Patent Application
20220071278
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed inventions, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention relates generally to the field of smoking accessories of existing art and more specifically relates to a smoking pipe.
While many designs exist for rugged, artistic, and efficacious smoking implements, carrying a traditional smoking pipe may be problematic for some individuals. In some jurisdictions, having a smoking pipe may draw suspicion from authorities and may be branded as illicit paraphernalia. Users traveling across state lines may not wish to carry a pipe for fear of transgressing unknown prohibitions in states not their own. Further, traditional smoking pipes cause hassle in needing to clean small orifices after subsequent uses. Accordingly, there is perceived a need for a disposable smoking pipe which may be marketed in a form which, until assembly, cannot legally be considered a smoking implement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,698,435 to Kenneth C. Miller relates to a folding smoking pipe. The described folding smoking pipe includes a foldable smoking pipe which is constructed from a flat blank of metal, small enough to fit in a wallet, that can be folded into a functional smoking pipe with an integrated bowl, screen, and stem. The stem is formed by multiple flat panels folded to create a passageway having an opening at one end. The stem has an upper panel with holes in it to form the screen. The bowl is formed by multiple flat panels folded to surround the screen. The flat blank of metal has a number of fold lines, which preferably are etched to about one-half the thickness of the metal blank, joining adjacent panels. Miller's pipe is representative of prior art smoking pipe solutions.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known smoking implement art, the present disclosure provides a novel portable and disposable smoking pipe. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a portable and disposable smoking pipe.
A smoking pipe is constructed of a flat sheet having perforated creases enabling the sheet to be folded into a rectangular tube. The tube may be held together by adhesive or other fastening solutions. An aperture in the sidewall of the sheet contains a metal screen that can be folded into the interior of the tube to prevent loss of combustibles contained therein. At one end of the sheet, a cotton barrier forms a spark arrestor when the pipe is assembled.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a disposable smoking pipe, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a smoking implement and more particularly to a disposable smoking pipe as used to improve the portability and disposability of a smoking pipe.
Generally, the portable and disposable smoking pipe is a device which, in its original configuration, is not usable as a smoking implement and can contain no combustible. This device takes the shape of a flat card. When a user wishes to covert the device to a pipe, the user folds the card along four creaselines, fastens the two longitudinal ends together, fills the now-assembled pipe with a combustible, and folds down the screen inside the pipe. Subsequently, the combustible may be lit and smoked.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
Preferably, each of first-panel 170, second-panel 172, third-panel 174, fourth-panel 176, and fifth-panel 178 are rectangular in size. Also, each of first-panel 170, second-panel 172, third-panel 174, fourth-panel 176, and fifth-panel 178 may comprise equivalent area to each other to result in a smoking pipe having a square bore when assembled. First-panel 170 and fifth-panel 178 may also be adhered to each other (such as in the embodiment of
Also illustrated is an embodiment of the pipe assembly whereby fasteners are provided for affixing first-panel 170 to fifth-panel 178 without adhesive. First-panel 170 (or alternatively, fifth-panel 178) may include one or more tabs 140. Correspondingly, fifth-panel 178 (or alternatively, first-panel 170) may include slits 142 through which tabs 140 may pass and thereby retain first-panel 170 to fifth-panel 178. Tabs 140 may be more or less T-shaped with rounded tips so that they are easier to insert into slits 142 than remove.
In some embodiments, a kit may be provided containing multiples of smoking pipe assembly 100.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
