Tobacco – Tobacco users' appliance
Patent
1996-01-29
1998-04-07
Millin, Vincent
Tobacco
Tobacco users' appliance
431267, 431273, 431274, 431153, F23D 1136
Patent
active
057352941
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a cigarette lighter having a guard device incorporated into the lighter. Such devices help to resist undesired usage of the lighter by young children.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Recently, attention has been directed toward preventing ready actuation of lighters by persons normally not able to appreciate the potential danger of the flame. Such danger includes the potential to burn the individual directly or to burn surrounding areas or items. Individuals normally contemplated in these efforts are young children in the age category of five years or younger.
A conventional cigarette lighter includes a body containing a fuel reservoir filled with a liquified and pressurized hydrocarbon fuel, a valve actuator lever, a striker wheel, a flint in frictional contact with the striker wheel, a fuel flow control valve in fluid communication with the fuel reservoir. After the striker wheel is rotated against the flint by digital manipulation to produce sparks, the valve actuator lever is depressed allowing gaseous hydrocarbon fuel to flow out of the reservoir through the flow control valve. The sparks then ignite the released fuel producing a flame. Such lighters are known in the art, and are commercially available.
It is relatively easy for the intended adult users to operate the conventional prior art lighters. It is desirable to increase the difficulty of use to limit the ability of young children under five years of age to operate such lighters. For this reason there are many proposed "child-resistant" lighters offered in the patent literature and on the market. Examples of such patents include U.S. Pat. No. 5,125,829; U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,482; U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,886; U.S. Pat. No. 5,090,893; and PCT Application No. WO 93/17282. Each of the disclosed devices has in common the fact that the child-resistant feature somehow acts to block movement of the gas fuel release mechanism to prevent operation of the lighter.
Although many of the currently available designs provide a degree of "child resistancy," there is a continuing search in the art for designs which are easy for the intended adult to operate while retaining their "child resistancy."
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a lighter which is easily operated by an adult, but resistant to operation by young children.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such lighter that can be relatively easy to manufacture with a minimal design modification.
It is another object of the invention to provide a child-resistant feature for such a lighter that is not easily defeated or removed by the normal user.
These and other objects are achieved according to the present invention by a lighter that requires at least a threshold amount of digital pressure, i.e., pressure exerted by a finger or thumb, be applied on a protective guard before the striking wheel assembly can be rotated against the flint to create sparks. Further, the present invention provides a combination of retention elements to make the removal of the protective guard more difficult. Additionally, the present invention includes brake means to prevent the striking wheel assembly from rotating after the valve actuator is depressed.
These features are provided by a lighter comprising a body having a fuel reservoir and a cylindrical cavity, and a striking wheel assembly rotatably mounted on the body at a top end, wherein the striking wheel assembly comprises a rotary sparker and at least one turning wheel mounted co-axially with the rotary sparker. The lighter further comprises a flint disposed within the cylindrical cavity and biased into frictional contact with the rotary sparker, wherein rotation of the rotary sparker against the flint creates sparks, and a valve for releasing fuel from the fuel reservoir to outside the body of the lighter, wherein the valve has an open position and a closed position. The lighter further comprises a valve actuator pivotally attached to the body, wherein the actuator is
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Adams Paul H.
Barone Chris A.
Doiron Gerald J.
Fairbanks Floyd B.
McDonough James M.
Anderson Charles W.
Bic Corporation
Millin Vincent
LandOfFree
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