Patent Application
20230132322
A hookah is a device used to smoke tobacco. The device has its origins in the Middle East and Near East regions. A typical hookah 10 as shown in
Hookah tobacco, is often referred to as “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. To smoke the hookah, the massell or tobacco is placed within the tobacco support 34 of the bowl. The coal plate 36 is then mounted on top of the bowl covering the massell. Lit coals 37 are placed on top of the coal plate. The heat from the coals ignites the massell. Smoke generated by the ignited massell travels through the conduit and the first end of the stem and exits in the water through the second end of the stem. The water cooled the smoke exits the reservoir through each hose 22 and corresponding mouth piece as the user inhales through the mouth piece.
During smoking of a hookah, the coals burn down and the surface of the coal touching the coal plate reduces the heat it produces. As such, the coal is rotated such that an upper surface of the coal away from the coal plate is rotated to rest on the coal plate to provide more heat to the coal plate. Tongs are used in their normal fashion to grab opposing surfaces of the coal to rotate the coal. Specifically, a user aligns the opposite arms of the tongs on the opposite sides of the of the hot coal and then twists their hand about the longitudinal axis of their arm such that the lower surface of the coal is rotated to be the upper surface of the coal while the upper surface of the coal is rotated to become the lower surface of the coal and contact the coal plate. Similarly, when igniting a coal on heated surface so that it can be used on a hookah, once a lower surface adjacent heater surface is heated the tongs are used to grab on the opposite side surfaces of the coal, and the user rotates the coal by twisting their hand and places the upper surface of the coal against the heated surface. This twisting tend of the hands tends to be uncomfortable.
In an example embodiment a pair of tongs, includes a first arm including a first end opposite a second end and an inner surface, and a second arm including a first end opposite a second end and an inner surface. The first arm and the second arm are coupled together at, or proximate, their first ends, such that the inner surface of the first arm faces the inner surface of the second arm, and the second end of the first arm is biased away from the second end of the second arm. A first pin including a tip extends from the inner surface of the first arm in a direction toward the second arm. A second pin including a tip extends from the inner surface of the second arm and in a direction towards the first arm. The first and second pins are configured for engaging an object with their corresponding tips, such that when the tips engage the object, no other part of the tongs engages the object. In another example embodiment, the tongs further include a first prong extending from the first arm defining a first slot therebetween, and a second prong extending from the second arm defining a second slot therebetween. In an example embodiment, a first slot is formed between the first arm and the first prong and a second slot is formed between the second arm and the second slot. In yet another example embodiment, the first prong extends from proximate the second end of the first arm and in a direction away from the second end and toward the first end of the first arm, and the second prong extends from proximate the second end of the second arm and in a direction away from the second end and toward the first end of the second arm. In a further example embodiment, the first pin is located proximate the second end of the first arm and the second pin is located proximate the second end of the first arm. In yet a further example embodiment, each of the first and second pins is integrally formed with its corresponding arm. In another example embodiment, each of the first and second pins is attached to its corresponding arm. In yet another example embodiment, when the two arm second ends are compressed towards each other, a tip of the first pin engages a tip of the second pin. In an example embodiment, when the first and second tips engage the object along an axis below a center of gravity of the object, the object will rotate about the axis when lifted off a surface. In any of the aforementioned example embodiments, the object is a coal used in hookah to burn tobacco.
In a further example embodiment, a method of rotating a coal for use on a hookah includes engaging the coal with opposite pins of a pair of tongs along an axis and lifting the engaged coal allowing the coal to rotate about the axis due to its own weight. In yet a further example embodiment, the method further includes pressing one of the opposite pins towards the other of the opposite pins for stopping the rotation of the coal. In an example embodiment, the axis is below a center of gravity of the coal prior to lifting. In an example embodiment, engaging the coal includes pressing one of the opposite pins towards the other of the opposite pins.
In an example embodiment a pair of coal handling tongs 100 are provided as shown in
The second ends of the arms are biased away from each other. In an example embodiment, a spring (not shown) may be provided for biasing the arms. In a preferred example embodiment, the arm second ends are biased away from each other because of their shape. In other words, each arm is bend longitudinally such that when the two arms are coupled to each other at, or proximate, their first ends, their corresponding second ends are spaced apart from each other. This longitudinal bending of each arm creates the bias of the arms proximate their second ends. In this regard, releasing the second ends after they are pressed toward each other causes them to bias away from each other. In addition, the spacing of the arms, as for example caused by the spacer 109, may also control the amount of the bias of the arms after they are released from being pressed together.
A first pin 122 extends transversely from the inner surface of the first arm at, or proximate, the second end of the first arm and in a direction toward the second arm. A second pin 124, extends transversely from the inner surface of the second arm at, or proximate the second end of the second arm and in a direction toward the first arm. Ends or tips 126, 128 of the pins are used to engage opposite side surfaces 127, 129, the coal for rotating it. The ends 126, 128 of the pins in example embodiments may be pointy, flat or rounded. The ends of the pins extend far enough along their corresponding pin longitudinal axes 130, 132 away from their arm corresponding inner surfaces 114, 116 such that when the pins engage a coal 134, no other part of the prongs, expect for the pins, engage the coal, as for example shown in
With this embodiment a user engages opposites sides of the coal with the pins 122, 124 the along an axis 134 below the center of gravity 136 of the coal, as shown in
In an example embodiment, a prong 144, 146 may extend obliquely from each arm defining a slot 148, 150 in its corresponding arm. Each prong may be integrally formed with its corresponding arm or it may be separately formed and attached/connected to its corresponding arm. In an example embodiment, the prongs extend from proximate the second an end 110, 112 in a direction away from the second end of their corresponding arms and toward their first corresponding ends 106, 108 of their corresponding arms. In another the example embodiment, the prongs extend from a location proximate the first ends and in a direction away from the first ends of their corresponding arms. When not in use, the tongs may be hung on the dish 37 of the hookah by placing the prongs on the plate such that an end 149 of the dish is received within the slots formed between the arms and their corresponding prongs, as for example shown in
The descriptions of the example embodiment tongs and methods herein are in relation to a coal used to burn hookah tobacco. In other example embodiments, the tongs and methods described herein may be used to engage and rotate other objects besides hookah coals. Moreover, the coal or other object being rotated can have shapes other than the cubical shape disclosed herein. For example, the object or coal may be cylindrical, spherical or have any other shape.
While this invention has been described in detail with particular references to exemplary embodiments thereof, the exemplary embodiments described herein are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the invention to the exact forms disclosed. Persons skilled in the art and technology to which this invention pertains will appreciate that alterations and changes in the described structures and methods of assembly and operation can be practiced without meaningfully departing from the principles, spirit, and scope of this invention, as set forth in the following claims. Although relative terms such as “outer,” “inner,” “upper,” “lower,” “below,” “above,” and similar terms have been used herein to describe a spatial relationship of one element to another, it is understood that these terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the various elements and components of the invention in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. Additionally, as used herein, the term “generally,” “about,” and similar terms are used as terms of approximation and not as terms of degree, and are intended to account for the inherent deviations in measured or calculated values that would be recognized by those of ordinary skill in the art. Furthermore, as used herein, when a component is referred to as being “on” another component, it can be directly on the other component or components may also be present therebetween. Moreover, when a component is component is referred to as being “coupled” to another component, it can be directly attached to the other component or intervening components may be present therebetween.
