Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Tobacco Pi~e
The present invention relates to a tobacco pipe comprising a
bowl that envelopes the combustion cavity, connected to such bowl
being a tubular stem that is fitted on its other end with a
mouthpiece, whereby the cross section of the smokestream
constricts at a point situated between the col~ustion chamber and
the tubular stem. The heat-conducting liner of the subject pipe
furthermore extends through the constriction point into the stem
tube.
A tobacco pipe of the kind described above has already been
disclosed in US-PS 2 652 062. The heat-conducting liner of this
prior art pipe assumes the form of a metal dish in the part of
the bowl that lies below the actual combustion cavity. According
to the concept underlying US-PS 2 652 062, the metal dish should
be able to absorb heat from the smokestream as it crosses the
constriction point and retain such heat on the floor of the pipe
bowl. It was anticipated that the quantity of heat absorbed by
the liner would be sufficient to cause the liquid flowing through
the pipe stem to vaporize upon contact with the heated metal
dish. For this reason, the metal dish is also referred to in the
prior art patent as a vaporizer.
The design of the prior art tobacco pipe, however, permits
heavy condensation to occur in the tube of the stem because the
smokestream accelerates in the region of the constriction point
and because the surrounding the pipe bowl and the attached stem
remain relatively cool. These factors c~use the exiting smoke to
cool down and lose the capacity to carry moisture. This is
critical at the start of the smoking process, when the burning
part of the tobacco is well separated from the cooler zone. It
was anticipated that the heat-conducting liner, which, in the
bottom of the pipe bowl, takes the shape of a metal dish and
extends through the constriction into the stem tube, would be
able to transfer heat to this lower zone; experience has shown
however, that the liner heats up only very slightly and is thus
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not capable of producing the expected results. The reason for
the low temperature of the liner is that it has not been found
possible to draw off sufficient quantities of heat from the
passing smoke, since pipe smoke is fundamentally incapable of
absorbing or conducting more than insignificant quantities of
heat energy.
Removed from the smoke with the condensation are a great
number of aromatic substances that normally contribute to smoking
enjoyment. In addition, the burning portion of the tobacco in
the bowl will have a tendency to go out. The pipe bowl, which is
normally produced of wood, clay, Meerschaum or other suitable
materials, heats up only very slowly in the course of a smoking
cycle. It is no coincidence, therefore, that the pipe bowl is
normally manufactured from materials having a low heat
conductance. Otherwise, it would be impossible to hold the pipe
by its bowl due to the high temperature of the latter. In
addition, the significant heat loss would hamper the burning of
the tobacco.
It has been discovered that a pipe of the type first
mentioned can be smoked with greater enjoyment if the
aforementioned deficiencies are removed by the novel arrangement
of the heat-conducting liner substantially around the entire
combustion cavity. Such arrangement permits the heat, which is
produced in the burning zone (or, more precisely, an excess
amount thereof) to be conducted directly from such burning zone
via the heat-conducting liner through the constriction point and
into the starting zone of the stem tube. Thus the temperature is
caused to rise in the latter zone of the pipe, which reduces the
development of condensation and thus also the removal from the
smokestream of essential aromatic substances. The present
invention makes use of the principle that a heat-conducting liner
3 203~967
will be capable of absorbing and transferring many times the
amount of heat that can conventionally be absorbed and
transferred via smoke.
The novel arrangement also reduces the likelihood of
localized overheating of the pipe bowl material in the region of
the burning tobacco, which permits the pipe bowl to be
manufactured from inexpensive materials possessing low thermal
conductance. The ability to use inexpensive materials in
manufacture permits the extension of the insight behind the
invention to a design comprising the production of bowl and stem
from a single piece of conically rolled paper into which notches
are pressed in order to form the constriction point at which the
bowl is bent to form an angle with the stem. The rolled paper
tubes, which are fitted at their tapered end with a mouthpiece,
are conventionally used as cigar holders.
Such disposable cigar holders can be further processed in
the manner described in order to produce an inexpensive pipe
which can, for example, be filled with ready-to-use tobacco
plugs, and be thrown away after being used a couple of times.
Tests have demonstrated that if the pipe bowl is coated up to the
stem tube with stanniol, the surrounding paper layer can be
prevented from burning or being singed. The novel arrangement
permits the tobacco to burn evenly, and prevents both the burning
portion of the tobacco from being extinguished and the condensing
out of significant quantities of condensate, attended by the loss
of essential aromatic substances.
Another embodiment of the present invention provides that
the stem tube is wider than the constriction point upstream of
the latter so as to be able to accomodate a substantially
spherical body comprising heat-accumulating material that comes
into discontinuous contact with the liner. The spherical body
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draws heat from the liner, and, after the temperature of the pipe
has climbed sufficiently, from the smokestream itself. The
arrangement of the spherical body inside the stem tube also
reduces temperature fluctuations in the region of pipe bowl and
stem tube throughout a smoking cycle.
The spherical body, which is inserted preferably loosely
into the stem tube, will, if the surface of such spherical body
is enlarged by means of an open pore structure, which could be
provided by a material such as porous clay, be able to absorb
condensate present in the tube. The employment in the stem tube
of a substantially spherical porous clay body fits well within
the design for an inexpensive, disposable pipe.
one embodiment example of the present invention is
illustrated in the following figures. Shown are:
Fig. 1 - a partial section of the "blank" for the proposed
tobacco pipe;
Fig. 2 - a longitudinal section of the finished proposed tobacco
pipe;
Fig. 3 - a lateral view of the tobacco pipe shown in Fig. 2;
and
Fig. 4 - a longitudinal section through an improved
configuration of the proposed mouthpiece.
.
Fig. 1 illustrates a conventional cigar holder that has been
used as the "blank" for the proposed tobacco pipe. If an angular
cut is made in the rolled body 1, which is generally referenced
by 1, near its wider, open end, section 2, which is indicated by
a broXen line, falls away. It can also be seen from Fig. 1 that
oppositely-lying notches 3 have been made in rolled body 1. It
would also be quite simple for rolled body 1 to be produced from
a blank not possessing section 2 and, if necessary, having
notches 3 already in place.
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Arranged on the inside of rolled body 1 is a liner 4
comprising a thin sheet of aluminum which, for the sake of
clarity, has been drawn relatively thickly. Liner 4 extends from
forward orifice 5 between notches 3 and thus through constriction
point 3a into the section of rolled body 1 that connects to
mouthpiece 6. This section will later form stem tube 7, while
the section of rolled body 1 lying between opening 5 and notches
3 will become bowl 8.
Before the proposed pipe assumes the shape shown in Figures
2 and 3 by the bending of bowl 8 relative to stem tube 7, a
substantially spherical body 9 comprising porous clay is inserted
into the section of stem tube 7 that has already been fitted with
liner 4. When bowl 8 is bent in the region of notches 3 and set
at an angle relative to stem tube 7, constriction point 3a
further constricts, as Fig. 2 shows, rendering spherical body 9,
which is normally capable of limited motion due to its rather
loose confinement, incapable of escaping this section of the pipe
stem tube in either direction.
If the cavity of bowl 8, which constitutes the combustion
cavity 10 of the proposed pipe, is filled with tobacco, which may
for instance be in the form of a plug 11 (as disclosed in DE-PSen
602 151 and 873 915 as well as CA-PS 771 426) and the tobacco
lit, a quantity of the heat generated will be conducted via liner
4 through constriction point 3a and into the adjoining section of
stem tube 7. This transfer of heat serves, firstly, to maintain,
in the region of the burning tobacco situated inside combustion
cavity 10, a temperature in the paper-comprising rolled body 2 at
which the latter is unable to undergo either immediate singing or
even burn. Secondly, the temperature in the region of the
constriction point 3a as well as in the adjoining section of stem
tube 7 is raised to a point at which the development of
,
.
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condensate is at the very least substantially reduced, which
prevents essential aromatic components from leaving the
smokestream that is moving through mouthpiece 6 into the smoker's
mouth. During this process, body 9 heats up primarily due to its
contact with heat-conducting liner 4. Such an arrangement serves
to maintain a uniform temperature in this zone inside the tobacco
pipe.
Figure 4 is an enlarged view of mouthpiece 6 comprising an
opening 12, which the smoker is able to close or leave open by
using his lips. In the latter case, as is indicated by means of
arrow 13, air is able to penetrate into smoke channel 14 of
mouthpiece 6 and thin out and cool down the smoke flowing through
smoke channel 14.
