CIGARETTE SAFETY HOLDER
This invention relates to cigarettes and tobacco smoking devices. The invention allows for the smoker to encapsulate a cigarette in a reusable holder that prevents fire and burns. The reusable holder traps hot ashes, is safe to handle and is ergonomic in design. The cigarette holder can be dropped without starting fire or causing burns. The cigarette holder can have outer shell produced of different materials. The cigarette holder can be used in bad weather.
The present invention relates to cigarettes and tobacco smoking devices. More particularly, the invention relates to safeguarding cigarettes from becoming a source of fire and burns.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONThe present invention is to produce a reusable cigarette holder that is safe and renders cigarettes safer to smoke.
One of the common causes of death is by fire, many of which are started carelessly by cigarettes. Many people, both smokers and non-smokers, fall victims to individuals falling asleep while smoking in bed or carelessly disposing cigarettes. Even more individuals are injured each year by cigarette burns. Dozens of forest fires are started each year by cigarettes. Millions of dollars of damage and medical bills are also contributed to careless disposal of cigarettes. Many more damages are resulted through cigarette burns of clothing, upholstery, carpeting, and the like. Many individuals are hurt each year in car accidents where a driver who is smoking inadvertently drops a cigarette. Smokers must also deal with looking for an ashtray and having a place to dispose the cigarette when done smoking.
There has been prior art issued for preventing or obviating the hazards of burning cigarettes, but each has its drawbacks, which are addressed with this invention. Some prior art (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,386,616; 4,572,217) present cigarette holders, but the user must insert a lighted cigarette into the holder. By doing so, there is a risk that ashes will hit against the holder, fall to the ground and ignite, or that cigarette may slip out of holder if dropped. Other art (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,027,680; 4,572,217) involve cigarettes being smoked while in the holder where the user smokes the cigarette holding the butt (or filter) of the cigarette in his or her mouth as it protrudes from the opening. This creates a safety concern as the weight of the holder may snap the cigarette in half with the holder, cigarette and ashes falling to the ground starting a fire. Other art (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,386,616; 4,572,217) discusses cigarette holder but does not address containing the ashes or preventing a fire if the cigarette and/or holder were dropped. Nor do they adequately address holding the cigarette in the chamber should the holder be dropped as the cigarette is usually slid through one of the openings. A permanent disposable holder (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,886,954; 4,386,616) has been introduced, but such invention is not a reusable system. Another system introduced involves several pieces to the holder (U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,625,163; 4,027,680; 4,570,645; 4,991,595) presenting too many parts or end caps that can wear and tear, fall off, and generally fail, or worse burn the user trying to assemble or disassemble the holder. Other art proposes self-extinguishing holders (U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,570,645; 4,991,595) where if a cigarette is not puffed within a certain time frame, it is extinguished. This presents a problem if a cigarette extinguishes too soon, the user would have to open the assembly and potentially burn him or herself, or risk of having hot ash flying out. Another challenge is these cigarettes cannot be smoked in the rain or strong wind.
Recently there has been a push for cigarette manufacturers to introduce “fire safe cigarettes”. However, many would argue that safety lies with the user, and hot ashes can still ignite many materials.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONA principal object of the present invention is to produce a cigarette holder that renders cigarettes safe to smoke without the risk of starting a fire or causing burns. Another object of this invention is to produce a reusable cigarette holder with few parts, capable of holding cigarette securely, contain the ashes, allow the cigarette to burn naturally without impeding air flow, be safe to handle, ability to set it on a flat surface without it rolling away, stay safe if it was to be dropped. Another object of this invention is to be able to smoke a cigarette in foul weather such as rain, wind, and dust without extinguishing the cigarette. The object of this invention is also for it to be ergonomic in design, only slightly larger than a traditional cigarette.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain in the principles of the invention.
For the purposes of the following description, the terms “upper,” “lower,” “right,” “left,” “front,” “rear,” and derivatives or equivalents thereof shall relate to the invention as oriented in
An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring now in detail to the drawings,
With reference to
The above description is considered that of the preferred embodiments only. Modification of the invention will occur to those skilled in the art and to those who make and use the invention. Therefore, it is understood that the embodiments shown in the drawings and described above are merely for illustrative purposes and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention, which is defined by the following claims.
In operation, the invention is used as follows:
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- (a) first the smoker would open the Holder by parting its latches;
- (b) smoker would light a cigarette;
- (c) cigarette would be placed into the bottom cavity of the Holder; and
- (d) top half would be closed and latched.
Claims
1. A Cigarette Safety Holder comprising a tube similar to the look of a cigarette, but slightly larger in length and diameter, split in half lengthwise, with lateral pieces fastened with one or more latches, and held together by two or more hinges;
2. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 1, wherein said invention contains a tube-like hollow cigarette cavity for a cigarette to be inserted;
3. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 2, wherein said invention contains one or more pegs to hold the cigarette in place internally on one end by the cigarette butt (filter);
4. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 3, wherein said invention contains an ash filter to trap ashes on the opposite end from Claim #3 of the invention;
5. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 4, wherein said invention has an opening on one side where the cigarette butt would be seen so that user can smoke and draw the air into the cigarette;
6. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 5, wherein said invention has an opening on opposite side of Claim #5 where air intake would go in to keep the cigarette burning;
7. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 6, wherein said invention has peg stand on the bottom of the holder by the ash filter for stability if the Holder is to be set down;
8. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 7, wherein said invention has slits in the sides for additional air intake;
9. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 8 wherein said invention has a secondary hollow air chamber running parallel of the length of the invention;
10. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 9, wherein said invention includes a mouthpiece that is made of softened, rubberized, plastic or other material for the lips;
11. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 10, wherein said invention is made of any non-combustible material such as metal, glass, hardened plastic or treated wood;
12. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 11, wherein said invention may have one or more shells;
13. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 12, wherein said invention may have interchangeable exterior shell produced with different materials such as wood, metal, ceramic, leather, cloth, rubber, glass, gemstones or be painted or airbrushed;
14. A Cigarette Safety Holder as claimed in claim 13, wherein said invention can be operated in weather elements such as rain, wind or dust.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 9, 2009
Publication Date: Apr 14, 2011
Inventor: DMITRY KARPINSKY (SCOTTSDALE, AZ)
Application Number: 12/576,306
International Classification: A24F 13/02 (20060101);