The present invention relates to cigar smoking and in particular to a tool for piercing a cigar.
Some cigars are provided with densely packed tobacco leaves. It can be difficult to draw through the cigar without first creating a passage through the cigar. Cigar tools for making such a passage are known, but often expose a sharp end, or do not adequately prevent the sharp end from becoming unintentionally exposed.
The present invention addresses the above and other needs by providing a cigar tool including a piercing rod, a handle, and a cover attachable over the piercing rod. The piercing rod is pointed to penetrate a densely packed cigar. The handle includes a fixed portion and a sliding portion, and squeezing the fixed and sliding portions together releases the cover exposing the piercing rod. The cover may be a simple cylindrical key fob or an added feature of a cigar lighter or ash tray.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, there is provided a method for piercing a densely packed cigar. The method includes squeezing a sliding portion and a fixed portion of a cigar tool together, removing the piercer cover from over a piercer, and piercing a draw end of the cigar. The cigar tool includes a handle including a fixed portion and the sliding portion slidably engaging the fixed portion. The sliding portion includes a spring biasing the sliding portion away from the fixed portion, the piercer fixedly engaging the fixed portion of the handle and having an exposed portion extending through the sliding portion of the handle, an external ball recess in the piercer, and a ball passage through the sliding portion, the passage alignable with the external ball recess in the piercer. A piercer cover has an internal cavity slidable over the sliding portion to cover the piercer and an internal ball recess in the internal cavity of the piercer cover. At least one ball configured to slide radially in the ball passage. In a first sliding portion position, the sliding portion is biased away from the fixed portion by the spring and the ball passage is aligned with the internal ball recess and the ball passage is not aligned with the external ball recess of the piercer and the piercer cover is held on the sliding portion and over the piercer. In a second sliding portion position, sliding portion is pressed against the fixed portion and the ball passage through the sliding portion is aligned with the external ball recess of the piercer and the ball passage is not aligned with the internal ball recess in the piercer cover and the piercer cover is released. The piercer cover includes a cutting edge, and the method further including using the cutting edge to open a lit end of the cigar for lighting.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more apparent from the following more particular description thereof, presented in conjunction with the following drawings wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding components throughout the several views of the drawings.
The following description is of the best mode presently contemplated for carrying out the invention. This description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of describing one or more preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the claims.
An isometric view of a cigar tool 10 according to the present invention is shown in
A cross-sectional view of the cigar tool 10 taken along line 3-3 of
In
An isometric view of the cigar tool 10 with the piercer cover 12 removed is shown in
An isometric view of the piercer 18 is shown in
A cross-sectional view of the piercer cover 12 with a cutting edge 13 is shown in
A detailed partial cross-sectional view of the cigar tool 10 locked is shown in
The cigar tool 10 combined with an ashtray 40, and the cigar tool 10 combined with a cigar lighter 50 are shown in
While the invention herein disclosed has been described by means of specific embodiments and applications thereof, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention set forth in the claims.
This is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/805,702, which was filed on Nov. 7, 2017, which in turn claims the priority of U.S. Provisional Application for Patent No. 62/421,050, which was filed on Nov. 11, 2016, the entire disclosures of which are incorporated herein.
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Entry |
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Cig Forums, The Final Solution for a Tight Draw, 2008, Online Forum (Year: 2009). |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20220142242 A1 | May 2022 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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62421050 | Nov 2016 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 15805702 | Nov 2017 | US |
Child | 17501746 | US |