US20100000553A1

US20100000553A1 - Cigar drill

Info

Publication number: US20100000553A1
Application number: US12/217,344
Authority: US
Inventors: Kenneth A. Hodges
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-07-03
Filing date: 2008-07-03
Publication date: 2010-01-07

Abstract

A cigar drill disguised to appear like a typical writing instrument is provided. The cigar drill is designed to create the proper sized smoke passageway in cigars of arbitrary size, rather than limiting the user to one or two sizes of smoke passageways.

Description

CROSS REFERENCES

None.

GOVERNMENTAL RIGHTS

None.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fine cigars are hand-rolled from aged tobacco and are often stored in controlled environments for extended periods of time to allow maturation of the cigar's unique flavors. During the hand-rolling process, a cap is placed on one end of the cigar to maintain the cigar's moisture during rolling and storage and to prevent the cigar from unraveling during handling and smoking. Prior to lighting the cigar, a cigar smoker must remove a portion of the cap to allow passage of smoke through the body of the cigar. When taken in proportion with the -diameter of the cigar (known as a “ring gauge,” and measured in sixty-fourths of an inch), the amount of the cap removed determines the draw characteristics of the cigar. Proper draw characteristics require some, but not excessive, resistance to flow of smoke through the body of the cigar.
The prior art discloses a number of accoutrements for cutting, punching, or otherwise piercing the capped end of a cigar. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 925,158, 1,628,570, 4,733,674, and 6,070,593 and U.S. Patent Application Publication No. US2003/0056800 A1. One characteristic shared by each of these prior art devices is that none are disguised as an ordinary product or have other features; that is, each of these devices serves one function, only. Because cigars are often smoked in social settings away from a cigar smoker's home or office, cigar cutters must be carried. In many of these social settings, such as business gatherings and golf outings, the cigar smoker will generally have a writing instrument to record contact information or golf scores. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a cigar drill that appears to be a writing instrument so as to disguise the cigar drill.
U.S. Pat. No. 297,396 (the “'396 patent”) discloses a combination writing instrument and cigar cutter. However, the '396 patent contains an implicit limitation for the size of cigar it can accommodate because it is designed to be fitted to one end of a pencil. A standard pencil is 7.5 millimeters in diameter (approximately 0.3 inches) and a large pencil is 10 millimeters in diameter (approximately 0.4 inches). In contrast, cigar ring gauges most commonly fall between 40 and 52 (0.625 inches and 0.8125 inches, respectively). The '396 patent utilizes a guillotine style cutter to cut the capped end off the cigar, so the cigar must be small enough to fit inside the aperture provided. As this opening is approximately the same diameter as a pencil, the '396 patent contains an inherent size limitation that precludes its use for the most common cigar sizes. It is another object of the invention to overcome the cigar size limitation found in the '396 patent, while not necessarily increasing the diameter of the writing instrument.
U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2005/0257797 A1 (the “'797 publication”) also discloses a combination writing instrument and cigar cutter. The type of cigar cutter utilized by the '797 publication is of the punch variety, and the '797 publication discloses an apparatus having two punches of a different size. This addresses a common situation where a cigar smoker wishes to smokes cigars having different ring gauges, and cigars with different ring gauges require different size smoke passageways at the capped end of the cigar to create proper draw characteristics. A cigar cutter capable of handling cigars is desirable, and the '797 publication provides an apparatus capable of properly cutting cigars of two distinct ring gauges. However, the '797 publication suffers from two deficiencies. The first deficiency is the inherent limitation of the two distinct punches utilized by the '797 publication's apparatus, which means that the '797 publication is incapable of handling an arbitrarily-sized cigar. Adding to this first deficiency is that fact that, after making a first punch in a cigar, it is difficult to make a second punch that overlaps the first without creating an uneven cut that causes the cigar to unravel. The second deficiency is that the '797 publication's writing instrument must be wider than the largest punch embodied in the apparatus. Thus, a known problem of the prior art, for which there is no solution known to the inventor, is providing a cigar drill that is capable of creating the proper size smoke passageway at the capped end of an arbitrarily-sized cigar but that can be disguised as a writing instrument. It is an object of the invention to provide a combination writing instrument and cigar drill that will accommodate an arbitrarily-sized cigar.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The apparatus in accordance with the invention as disclosed herein provides a combination writing instrument and cigar drill that is capable of accommodating many different sizes of cigars, including an arbitrarily-sized cigar. The drill has a small diameter when compared with punch-type cutters of the prior art, which allows the writing instrument to be much narrower than prior art cigar cutter/writing instrument combinations. Further, the drill has no shroud to interfere with removing multiple portions of the cap to create the proper size smoke passageway. Cigars with smaller ring gauges may require only one hole to be made with the invention, while cigars with larger ring gauges may require five or more holes, depending on the user's preference. The invention allows the user to chose the size of the smoke passageway, rather than limiting the user to one or two sizes.
These and other advantages will become apparent from the following detailed description which, when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings, disclose the embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the invention as shown in a writing configuration.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the invention as shown in a cigar drilling configuration.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the invention as shown in use as a cigar drill.

LISTING OF COMPONENTS

101—invention, comprising combination writing instrument and cigar drill
103—writing tip
201—cap
203—bit
205—cigar drill
301—base
303—pen cartridge
305—cavity
307—writing end
309—drill bit fitting
311—drill bit bushing (optional)
313—rotating writing end (optional)
401—cigar

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Turning now to the drawings, FIG. 1 shows the invention 101, a combination writing instrument and cigar drill, in which a writing tip 103 is extended such that the invention is ready to serve as a writing instrument. In the first preferred embodiment, writing tip 103 is permanently extended.
FIG. 2 shows invention 101 where cap 201 is removed and bit 203 is exposed such that the invention is ready to serve as a cigar drill 205. FIG. 2 shows a second preferred embodiment in which writing tip 103 is retracted.
FIG. 3 shows invention 101 exploded into component parts. The portion of cigar drill 205 grasped by the user during operation is base 301. To assemble cigar drill 205, pen cartridge 303 is inserted into a cavity end 305 formed by the hollow interior of base 301 such that writing tip 103 of pen cartridge 303 protrudes from base 301 at writing end 307. Depending on the diameter of the opening formed by cavity 305, drill bit fitting 309 may be assembled by friction fitting into cavity 305, or drill bit bushing 311 may be necessary to ensure a friction fit between base 301 and drill bit fitting 309 strong enough to keep drill bit fitting 309 from rotating when base 301 is used to drill a cigar.
In the second preferred embodiment, writing tip 103 may be extended from or retracted into base 301 by rotating writing end 307 as shown by numeral 313. Persons having skill in the art of writing instruments will recognize that this rotating functionality requires a spring (not shown) to be inserted into cavity 305 before pen cartridge 303, and additionally requires a specific type of pen cartridge such as the Montefiore® ballpoint refill. Additionally, the friction fit between cavity 305 and drill bit fitting 309 must be strong enough so that the spring inserted into cavity 305 does not dislodge drill bit fitting 309 from cavity 305.
As shown in FIG. 4, cap 201 may be removed from base 301 of invention 101 such that bit 203 may be used to perforate the cap end of a cigar 401. The best method for creating smoke passageways is to rotate base 301 in a clockwise direction while gently applying pressure to cap end of cigar 401 with bit 203. The process may be repeated until the desired size of smoke passageway is cumulatively attained.
In an optional third preferred embodiment, drill bit fitting 309 may be replaced by a small motor and an electric battery (not shown). Standard watch batteries power a small motor, preferably a 7mm or smaller diameter pager motor, and the motor automatically rotates bit 203 to create the desired smoke passageways. In the third preferred embodiment, both the battery and pen cartridge 303 are inserted into writing end 307 by removing a rotating writing end cap (not shown), which allows replacement of spent batteries and pen cartridges. To operate the third preferred embodiment, the cigar smoker activates a switch (not shown) on base 301, which allows current to flow from the battery to the motor.
While the inventor has described above what he believes to be the preferred embodiments of the invention, persons having ordinary skill in the art will recognize that other and additional changes may be made in conformance with the spirit of the invention and the inventor intends to claim all such changes as may fall within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A cigar drill disguised to appear like a typical writing instrument, comprising:

a base having a first end with hollow interior and a second end;

a bit insertable into the first end of the base; and

a cap attachable to the base.

2. The cigar drill of claim 1, further comprising a bushing that secures the drill bit fitting to the cavity end of the base.

3. The cigar drill of claim 1, further comprising a spring that is inserted into the base that allows the base to be rotated, which in turn extends and retracts the writing end of the pen cartridge.

4. The cigar drill of claim 1, further comprising a rotary motor to rotate the bit.