Patent Application
20060051717
1. Technical Field
The disclosure is directed to an apparatus and method for providing a flame, and is directed more particularly to a lighter, such as is commonly used for lighting cigarettes, with a door panel assembly which enables the provision of the accessible but protected flame, and is still further directed to a method for providing an accessible and protected flame.
2. Related Art
Lighters for lighting cigarettes, cigars, and the like, are well known in the art. Such devices typically include a casing in which is disposed a fuel reservoir, a fuel conduit and valve, and an ignition assembly for activating a flame in one or more nozzles in a burner head portion. To protect the flame against wind and to protect the user and flammable materials from inadvertent contact with the flame, the burner head often is provided with a “windshield,” which typically is a metal wall with holes therein, or a screen-like member.
The lighters are provided with an ignition switch which is operable by a user to activate a flame at the nozzle or nozzles.
Many lighters are provided with a cover pivotally connected to the casing in the area of the burner head and operative in a closed position to enclose the burner head and protect the nozzle from dirt, dust and pocket debris.
In use, the ignition cover is pivoted away from the burner head to expose the nozzle, and the ignition switch is manipulated to activate the flame. The windshield protects the flame from being blown out by wind and serves to guard against unwanted contact between the flame and flammable materials or the user's hands, or the like.
While it is advantageous to provide lighters with ignition covers and windshields, the ignition covers require a first hand movement to move the cover, prior to a second hand movement for initiation of the flame. After the flame has served its purpose, a third hand movement is required to return the ignition cover to its nozzle protecting disposition. The windshield, though effective for its purpose, is not attractive aesthetically and can itself become hot enough to cause at least some discomfort if inadvertently touched by the user.
A need exists for an improved lighter cover assembly.
One feature of the present disclosure is the provision of a lighter including a casing, a burner head extending from the casing, a flame nozzle disposed in the burner head, a manually operable ignition switch mounted on the casing, and an ignition cover extending from the casing and disposed around the burner head, the ignition cover defining an enclosure in which the burner is disposed, and defining an opening generally in alignment with the flame nozzle. A door panel assembly is operative to move from a first disposition closing the ignition cover opening to a second disposition exposing the ignition cover opening and the flame nozzle upon manual manipulation of the ignition switch by a user, and operative to move from the second disposition to the first disposition upon release of the ignition switch by the user.
In accordance with a further feature of the disclosure, there is provided a lighter including a casing for housing a flammable fuel reservoir, a fuel conduit extending from the fuel reservoir, and a fuel-valve for controlling flow of fuel from the fuel reservoir, and an ignition initiator. The lighter further includes a burner head extending from the casing, a flame nozzle disposed in the burner head, a manually operable ignition switch mounted on the casing, and an ignition cover extending from the casing and disposed around the burner head, the ignition cover defining an enclosure in which the burner head is disposed, and defining an opening generally in alignment with the flame nozzle. A door panel assembly is operative to close the opening in the ignition cover and further operative to expose the opening and thereby expose the flame nozzle, the ignition switch being operative, upon the manual manipulation thereof by a user, to activate the flow of fuel to the flame nozzle and to activate the ignition initiator, and the ignition switch being further operative upon the manipulation thereof by the user, to simultaneously activate movement of the door panel assembly to expose the flame nozzle and a flame supported by the flame nozzle.
In accordance with a further feature of the disclosure, there is provided a door panel assembly for a lighter. The assembly includes an ignition cover disposed at one end of the lighter and having an opening in an end wall thereof, side walls of the ignition cover surrounding a burner head portion of the lighter having a flame nozzle therein, a door panel for disposition in the ignition cover opening and movable to a position removed from the opening and within the ignition cover, and an ignition switch mounted on the lighter and operative, when manipulated by a user, to initiate a flame which extends from the nozzle in the burner head in the ignition cover. A linkage assembly in the lighter is operative, upon the manipulation by the user to initiate the flame, to substantially simultaneously move the door panel from the disposition in the ignition cover opening to the position removed from the opening and within the ignition cover.
In accordance with a still further feature of the disclosure, there is provided a method for providing a protected flame, the method includes the steps of providing a lighter having a casing, a burner head extending from the casing, a flame nozzle disposed in the burner head, an ignition cover defining an enclosure in which the burner is disposed and defining an opening generally in alignment with the flame nozzle, a door panel assembly operative to move between a first disposition closing the opening and a second disposition exposing the opening, and an ignition switch mounted on the casing and operable to activate and deactivate a flame supported by the flame nozzle, and to initiate movement of the door panel assembly. The method further includes the steps of manually operating the ignition switch to activate a flame at the flame nozzle and, simultaneously, to cause the door panel assembly to move to the first disposition, such that the flame is exposed and accessible through the opening but is shielded by the ignition cover, and releasing the ignition switch, to deactivate the flame, and simultaneously, to cause the door panel assembly to move to the second disposition, such that the opening defined by the ignition cover is closed.
The above and other features of the disclosure, including various novel details of construction and combinations of parts, and method steps, will now be more particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the claims. It will be understood that the particular device and method embodying the disclosure are shown by way of illustration only and not as limitations of the disclosure. The principles and features of this disclosure may be employed in various and numerous embodiments without departing from the scope of the disclosure.
Reference is made to the accompanying drawings in which are shown illustrative embodiments of the disclosure, from which its novel features and advantages will be apparent.
In the drawings:
The present disclosure is directed to a lighter with a cover that has a cover assembly that includes retractable doors, allowing accessibility of a flame for the purpose of lighting a cigarette, or the like, while keeping the flame protected from wind or inadvertent contact with the user or flammable materials. The cover assembly facilitates a quick and easy method for providing an accessible but protected flame and for extinguishing the flame after use and protecting the nozzle from dirt, dust, pocket debris, and the like.
The cover assembly is automatic, that is, it does not require that the user manually move an ignition cover away from the flame supporting nozzle before activating a flame in the nozzle, and also does not require that the user manually move the ignition cover so as to cover the nozzle after use of the lighter. Thus, the lighter further includes an accessible but protected flame with a single movement of a switch and permits total enclosure of the lighter nozzle and deactivation of the flame simply by release of the switch.
Referring to
A manually operable ignition switch 18 is slidably mounted on a front portion 20 of the casing 12.
Referring to
The ignition cover 14 includes an endless side wall 26 disposed around the burner head 22 and includes an end wall 28 which defines an opening 30.
A door panel assembly 32 includes at least one door panel 34, two panels 34, 34a being illustrated in the drawings.
As illustrated in
The ignition switch 18 is provided with an inwardly extending prong 36 (
The door panel 34 is fixed to a first leg 64 of an angle piece 66 including a second leg 68 extending generally normal to the first leg 64, and a third leg 70 extending at an angle to the second leg 68, such that the second and third legs 68, 70 form a generally V-shaped notch 72 therebetween.
Similarly, the door panel 34a is fixed to a first leg 64a of an angle piece 66a including a second leg 68a extending generally normal to the first leg 64a, and a third leg 70a extending at an angle to the second leg 68a, such that the second and third legs 68a, 70a form a generally V-shaped notch 72a therebetween.
The projections 60, 62 are respectively disposed in the notches 72, 72a. The angle pieces 66, 66a are pivotally mounted on pivot pins 80, 80a, respectively. The crossbar 44 is spring-biased in a direction toward the ignition cover 14.
The crossbar 44 carries a post 74 which, at the distal end thereof, is in contact with a fuel valve 76 disposed in a fuel line 78.
The lighter at rest exhibits the ignition cover opening 30 closed by the door panels 34, 34a and the ignition switch 18 is in an uppermost position, as shown in
To initiate a flame, a user typically holds the lighter 10 in one hand and with the thumb of that hand presses against a surface 82 of the ignition switch 18 to urge the switch downwardly, as viewed in
As the crossbar 44 moves downwardly, the angle pieces 66, 66a are pivoted about their respective pivot pins 80, 80a, as shown in
Simultaneously, the post 74 depending from the crossbar 44 operates the fuel valve 76 to permit fuel to pass into the fuel line 78 and thence to the nozzles 24, 24a in the burner head 22. The movement of the crossbar also activates an ignition initiator, not shown but well known in the art, to initiate a flame in each of the flame nozzles 24, 24a. An appropriate ignition initiator is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,240, issued May 3, 1994 in the name of Hans Lowenthal, and incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, with a single hand movement, the lighter provides a flame or combination of flames in the burner head 22, disposed within the ignition cover 14, and extending through the ignition cover opening 30, and which is protected from wind and inadvertent contact with the user or flammable materials.
After use, to extinguish the flame, the user merely releases the ignition switch 18, which thereupon snaps back, under spring pressure, into the raised position, to stop flow of fuel to the burner head 22 and to close doors 34, 34a in order to protect the burner head 22, allowing the lighter to be immediately returned to a clothing pocket with the nozzle protected from pocket debris.
There is thus provided a lighter in which the flame is accessible but protected, and in which a single hand movement serves to activate the flame and render the flame accessible, and a simple release movement serves to deactivate the flame and close the lighter to dirt and debris. There is further provided a door panel assembly which facilitates such advantages, and a method for providing a flame, the method utilizing the aforementioned advantages and features.
It will be understood that many additional changes in the details, materials, method steps and arrangement of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the disclosure, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principles and scope of the disclosure as expressed in the appended claims.
