US20090120968A1

US20090120968A1 - "Dot" Bong

Info

Publication number: US20090120968A1
Application number: US11/983,707
Authority: US
Inventors: II Samuel E. Lard; Jannik P. Catalano; Dorothy Thayer
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2007-11-13
Filing date: 2007-11-13
Publication date: 2009-05-14

Abstract

The following device has two uses: 1) fast pour beverage tap and 2) a tobacco smoking apparatus.

Fast Pour Beverage Tap

The present invention relates to a device comprising of a single tubular body containing a piercing end on one side and a mouthpiece on the opposite end whereby the piercing end is designed to puncture pressurized beverage cans or plastic bottles. After piercing the pressurized container, the mouthpiece end is inserted into the user's mouth creating a high speed gravity fed liquid dispensing system.

Tobacco Smoking Apparatus

A smoking apparatus comprising a pipe bowl for holding burning smoking material, used in conjunction with an aluminum beverage can or plastic bottle. The smoking material is then placed in the pipe bowl and the opening of the can or bottle is used as the mouthpiece for the liquid cleaning smoking bowl.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 USC sctn. 119(e) to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/857,515 filed Nov. 9, 2006, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This disclosure generally concerns a dual utility personal fast pour “shotgun” beverage tap and tobacco water bong pipe apparatus.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention fulfills the need for an invention that allows a user to “shotgun” a pressurized beverage in under 5 seconds. Shotgunning is a means of consuming a canned beverage, especially beer, very quickly by a particular technique involving punching a hole in the side of the can. It is usually practiced as a form of a drinking game and is especially popular among college students.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,842,617, 5,058,632, 5,269,332, 5,390,832 and 4,094,445 all disclose various beverage taps, nozzles, or dispensers although none directly relate to the present invention. The inventors were unable to locate a “shotgun” beverage apparatus.
Previously, the means to shotgun a beverage required that one punched a small hole in the side of the can with a sharp object, such as a knife, key, pen, bottle opener, or a can's pop-tab, usually near the bottom while the can is upside down. By tilting the can carefully, the puncture will go through the air-pocket in the can, keeping the drink from flying out; this is usually done using a key or other sharp instrument. Unfortunately, in most cases, a certain amount of beer spillage will occur. The drinker then places this hole to their lips, tilts the can right-side-up, and pulls the tab in the usual manner. The combined effects of gravity and the pressure change that follow when the tab is pulled cause the beverage to be forced out of the can, and into the drinker's mouth, very rapidly. Unless one is skilled in the technique it is easy to become soaked as the drink rushes out of the can. Depending on the beverage and the way the technique is performed, a beverage of twelve US fluid ounces can be consumed in well under 5 seconds. Accomplished shotgunners can consume this amount in as little as two or three seconds.
The second utility of the device is as a tobacco smoking apparatus.
The usual water pipe includes a water chamber located between the bowl, wherein the material being smoked in burned, and a mouthpiece so that the smoke is bubbled through the water thus being filtered and cooled. The classic bong has a single, vertical, elongate open pipe about 1½ inch in diameter sealed at the bottom, the open upper end placed against the face about the mouth of the smoker, a bowl for burning the organic substance and a single tube mounting the bowl and leading at an angle into the elongate pipe near the bottom of the pipe. Liquid is placed into the elongate pipe to a level just above the junction of the open pipe and the bowl tube so that when the smoker draws on the pipe, smoke is bubbled through the water to cool and clean it. The smoke is further cooled by expanding in the wide elongate pipe. Thus the elongate pipe operates as a combined water and inhalation chamber. To facilitate inhaling the smoke from the chamber, a small diameter hole is located in the elongate pipe just above the water level and kept closed by the smoker's finger during the initial stages of a smoke. When the elongate pipe is filled with smoke, the hole is opened and the smoke is drawn into the lungs.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,161,954, 4,357,948, 4,253,475, 6,601,586 and many others addressed within this application, disclose various smoking apparatus and smoking bongs that allow a user to 1) smoke using a bowl that 2) cleans and/or 3) cools the smoke using a 4) liquid. None of the above inventions are instruments that allow a user to make a liquid cooled smoking bowl from a can or bottle and the pocket sized beer bong.
The prior art does not directly relate to the novel and useful traits found in the present invention. In the smoking arena, this is an improvement because the beer bong is a highly portable, inexpensive device that turns any beverage can or plastic bottle into a smoking pipe. There is currently nothing in the marketplace that serves this need.
In the beverage consumption arena, this device serves as a novelty party game tool. There is currently no device in the marketplace that serves this need.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This new, useful, and nonobvious invention fulfills the need for a personal beer “shotgun” having dual utility as a tobacco water pipe.
Often times in social settings, beer drinking is accompanied with tobacco. This novel device allows beverage drinkers to reuse their empty cans or plastic bottles, as a liquid filter smoking bong. By punching a small hole in the container near its using the cutting edge of the device, and by inserting the beer “bong” device directly into the lower third side of the container again by using the cutting edge of the device, an instant smoking bong is created. The user need only add liquid to the container to a level just above the insertion point of the device, insert a wire mesh screen into the mouthpiece of the device, and add smoking material. For use, the user places his or her mouth on the mouth of the can, lights the smoking material that is in the device, places a finger over the small carburetor hole, and draws the smoke in from the mouth of the container. The smoke is pulled from the device through the liquid, into the can, and into the mouth and lungs of the user. The smoke is cooled and filtered by the liquid in the can giving the user a cleaner, cooler smoking experience.
For use as a fast pout shotgunning device, the user must first insert a wire mesh screen into the mouthpiece. Then the user holds the container perpendicular to the floor to allow the cutting edge to pierce the container. The cutting edge is opposite the mouthpiece end of the device. The cutting end has a top and a bottom side. The bottom side contains a notched cut-out with a squared bottom. When piercing a container for fast pour use, the bottom, or notched squared side should always be facing the bottom of the container. This is to ensure that the cut area of the container remains attached along the bottom edge of the cut. This helps to prevent tearing of the container and prevents the cut portion from blocking the flow of liquid into the users mouth. As the user is piercing the can, the user should keep a finger over the mouth piece of the device to reduce spillage. Once the container is pierced, the user raises the mouthpiece of the device to their mouth, turns the container upright, and pops the top of the container. The beverage rapidly flows into the users mouth, providing a beer shotgun experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES

FIG. 1 is a top elevation view of an embodiment of the beer bong/tobacco smoking apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a bottom elevation view of the beer bong/tobacco smoking apparatus.

FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the mouthpiece/bowl portion of the beer bong/tobacco smoking apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT

Turning now to the drawings in greater detail and considering first FIG. 1, there is shown the embodiment of the beer bong/tobacco smoking apparatus.
Section # 1 generally indicates the hollow tubular body.
Section # 2 generally indicates the flared end of the hollow tubular body which is used as a mouthpiece for the beer bong and as a bowl for the smoking apparatus. Section # 3 generally indicates the opening for the mouthpiece/bowl.
Section # 4 generally indicates the top view of the cutting edge. When cutting a container for the beer bong, the top cutting edge should always be on the same plane as the opening of the container. Although the apparatus is generally held perpendicular to the container when cutting, the top of the cutting edge should be facing the top of the container.
Section # 5 generally indicates the bottom view of the cutting edge. When cutting a container to insert the beer bong, the bottom cutting edge should always be on the same plane as the bottom of the container. Although the apparatus is generally held perpendicular to the container when cutting, the bottom cutting edge should be facing the bottom of the container. This is to ensure that the cut portion of the container bends downward and does not block the free flow of liquid.
Section # 6 generally indicates the protective screen that is to be inserted in to the device before use. Protective screens of this nature can be purchased in most tobacco shops where other tobacco pipes and bongs are sold.
Section # 1 must be of an interior diameter that allows liquid and smoke to freely flow down the tube. In addition the interior diameter must be of small enough to prevent the cut container from becoming lodged in the tube and blocking the flow of liquid or smoke.
The inventors used the following dimensions for the model, although several other sizes work as well.
Section# 1—The overall length of the metal tube is 3 inches. The thickness of the tube is 0.0625″. The outside diameter of the tubing is 0.375″.
Section # 2—The flare extends 0.375″ from the mouthpiece toward the cutting edge of the device.
Section # 3—The overall flare diameter is 0.5″, which means the flare is 0.125″ larger than the outside diameter of the tubing in Section # 1. As stated above, the outside diameter of the tubing in Section # 1 is 0.375″.
Section # 4—The depth of the cut is 0.375″.
Section # 5—The depth of the cut is 0.375″ and the length of the squared end is 0.125″.

Claims

1. A fast pour tap system comprising:

An elongated tubular shaped metal body that allows a free flowing gravity fed fast pour of liquid beverages directly into the mouth of the user, whereby the circumference of the tubular body allows the placement of a protective mesh filtering screen into a flanged end, including means defining the piercing end of the tubular body which is specifically notched to prevent the tearing of aluminum cans and bottles to minimize wasting fluid;

means defining an outwardly flared mouthpiece that allows for the placement of a protective mesh screen positioned on the inside of the tube to filter metal or plastic particulates that may be present as a result of the piercing of the can or plastic bottle.

2. A fast pour tap system as defined in claim 1 wherein the piercing end is pressed against the container with user-applied forces including at least one of a tilting downward and sideways force on the side of the container near the bottom ¼ of the container wherein the notched side of the piercing end is facing downward.

3. A fast pour tap system as defined in claim 1 wherein the flanged end allows the insertion of a removable protective mesh filtering screen.

4. A fast pour tap system as defined in claim 1 wherein the tap is made from brushed steel or brass.

5. A fast pour tap system as defined in claim 1 wherein the thickness of the tube is such that a flange is possible without affecting the integrity of the mouthpiece.

6. A fast pour tap system as defined in claim 2 wherein the diameter of the tubular body is such that the cut portion of the can or bottle is prevented from obstructing the free flow fast pour of fluid through the tubular body to the flared mouthpiece.

7. A tobacco smoking apparatus comprising:

An elongated tubular shaped metal body that allows smoke to be drawn freely from the flared bowl end of the device through the liquid in the container into the mouth of the user, including means defining the piercing end of the tubular body which is specifically notched to prevent the tearing of aluminum cans and bottles to minimize the loss of smoke; means defining an outwardly flared bowl that allows for the placement of a mesh filtering screen positioned inside of the tube for holding burning smoking material that prevents the burning material from falling into the tubular structure and into the liquid in the container.

8. A tobacco smoking apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein said filtering screen holds the burning smoking materials in place.

9. A tobacco smoking apparatus as defined in claim 7 whose length is designed to dissipate heat arising out of said smoking pipe.

10. A tobacco smoking apparatus as defined in claim 7 wherein the thickness of the tube is such that the tube can be flared outward without affecting the integrity of the smoking bowl.