Abstract
The apparatus solves at least one technical problem, disclosed herein, resulting from lighting and/or vaporizing a smokeable material (material hereafter). Embodiments include a heating assembly responsive to electrical stimulus to heat incoming air to create heated air delivered to material to light and/or vaporize it without direct physical contact to create air mixed with vaporized and/or ignition byproducts intended for human consumption. The apparatus may further include a power assembly adapted and/or configured to couple at least electrically with the heating assembly to provide electrical stimulus to heat the air. The apparatus may further include a lighter and/or a pipe containing at least one instance of the heating assembly, with or without the power assembly.
Claims
1. An apparatus, comprising: 1A) a heat source adapted to light/vaporize a smokable material containing at least one cannabis related product; 1B) wherein said heat source is adapted and/or configured to light/vaporize said smokable material without direct physical contact between said heat source and said smokable material; and 1C) wherein said apparatus solves at least one smoking technical problem for a user of said apparatus resulting from said lighting/vaporizing of said smokable material.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said at least one smoking technical problem includes at least one of the following technical problems resulting from said lighting/vaporizing of said smokable material: 2A) chemical residues accumulating near and/or on said apparatus; 2B) excessive incineration of said smokable material; 2C) release of at least one undesirable biproduct and/or at least one undesirable flavor ingested by said user; 2D) damage to the flavor of said smokable material once lighted/vaporized; and 2E) damage to the natural effect of said smokable material once lighted/vaporized.
3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising 3A) a heating assembly including a housing, and said heat source; 3B) wherein said housing couples to said heat source to provide a safe distance between said heat source and said smokable material to insure no direct contact between said heat source and said smokable material to solve said at least one of said smoking technical problems for said user.
4. The apparatus of claim 1, 4A) wherein said heating assembly further includes a first air inlet and a first air outlet; 4B) wherein said first air inlet is adapted to provide air into said heat source and said first air outlet provides a heated version of said air (heated air hereafter) from said heat source; 4C) wherein said housing contains a first entrance of said air into said first air inlet and said first outlet of said heated air.
5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said heating assembly further includes: 5A) a first electrical contact and a second electrical contact adapted to provide electrical power across said heat source to create said heated air sent to said first outlet.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein said heat source implements creating said heated air to light/vaporize said smokable material through at least one of 6A) resistive heating in response to said electrical power across said heat source to create said heated air; 6B) inductive heating in response to said electrical power across said heat source to create said heated air; and 6C) convective heating in response to said electrical power across said heat source.
7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprises 7A) a power assembly adapted to mechanically couple to said heating assembly to electrically couple to said first contact and adapted to contain at least one battery adapted to provide a first battery terminal and a second battery terminal; 7B) wherein said power assembly is configured to use said second battery terminal to generate said electrical power used in said heating assembly to create said heated air.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, 8A) wherein said power assembly incorporates a battery body of a vaping device adapted to screw onto said heating assembly to mechanically couple said power assembly to said heating assembly and couple said first contact between said power assembly and said heating assembly.
9. The apparatus of claim 7 adapted to implement at least one of: 9A) a lighter adapted and/or configured to light/vaporize said smokable material without direct physical contact between said heat source and said smokable material, comprising said heating assembly coupled to said power assembly; and 9B) a pipe adapted and/or configured to light/vaporize said smokable material without direct physical contact between said heat source and said smokable material, comprising said heating assembly coupled to said power assembly.
10. The apparatus of claim 9, 10A) wherein said lighter couples to a second pipe to light/vaporize said smokable material without direct physical contact between said heat source and said smokable material.
11. The apparatus of claim 9, 11A) wherein said pipe is adapted and/or configured to include said heating assembly mechanically coupled to said pipe to implement at least two settings of said heating assembly; 11B) wherein a first setting configures said heating assembly near said smokable material of said pipe to support lighting/vaporizing said smokable material by operating said heating assembly; and 11C) wherein a second setting configures said heating assembly away from said smokable material of said pipe so that said heating assembly remains mechanically coupled to said pipe when said smokable material is not being lighted/vaporized.
12. The apparatus of claim 1, 12A) wherein said heat source contains at least one heating element composed of at least one essentially non-reactive component; 12B) wherein said essentially non-reactive component is a chemical composition which does not form oxides in the presence of oxygen except at a temperature above the operating range required to light said smokable material.
13. The apparatus of claim 12, 13A) wherein said essentially non-reactive component contains at least one of a stainless steel, a titanium, a titanium alloy, a platinum, a woven carbon nanotube structure, an essentially non-reactive ceramic, a kanthal, a nichrome, a nickel and an aluminum nitrate.
14. The apparatus of claim 9, 14A) wherein said pipe is adapted and/or configured for said smokable material in at least one of a dry herb form of said smokable material, a dry concentrate of said smokable material, a liquid form of said smokable material, and an extract of said smokable material.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0037] FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B show example embodiments of the electronic heating device including a heating assembly. As shown these embodiments include a power assembly electrically coupled to the heating assembly to provide electrical stimulus to the heating assembly. FIG. 1B shows the electronic heating device providing heated air to smokeable material, lighting the material without direct physical contact to provide vaporized and/or burned material mixed with air for the purpose of human inhalation.
[0038] FIG. 1C schematically shows the technical problems being solved by one or more embodiments.
[0039] FIG. 1D schematically shows a summary of the various implementations of the heat source for creating the heated air, during the operation of the heating assembly of FIG. 1B.
[0040] FIG. 1E, FIG. 1F, FIG. 1G, FIG. 1H and FIG. 1I show some examples of the smokeable material FIG. 1B.
[0041] FIG. 1J shows schematically some compositions of the heat source and heating element of FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B. The heat source and/or the heating element may include any combination of the essentially non-reactive components.
[0042] FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B show two examples of the lighter, the heating assembly and the power assembly shown in FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B.
[0043] FIG. 2C shows some details of operation of the heating assembly of FIG. 1B electrically stimulated wherein the arrows indicate airflow and the heat source operates to heat the air entering through the air inlet to create the heated air, which is intended to vaporize and/or ignite the smokable material in a pipe loaded with the material.
[0044] FIG. 2D and FIG. 2E show an example of components adapted and configured to create the heating assembly shown in other drawings.
[0045] FIG. 3A shows some details of the Stainless Steel (SS) Cone shell as it looks for use in the heating assembly of at least some other drawings. FIG. 3B shows a side view of the heating assembly. And FIG. 3C shows a cross section of the heating assembly.
[0046] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B show two views of an exploded part diagram of the heating assembly.
[0047] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B further show an example of the pipe adapted and configured to include and use the heating assembly and the power assembly further acting as a carburetor pipe.
[0048] FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B and FIG. 7A show an example of the pipe adapted and configured to include and use the heating assembly and the power assembly further acting as a water pipe. The second setting of the water pipe of FIG. 7A may operate similarly to the second setting of FIG. 7B. FIG. 7C shows some further details of FIG. 7A for the water pipe.
[0049] FIG. 8 further shows the water pipe including a Carburetor inlet.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0050] In at least some of these embodiments, the apparatus includes at least one of the following: [0051] A heat source first shown in FIG. 1A adapted to light the smokable material first shown in FIG. 1B. The heat source is adapted and/or configured to light the smokable material without direct physical contact between the heat source and the smokable material. The apparatus additionally solves at least one smoking technical problem shown in FIG. 1C for a user of the apparatus resulting from the lighting of the smokable material.
[0052] FIG. 1C shows at least one smoking technical problem includes at least one of the following technical problems resulting from the lighting and/or vaporizing of the smokable material: [0053] One or more chemical residues accumulates near and/or on the apparatus; [0054] Excessive incineration(s) of the smokable material; [0055] Release of at least one undesirable biproduct and/or undesirable flavor ingested by the user; [0056] Damage to the flavor of the smokable material once ignited; and [0057] Damage to the natural effect of the smokable material once ignited.
[0058] FIG. 1D shows the heat source may create the heated air to light and/or vaporize the smokable material through at least one of [0059] Resistive heating in response to the electrical power across the heat source to create the heated air, [0060] Inductive heating in response to the electrical power across the heat source to create the heated air, and [0061] Convective heating in response to the electrical power across the heat source.
[0062] In each embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise a power assembly adapted, as first shown in FIG. 1A, to mechanically couple to the heating assembly to electrically couple to the first contact and adapted to contain at least one battery adapted to provide a first battery terminal and a second battery terminal. The assembly may be configured to use the second battery terminal to generate the electrical power used in the heating assembly to create the heated air. [0063] The power assembly may incorporate a battery body of a vaping device adapted to screw onto the heating assembly to mechanically couple the power assembly to the heating assembly and couple the first contact between the power assembly and the heating assembly.
[0064] In each embodiment, the apparatus may be adapted to implement at least one of: [0065] A lighter first shown in FIG. 1A adapted and/or configured to light/vaporize the smokable material without direct physical contact between the heat source and the smokable material, comprising the heating assembly coupled to the power assembly. [0066] And a pipe first shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, adapted and/or configured to light/vaporize the smokable material without direct physical contact between the heat source and the smokable material, comprising the heating assembly coupled to the power assembly. As used herein, the term to light/vaporize refers to lighting and/or vaporizing.
[0067] The lighter may couple with a second pipe as shown in FIG. 1B to light the smokable material without direct physical contact between the heat source and the smokable material.
[0068] The pipe, as first shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, may be adapted and/or configured to include the heating assembly mechanically coupled to the pipe to implement at least two settings of the heating assembly. [0069] A first setting shown in FIG. 5A, may configure the heating assembly near the smokable material of the pipe to support lighting/vaporizing the smokable material by operating the heating assembly. [0070] A second setting shown in FIG. 5B, may configure the heating assembly away from the smokable material of the pipe so that the heating assembly remains mechanically coupled to the pipe when the smokable material is not being lighted/vaporized.
[0071] In each embodiment, the heat source may contain at least one heating element composed of at least one essentially non-reactive component as shown in FIG. 1J. [0072] The essentially non-reactive component is a chemical composition which does not form oxides in the presence of oxygen except at a temperature above the operating range required to light the smokable material. [0073] As used herein, the operating range required to light a smokeable material is likely to vary based upon atmospheric pressure and relative humidity. By way of example, atmospheric pressure is often a function on Earth of one's local elevation above sea level. Relative humidity can vary, but will be hypothetically assumed to be the humidity range of a country such as the United States, or a continent such as South America. In both of the examples, the relative humidity range is from near 0, say 1 percent (%) to 100%. Hypothetically, atmospheric pressure will range from an average atmospheric pressure at sea level to 5 kilometers (km) or more in altitude. In other circumstances, taking into account ambient temperature may be useful. It seems reasonable to assume an ambient temperature range of a temperate to tropical climate, possibly from an artic climate through temperate to tropical to desert climate. [0074] By way of example, given some combination of the preceding hypotheses, cannabis may have a vaporization temperature of about 315 degrees Centigrade, or about 446 degrees Fahrenheit. The ignition temperature may be about 450 degrees Centigrade. Based upon these or similar estimates derived from specific conditions outlined above, the operating range of cannabis vaporization and/or combustion may be between 315 and 450 degrees Centigrade. [0075] Another example, tobacco (under similar hypothetical conditions) may have a vaporization temperature of about 257 degrees Centigrade, or about 392 degrees Fahrenheit. The ignition temperature could not be readily found in a preliminary web search, but is likely to be in the neighborhood of 500 degrees Centigrade. This and the preceding two paragraphs constitute an effort to disclose the best mode of the apparatus of this patent application in terms of the thoughts of the inventors. Note that some of the operating conditions are hypothetical, and subject to later and possibly better estimates than are available to the inventors at this time. [0076] As used herein, the essentially non-reactive component does not form oxides except at a temperature above the operating range, for example, at temperature N degrees Centigrade above the operating range. N may be a member of a group consisting essentially of 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 75, 100, 200, and/or 300 degrees Centigrade above the operating range. [0077] For example, the essentially non-reactive component may contain at least one of a stainless steel, a titanium, a titanium alloy, a platinum, a woven carbon nanotube structure, an essentially non-reactive ceramic, a kanthal, a nichrome, a nickel and an aluminum nitrate.
[0078] In each embodiment, the pipe may be adapted and/or configured for the smokable material as shown in FIG. 1E through FIG. 1G, in at least one of a dry herb form of the smokable material, a dry concentrate of the smokable material, a liquid form of the smokable material, and an extract of the smokable material.
[0079] By way of further examples, consider FIG. 2A to FIG. 2E. FIG. 2A shows a version of the heating assembly of FIG. 1A having a height (disregarding the mechanical coupling to the power assembly) of 25 millimeters (mm) and a width of about 22 mm. Note that 25 mm is about one inch.
[0080] FIG. 2B shows a second version of the heating assembly of FIG. 1A again with a height of about 25 mm but a width of about 12 mm. In this version of the heating assembly, the housing is essentially a hollow cylinder, possibly providing notches for the heat source to be held.
[0081] FIG. 2C shows some details of FIG. 1B, showing air flowing into the air inlet, the heating source interacting with the air flow from the air inlet to create the heated air traversing the air outlet of FIG. 1A, heats the smokable material thereby lighting the smokable material without direct physical contact as shown in FIG. 1B.
[0082] FIG. 2D and FIG. 2E show an example of components adapted and configured to create the heating assembly of other drawings. As used in these drawings, SS indicates at least one form of Stainless Steel. Note that in this example, the SS Cone Shell, when assembled in the heating assembly of other drawings may provide more than one air inlet.
[0083] FIG. 3A shows some details of the SS Cone shell as it looks for use in the heating assembly. FIG. 3B shows a side view of the heating assembly. And FIG. 3C shows a cross section of the heating assembly.
[0084] FIG. 4A and FIG. 4B show two views of an exploded part diagram of the heating assembly. FIG. 4A shows a slanted view of the components. FIG. 4B shows a side view of the components.
[0085] FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B further show an example of the pipe adapted and/or configured to include and use the heating assembly and the power assembly further acting as a carburetor pipe.
[0086] FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B and FIG. 7A show an example of the pipe adapted and configured to include and use the heating assembly and the power assembly further acting as a water pipe. The second setting of the water pipe of FIG. 7A may operate similarly to the second setting of FIG. 7B. FIG. 7C shows some further details of FIG. 7A for the water pipe. And FIG. 8 further shows the water pipe including a Carburetor inlet.
