Therapeutic smoking device

[0001] This application is a non-provisional application claiming the benefits of provisional application No. 61/238,444 filed Aug. 31, 2009.

[0002] The present invention relates to smoking a smoking material such as medical marijuana through a filter system and moveable carburetor valve in order to minimize bronchial irritation.

[0003] In the smoking of organic materials including some rare and expensive tobaccos, it is found that inhaled smoke oftentimes tends to be somewhat harsh, hot and irritating to the lungs of a smoker. Accordingly, it is desirable that the smoke from these materials be tempered and treated prior to its being inhaled. Devices known as “water pipes” and “bongs” have been used to effect tempering and treatment of smoke.

[0004] A water pipe ordinarily includes an upstanding housing which defines a water chamber near its base. A burning bowl is operably connected to the housing for introducing smoke into the water chamber. A mouthpiece communicates with the water chamber for drawing smoke from the burning bowl through the water chamber. As the smoke travels through the water, it tends to be cleaned of ash and certain other contaminants, and may be cooled slightly to render it more suitable for inhaling. In some instances, liquids other than water have been used in the water chamber. The use of wine has been proposed as a suitable water substitute.

[0005] A bong is ordinarily quite similar in construction to a water pipe, the principal difference being that the bong has no mouthpiece communicating with its water chamber but rather utilizes a housing pressed against facial portions around the mouth of a smoker. As the smoker inhales, smoke from a burning bowl is drawn through water or other liquid disposed in a chamber at the lower end of the housing. A small diameter air admission hole may be formed through the wall of the housing at a level above that of the liquid. This hole may be maintained closed by a simple flap valve or may be held closed by the smoker during initial stages of a draw, where upon the smoker may open the air admission hole toward the end of a draw to ease the draw as smoke from the chamber is inhaled.

[0006] While the adverse effects of harsh, hot and irritating smoke may be mitigated to a degree by proposed water pipe and bong appliances, the tempering and treating action they provide is not as thorough as many smokers desire. One reason for the relatively ineffective tempering and treating action provided by such appliances is that smoke being drawn through a liquid medium tends to travel through the medium in the form of a stream of rapidly moving bubbles. Only the outer surface areas of the rapidly moving bubbles are exposed to the liquid medium and the exposure time is quite minimal. While proposals have been made to increase exposure time by providing a relatively deep body of liquid filtering medium and/or by providing structure which defines relatively torturous paths for movement of smoke through the liquid medium, these proposals have been found to be relatively ineffective in improving the filtering and cooling actions and, in most instances, have significantly increased the draw strength required to effect the passage of smoke through the cooling medium. Many proposed water pipe and bong appliances require unduly large draw strengths to effect proper operation.

[0007] A further disadvantage of many water pipe and bong appliance proposals has been that the liquid utilized as a cooling and filtering medium tends to become contaminated with ash particles within a relatively short period of time and must therefore be changed frequently. While proposals have been made to provide various types of ash collection chambers at locations which will prevent the entry of ash particles into the liquid cooling and filtering medium, most of these proposals have significantly increased the complexity, and hence the cost, of the resulting smoking appliances. Moreover, in many instances, these proposals have propounded the excessive draw strength problem and have rendered the appliances more difficult to clean.

[0008] U.S. Pat. No. 4,164,950 (1979) to Bechtold uses a cooling chamber and a solid phase multi-bore cooling medium to temper and treat the smoke. Ice is the preferred cooling medium. The disadvantage here is the complexity, cost and lack of portability of the device. Ice is not always available.

[0009] The problem of providing a relatively simple and inexpensive smoking appliance which will provide a desirably effective filtering action, which will require minimal draw strength to operate, and yet which is easy to clean has continued to elude those skilled in the art.

[0010] The present invention overcomes the foregoing and other drawbacks of the prior art by providing a novel and improved, simple and inexpensive, easy to clean smoking appliance which employs a solid-phase filter medium to effect a thorough filtering of smoke while requiring minimal draw strength to operate due to a manually operated carburetor.

[0011] The primary aspect of the present invention is to provide a portable, filtering, and minimally irritating pipe for smoking plant matter, such as therapeutic or medicinal herbs.

[0012] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide a manually operated carburetor valve for easy inhalation control.

[0013] Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an easy to disassemble and clean apparatus.

[0014] A smoke expansion chamber is preferably a cylindrical, plastic tube. The bowl-end allows combustion of the smoking matter. The bowl-end has a manually held annular valve head which is pulled open, overcoming a spring bias. In the open position, trapped smoke is mixed with admitted air to provide a non-irritating, filtered smoke. This smoke is projected into the user's airstream without the traditional unduly large draw by means of exerting respiratory effort.

[0015] Features of the invention include:

[0016] Tulip shape of glass bowl to help prevent smoking material from falling out.

[0017] Shock mounting for glass on internal bushings.

[0018] Aluminum valve-head protects glass from impact.

[0019] Annular purge carburetor allows for rapid clearing without requiring the user exert respiratory effort.

[0020] Filtration screen is held away from direct flame or heat, allowing it to catch more resin and tar, as they have condensed during cooling.

[0021] Injection nozzle can be crafted to utilize Venturi shape for smoother expansion into the expansion chamber.

[0022] Smooth laminar flow through screen into visible expansion chamber.

[0023] Expansion chamber is shatterproof and permanently marked.

[0024] Expansion chamber is sized for user comfort and can easily be swapped for a chamber of a preferable size.

[0025] Visible expansion chamber allows user to see and control dosage.

[0026] Expansion chamber can hold additional instrumentation, such as dosage or temperature measurement devices.

[0027] Expansion chamber can hold additional aesthetic features, such as lighting.

[0028] Mouthpiece is formed into the end of the expansion chamber for user comfort.

[0029] Device is ruggedized, but still employs a borosilicate glass bowl to avoid contamination of smoke.

[0030] Unitized, standardized manufacture techniques allow for the repeatability and uniformity of parts, allowing for easy part replacement.

[0031] Other aspects of this invention will appear from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

[0050] Before explaining the disclosed embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of the particular arrangement shown, since the invention is capable of other embodiments. Also, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

[0051] In FIG. 1 a prior art smoking pipe 1 has an expansion chamber 2 with a smoking bowl 3. When smoking material 4 is burning, the smoke A generally rises away from the expansion chamber 2. For inhalation, the hand H of the user is placed over the air admission hole B. Then the user uses his mouth to suck from inhalation exhaust port P. Thus, the smoke A is drawn into the expansion chamber 2. The user then removes his hand H from the air admission hole B while inhaling, thereby projecting a rush of smoke into the user's mouth. Limited cooling and no filtration of the inhaled smoke occurs.

[0052] Referring next to FIG. 2 a pipe 20 has a smoke expansion chamber 21 nominally made from a polycarbonate plastic. It is suited to be laser embossed with decorative designs, and/or text. The smoke expansion chamber 21 slides over the bushings 22 which fit around the annular purge carburetor (APC) 23.

[0053] The valve head 24 supports a smoke injection shaft 25 having a smoke injection nozzle 26. The glass bowl 27 slides into the neck 28 of the valve head 24. Grip rings 29 provide a strong grip surface to allow easy pulling of the valve head 24 away from the APC 23 during inhalation.

[0054] In FIG. 3 the spring S has been overpowered by the user pulling the valve head 24 open. Spring S is seated on nozzle 26. Air enters annular inlet 38, then the air flows through bore entrances 31 and out bore exits 32 and into expansion chamber 21, where it pushes smoke A, and exits port E, into the user's mouth.

[0055] In FIG. 4 the smoke path for smoke A is shown for the APC 23 closed mode. Smoke A travels down glass bowl 27 which is inside smoke injection shaft 25, see arrow B. Smoke exits nozzle 26 at arrow C after being filtered by stainless steel screen 41. Suction caused by the user's mouth and inhalation pressure causes this smoke A path from B to C. Very little smoke A is inhaled in this mode because the inside passage 800 of glass bowl 27 is small (nominally 4 mm), and the smoking material is plugging this narrow passage.

[0056] For inhalation the user pulls the valve head 24 away from himself, thereby opening annular passage 38. Inhalation air which is at ambient temperature enters passage 38, flows through bore entrances 31, out bore exits 32, and into expansion chamber 21, and inhaled. A projection of inhalation air is caused by the user's suction. The force of the inhalation air against smoke A reduces the draw strength required to convey the smoke to the user's lungs. Cooling of smoke A occurs during the latency periods in the shaft 25, nozzle 26, screen 41, and the expansion chamber 21 before the user pulls the valve head 24. Further cooling occurs with the introduction of the ambient air which acts as a chaser of the smoke into the user's lungs.

[0057] In FIG. 5 valve head cap 50 and expansion chamber cap 51 are optional. Burn assembly 555 includes valve head 24, glass bowl 27, APC 23 smoke injection shaft 25 and smoke injection nozzle 26 which has filter screen 41 inside.

[0058] FIG. 6 shows the nozzle 26 (preferably aluminum) having filter screen 41 which may be allowed to soak in a solvent to remove tars and/or replaced. The filter pipe screen 4′ is preferably a stainless steel 316 with hole sizes of 100 mesh.

[0059] In FIG. 7 each bore hole is labeled 700, each having inlet 31 and outlet 32. The plastic expansion chamber 21 is preferably transparent and slides on and off bushings 22 for cleaning. The nozzle 26 unscrews from shaft 25 for cleaning. In operation the bore holes 700 create a plurality of parallel air streams AS out the outlets 32. The combined effect of these air columns produces a venturi effect which accelerates the air speed of these columns of air streams AS. This venturi effect creates a chaser effect like a plunger rapidly forcing the (cooled) smoke into the user's lungs.

[0060] FIG. 8 shows glass bowl 27 having a burn chamber 801 and inside passage 800 with about a 4 millimeter diameter.

[0061] FIG. 9 shows valve head 24 having an inside channel 900 with a diameter of about 0.875 inches. Grooves 90 support grip rings 29. Shaft 25 is preferably press fit into a female bore 905 into valve head 24. Threads, circlips and similar connecting methods may serve the similar purpose of holding the parts together in other embodiments of the invention. Another embodiment is making the valve head 24 and the shaft 25 out of one piece of material.

[0062] FIG. 10 shows how bushings 1000 hold the glass bowl 27. Grooves G1, G2 support the bushings 1000.

[0063] FIGS. 11, 12, 13 show details of the APC 24 having grooves 220 for bushings 22. Thirteen elongated bore holes 700 allow a high flow rate of inhalation air.

[0064] FIG. 14 shows a modified smoke nozzle 2600 having a flared exit port 2601 for smoother output smoke A flow.

[0065] Referring next to FIGS. 15-20 a pocket sized pipe 1500 works the same as pipe 20 of FIG. 2. The smoke expansion chamber 1501 is enclosed by a (transparent) plastic cylinder 1502 which has an inhalation port 1503. A retension band 1866 holds the distal end of the plastic cylinder 1502 in place over the APC.

[0066] The APC 1505 has nine bore holes 1506. The valve head spring 1507 seats on nozzle 1508. The user pulls the valve head 1509 in the OPEN direction for inhalation, allowing ambient air to enter annular passage 1510 and flow through bore holes 1506 into expansion chamber 1501. A glass burn bowl 1600 has an inside chamber 1601 about 7/16 inches in diameter. Nozzle 1508 has filter screen 1700.

[0067] Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, numerous modifications and variations can be made and still the result will come within the scope of the invention. No limitation with respect to the specific embodiments disclosed herein is intended or should be inferred. Each apparatus embodiment described herein has numerous equivalents.