IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPES FOR SMOKING
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edward Cottam, of Wimbledon, in tlie County of"
Surrey: for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPES FOR SMOKING."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edward Cottam at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th January 1870.
I, EDWARD COTTAM, of Wimbledon, in the County of Surrey, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PIPES FOR SMOKING," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is. to. prevent the accumulation in the
tobacco of the condensed. oil or nicotine. In smoking a pipe of the
ordinary construction the smoke at first is very mild because it has. to
pass through the whole of the tobacco in the bowl, and a portion of the
oil becoming condensed the lower portion of the tobacco, is. impregnated
with more than its due share, so that when this portion in its turn
becomes ignited the smoke is strong and rank. Now by means of my
Invention the smoke produced is of equal mildness throughout.
"

page_text: My Invention consists in fitting a movable bottom in the bowl of the
pipe, which bottom can be raised or lowered in the bowl as required by
means of a rod carried through the lower part of the bowl. The stem
communicates with the bowl at a convenient position near the top
thereof. The pipe is charged from the top when the movable bottom is
at its lowest position, and as the tobacco is consumed the bottom is from
time to time pushed further up in order to bring a fresh portion of tobacco
above the vent. Since the smoke passes directly into the stem none of
the oil becomes condensed in the lower portion of the tobacco, and the oil
is thus equally distributed through the whole volume of the smoke.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Edward Cottam in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 13th July 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, EDWARD
COTTAM, of Wimbledon, in the County of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Edward Cottam, Her special licence
that I, the said Edward Cottam, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Edward Cottam, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the term
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend; within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
PIPES FOR SMOKING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Edward Cottam, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and scals, should
particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same
to be filed in the Great Scal Patent Office within six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edward Cottam, do licreby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is to prevent the accumulation in the
tobacco of condensed oil or nicotine, and to distribute this oil equally
through the whole volume of the smoke. In smoking a pipe of the
ordinary construction the smoke at first is very mild because it has to pass
through the whole of the tobacco in the bowl, and a portion of the oil
becoming condensed the lower portion of the tobacco is impregnated
with more than its due share, so that when this portion in its turn
becomes ignited the smoke is strong and rank. Now by means of my
Invention the smoke produced is of equal mildness throughout, noné
of the oil becomes condensed and therefore none of the essence or flavor
of the tobacco is wasted.
My Invention consists in fitting a movable bottom as herein-after
described in the bowl of the pipe, which bottom can be raised or lowered
in the bowl as required by means of a rod carried through the lower part
of the bowl. The stem communicates directly with the bowl at a
convenient position near the top thereof.
'
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawings is a sectional view of a pipe
constructed according to my Invention. a is the bowl, and b is the stem
which communicates directly with the bowl near the top thereof by the
vent c. The bowl has an aperture formed at the bottom into which a
female thread or nut d is fitted; e is a threaded rod which takes into the
nut d and carries at top a plate ƒ forming a movable bottom to the
bowl; g is a knob by which the rod e with the plate f may be rotated.
The pipe is charged from the top when the movable. bottom f is at its
lowest position, as seen in Figure 1, and as the tobacco is consumed the
bottom fis from time to time pushed further up by rotating the rod e in
order to bring a fresh portion of tobacco above the vent. Figure 2
shows the plate or movable bottom fat its highest position. Since the
smoke passes directly into the stem b and thence to the mouth of the
smoker without passing through any circuitous channels none of the oil
becomes condensed in the lower portion of the tobacco or elsewhere, and
the oil is thus equally distributed through the whole volume of the
smoke. Any ashes or dirt which may get between the edges of the
plate and the sides of the bowl are retained in the lower part of the
bowl and may be readly removed by unscrewing the knob and taking

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out the plate. f. Or a portion of the bottom of the bowl equal to the
diameter of the plate may be fitted, so that it can be taken out when
the pipe requires cleaning. Should it be thought desirable not to allow
the rod e when the plate is at its lowest position to protrude through
the bottom of the bowl a, as seen in Figure 1, the arrangement shown
in Figure 3 may be adopted. Here the movable bottom f carries an
internally threaded rod k into which the rode gears, the rod e in this
case does not rise and fall, but simply rotates in the collar d, and the
movable bottom fmust be oval or of some other form which will prevent
it turning in the bowl.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I claim, the
employment in pipes for smoking of a device for raising the tobacco in
the bowl as required combined with a vent at the upper part of the bowl
leading directly into the stem, substantially as herein-before described
and represented in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edward Cottam, have hereunto set
my hand and scal, this Twenty-ninth day of June One thousand
eight hundred and seventy...
Witness,
J. C. MEWBURN,
Patent Agent,
172, Fleet Street,
London.
EDWARD COTTAM. (L.S.)