Patent Application
20220007714
The present invention generally relates to smoking pipes and more particularly, it pertains to a tool and method for cleaning interior surface of smoking pipes including tobacco pipes or water pipes.
Smoking is an act or practice in which a substance i.e. tobacco is burned and the resulting smoke is inhaled by a user. Various smoking devices such as tobacco pipes, hookahs, bongs, water pipes and so on are used by smokers and the substance used for smoking can include but not limited to: tobacco, marijuana, cannabis and so on.
Generally after prolonged use, residue such as carbon lining builds up within smoking water pipes. The residue may damage the smoking pipe and further, it badly affects the smoking experience. Thus, cleaning of smoking pipes is required from time to time to ensure quality of the smoking.
Various methods and techniques are employed in existing market to clean the water pipes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,284,056B1 discloses a composition useful for removal of organic deposits from a ceramic, glass, plastic, or metal substrate, and a method of use thereof. In a preferred embodiment, the invention pertains to a composition for cleaning an organically fouled smoking apparatus such as a pipe, a cigarette holder, or a water pipe, and to a process whereby the smoking apparatus is cleaned and disinfected.
The existing methods and techniques can include cleaning chemicals/solvents which can clean interior and/or exterior of water pipes. However, cleaning chemicals/solvents are sometimes inefficient in cleaning all residue and further, these cleaning chemicals/solvents increases overall cost of smoking. Further, if a small quantity of cleaning chemicals/solvents is consumed during smoking, it could lead to unpleasant smoking experience and could also be hazardous depending on chemical composition of the cleaning chemicals/solvents. Thus, there is a need for a smoking pipe cleaning tool that efficiently and effectively cleans the residue that builds up within the interior surfaces of a smoking pipe.
Before the present systems and methods, enablement are described, it is to be understood that this application is not limited to the particular systems, and methodologies described, as there can be multiple possible embodiments which are not expressly illustrated in the present disclosures. It is also to be understood that the terminology used in the description is for the purpose of describing the particular versions or embodiments only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present application.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe cleaning tool capable of efficiently cleaning interior of smoking pipes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe cleaning tool which is formed as a unitary (one-piece) construction.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe cleaning tool that is easy to use and could be easily washed by using a suitable liquid.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe cleaning tool that is manually used by a user.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a smoking pipe cleaning method which requires longitudinal motion and/or rotational motion of the smoking pipe cleaning tool to effectively and efficiently clean the smoking pipe.
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a cleaning tool for cleaning the interior surface of the smoking pipe of a smoking device, the cleaning tool comprising a shank configured to be grasped by the user with their hands while performing cleaning of the smoking pipe. Further, the cleaning tool comprises a tool body comprising a helical portion and a tip portion. The helical portion is arranged atleast partially on the outer surface area of the tool body and the helical portion comprises screw threads for facilitating removal of residue builds up within smoking pipe during cleaning. The cleaning of smoking pipe by a cleaning tool involves movement of the cleaning tool relative to the smoking pipe. The cleaning tool as well as method enables easy and safe cleaning of the interior surface of the smoking pipe.
In an embodiment, the movement of the cleaning tool relative to the smoking pipe includes: longitudinal movement, rotational movement and/or combinations thereof.
In another embodiment, the cleaning of smoking pipe by a cleaning tool includes washing the cleaning tool by a liquid such as soap solution, detergent, water etc.
In another embodiment, the helix angle of the helical portion lies between 5 degrees to 85 degrees.
In another embodiment, the tool body comprises a tip portion and a tip extension to enable poking of any clogged hole in the smoking pipe.
Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.
In the drawings:
Some embodiments, illustrating its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and “including,” and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any methods, and systems similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments, the preferred methods, and systems are now described. The disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary.
Referring to accompanying figures, especially
The various features and embodiments of proposed cleaning tool and cleaning method will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying figures, namely
Cleaning method involving the cleaning tool 130 will now be described. As shown in
In another embodiment, the longitudinal motion and/or rotational motion of the cleaning tool 130 relative to the smoking pipe 110 is utilized to effectively and efficiently clean the smoking pipe 110.
Cleaning method involving the cleaning tool 230 will now be described. As shown in
In another embodiment, the longitudinal motion and/or rotational motion of the cleaning tool 230 relative to the smoking pipe 210 is utilized to effectively and efficiently clean the smoking pipe 210.
It should be understood that cleaning tool 130, 230 may be constructed using any conventional manufacturing processes such as but not limited to molding, machining, casting, 3D printing and so on. Further, the cleaning tool 130, 230 could be made as a unitary piece construction (one piece) to reduce manufacturing time and save costs. However, the cleaning tool 130, 230 could also be formed as a multi-piece component. The cleaning of the smoking pipe 110, 210 could be performed using cleaning tool 130, 230 while the smoking pipe 110, 210 is still connected to the smoking device 100. Further, it should be obvious to one skilled in the art that cleaning of the smoking pipe 110, 210 could be performed using cleaning tool (130, 230) while the smoking pipe 110, 210 is detached from the smoking device 100 for better cleaning operation. Further, it should also be understood that the smoking device 100 and the smoking pipe 110, 210 are interchangeable and various embodiments of the present invention could also be considered for smoking pipe 110, 210 alone. For instance, in an embodiment, the smoking pipe 110, 210 could include tobacco pipe and the tobacco pipe itself can be considered as a smoking device 100.
According to various embodiments of the present invention, the movement of the cleaning tool 130, 230 is manually enabled by a user while holding the shank 132, 232 of the cleaning tool 130, 230 using his/her hands. However, it should be understood that the movement of the cleaning tool 130, 230 could be enabled automatically using machines/machine platforms/robotic manipulators which would carry/transport the cleaning tool 130, 230 of the present invention for desired movement. The movement of cleaning tool 130, 230 using machines would allow automation of the smoking pipe cleaning.
It should be understood according to the preceding description of the present invention that the same is susceptible to changes, modifications and adaptations, and that the said changes, modifications and adaptations fall within scope of the appended claims.
