Patent Application
20110094525
A cigar is tobacco that has been rolled for smoking. It is usually made by rolling “filler” tobacco, inside a “binder” tobacco leaf. The resulting tobacco roll is then usually placed inside a mold to be pressed and formed to the shape of the cigar. After the tobacco roll has been pressed and formed, it is usually wrapped with an outer tobacco leaf called the “wrapper”. The wrapper traverses the entire length of the cigar ensuring an airtight seal that allows the smoker to draw air through the cigar during smoking. It is not intended to be removed, and is smoked along with the rest of the tobacco leaves thereby making up an integral part of the cigar's flavor.
Wrapper leaves are usually applied starting from the end of the cigar that is to be lit, towards the cigar butt which results in the wrapper overlapping itself and holding itself in place as it is wrapped down the length of the cigar. This ensures that it does not unwrap as the cigar is smoked.
Upon reaching the end of the cigar, the wrapper is tapered and pasted down, forming the cigar butt, or the “smoker's end” of the cigar. This is the part of the cigar which is placed into the smoker's mouth, and is opposite the end of the cigar which is lit. After, the wrapper leaf is applied and the cigar butt is formed, the cigar butt is generally not altered further until reaching the final consumer.
A cigar can be smoked immediately after the outer wrapper leaf has been applied. However, before it can be offered to the public, it usually undergoes many further steps in an almost totally manual production process.
First, the end that is to be lit is sheared, giving the cigar its proper length. Then the cigar is repetitively checked by one or more quality supervisors who, among other things, check for imperfections by taking it into their hands and inspecting it visually, check for an even distribution of tobacco by squeezing it from end to end to, and check the cigar's construction quality and balance by rolling it in their hands.
Cigars that pass inspection are then wrapped in bundles of usually fifty (50) cigars sometimes called a “Media Vuelta” and stored to age. Occasionally a cigar will be removed from a Media Vuelta and manually re-inspected.
After the cigars have aged, they are spread out to be manually sorted by shade and have cigar rings placed on them. The cigar's production culminates with the cigar being inserted into a cellophane sleeve before being either placed into a cigar box or being wrapped in a bundle of usually twenty-five (25) pieces. For some markets the cigars are boxed or bundled without being placed into cellophane sleeves.
A cigar should be maintained in a humid environment. In order to keep cigars humidified better, and to better display them, sales venues will often remove the cigars from their cellophane wrappers, which also subjects the cigars to further handling.
Before a cigar can be smoked, a hole must be cut into the cigar butt which allows the smoker to draw air through the length of the cigar. A cigar can be lit in a variety of ways, and after the cigar is lit, the smoker smokes the cigar by putting the cigar butt end into his/her mouth and drawing air through the length of the cigar, thereby smoking the tobacco that makes up the body of the cigar. In this specification the end of the cigar which is placed into the smoker's mouth is termed the “smoker's end.”
Cigar smokers are limited to smoking cigars with no physical or hygienic protection for the smoker's end, the part of the cigar that is placed into their mouths during smoking. This is despite the fact that after the outer wrapper leaf has been placed onto a cigar, the cigar passes through many hands during its further production and then again during the sales process in the case that the cigar is removed from the cellophane sleeve.
Cigar smokers are also unable to select a preferred flavor to have on the smoker's end of their cigar, and are instead limited to tasting the outer wrapper leaf that has been applied to that particular cigar.
Cigar manufacturers do not currently have a medium for applying marketing or advertising messages to the butt end of their cigars. They are also currently limited to using cigar rings to label their cigars, making it more difficult for consumers to quickly differentiate one manufacturers cigars from others on the market.
Cigar manufacturers are also unable to direct their clients to the correct socially acceptable behavior in a specific market by making their cigar labels easily recognizable as being either removable or non-removable.
Covering the smoker's end of a cigar with an easily removable or non-easily removable cigar cap (the subject of this application) at any time after the outer wrapper leaf has been added to the cigar, offers advantages currently unavailable to cigar consumers and manufacturers. These include, but are not limited to: physical and hygienic protection of the cigar butt or smoker's end of the cigar from damage and/or contamination due to handling or other means; creation of a way to offer smokers additional different flavor options without changing the tobacco composition of the body of the cigar; creation of an additional surface area which can be used for marketing or advertising or as an alternative way to label cigars. A cigar cap in accordance with the invention(s) can be made to be easily removable or non-removable depending on its function.
In cases that the cigar cap is to be made easily removable, its removal can be simplified with the use of an extra band, or by wrapping it in an easily removable way. Multiple cigar caps may also be layered offering smokers a combination of different benefits.
For a further understanding of the nature and objects of the present disclosure, reference should be had to the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like elements may be given the same or analogous reference numbers and wherein:
Covering the smoker's end of a cigar with a removable or non-removable cigar cap at any time after the outer wrapper leaf has been added to the cigar, offers cigar consumers flavor advantages as well as physical and hygienic protection of the smoker's end of their cigar. It also offers manufacturers marketing and advertising possibilities and a more easily recognizable alternative for labeling their cigars. A removable band onto which advertising can also be printed, can be added to assist in removal of the cigar cap.
Adding a removable cigar cap to the smoker's end of a cigar at any time after the outer wrapper leaf has been added offers manufacturers a means of physically and hygienically protecting the smoker's end.
From the moment that a cigar cap is applied, until it is removed, the smoker's end is physically and hygienically protected from physical damage, and/or from possible contamination by handling or other means. The protective benefits are maximized if a cigar cap is applied immediately after the outer wrapper leaf has been applied; however, a cigar cap can be added at any time before the cigar is smoked.
Adding a cigar cap to the smoker's end of a cigar affords manufacturers a way to offer consumers a wider variety of flavor options. For example, manufacturers would be able to add a cigar cap of a different type of tobacco leaf—Connecticut Maduro, Mata Fina, Cameroon, etc.—and/or of a material that is otherwise flavored (chocolate, lemon, kiwi-vanilla, etc.). Smokers would no longer be limited to tasting the flavor of the cigar's wrapper leaf during smoking, and instead would be able to choose a flavor they prefer, all without changing the tobacco composition of the body of the cigar.
Multiple flavored cigar caps could be added in layers, allowing smokers to select their flavor by peeling the cigar caps off until reaching the one they prefer.
A cigar cap offers manufacturers a medium onto which manufacturers will be able to put marketing, advertising or other information, that might associate the cigar with a brand or product through the choice of material, shape, color, or some other identifying feature. For example, a cigar cap could be made into the shape of a brand, or include the name and/or date of a celebrated event, like a birth, wedding, tournament, inauguration, etc.
A removable thin band of any color or material can be added to assist in the cigar cap's removal and onto which advertising or other information can also be printed.
Labeling a cigar with a cigar cap offers manufacturers a more easily recognizable alternative for labeling their cigars, so that consumers would be able to easily differentiate that manufacturer's cigars from other cigars on the market, all of which are currently labeled with cigar rings.
Depending on how the cigar cap is to be used, a manufacturer could choose to use easily removable and/or non-easily removable cigar caps. For example, non-easily removable cigar caps would be useful in cases where tasting the cigar cap's flavor is meant to be part of the cigar experience and/or in cases where the manufacturer wants to steer customers towards leaving cigar labels on during smoking.
Likewise, easily removable cigar caps might be chosen for uses such as hygienic protection, where the consumer would remove the cigar cap before putting the smoking end into their mouth, safe in the knowledge that the smoking end has not been handled or otherwise open to contamination from the moment that the cigar cap was applied to the outer wrapper leaf. Easily removable cigar caps could also be used to label cigars in markets where local cigar smoking customs frown upon leaving cigar labels on during smoking.
Manufactures can demonstrate that a cap is meant to remain on the cigar during smoking through any number of methods, including but not limited to attaching the cigar cap to a band that is recognizable by it's size, shape, or color as being non-removable. Or, a cigar cap that is not meant to be removed can be pasted down firmly or otherwise be made difficult to remove,
Likewise, manufacturers can show that a cigar cap is meant to be removed before a cigar is smoked through any number of methods, including but not limited to attaching the cigar cap to a band of any size, shape or color that is recognizable and that simplifies the cigar caps removal. Or the cigar cap can be wrapped onto the cigar butt in an easily removable fashion, or have a grip added which simplifies it's removal.
Manufacturers would be able to use a combination of easily removable, and non-easily removable cigar caps, offering customers multiple benefits.
The cigar cap can be made of any material, including but not limited to, for example, leather, plant based product, tobacco leaf, glass, plastic aluminum or other foil, paper, plastic, metal, wax, or wax covered with another material, cloth or other textile, etc. The cigar cap can be made into any shape, including but not limited to, for example, a shape formed to the shape of the cigar, a scroll-like shape, a tubular shape, a tubular shape with the opening sealed off on one side, a conical shape, a truncated cone-like shape, a disc-like shape, etc. The cigar cap can be applied or attached by any method, including but not limited to attaching it with cigar or other glue, attaching it with a band, using a material that holds it's shape to attach itself to the cigar, any method either manual or mechanical, etc.
The cigar cap can be applied to the cigar at any time after the outer wrapper leaf of a cigar has been applied, including but not limited to attaching it immediately after the outer wrapper leaf has been applied, even before the cigar has been sheared, attaching it to the cigar later in the production process when the cigars are sorted, attaching it when the cigar rings are added to the cigars, attaching it to the cigar after the cigar is removed from the box or bundle by either a distributor or a consumer, attaching it to the cigar immediately before it is given to the final consumer, etc. The cigar cap can but must not include elements to simplify the cover's removal, including but not limited to wrapping it in a way that includes an easy to grab grip made from the same material as the cover or another material, or separately adding an easy to grab grip, or attaching the cover to a removable band, etc.
The cigar cap can be made in any length or thickness. The cigar cap can have added flavors including but not limited to natural flavors like Mata Fina tobacco leaf, Connecticut tobacco leaf, Maduro tobacco leaf, Cameroon tobacco leaf, chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, etc., or artificial flavors, such as vanilla, chocolate, passion fruit, energy drink, chicken, bacon, etc.
An ideal cover would be made from a tobacco leaf, with the thickness being the thickness of a leaf of tobacco, factored by the number of times the leaf would overlap around itself to create the cover. A cigar leaf can vary in thickness because of the veins which run through the leaf, and the varying thicknesses of the different tobacco leaves. However, the leaf at its thickest might be about half (0.5) a millimeter thick, and the final cover can be less than one (1.0) millimeter thick.
An ideal cover would be the length necessary to cover the part of the cigar that the smoker will place into his/her mouth, without interfering with placement of a cigar ring, or approximately between two and a half (2.5) to four (4) centimeters (about 1-1.5+ inches) long.
Ideally, the cigar cap would then be attached to a removable or non removable band onto which advertising had been printed. The band would alert if the cigar cap was meant to be removed or not. If it were a removable cigar cap, the band would assist in the cigar cap's removal. The band could be about three to eight (3-8) millimeters wide.
Cigars come in many different shapes and sizes, and the cigar cap can be applied to any and all of them. To simplify, drawings are directed to the use of a torpedo shaped cigar.
Placing the cigar cap on the smoker's end, immediately after the outer wrapper leaf has been applied would maximize some of the cigar cap's benefits. Therefore, unless otherwise noted, the drawings show cigars in this early phase of the cigar's complete production process, even before they have been sheared to their proper length. This is made evident by the shaggy ending on the cigars.
Although a cigar cap can be applied to a cigar without forming it to the shape of the smoker's end, unless otherwise noted, the drawings will show cigar caps that have been formed to the shape of the smoker's end, which we consider to be a more exemplary example of the invention.
In the drawings, the cigar's wrappers are shown with downward slanting diagonal lines, and the cigar caps made from a piece of tobacco leaf are differentiated by being shown with more horizontal lines.
With the use of the associated figures, some possible examples of the invention are illustrated. An effort has been made to number the details in the drawings in the same order as to which they are referred.
Applying a cigar cap at this phase of the cigar's production maximizes the cigar cap's physical and hygienic protection benefits.
Thus, after the outer wrapper leaf has been placed and the cigar is complete for smoking, a further covering, a “cigar cap” (the subject of this application), can be applied to the smoker's end, ideally only attached at the smoker's end, where the consumer will eventually put his/her mouth when smoking. The cigar cap protects the smoker's end from further handling, and/or offers an area for applying marketing and advertising information, and/or provides a method for manufacturers to offer different flavors for their cigar, and/or offers manufacturers an alternative for labeling their cigars, something currently done with cigar rings, etc.
A cigar cap can be applied to a cigar of any shape or size, and can be made in any shape and size and of any material. The cigar cap can be attached to a removable or non-removable band with a marketing message added to it.
In an industrial application the invention can be used during a finished cigar's further production or during its later sale process.
The embodiments and exemplary applications described herein generally and/or in detail were for exemplary purposes and are, of course, subject to many different variations. Because many varying and different embodiments and applications may be made within the scope of the inventive concept(s) herein taught, and because many modifications may be made in the embodiments and applications herein detailed in accordance with the descriptive requirements of the law, it is to be understood that the details herein generally may be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
In the claims and the foregoing the term or word “cigar” when used by itself is considered to include “cigarillo,” unless otherwise noted.
The present application claims benefit of priority to U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 61/280,024, filed Oct. 28, 2009, entitled “Cigar Cover”, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61280024 | Oct 2009 | US |
