Holder for smoking articles

Abstract

A holder for temporarily holding smoking articles is made up of a grasping assembly and an attachment assembly. The grasping assembly, formed of two spaced-apart arms, functions to temporarily grasp the smoking article. The attachment assembly, formed from a Velcro strap, functions to attach the holder to golf cart or golf bag in a variety of selected orientations.

Description

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention relates to a holder for temporarily holding smoking articles, such as cigars, cigarettes, and pipes.

[0002] Individuals who use any one of a variety of smoking articles find that they must always hold the smoking article in one hand and, hence, only have one hand free for their activities. If two hands are required for an activity, they must place the smoking article in an ashtray or on the ground or in some other inconvenient location. Probably the only remaining option is to ask someone else to hold the smoking article, for instance a cigar.

[0003] One of the problems smokers encounter is that they often need to put down the smoking article only temporarily. Such situations are, for example, while fishing, boating or playing golf. A golfer may enjoy a cigar while playing golf but may also need to temporarily put the cigar down while teeing off, driving or putting. Placing the cigar on the ground is not desirable because of the chemicals used on the golf course grass and because it may result in the golfer forgetting to pick up the cigar after completing the shot. Use of an ashtray is not convenient on a golf course. Ashtrays are cumbersome and tend to be unstable devices. Moreover, it is difficult to attach an ashtray to a golf cart or to a golf bag in any usable manner. As such, it would be preferable to provide some form of cigar holder that could be attached to a golf cart or a golf bag for convenient use by a golfer.

[0004] Other examples can be readily found in which a smoking article holding device would be beneficial. For example, it might be beneficial to provide such a holding device in a vehicle or in a home to temporarily hold a cigar in a selected orientation. Additionally, would be beneficial to provide a holder for temporarily holding smoking articles that can be oriented h a variety of positions to facilitate a selected orientation by the smoker. For example, in using such a device with a golf cart, it would be desirable to maintain a selected orientation of the cigar either to maintain the combustion of the cigar or to minimize the combustion of the cigar material or that would position the cigar in such a way that the ashes would not fall in some inconvenient location. Similarly, the same examples might apply with regard to pipes or cigarettes.

[0005] The prior art has generally addressed the problem of temporarily holding smoking articles and has proposed numerous solutions thereto. The prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,706,832; 5,868,143; 5,900,735 and 6,050,228. U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,228 includes an extensive discussion of additional prior art. For the most part, the prior art describe holders for smoking articles that are attached to golf carts or the like using pins, springs or mechanical clamps that limit the surfaces to which the holder may be attached.

[0006] As such, it would be desirable to provide a holder for temporarily holding smoking articles that can be attached to a wide variety of surfaces in a wide variety of selected orientations.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a holder for temporarily holding smoking articles that can be attached to a variety of surfaces and attached in a variety of orientations to hold the smoking articles in the desired attitude.

[0008] Another object of the present invention is to a holder for temporarily holding smoking articles which can accommodate smoking articles of differing sizes, such us cigars, pipe, and cigarettes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] The present invention is directed to a holder for temporarily holding smoking articles in which the holder is made up of a grasping assembly and an attachment assembly.

[0010] The grasping assembly functions to temporarily grasp the smoking article. The grasping assembly includes two spaced-apart arms having opposed faces, wherein at least one of the arms has at least a portion of the face that is spring biased toward the face of the other arm. The spring biased opposing faces are adapted to temporarily grasp the smoking article there between. Optionally, one or both of the arms may have concave face portions to enhance the ability of the arms to engage smoking articles of differing sizes.

[0011] The attachment assembly functions to attach the holder to a variety of surfaces in a variety of selected orientations. The attachment assembly is based on a flexible strap having one end permanently secured to the holder. The loose end of the flexible strap is fitted with a securing means, such as Velcro, to releasable secure the loose end of said strap to the grasping assembly. The flexible strap is used to encircle a portion of a golf cart or golf bag, and the loose end of the flexible strap is secured to the grasping assembly using the securing means such as Velcro. When the flexible strap is secured to the grasping assembly, the holder is removably secured to the golf cart or golf bag in a selected orientation. The inner surface of the flexible strap may be lined with a friction enhancing material, such a foam rubber, to help maintain the holder in the selected orientation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] The organization and manner of the structure and function of the invention, together with the objects and advantages thereof, may be understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein the like reference numerals identity like elements, and in which:

[0013] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the novel holder for temporarily holding smoking articles of the present invention with the holder assembly oriented above the attachment assembly;

[0014] FIG. 2 is an end view novel holder for temporarily holding smoking articles of the present invention showing the holder assembly oriented below the attachment assembly, with a cigar (shown in phantom) grasped by the holder assembly; and

[0015] FIG. 3 is a side view of novel holder for temporarily holding smoking articles of the present invention showing the holder assembly oriented below the attachment assembly, also with a cigar (shown in phantom) grasped by the holder assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] The holder for temporarily holding smoking articles, such as cigars, cigarettes, and pipes of the present invention comprises a grasping assembly 10 and an attachment assembly 30.

[0017] Grasping assembly 10 functions to temporarily grasp the smoking article. In the preferred embodiment grasping assembly 10 comprises a flat base 12 and two spaced-apart arms 14 and 18 extending at right angles from said base 12. Preferably the grasping portion 10 is fabricated from stainless steel or some other non-inflammable material. Arms 14 and 18 have opposed faces 16 and 20. At least one of said arms has at least a portion of its face that is spring biased toward said face of said other arm, wherein said spring biased opposing faces are adapted to temporarily grasp the smoking article there between.

[0018] In the preferred embodiment, a leaf spring 22 includes a flat portion 25 that is affixed to arm 18 by rivet 28. Spring 22 includes a biased portion 26 that is biased toward arm 14 and is adapted to hold a cigar there between, as shown in phantom as C in FIG. 2. Preferably arm 18, on which spring 22 is mounted, is longer that arm 14 so that arm 14 is out of the way when the cigar is placed in the holder or is removed from the holder. Optionally, biased portion 26 of spring 22 or opposing arm 14 or both may have concave face portions to enhance the ability of the holder to engage smoking articles of differing sizes.

[0019] Attachment assembly 30 functions to attach the holder to a portion of a golf cart or golf bag (not shown) in a variety of selected orientations. The attachment assembly is based on a flexible strap 32 having one end 34 permanently secured to the holder. The loose end 38 of flexible strap 32 has a securing means 40 mounted on the inner surface. Securing means 40 is adapted to releasably connect loose end 38 of flexible strap 32 to grasping assembly 10. In the preferred embodiment, secured end 34 of strap 32 is attached to base 12 with rivet 36, as shown in FIG. 2. Base 12 provides a flat surface that enhances the stability of the holder when the holder is mounted on a flat portion of the golf cart or golf bag.

[0020] Flexible strap 32 is used to encircle a portion of a golf cart or golf bag (not shown), and the loose end 38 of the flexible strap 32 may be secured to the holder 10 in a non-permanent (releasable) fashion, with the removable securing means 40 such as Velcro. In the preferred embodiment securing means 40 on loose end 38 of flexible strap 32 is a Velcro fastener. A mating Velcro fastener 42 is permanently attached to the outside of leg 18 of the clamping assembly 10.

[0021] When the flexible strap to encircles a portion of a golf cart or golf bag and loose end 38 is secured to the grasping assembly, the holder is affixed to the golf cart or golf bag in a selected orientation. The inner surface of the flexible strap 32 may be lined with a friction enhancing material, such a foam rubber, to help grip the encircled portion of the golf cart or golf bag and help maintain the holder in the selected orientation.

[0022] In the preferred embodiment, a keeper 50 is mounted on grasping assembly 10. Keeper 50 may be attached to grasping assembly 10 via a loop 54 in strap 32. Opening 52 in keeper 50 is large enough to allow loose end 38 of flexible strap 32 to pass through before being secured to grasping assembly 10. Keeper 50 thus functions to keep loose end 38 of strap 32 close to and aligned with mating Velcro fastener 42 and thus enhances to of 40 securing means to mating Velcro fastener 42.

[0023] In the preferred embodiment, base 12 is flat because the flat base provides a more stable connection to a flat surface on a golf cart or golf bag. When the holder is attached to a curved or tubular surface, a stable connection is provided by loop 54 and keeper 50 cooperate with base 12 to provide a stable attachment.

[0024] The scope of the invention herein shown and described is to be considered only as illustrative. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that numerous modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

The invention claimed is:

1. A holder for temporarily holding smoking articles, said holder comprising a grasping assembly and an attachment assembly; said grasping assembly comprising a base and two spaced-apart arms connected to said base, said two spaced-apart arms having opposed faces, wherein at least one of said arms has at least a portion of its face that is spring biased toward said face of said other arm wherein said spring biased opposing faces are adapted to temporarily grasp the smoking article there between; said attachment assembly comprising a flexible strap having one end permanently secured to said grasping assembly, the loose end of said flexible strap having securing means to removably secure said loose end to said grasping assembly, whereby said flexible strap is adapted to encircle a portion of a golf cart or golf bag, and when said loose end is secured to said grasping assembly affix the holder in a selected attitude to the golf cart or golf bag.

2. The holder as described in claim 1, wherein said securing means comprises Velcro.

3. The holder as described in claim 1, wherein a mating Velcro fastener is mounted on one of said arms.

4. The holder as described in claim 3, wherein a keeper retains said flexible strap in alignment with said mating Velcro means.

5. The holder as described in claim 1, wherein said base is flat.

6. The holder as described in claim 1, wherein said grasping means includes a spring attached on one arm, said spring being biased toward said other arm.

7. The holder as described in claim 1, wherein said one or both of the arms have concave face portions to enhance the ability of the arms to engage smoking articles of differing sizes.