Pipe-tamper, &c.

Application filed. September 18, 1911. Serial No. 649,902.

To dll whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Pickering Dodge, a citizen of the United States, residing at Falls Church, in the county of Fairfax and State of Virginia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Tampers, &c., of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved device especially designed for smokers’ use.

It is a well known fact that tobacco should be packed in the bowl of a pipe to insure a. proper combustion. It is also a well known fact that tobacco thus used burns outwardly from the center instead of vice versa. It also happens when pipes are being used that tobacco or other pieces of obstruction become lodged within the pipe stem adjacent the bowl and thereby prevent the free passage of smoke through the stem.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a tool, by means of which the tobacco in the pipe bowl may not only be compacted, but will be compacted in a manner to convex the upper portion thereof so. that when the tobacco is lighted, the same will be insured the proper combustion.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose described which is provided with a hollow extension, constituting a hand-piece, which is adapted, to receive and retain against accidental displacement, a tool adapted to pierce or penetrate the tobacco in the bowl and assist in removing any obstruction which may be present at that'end of the stem.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described in which a finger-piece is connected to the tobacco piercing tool which will form a contact piece for the operator’s finger, in using the device as a whole as a tobacco tamper.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described, in which the hollow hand-piece and the finger-piece of the tool are formed in such a manner that when the same are assembled the tool may be easily and quickly withdrawn from its holder.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a device for the purpose described which is composed of a minimum number of parts, is therefore simple in construction and is cheap to manufacture.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportion, size and 60 minor details of construction within the scope of the claim, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:—Figure 1 is a perspec- 65 tive view of the device showing the parts in assembled relation. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the tobacco tamper, showing the same associated with a pipe, and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the tobacco 70 penetrating tool.

Like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the invention 75 comprises a circular head 5, which is provided on one side with a concaved face 6.. Extending centrally from the head 5, opposite the face 6, is.a stem 7, which constitutes a hand-piece. This hand-piece is provided 80 with a narrow elongated opening 8, which terminates as at 9 and near the head 5. Formed in the stem 7 at its free end is an enlarged and preferably circular opening 10 having a vertical wall 11. This wall 11 85 terminates in an inwardly tapering wall 12 which communicates with the outer end of the opening 8 and forms a guide for a purpose hereinafter described. The outer face 13 of the stem in inwardly curved as in- 90 dicated at 14 and this curve merges with the outer edge of the wall 11.

The invention further comprises a tobacco piercing tool which consists of an elongated and relatively thin stem 15 which is formed 95 at one end with a point 16 and terminates at its other end in a finger-piece 17. The stem and the finger-piece are preferably integral and formed of aluminum or other suitable material. The finger-piece 17 is 100 preferably spherical in shape and. terminates adjacent the stem 15 in a tapering shank 18, the smaller end thereof being disposed adjacent the said stem. The larger end 19 of said shank is formed with a di- 105 ameter slightly larger than the diameter of the opening 10 of the hand-piece 7. Thus it will be observed that when the parts are being assembled? the point 16 will be inserted in the opening 10 and upon inner 110 movement, the said point will, of course, engage the tapering wall 12 which will

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1,019,028 guide the said point 16 into the opening 8. As the stem 15 is pushed inwardly, the shank 18 will be disposed within the opening 10, and the larger portion 19 of said 5 shank will be caused to frictionally engage the outer end of the wall 11 of said opening 10 and thereby securely retain the tool in position. It will also be observed that when the parts are thus assembled, the 10 curved outer face 14 of the stem 7 and the spherical shape of the finger-piece 17 of the tool will coact to form a circumferential recess, whereby the withdrawing of the tool from the stem 7 will be greatly facilitated 15 by reason of the fingers of the operator being permitted to easily engage the fingerpiece 17.

When the parts are assembled, the fingerpiece 17 serves to form a support for the 20 operator’s finger, when the device is being used as a tobacco tamper. The stem 15 can thus be quickly withdrawn from its holder and then the same can be used to pierce the tobacco in a bowl for the purpose of remov25 ing any obstruction which may be lodged in the inlet end of the pipe stem.

By reason of the fact that the face 6 of . the head 5 is concaved, the tobacco will be correspondingly shaped and this will nec30 essarily cause the tobacco to have the proper combustion.

The piercing tool can also be used to loosen up the ashes left in the bowl so that the said ashes may be easily removed. Furthermore, it will be observed that by reason 35 of the lower face of the head being concaved, the tool may be carried in the pocket without soiling the lining.