Patent Grant
9851104
The present disclosure relates to a lighting apparatus and more particularly a lighting apparatus used to ignite tobacco-based products having a sensitized tip.
The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and should not be construed as constituting prior art.
The production of tobacco-based products (cigarettes) has become a major industry with many consumers routinely purchasing and consuming these products. Tobacco products require an ignition source for the consumer to effectively smoke the tobacco-based contents. Consumers currently use many different methods for lighting these products.
Gas lighters, electrical lighters, and matches are all commonly used to ignite the tobacco within these products. The large consumer base for tobacco-based products has necessarily generated a large consumer base for the ignition sources as well.
There are several flaws in current ignition sources. The gas lighter is often made of plastic or metal and must maintain the appropriate amount of fuel to be effective. Gas lighters often do not maintain the appropriate flame when used in windy or rainy conditions. Once the fuel runs out, the lighter is either discarded or refilled. The gas lighter also requires significant vital resources to produce and to operate. Further, the use and disposal of the lighter creates significant negative impacts upon the environment.
Using a match as an ignition source for tobacco-based products has many undesirable effects as well. Matches are sensitive to the surrounding environment, and often cannot be used if the matches are wet or used in a windy area. The user is also limited to a set number of matches, and once the last match is used, the user will have no ignition means for lighting the tobacco-based products.
Electronic lighters can be very effective, and reusable, but usually require a bulky battery or frequent recharge to generate enough energy to ignite tobacco. The electronic lighters can also be adversely affected by water. Further, improper disposal of a portable electronic lighter can introduce harmful battery acid into the environment.
The users of tobacco based products are inconvenienced and potentially endangered by relying upon these separate ignition sources. Lighters and matches can be maintained in a relatively small compartment that can be easily lost or misplaced. Further, the misuse of these products is inherently dangerous for the consumer. Misused ignition sources frequently cause accidental fires. The propensity of matches and lighters to be misplaced significantly increases the chances that a minor will obtain and negligently misuse the product possibly resulting in severe harm.
Finally, tobacco-based products can be manufactured with a sensitized tip that enables ignition by striking the tip against an abrasive material. This uniquely couples the ignition source to the tobacco itself. Past designs utilize strike pads on the side of a pack holding the tobacco-based product. Similar to lighting a match, the sensitized tip is dragged down the strike pad to create enough friction to ignite the tip. Lighting the tobacco-based product by striking it against the strike pad creates difficulties because the product can easily be broken when attempting to ignite the tip and the strike pad can lose the abrasive qualities necessary to ignite the tip.
What is needed is an improved design for facilitating the lighting of a tobacco-based product. The present application is intended to improve upon and resolve some of these known deficiencies of the art.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an igniter apparatus for igniting a tobacco-based product having a sensitized tip. The igniter apparatus includes a first member having a projecting portion with a cavity, and a first concave surface disposed adjacent to the projecting portion. A second member includes a rib, a receiving portion configured to receive the projecting portion, and a second concave surface disposed adjacent to the receiving portion. The cavity is configured to receive the rib and the first concave surface and the second concave surface define a chamber configured to receive the tobacco-based product when the projecting portion is located in the receiving portion and the rib is disposed in the cavity.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an igniter apparatus for igniting a tobacco-based product having a sensitized tip including a first member having a first concave surface. A second member includes a second concave surface, wherein: i) one of the first member and the second member is configured to slidingly engage with the other of the first member and second member; ii) one of the first member and the second member includes a rib configured to engage a cavity of the other of the first member and the second member; and iii) one of the first member and the second member and formed to include a bias element configured to engage the other of the first member and the second member.
The above-mentioned aspects of the present application and the manner of obtaining them will become more apparent and the teachings of the present application itself will be better understood by reference to the following description of the embodiments of the present application taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Corresponding reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views. Although the exemplification set out herein illustrates embodiments of the present application, in several forms, the embodiments disclosed below are not intended to be exhaustive or to be construed as limiting the scope of the present application to the precise forms disclosed.
The embodiments of the present application described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the teachings of the present application to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present application.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this application belongs. To this end, the phrase “tobacco-based product” is intended to include any tobacco product or similar product capable of igniting in accordance with the teachings of the present disclosure. This includes, but is not limited to, cigarettes and cigars. As such, those of skill in the art should understand and appreciate herein that the present teachings are intended to cover any such use of a tobacco-based product. Further, the contents of the product should not be limited to tobacco. One skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosed embodiments could be used to ignite any product that is used similarly to tobacco. Although any method, components, parts, devices and materials similar to or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present application, the specific apparatus, methods and materials are now described.
Other embodiments of an igniter apparatus are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/804,378 having the title “Lighting Apparatus For Tobacco-Based Products” filed Mar. 14, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
As further illustrated in
Each of the user accessible surfaces 118 and 120 define an oblong shaped portion 121 having raised edges to provide the tactile interface for a user. The oblong portion 121 enables a user to locate the hands at a point where the application of pressure helps insure a reasonable relative movement between the first member 110 and the second member 112. A surface 123 extends away from each of the oblong portions 121 on either side of the igniter apparatus such that the surfaces 123 converge toward one another at a chamber 130.
As shown in
Compression or movement of the first member 110 with respect to the second member 112 (or vice versa) adjusts the size of the chamber 130 which is configured to receive one of the cigarettes 106. The chamber 130 is generally cylindrical and is formed by a first concave surface 132 extending from the projecting portion 114 and a second concave surface 134 extending from the receiving portion 116. Each of the first and second concave surfaces 132 and 134 extends along a length 136 of the igniter apparatus 102, wherein the length 136 in one embodiment is similar to a dimension of the pack 100 as illustrated in
In other embodiments, the abrasive coating is composed of red phosphorus, powdered glass, and an adhesive which when combined sufficiently ignite the sensitized tip of the cigarette. One skilled in the art will understand in other embodiments, the materials and material combinations are varied as the abrasive coating for the igniter apparatus 102. The material consistency of the abrasive coating is selected to correspond to the type of sensitized tip of the cigarette or other tobacco-based product being ignited and all combinations should be considered incorporated herein. In still other embodiments, the abrasive material is imbedded at the contacting surfaces of the chamber 130 during manufacture of the first member 110 and the second member 112.
The top wall 124 is generally planar on one surface thereof to interface with the generally planar bottom surface of the pack of cigarettes 100. In one embodiment, an adhesive strip 138 is located at a surface of the top wall 124. The adhesive strip may be formed from a plurality of different adhesive materials, including, but not limited to hook and loop fasteners, magnets, double-sided tape and the like. Further, while this particular embodiment illustrates the adhesive strip 138 on the top wall 124, the skilled artisan will understand that the adhesive strip 138, in different embodiments, is placed on other surfaces of the igniting apparatus 102 without straying from the present disclosure. Further, the igniter apparatus 102, in other embodiments, stands alone and is stored separately from the pack of cigarettes 100 if desired. For instance, in a factory where combustible materials are made or stored, the igniter apparatus is located away from the combustible materials and adhered to a smoking station.
The top wall 124 includes retainer 140 which is configured to engage a portion of the first member 110. By engaging the first member 110, the retainer 140 limits movement of the first member 110 with respect to the second member 112, such that the size of the chamber 130 is limited to a maximum size when the projecting portion 114 is located in the receiving portion 116. In one embodiment, the retainer 140 is a tab, which substantially limits the first member 110 from being separated from the second member 112 during normal use.
As described above, one of the first member 110 and second member 112 of lighter assembly 102 is moveable relative to the other of the first member 110 and second member 112. In accordance with this aspect, a top surface 142 (See
When an external force is applied to bring the first member 110 and the second portion 112 towards one another, a size of a gap 144 (See also
In different embodiments, the chamber 130 includes many different types of shapes, such as a square, oval, triangle, octagon, and the like to provide similar results. Furthermore, in other embodiments, the chamber is an enclosed chamber. For example, the chamber 130 of
While the chamber 130 is shaped in any manner to permit the cigarette 106 to be inserted therein, in accordance with certain aspects, the chamber 130 has a substantially cylindrical shape. In accordance with this aspect of the present disclosure, the chamber 130 includes a diameter slightly greater than the diameter of the cigarette 106.
The first member 110 and second member 112, in different embodiments, are constructed of any material sufficient to achieve the disclosed function. Materials including, plastic, metal, wood, composites, and the like are incorporated herein. One skilled in the art can appreciate, without resorting to undue experimentation, that any such materials and compositions could be used to construct the disclosed embodiments. As such, the present teachings are not intended to be limited.
As seen in
Each of the first member 110 and the second member 112, in one embodiment, are formed as a single unitary part. By forming the bias elements as a part of the unitary first member 110, the number of parts required to complete the igniter apparatus 102 is reduced, thereby reducing manufacturing costs and reducing the complexity of assembling a final igniter apparatus 102. Additionally, the manufacture of a single unitary part, in one embodiment, is provided by injection molding of each of the first member 110 and the second member 112. The use of such a manufacturing technique provides for consistent and repeatable manufacture of parts in large quantities, if desired, without reducing the effectiveness of the igniter apparatus 102. Other methods of molding are also used in different embodiments. Other embodiments include having one of or both of the first member 110 and the second member 112 formed of more than one part. In one embodiment, for instance, the bias elements 170 are formed separately from the formation of the first member 110 and inserted into holes or apertures configured to receive the bias elements 170.
While not shown in the igniter apparatus 102 of
While one or more exemplary embodiments incorporating the principles of the present application have been disclosed hereinabove, the present application is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. Instead, this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the application using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this present application pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular illustrative embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “including,” and “having,” are inclusive and therefore specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as an order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”, “connected to” or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on,” “directly engaged to”, “directly connected to” or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between,” “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent,” etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first,” “second,” and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner,” “outer,” “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper” and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations).
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| Entry |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
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| 20160076770 A1 | Mar 2016 | US |
