Improvements in Plugs or False Bottoms for Tobacco Pipes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Apr., 1891-Accepted, 23rd May, 1891
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plugs or False Bottoms for Tobacco Pipes.
I, EMILE HOUTAIN, of 54, Rue des Commerçants, Brussels, in the Kingdom of
Belgium, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to plugs or false bottoms for the bowls of tobacco pipes; its
object being to provide a plug which will fit the bowl of any ordinary tobacco pipe,
irrespectively of the shape or of the interior dimensions of the bowl, and obviate
the inconveniences connected with the various kinds of plugs or false bottoms
hitherto introduced.
Instead of the plugs or false bottoms of meerschaum or similar substance
generally employed, metal plugs or false bottoms, which take up less room in the
bowl of the pipe and leave more space at the bottom thereof for the saliva and
tobacco juice, are sometimes employed. These plugs or false bottoms are provided
with feet, which extend toward the bottom of the bowl; thus obstructing the
passage in the stem of the pipe and preventing the same from drawing properly.
These feet are useless for keeping the plug or false bottom in its place, as, in such a
position, they can not be made to grip the interior of the bowl. These metal plugs
or false bottoms, like those made of meerschaum, have the further disadvantage that
each must be made of a size corresponding with the diameter of the cavity in the
bowl of the pipe in which it is used. Furthermore, if one be retained for any
length of time in the bowl of the pipe, it can not be easily taken out, when
required for cleaning purposes.
My improved plug or false bottom consists of a circular piece of sheet metal, or
other incombustible substance, of a somewhat clastic nature, either bulged or flat
in the centre, pierced with holes for the passage of the tobacco smoke, and provided
with a series of upwardly-extending arms. Each arm projects at an obtuse angle
from the central part, so that, in varying the angle of inclination at which these
arms are set, the external diameter of the plug is varied to suit any particular pipe.
In placing the plug or false bottom in the pipe, the central part is first intro-
duced. It is then pushed towards the bottom of the bowl; the upwardly-extending
When
arms being forced closer together by contact with the interior of the bowl.
the plug or false bottom has reached its proper place, these arms, which have a
tendency to resume their original angle of inclination relatively to the circular
central part, keep it in position.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a plan of a metal plug or false bottom made according to my invention.
Fig. 2 is a vertical section on the line V V in Fig. 1.
Fig. 3 is a vertical section of part of a pipe shewing one of my plugs or false
bottoms fitted in the bowl.
A are the upwardly-extending arms of the plug or false bottom. B is the
circular central part pierced with holes c. D is the space for saliva and tobacco
juice. E is the bowl of the pipe.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I claim
A plug or false bottom for tobacco pipes, formed of sheet metal substantially as
herein described, and having a flat or bulged central part pierced with holes and
upwardly-extending arms which can be pressed together for the purpose of

page_text: facilitating the insertion of the plug in the pipe-bowl, such arms serving to retain
the device in position and rendering the same adapted for use with pipe-bowls of
various sizes.
Dated this 13th day of April 1891.
G. G. M. HARDINGHAM,
191, Fleet Street, London, E.C., Agent for the Applicant.