Safety lighter with compound finger pad

Details Safety lighter with compound finger pad Safety lighter with compound finger pad

2000-01-04

2001-05-01

Price, Carl D. (Department: 3743)

Combustion

Correlation of fuel or power supply with component movements...

C431S277000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06224368

ABSTRACT:

TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to child safety lighters of the type rendering the actuation of the lighter difficult, if not impossible, by a child, and particularly relates to a safety lighter having a compound finger pad for increasing the difficulty of lighter actuation by a child.
BACKGROUND
There is current emphasis in providing safety features for lighters, particularly to prevent actuation of the lighters by children. Many such child safety lighters have focused on preventing depression of the thumb pad of the valve actuator lever. In most conventional lighters, the thumb pad is mounted on one end of a pivotal lever having its opposite end in engagement with a valve for displacing the valve between valve-open and valve-closed positions. In the valve-open position, of course, fuel from the lighter's fuel reservoir is supplied to an ignition region where a spark ignites the fuel and, hence, the lighter. On those conventional child safety lighters, locking mechanisms are typically provided to prevent depression of the lever by thumb pressure on the thumb pad unless and until a safety latch is displaced. In those lighters, once the safety latch is moved to the unlocked position, the lighter is enabled for actuation by thumb pressure on the thumb pad. Actuation of the lighter by a child is thus much more difficult because of the necessity to manipulate the safety latch into its unlocked position prior to depressing the thumb pad. This complicates lighter actuation, presumably beyond the child's capability.
Other types of child safety lighters have incorporated slip wheels astride the spark wheel, preventing rotation of the spark wheel and the generation of a spark absent sufficient pressure on the slip wheels and spark wheel. Typically, the slip wheel serves as a mechanical barrier, preventing a child's thumb access to the spark wheel, with the slip wheels freely rotating relative to the spark wheel, effectively preventing generation of a spark by rotation of the spark wheel. This type of child safety lighter is particularly effective should the child rub the slip wheel along a surface which results only in free-wheeling rotation of the slip wheels and not rotation of the spark wheel.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, a different approach to child safety lighters is taken. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a compound finger pad having discrete first and second finger-engageable surfaces forming respective parts of two relatively movable elements is provided. The first finger-engageable surface comprises one end of a first element preferably in the form of a lever pivotally mounted between support arms upstanding from the lighter housing. The first element terminates at its opposite end in a catch engaging a fuel valve. By pivoting this first element by application of thumb pressure on the first finger pad surface thereof, the element displaces the valve from its closed position to an open position, enabling fuel to enter the ignition region. The second finger-engageable surface comprises one end of a lever, the opposite end of which is pivoted relative to the first element. In the non-actuated condition of the lighter, the first and second finger-engageable surfaces preferably form a continuation of one another simulating a continuous single thumb pad. However, alternate arrangements of the first and second finger-engageable surfaces may locate the second surface higher or lower relative to the first surface thereby forming a discontinuous compound finger or thumb pad. Thus, in the preferred embodiment, the combined first and second finger-engageable surfaces of these two elements appears very similar to or identical to the traditional thumb pad for the valve actuating lever of a conventional lighter while the alternate arrangements are very nearly similar to the conventional thumb pad. It will also be appreciated that the first finger-engageable surface is considerably smaller than the traditional area of the thumb pad of a conventional lighter.
The first finger-engageable surface is also located between the second finger-engageable surface and the spark wheel. That is, the first finger-engageable surface for actuating the lighter is surrounded or bounded, by the second finger-engageable surface on all sides, except between the first finger-engageable surface and the spark wheel. The first finger-engageable surface therefore provides a reduced area for application of thumb pressure in comparison with the surface area of the traditional thumb pad. Also, the second finger-engageable surface, when engaged by a child's thumb, is depressible relative to the first finger-engageable surface. Because the second finger-engageable surface is attached to an element carried by the lighter which has no effect on opening or closing the fuel valve, depression of the second finger-engageable surface cannot actuate the lighter. In the preferred embodiment, both surfaces are biased into a position such that the surfaces form a continuous compound finger pad, i.e., a continuation of one another, when the first finger-engageable surface lies in a valve-closed position. In alternative embodiments, one of the surfaces may be displaced above or below the other surface in the valve-closed position to form a discontinuous compound finger or thumb pad.
With the texture and color of the surfaces being substantially the same, the first finger-engageable surface is not readily identified or discerned by the child as a further lighter-actuating element and, hence, conceals the element of the lighter, i.e., the first finger-engageable surface, which, in fact, will cause actuation. Alternatively, the texture or color of the surfaces may be contrasted to one another. For example, the color of the second surface may be sharper, brighter or different from the color of the first surface. By adopting contrasting indicia, i.e., color and texture, on the first and second surfaces, it is possible to draw a child's attention to concentrate on the second surface and to ignore the first surface.
Because of the reduction in size of the first finger-engageable surface as compared with a full-sized conventional thumb pad, actuation of the lighter is difficult because only the tip or edge of an individual's thumb can engage the first finger-engageable surface. Also, because of the smaller size of the first finger-engageable surface and its location between the second finger-engageable surface and the spark wheel, the magnitude of the force and thumb dexterity required to actuate the lighter is substantially increased. Further, because of a child's smaller thumb size and inability to apply substantial force to the first finger-engageable surface, the lighter is virtually impossible to actuate by a child even assuming the child is aware that lighter actuation requires depression of the first finger-engageable surface.
In a preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a safety lighter comprising a lighter housing having a reservoir for containing a combustible fuel, a valve for releasing the fuel from the reservoir and movable between valve-open and valve-closed positions, a device for producing a spark for igniting fuel released from the valve when the valve lies in the valve-open position and first and second elements mounted for movement on the lighter housing and having respective first and second finger-engageable surfaces, the first element being coupled to the valve and movable by finger pressure on the first surface to move the valve from the valve-closed position to the valve-open position, the second element being movable by finger pressure on the second surface without moving the valve from the closed position.
In a further preferred embodiment according to the present invention, there is provided a safety lighter comprising a lighter housing having a reservoir for containing a combustible fuel, a valve for releasing the fuel from the reservoir and movable between valve-open and

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