Patent Application
20180177226
Not applicable
Not applicable
This invention relates to an improved tool to quickly clean components of a water pipe, particularly the pipe bowl and the pipe stem.
Water pipes have been used for smoking tobacco and other substances for centuries. It has been suggested that water pipes were introduced in China during the late Ming Dynasty (16th century), along with tobacco, through Persia and the Silk Road. Some have suggested that water pipes were first developed in Arabia. Others believe the origins were in Thailand, while still others suggest that water pipes originated in Africa. In any case, water pipes have been in use for many centuries.
Traditional water pipes are often comprised of a cylinder having a closed end at the base which may be partially filled with water and an upper portion that allows the smoker's mouth to seal over it to draw in smoke from the substance burned in the smoking bowl. The smoking bowl often is funnel-shaped to receive and burn the tobacco and a small hole in its bottom for smoke to travel through to an attached pipe stem (often called a “down stem”), which is often a narrow glass tube. The pipe stem connects to the bottom of the smoking bowl at one end. The other end of the stem is inserted through the side wall of the lower portion of the cylinder. The stem is positioned part way into the cylinder, the lower portion of the stem being submerged in the water. Once lit, the smoker draws on the top of the cylinder, pulling the smoke from the burning substance in the smoking bowl, down the pipe stem, through the water and up the cylinder into the smoker's mouth and lungs. Drawing the smoke through the water cools the smoke and filters out unwanted smoke components. The entire water pipe can be made, for example, of glass, metal, ceramic or even bamboo.
While smoking a substance through a water pipe can be enjoyable, repeated use of the pipe tends to result in deposited build-up of tar and resinous material residue along the interior of the smoke passageway. This build-up can become particularly noticeable and objectionable on the interior surface of the smoking bowl and on the interior wall of the pipe stem as these portions of the water pipe are the first surfaces in the smoke passageway that encounter the hot smoke during use.
Smoking aficionados, however, typically prefer clean smoking instruments and do so for a number of reasons. A pipe that appears to be clean is not only more aesthetically pleasing, it also does not have adhering and objectionable tars and resin buildup that may be subject to re-burn, producing a harsher and less pleasurable smoke that the user would inhale. Furthermore, smoke from a clean pipe does not distort the purity of flavor of a particularly desirable smoking substance as there is no built up tar or resinous material from prior substances to contaminate the smoke passageway that might prevent fuller appreciation.
While a clean pipe apparatus is greatly desirable, methods to efficiently and quickly clean pipe components have had shortcomings. One method has been to partly fill the cylinder of the water pipe with some coarse salt and a solvent such as isopropyl alcohol and vigorously shake the admixture in the pipe to loosen, dissolve and remove tar buildup. While this method may have a desirable effect on the cylinder over a period of time, it is not only messy, but it is also difficult for the mixture to enter the narrow pipe stem and bowl. Moreover, the pipe stem and bowl can be quite fragile and vigorous shaking and handling of the pipe can result in undesirable breakage and destruction of these components.
Some have advanced a different method to separately clean the pipe stem and smoking bowl. It has been known in art to remove the bowl and stem from the water pipe and place them in a plastic bag partly filled with a solvent such as isopropyl alcohol, seal the bag and shake it back and forth sloshing the solvent around in the bag to and fro to dissolve the built up tar and resin deposited inside the bowl and stem. Although at times workable, this washing method relies on soaking the pipe stem and bowl and sloshing solvent around and through the components. It also is subject to disadvantageous spillage and leaks from a previously used or partially unsealed bag. This method also takes time for the tars and resins to dissolve and may take a number of applications for desired results. Such a method is also not particularly environmentally friendly as it employs use of a plastic bag and a substantial amount of solvent, often in multiple amounts, which is often disposed of down a sink drain after each application.
In sum, the referenced prior art cleaning methods and apparatus suffer from being cumbersome, ineffectual, time consuming, wasteful and not environmentally friendly.
An object of the instant invention is to provide a simple, fast, effective, convenient and environmentally friendly method to clean both the smoking bowl and pipe stem of a water pipe through use of the present invention.
The invention discloses a hand-holdable device comprising a rod shaft, a first end and a second end, the first end fashioned to conform substantially to the shape of the interior of a smoking bowl and having a groove to receive and retain a cleaning swab for cleaning the smoking bowl and the second end having an aperture to receive and retain a cleaning swab for cleaning the interior of a pipe stem.
A preferred embodiment of the water pipe cleaning tool of the present invention is illustrated in
Shown also in
As shown in
In operation of the invention, to clean residual tar and resins from the interior of a pipe smoking bowl, a swab is first doused with an appropriate cleaning solvent such as isopropyl alcohol and is nestled into the groove 6 of the first end 2 of the tool 10. The first end 2 with the swab attached is then inserted into the dirty smoking bowl so that the swab contacts the interior surface of the bowl. Alternatively, the swab may be placed initially in the bowl and squirted with solvent to begin dissolving the resinous material and then stabbed by the first end of the tool. Once inserted into the bowl, the tool 10 may be rotated and counter-rotated about its longitudinal axis by the hand of the operator so that the moistened swab physically interfaces with the dirty residue adhered to the interior surface of the smoking bowl, rubbing over, dissolving and loosening the residue and transferring it onto the swab. The pair of teeth 8A and 8B formed by the groove 6 on the first end 2 (see
As shown in
In operation, a swab is doused with appropriate cleaning solvent such as isopropyl alcohol and inserted into the hole 5 of the second end 3. The second end 3 with the swab attached is then inserted into the dirty pipe stem. Should the swab be of sufficient length and pliability, such as foam or cloth, it may tend to fold over inside the pipe stem (as can be seen in
One of skill in the art will readily appreciate selection of the width of a rod shaft and second end that is slightly smaller than the internal diameter of the pipe stem sought to be cleaned so as to accommodate the second end and be of sufficient length to insert as much of the shaft of the rod as is needed to clean the desired length of the pipe stem. A preferred length of the invention is about 12 inches, about an inch of which is dedicated to the first end. Typical pipe stems have an internal diameter in the range of about 0.34 inch to about 0.48 inch. Accordingly, for such diameters, a preferred width of the rod shaft should be about 0.31 inch. The tool may be made from plastic, wood, metal or other substantially rigid material. Swabs can be chosen easily from materials such as polyurethane foam or to other flexible foam, or scraps of cloth and cut, as desired, to preferred size and shape.
As shown in
As shown in
In operation, the first end 12 of the present embodiment of the tool 20 functions similarly to the first end 2 of the previously described embodiment of the tool 10. The second end 13 has an aperture in the form of a slot 15 and a pair of hooks 17A and 17B that help retain and secure the cleaning swab once it is inserted into the slot 15. Alternate embodiments may, for example, include retaining projections such as a single hook, more than a pair of hooks, points, teeth, etc. As shown in
As one can see from the drawings and the descriptions above, the present invention substantially advances the art of cleaning water pipe smoking bowls and pipe stems, a tool that provides a simple, fast, effective, convenient and environmentally friendly way to clean these pipe components.
Although the description above contains many details and specificities, these should not be construed as limiting the scope of the invention, but as provision of examples of some of the presently preferred embodiments of the invention. The scope of the invention should be determined by the appended claims and their legal equivalents, rather than by the examples provided.
