The present invention relates generally to cigar holders, and, more particularly, relates to a cigar holders for use in golfing and in golf ball holders such as those found in gold carts.
Golf is a popular recreation in several parts of the world as a form of relaxation and social activity. While playing golf, many people also enjoy smoking a cigar, which requires some place to hold the cigar while the player is taking a swing or otherwise unable to hold the cigar. There are a number of cigar holder devices available that can be used to address this need. Some cigar holders are designed to be stuck into the ground, which requires the user to repeatedly stick the cigar holder into the ground, place the cigar in the holder, and then carry on with the game. Each time the user moves, the user has to pull up the holder, carry it, and then re-deploy at the next location where the user has to hit a ball.
There are also clip-on type cigar holders that can clip on to a portion of a golf cart while holding a cigar. However, these generally require that the user remove the cigar from the holder while the golf cart is in motion because the air movement will otherwise blow ash from the burning end of the cigar, while also accelerating the burning of the cigar. And each time the user needs to leave the cart while leaving the cigar behind the user then has to re-clip the cigar to the holder. This is not especially convenient for the user.
Therefore, a need exists to overcome the problems with the prior art as discussed above.
Embodiments of the inventive disclosure provide a cigar holder that is adapted for use with golf accessory holders, such as those commonly found in the dashboard or other portions of a golf cart. The cigar holder of the disclosed inventive embodiments overcomes the hereinafore-mentioned disadvantages of the heretofore-known devices and methods of this general type and that do not adequately protect or hold a cigar for use with a golf cart.
In accordance with some embodiments of the inventive disclosure, there is provided cigar holder for use with a golf ball holder that includes a lower interfacing portion that is configured to interface with a golf accessory holder. The cigar holder can further include a wind shield extending upward from the lower interfacing portion, wherein the wind shield and lower interfacing portion define a contiguous space inside the wind shield and the lower interfacing portion. The cigar holder can further include a holder portion extending laterally from the wind shield portion and having a U-shaped cross section configured to hold a cigar horizontally.
In accordance with another feature, the lower interfacing portion can include a stem configured to interface with a golf tee holder, and a rest portion configured to interface with a surface around the golf tee holder, the rest portion having a height and a diameter.
In accordance with another feature, the stem can have a lower portion having a diameter that is tapered, and an upper portion having a diameter that is not tapered.
In accordance with another feature, the windshield can be a ball portion having a semi-spherical shape extending upward from the rest.
In accordance with another feature, the golf accessory holder can be a golf ball holder, and the lower interfacing portion can be a ball portion that is configured to interface with the golf ball holder.
In accordance with another feature, the cigar holder can further include a spacing extension on a side of the ball portion under the holder portion that runs along an outside curve of the ball portion to the spacing member, wherein the spacing member is formed of a compliant material which extends vertically to the holder portion, and wherein a rest is formed under the holder portion and is configured to interface with a surface around the golf ball holder.
In accordance with another feature, the spacing extension can be flat in a horizontal direction which is perpendicular to a direction in which the holder portion extends from the wind shield.
In accordance with another feature, the compliant material of the spacing member can be overmolded onto the cigar holder and is captured by a horizontal dovetail retaining feature formed at a top of the spacing extension.
In accordance with another feature, the U-shaped cross section of the holder portion can be a semi-circular cross section.
In accordance with another feature, the holder portion can include at least one pair of opposing cutouts, with one each an opposing wall of the holder portion.
In accordance with another feature, the at least one pair of cutouts are located at a midpoint of the holder portion between the wind shield and an end of the holder portion.
In accordance with another feature, the holder portion can include a plurality of lateral ridges on a floor of the holder portion at a distal end of the holder portion.
In accordance with another feature, the lateral ridges can be sized to form a slope across the lateral ridges.
In accordance with another feature, the lateral ridge can have a surface that is textured.
In accordance with another aspect of the inventive disclosure, there is provided a cigar holder configured to be used in a golf cart that includes a lower interfacing portion configured to interface with one of either a golf ball holder or a tee holder, wherein the golf ball holder and tee holder are formed in a portion of the golf cart. The cigar holder can further include a wind shield extending upward from the lower interfacing portion, wherein the wind shield and lower interfacing portion define a contiguous space inside the wind shield and the lower interfacing portion. The cigar holder can further include a cigar holder portion extending laterally from the wind shield portion that is configured to hold a cigar horizontally.
In accordance with another feature, the lower interfacing portion can include a stem configured to interface with a golf tee holder, and a rest portion configured to interface with a surface around the golf tee holder, the rest portion having a height and a diameter.
In accordance with another feature, the cigar holder portion can include a vertical wall at a distal end of the cigar holder portion.
In accordance with another feature, the golf accessory holder can be a golf ball holder, and the lower interfacing portion can be a ball portion that is configured to interface with the golf ball holder.
In accordance with another feature, the cigar holder can further include a spacing extension on a side of the ball portion under the holder portion that runs along an outside curve of the ball portion to the spacing member, wherein the spacing member is formed of a compliant material which extend vertically to the holder portion, and wherein a rest is formed under the holder portion and is configured to interface with a surface around the golf ball holder.
In accordance with another feature, the compliant material of the spacing member can be overmolded onto the cigar holder and is captured by a horizontal dovetail retaining feature formed at a top of the spacing extension.
Although the invention is illustrated and described herein as embodied in a [TITLE], it is, nevertheless, not intended to be limited to the details shown because various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. Additionally, well-known elements of exemplary embodiments of the invention will not be described in detail or will be omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of the invention.
Other features that are considered as characteristic for the invention are set forth in the appended claims. As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein; however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms. Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative basis for teaching one of ordinary skill in the art to variously employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately detailed structure. Further, the terms and phrases used herein are not intended to be limiting; but rather, to provide an understandable description of the invention. While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. The figures of the drawings are not drawn to scale.
Before the present invention is disclosed and described, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. The terms “a” or “an,” as used herein, are defined as one or more than one. The term “plurality,” as used herein, is defined as two or more than two. The term “another,” as used herein, is defined as at least a second or more. The terms “including” and/or “having,” as used herein, are defined as comprising (i.e., open language). The term “coupled,” as used herein, is defined as connected, although not necessarily directly, and not necessarily mechanically. The term “providing” is defined herein in its broadest sense, e.g., bringing/coming into physical existence, making available, and/or supplying to someone or something, in whole or in multiple parts at once or over a period of time.
“In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, unless otherwise specified, azimuth or positional relationships indicated by terms such as “up”, “down”, “left”, “right”, “inside”, “outside”, “front”, “back”, “head”, “tail” and so on, are azimuth or positional relationships based on the drawings, which are only to facilitate description of the embodiments of the present invention and simplify the description, but not to indicate or imply that the devices or components must have a specific azimuth, or be constructed or operated in the specific azimuth, which thus cannot be understood as a limitation to the embodiments of the present invention. Furthermore, terms such as “first”, “second”, “third” and so on are only used for descriptive purposes, and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance.
In the description of the embodiments of the present invention, it should be noted that, unless otherwise clearly defined and limited, terms such as “installed”, “coupled”, “connected” should be broadly interpreted, for example, it may be fixedly connected, or may be detachably connected, or integrally connected; it may be mechanically connected, or may be electrically connected; it may be directly connected, or may be indirectly connected via an intermediate medium. As used herein, the terms “about” or “approximately” apply to all numeric values, whether or not explicitly indicated. These terms generally refer to a range of numbers that one of skill in the art would consider equivalent to the recited values (i.e., having the same function or result). In many instances these terms may include numbers that are rounded to the nearest significant figure. Those skilled in the art can understand the specific meanings of the above-mentioned terms in the embodiments of the present invention according to the specific circumstances
The accompanying figures, where like reference numerals refer to identical or functionally similar elements throughout the separate views and which together with the detailed description below are incorporated in and form part of the specification, serve to further illustrate various embodiments and explain various principles and advantages all in accordance with the present invention.
While the specification concludes with claims defining the features of the invention that are regarded as novel, it is believed that the invention will be better understood from a consideration of the following description in conjunction with the drawing figures, in which like reference numerals are carried forward. It is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms.
The inventive disclosure provides a novel cigar holder adapted for use in a golf accessory holder (e.g. golf ball or golf tee holder), and provides both a wind screen and ashtray feature in an engaging portion that interfaces with the golf accessory holder. A cigar holder portion extends laterally from the engaging portion and includes side walls that extend upward from a floor along the sides of the cigar holder portion that are configured to prevent a cigar disposed in the cigar holder portion from rolling off the cigar holder portion.
In
The cigar holder of
The holder portion 110 extends laterally from the cylindrical wall portion 104 to an end 114, and can have a length, from the cylindrical wall portion 104 to the end 114 of the holder, of about three to five inches in some embodiments. The holder portion 110 forms a support surface on which a cigar can be rested, and walls on either side of the support surface to prevent a cigar from rolling off the support surface. The cylindrical portion 104 and ball portion 102 can be hollow to hold ashes that fall off the cigar, having a bottom that is below that of the support surface of the holder portion 110. In other words, the ball portion 102 acts as an ashtray and the cylindrical portion 104 acts as a wind screen to help prevent breeze from removing ashes from the interior of the ball portion 102, as well as to prevent acceleration of the combustion of a cigar being held in the holder portion 110. In some embodiments the holder portion can have a semicircular profile. The holder portion 110 can have cutouts 112, 116 that facilitate gripping the cigar to remove it from the holder portion 110. The cutouts 112 can be located approximately halfway between the cylindrical wall portion and the end 114 of the holder portion 110. The cutouts 112 can have a length along the holder portion 110, at the top of the holder portion 110, of about one to one and one half inches, and a depth from the top of the holder portion 110 of about half an inch, in some embodiments.
Below the holder portion 110, where the holder portion 110 meets the cylindrical wall portion 104, are several fitment features to engage the walls of a ball holder, such as those commonly provided in golf carts. In fact, while golf balls are standardized in diameter (e.g. 1.62″ in Europe, 1.68″ in the US) there is no standardized golf ball holder size or shape and the fitment features provided on the cigar holder 100 allow the cigar holder 100 be a “universal” cigar holder for use in a variety of different golf ball holders with a range of tolerance in size. The fitment features can include a spacing extension 118 on the outside of the ball portion 102, under the holder portion 110. The spacing extension 118 fills in space between the ball portion 102 and the wall of a golf ball holder, making contact with the wall of the golf ball holder and forcing the opposite side of the ball portion 102 into contact with the wall of the golf ball holder. The spacing extension 118 can start from a point 126 that is about halfway up the side of the ball portion 102, and extend about one millimeter outward at that point, extending further away from the ball portion in the downward direction along an outside wall 124, but still following the curve of the ball portion 102 to a point nearly equal to the bottom 122 of the ball portion 102, where the spacing extension traverses horizontally to the wall of the ball portion at a bottom 120 of the spacing section. The spacing extension 118 can be flat in the horizontal direction (i.e. into and out of the page as shown), and have a width of five to twelve millimeters, and tapering from top to bottom from a wider to narrower. By making the spacing member flat, the outer edges, in the horizontal direction, are farther from the center of the ball portion than the middle of the spacing extension.
Above the spacing extension 118 is a compliant spacing member 128 that that is made of a compliant/resilient material that can be slightly compressed. In other words, the material can be compressed, but it resists being compressed, and returns to its uncompressed shape/dimensions when the compressing force is removed. The spacing member 128 starts at the top of the spacing extension 118, protrudes outward from the spacing extension by, for example, one to two millimeters, and has an outside surface that extends upward substantially vertically, with the body of the spacing member 128 filling in the space between its outside wall and the ball portion 102 and the cylindrical wall 104. In some embodiments the spacing member 128 can be overmolded onto the cigar holder 100, into a dovetail retaining feature 129 formed in the cigar holder 100 at the top of the spacing extension 118. The spacing member 128, can be formed of a rubber material that provides friction to hold the cigar holder 100 in the golf ball holder by frictionally engaging the wall of the golf ball holder.
Located above the spacing member 128 can be a rest 132 which extends horizontally under the holder portion 110, at about the level where the ball portion 102 and the cylindrical wall portion 104 meet. The bottom 130 of the rest 132 is flat, and configured to rest on the top of a golf ball holder to stabilize the cigar holder and prevent rocking or tilting of the cigar holder 100. The flat bottom 130 of the rest 132 allows the bottom of the holder portion 110 to be rounded. The bottom 130 can extend two to ten millimeters beyond the spacing member 128 in some embodiments, more or less in other embodiments.
Near the end 114 of the holder portion 110 there can be raised features for frictionally engaging a cigar that has been placed into the holder portion 110. As further seen in
In.
Accordingly, and cigar holder has been disclosed that is adapted to interface with a golf accessory holder. The golf accessory holder can include a golf ball holder or a golf tee holder. Thus, the cigar holder include a lower interfacing portion that interfaces with the golf accessory holder. The lower interfacing portion can be a ball portion sized to interface with a golf ball holder, or a stem to interface with a golf tee holder. A lower interfacing portion designed to interface with a golf ball holder can include a spacing extension and a spacing member, along with a rest, that work to frictionally engage surfaces inside the golf ball holder and around the golf ball holder to stabilize the cigar holder. Likewise, when the lower interfacing portion is configured to interface with a golf tee holder, the lower interfacing portion can include a stem and a rest above the stem, where the stem is configured to be placed into the golf tee holder while the rest is configured to engage or mate with a surface around the golf tee holder to stabilize the cigar holder. The cigar holder can further include a wind shield that extends upwards from the lower interfacing portion that is configured to partially shield the lit end of a cigar placed in the cigar holder from wind. in some embodiments the wind shield can be configured as a cylindrical portion portion or a cup portion. The cylindrical wall portion 104 of