece  410  may include a body that is elastic and deforms in response to the more rigid peripheral cavity of the appendage. 
     The mouthpiece  410  include a outlet diameter Dt that is significantly smaller than the mouthpiece diameter Dm. A hookah hose of the kit of the present invention preferably may include a mouthpiece diameter Dm that fits within the diameter D 1  of the more distal portions of the peripheral cavity, wherein the diameter D 2  of the more proximal portions of the peripheral cavity, preferably when tapered. For the hookah hoses interoperating with the askew embodiments of the appendage  100 , there may even be a single diameter D 1  utilized with the peripheral outlet. In such instances, Dt and Dm may be smaller than D 1  such that they hookah hose  400  is allowed to pass through the peripheral outlet entirely and the hose may hang in the peripheral outlet. In such embodiments, no sleeves are necessary. Alternatively, Dt may pass through D 1 , yet Dm may be larger than D 1  at some point such that an interference fit is formed between the peripheral housing and the mouthpiece  410 . 
     In a second kit  200  of the present invention, the appendage  100  of the present invention is paired with a hose adapter  300 . The hose adapter  300  includes physical characteristics that mimic the physical characteristics of the appendage  100 , particularly the co-linear embodiments of the appendage. A user should upon casual viewing should not be able to differentiate between the appendage  100  and hose adapter  300 . Accordingly the outer diameters of the hose adapter  300  and appendage should be closely matched, as well as the lengths thereof. Preferred lengths include a match of +/−twenty percent, and more preferably +/−ten percent. Preferred widths include a match of +/−twenty percent, and more preferably +/−ten percent. It is preferred that the components be manufactured of identical materials, preferably stainless steel. 
     Interchangeability is an important feature of certain kits  200  of the present invention. The appendage  100  and hose adapter  300  can all utilize the same connector  110 . The hose adapter  300  can include a housing  302  defining a central channel  320  running longitudinally therethrough. The housing  302  can include a sleeve  310  that forms an interference fit between the diameter D 3  of the channel  320  and the diameter Da of the hose connector  430 . 
     A hookah  600  can include one or more of the components  100 ,  300 ,  400  of the present invention to form a new system  500 . Examples of hookahs  600  and other components  100 ,  300 ,  400  of the present invention can include the following Mya Saray patents, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,247,772; 9,107,456; 8,826,915; 8,590,541; 8,573,229; 8,001,978; 7,806,123; 7,404,405. 
     Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions would be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.