WO2020039221A1 - Multi-hookah - Google Patents

Abstract

A hookah with several pipe heads and water tanks, or a cluster of hookahs, is connected to a multitude of suction hoses via an individually adjustable control and mixing system.

Description

Multi-hookah

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Smoking the water pipe (hookah) is increasingly popular among young people, also in West- ern Europe, due to its sociable aspect: several people can use a water pipe together - each one with one tube and mouthpiece. Therein the bubbling sound from sucking at various mouthpieces act as a communicative element.

However, there are a few attempts to restrict or prohibit it. Once for health reasons, in many municipalities also because of the hazard of fire and accidents caused by handling the glow- ing pieces of charcoal.

While staff in the main areas of use - that is in the Middle East and North Africa - are paid comparatively low and their time expenditure therefore is less significant, this is different for hookah bars in Central Europe. Due to regulations and minimum wages, the preparation, cleaning and care of Hookahs is comparatively costly:

It is not only the preparation of the tobacco in different desired compositions and prepara- tions, the exchange of the water in the pipes and the cleaning of the containers, cleaning and examination of the hoses and connections, but also the cleaning of the pipe bowls and exchange of the sieves or insert foils and above all the preparation and handling of the glow- ing charcoal pieces, which are put on the tobacco.

Therefore it takes time to do this for each customer as desired and to bring the prepared hoo- kah to him, as well as to set it up in a stable manner.

It is also a problem for the consumer to explore different tobacco provinces (whose taste varies due to harvest and preparation) and to develop new taste experiences, because the change is usually time-consuming. This is why even unpleasant tobacco mixtures are usually terminated before a changing it - what makes experimentation more intricate.

TASK OF THE INVENTION/

It is therefore the task of this invention to create a system for hookahs by which hookah smoking can be operated in a technically safe and therefore less problematic manner with re- gard to approval and official requirements, and also less personnel-intensive, without imped- ing the particularly communicative atmosphere. Another task is to give users the opportunity to immediately switch between several tobacco varieties and additives, so to enhance the experience of different mixtures and also to indi- vidually adjust their possible blend.

SOLUTION

The given task is solved by combining a hookah with several pipe bowls and possibly several water containers or even a cluster of hookahs via a control element in such a way that it can be connected to a large number of hoses, each of which allows individually selectable access to different flavours - and also their mixtures and short-term changes.

The above mentioned solution should therefore also provide an additional incentive to visit hookah bars equipped in this way.

PRIOR ART

With DE 10 2006 059476A1 it is known to equip a hookah with two pipe bowls and water tanks. However, changing between different users or between the two possible types of tobacco must be done by laborious repositioning of the hoses. A“flying change” is not pos- sible because sufficient negative pressure is only built up by temporary renewed suction to activate combustion in the other pipe bowl.

US 2017/051 718 A1 offers another solution with a system of interchangeable pipe heads with flue tubes that are immersed in the water tank and two electric heating elements, one of which can replace the glowing charcoal.

However, that system was not declared to be for hookahs because they are or were inadmissible in some US states because of possible drug use.

Anyway, changing between different pipe bowls is as well not quickly possible here either and switching between different suction hoses is not planned.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In addition to a varying number of pipe bowls, water tanks and hose attachments, the dis- tributor is the central element of the system.

It must establish the connection between the respective suction hose and pipe head via associated flue pipes and ensure that a loss of negative pressure only occurs on very short term when switching or re-mixing. This can be achieved by using a valve bank in which several valves are connected synchro- nously to a vacuum chamber. This can be done by mechanical switches, but it is also pos- sible by relays and electro-pneumatic valves and to governed by remote control.

Preferably, however, control is via a mobile phone app, with which the guest of a Hookah bar, who has it installed, can save his preferred settings and retrieve or activate them as required.

CLOSER DESCRIPTION ALONG TO THE DRAWING

In Fig. 1 an exemplary construction of a Multi-Hookah (13) us displayed, consisting of four modules for four users.

Subsequently, in order to ensure clarity, the essential components for each of the four as- semblies are described.

The assembly consists of a tobacco head (15), a molasse catcher (16), a smoke column (17), a drain valve (19), a rotary selector (20) and a water tank (21).

The cover (18) for the distributor (23), the control unit (22a) and an interior lighting (22b) are shown as integrated components.

An enlarged detailed drawing (30) shows the rotary selector (20) and its individual compo- nents, which consists of the rotatable connecting piece (34), the outlet for hose connection (32) and the mounting bench (31 ) with four supply lines (33).

In Fig. 2 (to ensure clarity, the essential components for one of the four assemblies are also described here) we see in an exemplary design a distributor (1 ) for four users, consisting of a drain valve (11 ), a connection piece (8) for a hose (2), a rotary selector (9) and a receiving bank (10) with four feed lines (3, 4, 5, 6) to connections (7) to the four water tanks.

Fig. 3 shows a mixing valve (40) which is installed instead of the rotary selector from Fig. 1 and 2. The mixing valve (40) consists of the supply lines (41), a connecting piece (42) for the hose (43), the automatic valves (44-47) and the mixing chamber (48).

To ensure clarity, only the components for one valve are described below. A valve consists essentially of a blocking module (51) guided in rails (50), a push rod (52) and a control and shear module (53). The blocking module regulates or interrupts the flow of smoke into the flow tubes (54-57).

When the valves (44-47) are open, the smoke enters the hose (43) via the mixing chamber

Claims

1. Hookah (water pipe) for several users, wherein several smokers have simultaneous

access to an individually determined combination of tobaccos in embers.

2. Hookah according to claim 1 , wherein the allocation and the individual pipe bowls in

embers are made to the respective smokers involved with a rotary selector.

3. Hookah according to Claim 1 and 2, wherein the proportion of smoke from different heads can be finely adjusted by a mixing valve upstream of the outlet to the suction hoses.

4. Hookah according to Claim 1 and 2, wherein the smoke of each head is passed through its own volume of water intended for this purpose.

5. Hookah according to claim 4, wherein the flue pipes in the manifold are connected to one another by transverse piping.

6. Hookah according to Claim 2, 3 and 5, wherein the mixing settings can each be selected wirelessly by remote control.

7. Hookah according to claim 6, wherein the remote control takes place via smartphone with an application program or via a mobile radio device.

8. Hookah according to claim 7, wherein access to this app and communication with its con- tents is encrypted.