Cigar shaped smoking device

Abstract

A cigar shaped pipe, ideally made from premium materials such as briar, yet designed to be low cost to manufacture. The device uses a comparatively thin-walled combustion chamber, which both keeps material costs to a minimum, and also enables a comparatively simple and easy to manufacture design. In a preferred embodiment, the pipe will not use metal parts or clips, but rather will use an end cap that is made of the same materials as the main pipe body, and thus will have similar thermal expansion properties, as well as having the same beneficial combustion chamber properties. This end cap utilizes a unique O-ring design to hold the pipe's end cap onto position, thus enabling easy loading and cleaning. This design also helps to prevent pipe cracking problems and loose part problems that can otherwise occur (due to differential thermal expansion) when metal parts are used.

1 . A substantially cylindrical smoking pipe, said pipe comprising:
 a substantially cylindrical body comprised of a heat resistant porous material, said body having a first radius;   said body being hollow, the interior of said body being configured into a distal and substantially cylindrical burning chamber with a second radius, a substantially cylindrical airway chamber with a third radius, and a proximal and substantially cylindrical mouthpiece chamber with a fourth radius;   
       Said burning chamber being connected by a first junction to said airway chamber, said airway chamber being connected by a second junction to said mouthpiece chamber;
 said second radius being larger than said fourth radius, and said fourth radius being larger than said third radius; 
 said burning chamber, said airway chamber, and said mouthpiece chamber all being aligned in a straight line about a common axis; 
 a stepped cylindrical end cap, said end cap comprised of a distal first cylinder with a radius substantially similar to said first radius, said first cylinder stepping down in radius to a proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius; said second cylinder having a cylindrical outer indentation configured to hold a deformable o-ring, a deformable o-ring being mounted in said cylindrical outer indentation; 
 said deformable o-ring comprised of a heat resistant deformable material, so that when said second cylinder is placed in the distal end of said body, said end cap is held in place by a friction fit caused by the elastic deformation of said o-ring, thereby affixing said end cap to the distal portion of said body; 
 said end cap further comprising at least one hollow air opening that extends from the proximal radius of said second cylinder through at least a portion of the distal first cylinder of said end cap and to the outside, thereby allowing air to flow from outside said pipe to said burning chamber when said end cap is affixed to said body; 
 a hollow mouthpiece inserted into the proximal end of said mouthpiece chamber, and protruding past the proximal portion of said body, said mouthpiece comprising a substantially cylindrical tenon portion configured to be inserted into the mortise region created by said mouthpiece chamber, thereby creating a mortise and tenon joint that helps hold said mouthpiece in place in said body; 
 said mouthpiece being substantially cylindrical, and having a maximum sixth radius that is less than said first radius; 
 said mouthpiece having a hollow interior extending from the proximal portion of said mouthpiece to the distal portion of said mouthpiece, so that a linear airway extends from at least the proximal end of said mouthpiece to the distal end of said body, and from the distal end of said body through the at least one hollow air opening of said end cap to the outside. 
 
     
     
         2 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein said heat resistant porous material is selected from the group of wood or wood-like natural organic materials consisting of bog-wood, briar, cherrywood, corncob, olivewood, maple, mesquite, oak and other woods. 
     
     
         3 . The pipe of  claim 2 , wherein said heat resistant porous material is briar. 
     
     
         4 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein said heat resistant porous material is selected from the group of porous non-organic materials consisting of catlinite, clay, meerschaum, and soapstone. 
     
     
         5 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein said mouthpiece is made materials selected from the group consisting of amber, polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride (Bakelite), polyoxymethylene (Delrin), ebonite, Poly(methyl methacrylate) (Lucite), or other plastic polymer. 
     
     
         6 . The pipe of  claim 5 , wherein said mouthpiece is made from a single piece of polyoxymethylene (Delrin). 
     
     
         7 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein at least the portion of said end cap visible when said end cap is affixed to said body is colored darker than said body and further has a textured surface so as to resemble the ash surface of a partially smoked cigar; and
 wherein said end cap is comprised of the same heat resistant porous material as the body of said pipe.   
     
     
         8 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein said o-ring is made from rubber or silicone. 
     
     
         9 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein said first junction and said second junction are tapered so as to create an angle greater than 90 degrees at said junction, thereby reducing turbulence in the air flow through the pipe and lowering the amount of moisture condensation at said junctions. 
     
     
         10 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein the hollow interior of said mouthpiece is tapered from a first distal radius substantially similar to said third radius of said airway, to a smaller proximal second radius that is less than 80% of said third radius of said airway. 
     
     
         11 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein the thickness of said material at said burning chamber, said thickness being the difference between said first radius of said body and said second radius of said burning chamber, is between 2 mm and 6 mm. 
     
     
         12 . The pipe of  claim 11 , wherein said material and the thickness of said material are chosen so as to produce a pipe with a burning chamber capable of between 50 and 1000 burning events before burn-through. 
     
     
         13 . The pipe of  claim 1 , wherein the length of said body is between 6 cm and 25 cm, and the radius of said body is between 8 mm and 30 mm. 
     
     
         14 . A substantially cylindrical smoking pipe, said pipe comprising:
 a substantially cylindrical body comprised of a heat resistant porous material, said body having a first radius;   said body being hollow, the interior of said body being configured into a distal and substantially cylindrical burning chamber with a second radius, a substantially cylindrical airway chamber with a third radius, and a proximal and substantially cylindrical mouthpiece chamber with a fourth radius;   Said burning chamber being connected by a first tapered junction to said airway chamber, said airway chamber being connected by a second tapered junction to said mouthpiece chamber;   said second radius being larger than said fourth radius, and said fourth radius being larger than said third radius;   said burning chamber, said airway chamber, and said mouthpiece chamber all being aligned in a straight line about a common axis;   wherein the thickness of said material at said burning chamber, said thickness being the difference between said first radius of said body and said second radius of said burning chamber, is between 2 mm and 6 mm;   wherein said material and the thickness of said material are chosen so as to produce a pipe with a burning chamber capable of between 50 and 1000 burning events before burn-through;   a stepped cylindrical end cap, said end cap comprised of a distal first cylinder with a radius substantially similar to said first radius, said first cylinder stepping down in radius to a proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius; said second cylinder having a cylindrical outer indentation configured to hold a deformable o-ring, a deformable o-ring being mounted in said cylindrical outer indentation;   said deformable o-ring comprised of a heat resistant deformable material, so that when said second cylinder is placed in the distal end of said body, said end cap is held in place by a friction fit caused by the elastic deformation of said o-ring, thereby affixing said end cap to the distal portion of said body;   said end cap further comprising at least one hollow air opening that extends from the proximal radius of said second cylinder through at least a portion of the distal first cylinder of said end cap and to the outside, thereby allowing air to flow from outside said pipe to said burning chamber when said end cap is affixed to said body;   wherein said end cap is comprised of the same heat resistant porous material as the body of said pipe;   a hollow mouthpiece inserted into the proximal end of said mouthpiece chamber, and protruding past the proximal portion of said body, said mouthpiece comprising a substantially cylindrical tenon portion configured to be inserted into the mortise region created by said mouthpiece chamber, thereby creating a mortise and tenon joint that helps hold said mouthpiece in place in said body;   said mouthpiece being substantially cylindrical, and having a maximum sixth radius that is less than said first radius;   said mouthpiece having a hollow interior extending from the proximal portion of said mouthpiece to the distal portion of said mouthpiece, so that a linear airway extends from at least the proximal end of said mouthpiece to the distal end of said body, and from the distal end of said body through the at least one hollow air opening of said end cap to the outside.   
     
     
         15 . The pipe of  claim 14 , wherein said heat resistant porous material is selected from the group of wood or wood-like natural organic materials consisting of bog-wood, briar, cherrywood, corncob, olivewood, maple, mesquite, oak and other woods. 
     
     
         16 . The pipe of  claim 14 , wherein said heat resistant porous material is selected from the group of porous non-organic materials consisting of catlinite, clay, meerschaum, and soapstone. 
     
     
         17 . The pipe of  claim 14 , wherein said mouthpiece is made materials selected from the group consisting of amber, polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride (Bakelite), polyoxymethylene (Delrin), ebonite, Poly(methyl methacrylate) (Lucite), or other plastic polymer. 
     
     
         18 . The pipe of  claim 14 , wherein the length of said body is between 6 cm and 25 cm, and the radius of said body is between 8 mm and 30 mm. 
     
     
         19 . A substantially cylindrical smoking pipe, said pipe comprising:
 a substantially cylindrical body comprised of a heat resistant porous material, said body having a first radius;   said body being hollow, the interior of said body being configured into a distal and substantially cylindrical burning chamber with a second radius, a substantially cylindrical airway chamber with a third radius, and a proximal and substantially cylindrical mouthpiece chamber with a fourth radius;   Said burning chamber being connected by a first tapered junction to said airway chamber, said airway chamber being connected by a second tapered junction to said mouthpiece chamber;   said second radius being larger than said fourth radius, and said fourth radius being larger than said third radius;   said burning chamber, said airway chamber, and said mouthpiece chamber all being aligned in a straight line about a common axis;   wherein the thickness of said material at said burning chamber, said thickness being the difference between said first radius of said body and said second radius of said burning chamber, is between 2 mm and 6 mm;   wherein said material and the thickness of said material are chosen so as to produce a pipe with a burning chamber capable of between 50 and 1000 burning events before burn-through;   a stepped cylindrical end cap, said end cap comprised of a distal first cylinder with a radius substantially similar to said first radius, said first cylinder stepping down in radius to a proximal second cylinder with a radius that is less than said second radius; said second cylinder having a cylindrical outer indentation configured to hold a deformable o-ring, a deformable o-ring being mounted in said cylindrical outer indentation;   said deformable o-ring comprised of a heat resistant deformable material, so that when said second cylinder is placed in the distal end of said body, said end cap is held in place by a friction fit caused by the elastic deformation of said o-ring, thereby affixing said end cap to the distal portion of said body;   said end cap further comprising at least one hollow air opening that extends from the proximal radius of said second cylinder through at least a portion of the distal first cylinder of said end cap and to the outside, thereby allowing air to flow from outside said pipe to said burning chamber when said end cap is affixed to said body;   wherein said end cap is comprised of the same heat resistant porous material as the body of said pipe;   a hollow mouthpiece inserted into the proximal end of said mouthpiece chamber, and protruding past the proximal portion of said body, said mouthpiece comprising a substantially cylindrical tenon portion configured to be inserted into the mortise region created by said mouthpiece chamber, thereby creating a mortise and tenon joint that helps hold said mouthpiece in place in said body;   said mouthpiece being substantially cylindrical, and having a maximum sixth radius that is less than said first radius;   said mouthpiece having a hollow interior extending from the proximal portion of said mouthpiece to the distal portion of said mouthpiece, so that a linear airway extends from at least the proximal end of said mouthpiece to the distal end of said body, and from the distal end of said body through the at least one hollow air opening of said end cap to the outside;   wherein the hollow interior of said mouthpiece is tapered from a first distal radius substantially similar to said third radius of said airway, to a smaller proximal second radius that is less than 80% of said third radius of said airway;   wherein said heat resistant porous material is briar, and said hollow mouthpiece is composed of polyoxymethylene (Delrin).   
     
     
         20 . The pipe of  claim 19 , wherein said o-ring is made from rubber or silicone, and wherein the length of said body is between 6 cm and 25 cm, and the radius of said body is between 8 mm and 30 mm.