Claims
- 1. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a fuel supply and a blocking surface; a valve for controlling the release of fulel from said fulel supply; an actuator mounted for movement with respect to said housing; an ignition mechanism disposed within the housing, upon movement of said actuator from a first position to an actuation position along a longitudinal axis causing said piezoelectric unit to ignite said fuel; and a biased latch member being coupled to said actuator, such that in a locked position the latch member prevents movement of said actuator from the first position to the actuation position and in an unlocked position the latch member permits movement of said actuator from said first position to said actuation position to actuate said ignition mechanism to ignite said fuel, wherein a user contacts the latch member with a pulp portion of the user's finger to cause movement of the latch member from the locked position to the unlocked position and movement of the actuator from the first position to the actuation position, and upon the user releasing the latch said latch member being biased into the locked position.
- 2. The lighter of claim 1, wherein the latch member is slidable between the locked and unlocked positions.
- 3. The lighter of claim 1, wherein the latch member is pivotable between the locked and unlocked positions.
- 4. The lighter of claim 1, wherein the actuator further includes a sidewall and a rear wall and the latch member is connected to the side wall, and the movement of the latch member from the locked position to the unlocked position is generally along a transverse axis.
- 5. The lighter of claim 4, wherein the latch member is slidable between the locked and unlocked positions.
- 6. The lighter of claim 4, wherein the latch member is pivotable between the locked and unlocked positions.
- 7. The lighter of claim 4, wherein the user's finger makes uninterrupted contact with the finger actuation portion from the movement of the latch member from the locked position to the unlocked position and movement of the actuator from the first position to the actuation position.
- 8. The lighter of claim 1, further comprises a rotation limiting mechanism.
- 9. The lighter of claim 8, wherein the rotation limiting mechanism comprises a ledge dependent from the actuator, said ledge being sized and dimensioned to be received in a corresponding cavity defined on the latch member.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a divisional of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/377,811, filed Aug. 20, 1999, which in turn is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/172,609, filed Oct. 15, 1998. The entire disclosures of both U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/377,811 and 09/172,609 are hereby incorporated by reference.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09377811 |
Aug 1999 |
US |
Child |
09939070 |
Aug 2001 |
US |