The present invention is directed toward an accessory for a vaporization device, and in particular, to a multi-piece nail accessory for a cold start vaporization rig.
In view of developments in technology and the law, vaporization devices have become quite popular. Often, to function, a vaporization device heats a consumable and/or inhalable product such as oils, concentrates, combustible plant substances to create a vapor for a user to inhale. Heating liquid or wax consumables has become particularly popular since liquids and waxes may be more concentrated and/or specialized as compared to plant substances and/or because a quantity of wax or liquid may last longer than a similar quantity of plant substance (which may further decrease the amount of materials that a vaporization user needs to carry).
Often, vaporization devices are pen-sized and/or pen-shaped and fit easily into a pocket included in a garment. However, there are disadvantages associated with pen-style devices related to volume and taste. This leads many users to use vaporization rigs instead of vaporizations pens, but vaporizations rigs are often made primarily of fragile materials, such as glass or quartz. Quartz, in particular, is widely preferred for portions of vaporization rigs that hold vaporizable substance (i.e., “nails” or “bangers”) due to its heat transfer properties (quartz is conductive, able to quickly transition between hot and cold) and porosity (e.g., quartz is non-porous and, thus, resists staining that can negatively impact flavor and/or cleanliness).
The fragility of quartz (or similar materials) may be particularly problematic for nails/bangers for cold start vaporization rigs, which often have long necks susceptible to breaking. Moreover, regardless of whether a nail has an extended neck, it may also be difficult for a user to safely transport multiple fragile nails, for example, if a user wants to use different nails (e.g., different shapes) for different uses and/or purposes. Still further, nails formed from quartz or like materials may be expensive to manufacture and the manufacturing/formation techniques for these materials can limit the shapes and/or configurations that are produced. Consequently, improved nail accessories for vaporization devices (e.g., cold start vaporization rigs) are desirable.
According to one embodiment, the nail assembly presented herein includes a neck assembly that can be removably connected to one or more distal portions to form one or more annular structures. The one or more annular structures can support interchangeable heatable portions, each of which defines a nail receptacle configured to receive a vaporizable substance. The heatable portions are separate and distinct from the nail assembly and, thus, may be formed from a different material than the nail assembly. In one instance, the nail assembly is formed from titanium and the heatable portion is formed from quartz.
The neck assembly can include a neck that is fluidly coupled to an interior cavity defined by the one or more annular structures. Thus, if vapor is generated within the interior cavity, the vapor may flow through the neck towards a mouthpiece of a vaporization rig (e.g., by way of a main body of the vaporization rig). The neck assembly can also include a proximal portion, which may be fixedly coupled to the neck.
The nail assembly presented herein may be embodied as a stand-alone a nail, a vaporization rig, or a kit including the nail assembly and one or more interchangeable heatable portions or “cups.”
Like reference numerals have been used to identify like elements throughout this disclosure.
Presented herein is an accessory for a vaporization rig, such a cold start vaporization rig. The accessory is often referred to as a nail or nail accessory and, for the purposes of this application “nail” and “nail accessory” are used interchangeably. The accessory may also be referred to as a “banger.” Generally, a nail is a component that can receive a vaporizable substance and position the vaporizable substance in a position to be heated (e.g., to create vapor). When heating of the vaporizable substance creates a vapor, the nail accessory may direct the vapor towards a mouthpiece (e.g., via a main body of a vaporization rig). For example, a torch may be positioned beneath a receptacle of the nail (referred to herein as the “nail receptacle”) to generate a flame that acts on the nail receptacle. Alternatively, one or more coils of an electric heating element can act on the nail receptacle to heat the nail receptacle and/or a substance disposed therein.
Advantageously, the nail accessory presented herein is constructed from multiple parts that allow the nail assembly to receive interchangeable cups that define a nail receptacle within the nail assembly. The multi-part construction also allows a majority of the nail to be constructed from strong, break-resistant materials, such as metals, which are typically not preferred for supporting vaporizable substances during heating, for example, due to porosity and/or heat transfer issues that degrade taste and/or cleanliness. Specifically, among other issues, metal nail receptacles can experience oxidization, discoloration, corrosion, flaking and/or pitting that could tarnish vapor. Additionally, metal nail receptacles often need to be carefully prepared for use (i.e., “seasoned”) and continuously maintained with labor-intensive cleaning techniques (e.g., torching, water-dipping, etc.), which may be particularly difficult with a porous metal.
By comparison, quartz is a non-porous conductor that can quickly transition between hot and cold and, thus, may provide nail receptacles that provide better flavor and cleanliness, among other advantages, as compared to metal nail receptacles (as another comparison, glass is an insulator and, thus, may be preferred for rig portions that a user will touch). However, quartz and other like materials are fragile and can easily break when subjected to force (e.g., if dropped, bumped, knocked over, etc.). Thus, nails formed from quartz (or other like materials), especially nails with long/narrow “necks” or other elongate tubular structures, may be particular fragile. Additionally, quartz shaping/formation techniques (as well as shaping/formation techniques for other like materials) may limit the number of shapes, sizes, formations, etc. in which nails can be provided. Alternatively, nails with unique shapes, sizes, structures, etc., may be prohibitively expensive since unique shapes, shapes, etc. usually cannot be mass produced and usually must be produced as hand-made custom productions.
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That said, in the depicted embodiment, the vaporization rig 200 includes a main body 202, a removable nail 350, and a mouthpiece 206. The main body 202 may include a chamber that can (but does not necessarily need to) receive water (or some other liquid substance) and may define one or more pathways that allow vapor to flow from the nail 350 to the mouthpiece 206 (i.e., so that the mouthpiece 206 is in fluid communication with nail 350). The chamber and pathways may be provided in any manner now known or developed hereafter. Moreover, in the depicted embodiment, the support structure 100 includes a first receptacle 170 to support the torch 300 and a second receptacle 150 to support the vaporization rig 200. These two receptacles align a torch head of the torch 300 (i.e., a heat generating portion of torch 300) with a heatable portion of the nail 350 of the vaporization rig 200. However, vaporization device 10 is only one example of a vaporization device with which the nail accessory presented herein may be utilized.
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In the depicted embodiment, the neck 352 is generally L-shaped, with a soft curve (as opposed to a hard corner). Importantly, due to the overall structure of the nail 350, the neck 352 of the nail 350 presented herein may be manufactured from a strong, impact-resistant material, such as a metal or metal alloy, like titanium or a titanium alloy, and, thus, need not be designed to minimize joints or fragility. Instead, the neck 352 may have any desirable shape, including irregular, ornamental shapes, like helical shapes, spirals, etc. That is, although the depicted neck is generally L-shaped with a soft curve, in other embodiments, the neck 352 may be curved without any straight segments, can be straight, or may be or include any desirable shape.
Regardless of its shape, the neck 352 may include a mount at its distal end (the end opposite the multi-part retainer 358) to allow the neck 352 to be removably installed in/on a vaporization rig (e.g., on the main body 202 of rig 200). Alternatively, the distal end may be permanently coupled to a vaporization rig. Either way, when the neck 352 is coupled to a vaporization rig, the neck 352 operably connects the multi-part retainer 358 to the vaporization rig, insofar as the term “operably connect” is used to describe a sealed connection that allows vapor to flow between components.
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In the depicted embodiment, the retaining cavity RC is open so that a portion of the cup can extend through the retaining cavity RC, below the lower annular structure 390. In some embodiments, the lip 394 could extend completely across the bottom of the lower annular structure 390, connecting and closing or partially closing a bottom of the lower annular structure 390. But, partial closure (i.e., not full closure) may be preferred to ensure that a heatable portion (i.e., “cup”) installed in the multi-part retainer 358 can be accessed and heated directly.
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As two examples, the multi-part retainer 358 could define a single ovular structure (i.e., a solid oval) or three irregularly shaped annuli (e.g., ovals bent around an axis) connected by a plurality of elongate structures (e.g., two or more). Moreover, in other embodiments, the multi-part retainer 358 need not include two portions and may include any number of portions. That is, the multi-part retainer 358 may be formed from a plurality of portions that collectively define one or more annular structure, provided that at least one portion of the plurality of portions is at least partially removable/detachable from other portions to allow a cup to be removably secured with the multi-part retainer 358.
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Since the contour is disposed at the bottom edge 388, the entire cup will be positioned below (i.e., longitudinally lower) the opening 384 and vapor emanating from the cup can flow into the opening 384 (e.g., when suction from a user inhaling at a mouthpiece fluidly coupled to the opening 384 draws vapor into opening 384). However, in other embodiments, the bottom edge 388 need not be contoured and the multi-part retainer 358 may include any other feature to secure a top of a cup within the interior cavity IC, such as an inwardly extending lip, shoulder, rib, etc. In fact, in some embodiments, the multi-part retainer 358 may be configured to position a cup over the opening 384 and the cup can include an opening (not shown) that is alignable with the opening 384. In these embodiments, as well as other embodiments, the multi-part retainer 358 might also include mechanical features that key (i.e., angularly align) a cup within the multi-part retainer 358 in a particular angular orientation (to align a cup opening with opening 384).
Still further, in the depicted embodiment, the interior cavity IC is disposed substantially between a bottom of upper annular structure 380 and a bottom of lower annular structure 390 (with lip 394 and bottom edge 388 defining boundaries of the interior cavity IC). However, in other embodiments, the interior cavity IC may span different longitudinal portions of the multi-part retainer 358. For example, the interior cavity IC may span only a portion of or the entirety of the lower annular structure 390 and/or a larger portion (or the entirety) of the upper annular structure 380. As another example, in embodiments with a single annular structure, the interior cavity IC may span any portion (or all of) of the single annular structure. To be clear, neither an entire cup nor a portion of a cup needs to be completely disposed within an interior cavity IC defined by the multi-part retainer 358. Instead, the interior cavity IC is an area of the cup in which a cup may be secured within the multi-part retainer 358 via one, two, or more than two engagement points, such as inward lip 394 and bottom edge 388.
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Additionally, in the depicted embodiment, mating elements 364 and 374 are entirely disposed on faces 362 and 372, but the mating elements could be disposed on other surfaces of the multi-part retainer 358, either in addition to or as alternative to mating features disposed on faces 362 and 372. For example, the mating elements 364 might comprise protrusions that can friction fit into holes of mating elements 374 and the multi-part retainer 358 might also include latches or other releasable, mechanical fasteners on a surface of the multi-part retainer 358. This example embodiment, or any other embodiment, could also include mating elements embedded within the multi-part retainer 358, such as embedded magnets.
Regardless of how the portions of the multi-part retainer 358 are removably connectable (i.e., regardless of the elements used to form mating elements 364 and 374), the removable connection ensures that the multi-part retainer 358 includes one or more removable portions. In the depicted embodiment, only the distal portion 370 is removable from the nail 350. That is, the neck 352 and the proximal portion 360 are integrally formed as a single piece and the distal portion 370 is removably coupleable to the neck 352 and proximal portion 360. Thus, for simplicity, the neck 352 and proximal portion 360 may be referred to collectively as the “neck assembly.” However, again, the depicted embodiment is only one example and other embodiments may have more than one removable component. For example, the distal portion 370 could be formed from two subportions that are removably coupleable to each other and each subportion could include one face/feature that is removably coupleable to the neck assembly. Put simply, at a high-level, the nail 350 presented herein includes a neck assembly (i.e., neck 352 and proximal portion 360) that can be connected to one or more portions to form one or more annular structures.
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First, the first heatable portion 410 includes an upper section 412 and a lower section 416. The upper section 412 defines a nail receptacle 418 within which a vaporizable substance may be positioned and heated. Additionally, the upper section 412 is configured to sit within the interior cavity IC of the multi-part retainer 358 and engage the upper annular structure 380 and the lower annular structure 390 to secure the first heatable portion 410 within the multi-part retainer 358. Specifically, the upper section 412 includes an annular wall 4122 that defines an open-top cavity that serves as the nail receptacle 418 and extends to a bottom wall 414 from which the section 416 extends. However, the lower section 416 has a reduced diameter as compared to the annular wall 4122 so that the bottom wall 414 extends radially between the annular wall 4122 and the lower section 416 and defines a shoulder that can engage the inward lip 394 of the lower annular structure 390. Meanwhile, a top edge of the annular wall 4122 extends to the bottom edge 388 of the upper annular structure 380.
Thus, when the distal portion 370 is removably coupled to the proximal portion 360, the removable coupling between the proximal portion 360 and distal portion 370 prevents the first heatable portion 410 from moving laterally with respect to the nail 350 (i.e., in the x- or z-direction). Meanwhile, the engagement features of the upper annular structure 380 and the lower annular structure 390 (the inward lip 394 and the bottom edge 388) prevent the first heatable portion 410 from moving longitudinally with respect to the nail 350 (i.e., in the y-direction). That is, securing the first heatable portion 410 within the multi-part retainer 358 restricts movement of the first heatable portion 410 in all but one degree of freedom (rotation about its central axis) with respect to the neck assembly (i.e., neck 352 and proximal portion 360). However, in some embodiments, securing the first heatable portion 410 in the multi-part retainer 358 may also restrict rotational movement (e.g., with a keying feature and/or with tight clamping of the portions 360 and 370 against heatable portion 410) and may restrict movement of the first heatable portion 410 in all degrees of freedom with respect to the neck assembly.
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The main difference between the first heatable portion 410 and the second heatable portion 420 is the lower section 426. The lower section is designed with a “terp slurper” design that includes a stem 4264 and a tray 4266. The tray 4266 defines a relatively unbounded nail receptacle 428 that can hold a vaporizable substance (e.g., liquid or wax) and the stem 4264 includes at least one opening to allow vapor emanating from the nail receptacle 428 to flow through the tray into a cavity 430 defined by the annular wall 4222 of the upper section 422. The cavity 430 (which may also be referred to as an upper nail receptacle 430) and the stem 4264 are each sized to receive one or more “marbles” (i.e., carb balls of different sizes) that can control a flow of vapor through the second heatable portion 420, for example, to create a natural spiral of air to vaporize a vaporizable substance.
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The heatable portion, which will be in direct contact with a vaporizable substance, such as a wax or liquid concentrate, can still be made of quartz or another such material to ensure that heat is conducted to the material without transferring toxins or tarnishing the taste of vapor created by heating the vaporizable substance. However, the quartz (or other such material) only forms a relatively small portion of the nail and, thus, may be easier to pack and transfer safely and securely. Thus, an end user can easily package and transport multiple quartz cups while only carrying a single less breakable (or non-breakable) nail assembly, without worrying about breaking the necks of multiple nails during travel/transport.
In one preferred embodiment, the nail is formed from titanium and the heatable portion is formed from quartz, which may be advantageous for performance and for manufacturing. First, manufacturing the nail form metal, such as titanium, instead of quartz and glass may allow for more precise manufacturing (e.g., precisely dimensioned necks) that reduces the occurrence of manufacturing defects. Additionally or alternatively, manufacturing the nail form metal, such as titanium, may allow mass production of unique shapes in an inexpensive manner, at least as compared to mass production of quartz.
However, this example should not be construed as limiting and the multi-part nail assembly presented herein could be formed from any materials and receive cups/heatable portions formed from any materials. As non-limiting examples, the multi-part nail assembly presented herein could receive and support (and potentially secure) cups/heatable portions with formed from ceramic, amber, sapphire, titanium, and/or titanium alloys. Likewise, if desired, the nail assembly itself could be formed from any of these materials or any other suitable materials. Moreover, to be clear, the heatable portions depicted in the Figures are merely examples and the multi-part nail assembly presented herein could also receive cups with flat bottoms, irregular bottoms, hybrid bottoms (e.g., one shape on the exterior and another on the inside), etc.
While the invention has been illustrated and described in detail and with reference to specific embodiments thereof, it is nevertheless not intended to be limited to the details shown, since it will be apparent that various modifications and structural changes may be made therein without departing from the scope the inventions and within the scope and range of equivalents of the claims. In addition, various features from one of the embodiments may be incorporated into another of the embodiments. Accordingly, it is appropriate that the appended claims be construed broadly and in a manner consistent with the scope of the disclosure as set forth in the following claims.
Additionally, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention that come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. For example, it is to be understood that terms such as “left,” “right,” “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “rear,” “side,” “height,” “length,” “width,” “upper,” “lower,” “interior,” “exterior,” “inner,” “outer” and the like as may be used herein, merely describe points of reference and do not limit the present invention to any particular orientation or configuration. Further, the term “exemplary” is used herein to describe an example or illustration. Any embodiment described herein as exemplary is not to be construed as a preferred or advantageous embodiment, but rather as one example or illustration of a possible embodiment of the invention.
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/178,057, filed Apr. 22, 2021, which is incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63178057 | Apr 2021 | US |