Disposable lighter with safety ignition feature

Abstract

A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit is comprised of a body and a head, wherein a nozzle, a ring, a wind mask, a lever press plate, a spring, a flint, a bracket and an igniting wheel set with safety ignition unit are arranged on said head. The igniting wheel set with safety ignition unit includes two central axles, two cinctures and an ignition wheel which is used to make friction with said flint so as to generate sparks, said two cinctures are located on each end of said igniting wheel, the inner diameter(s) of said cincture is slightly larger than the outer diameter of the portions of the igniting wheel set which they encircle, so as to form the rotation of the cinctures as “sliding wheels.” The two central axles are supported on the bracket of the outer head and act as common rotational axle of said cinctures and igniting wheel. Characterized by its reasonably structured design and low cost, the present disposable lighter can effectively avoid dangers caused by ignition of lighter by a child or errors in operation.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of one embodiment of the disposable lighter with safety ignition feature.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invented ignition wheel set, that is, the ignition wheel set of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the ignition wheel set of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of a disposable lighter such as the embodiment in FIGS. 1-3, illustrating the pieces-parts of the lighter including some of the internals.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of the schematic disposable lighter of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view of another embodiment of disposable lighter according to the invention.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of the igniting wheel set with safety device of the embodiment of FIG. 6 (Note that the innermost apertures 312 are shown larger than the preferred diameter, which preferred diameter is slightly larger than the diameter of the middle axle 323 and yet not as large as the outer diameter of the igniting wheel 33 so that the cinctures do not slide inward axially toward the middle region of the igniting wheel).

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of the igniting wheel set with safety device according to the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view of an adult user's thumb igniting the lighter using an embodiment of the invented igniting wheel set with safety device, wherein the adult user's thumb is capable of sufficient force to contact and turn the igniting wheel.

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of a child's thumb trying to ignite the lighter, wherein the child's thumb cannot contact the igniting wheel due to insufficient force, and, hence, cannot turn the igniting wheel to ignite the lighter.

Claims

1. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit comprised of a body and a head, wherein a nozzle, a ring, a wind mask, a lever press plate, a spring, a flint, a bracket and an igniting wheel set are arranged on said head, said igniting wheel set includes two central axles joined to a central igniting wheel to form a axle-igniting-wheel combination, wherein the igniting wheel is adapted to make friction with said flint so as to generate sparks, and two cinctures are located on each end of said igniting wheel and encircling a portion of the axle-igniting-wheel combination, wherein the inner diameter of each of said cinctures is slightly larger than the outer diameter of said portion to create a gap, so the cinctures are adapted to rotate relative to the axle-igniting wheel combination, and said two central axles are supported on said bracket and act as a common rotational axle of said cinctures and igniting wheel.

2. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein each of said cinctures is a smooth cincture having a smooth outer perimeter.

3. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein said gap between said cincture and said axle-igniting wheel combination is 0.1 mm, which reduces friction between said cinctures and said combination to make ignition more difficult.

4. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 2, wherein said gap between said cincture and said axle-igniting wheel combination is 0.1 mm, which reduces friction between said cinctures and said combination to make ignition more difficult.

5. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 3, wherein the gap between the cincture and said combination can be used to reduce the friction, make the ignition more difficult and give the user good hand feel.

6. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 4, wherein the gap between the cincture and igniting wheel can be used to reduce the friction, make the ignition more difficult and give the user good hand feel.

7. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein said central axle is composed of an outer axle supported on said bracket, a middle axle inserted into said cincture, and an inner axle inserted in an axial hole of said igniting wheel.

8. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 2, wherein said central axle is composed of an outer axle supported on said bracket, a middle axle inserted into said cincture, and an inner axle inserted in an axial hole of said igniting wheel.

9. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 7, wherein an inner surface of said cincture, the middle axle of said central axle, inner axle of said central axle, and the axial hole of said igniting wheel have a polygonal structure.

10. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 9, wherein said polygonal structure is a polygonal structure with more than six sides.

11. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein between said central axle and said cincture there is a polygonal interface used to connect the devices moving inwardly.

12. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein sufficient strength must be applied to rotate the igniting wheel so as to generate sparks.

13. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein each of said central axles comprise a main disc having a radial surface facing said igniting wheel and an outer perimeter surface, and wherein said igniting wheel is adapted to ignite only if said igniting wheel is forced to move by a user and wherein said cinctures cover said central axle radial surface and said outer perimeter surface so that a user cannot contact said axle radial surface and said outer perimeter surface and the user must directly contact the igniting wheel in between the cinctures in order to rotate the igniting wheel and ignite the lighter.

14. A disposable lighter with safety ignition unit according to claim 1, wherein an inner surface of said cincture and an outer surface of said middle axle are both smooth, for reducing friction between said cincture and said middle axle.