Claims
- 1. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a supply of fuel; an actuating member for selectively igniting the fuel, the actuating member associated with the housing; and a member moveable between a first member position and a second member position, wherein a user applies a first actuating force to the actuating member to ignite the fuel when the member is positioned in the first member position and a second actuating force to the actuating member to ignite the fuel when the member is positioned in the second member position, the first actuating force being greater than the second actuating force.
- 2. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the member is a biasing member.
- 3. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the member is a plunger member.
- 4. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein a predetermined actuating force is necessary to move the actuating member to an actuation position to actuate the lighter, and the first actuating force is greater than the predetermined actuating force.
- 5. The lighter according to claim 4, wherein the first actuating force is substantially greater than the second actuating force.
- 6. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the second actuating force is substantially zero.
- 7. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the actuating member is a trigger movably coupled to the housing.
- 8. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the actuating member is part of an actuating assembly.
- 9. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein actuating the lighter is accomplished by two different actuation movements.
- 10. The lighter according to claim 1, further including an ignition assembly for igniting the fuel.
- 11. The lighter according to claim 10, wherein the ignition assembly comprises a piezoelectric unit.
- 12. The lighter according to claim 10, wherein the actuating member selectively dispenses the fuel and activates the ignition assembly.
- 13. The lighter according to claim 1, further comprising a latch member coupled to the housing and operatively associated with the member.
- 14. The lighter of claim 13, wherein the latch member is biased toward an initial position.
- 15. The lighter according to claim 13, wherein the latch member is pivotally connected to the housing.
- 16. The lighter according to claim 13, wherein the member is a plunger member and the latch member further includes first and second ends, the first end movable from an initial position where the plunger member is in the first member position to a final position where the plunger member is in the second member position.
- 17. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein the actuating member further includes a wall, and when the plunger member is in the first member position the plunger member is in contact with the wall.
- 18. The lighter according to claim 17, wherein the plunger member is disengaged from the wall when the plunger member is in the second member position.
- 19. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein the plunger member is operatively associated with the actuating member when the plunger member is in the first member position.
- 20. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein the plunger member is pivotally associated with the housing.
- 21. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein the plunger member is slidably associated with the housing.
- 22. The lighter of claim 3, further including a piston member slidably associated with the housing and a biasing member disposed between the piston member and a support member of the housing, and the plunger member is pivotally associated with the piston member.
- 23. The lighter of claim 22, wherein when the plunger member is in the first member position, the piston member is moved to compress the biasing member and the lighter is actuated.
- 24. The lighter of claim 22, wherein when the plunger member in the second member position and the lighter is actuated, the plunger member and piston member do not move sufficiently to compress the biasing member.
- 25. The lighter of claim 1, wherein the actuating member is biased toward an initial position.
- 26. The lighter of claim 3, further including a piston member pivotally associated with the housing and a biasing member disposed between the piston member and the plunger member, and the plunger member is slidably associated with the piston member.
- 27. The lighter of claim 3, wherein the plunger member is biased toward the first member position.
- 28. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein after multiple actuations of the lighter the first actuating force remains substantially constant.
- 29. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein when the plunger member is arranged in the first member position, actuation of the actuating member requires application of less than about 10 kg to the actuating member.
- 30. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein when the plunger member is arranged in the first member position, actuation of the actuating member requires application of between about 5 kg and about 10 kg to the actuating member.
- 31. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein when the plunger member is arranged in the second member position, actuation of the actuating member requires application of less than about 5 kg to the actuating member.
- 32. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein actuation of the lighter when the plunger member is in the first member position requires a single finger of a user.
- 33. The lighter according to claim 3, wherein actuation of the lighter when the plunger member is in the second member position requires use of a first and second finger of the user.
- 34. The lighter according to claim 3, further comprising a latch member coupled to the housing and operatively associated with the member, and the lighter is configured and adapted to operate when the plunger member is arranged in the second member position by moving the latch member before moving the actuating member.
- 35. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the lighter is configured and adapted to operate by relying on the physical characteristics of a user when the member is in the first member position, and relying more on the cognitive abilities and dexterity of the user when the member is in the second member position.
- 36. The lighter according to claim 1, wherein the lighter is a utility lighter.
- 37. The lighter according to claim 22, wherein the piston member and the plunger member are separate pieces.
- 38. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a supply of fuel; an actuating member for selectively releasing the fuel; an ignition assembly for igniting the released fuel; a latch member coupled to the housing to permit movement between a first latch position and a second latch position; a plunger member operatively associated with the latch member; a biasing member operatively associated with the plunger member; wherein at least a portion of the plunger member is repositioned by the latch member from a first member position which causes the biasing member to resist movement of the actuating member to a second member position so that the biasing member does not resist movement of the actuating member to the same extent as in the first member position.
- 39. The lighter of claim 38, wherein the plunger member is separate from the latch member.
- 40. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a supply of fuel; an ignition assembly for igniting the released fuel; an actuating assembly to release the fuel that includes at least one trigger; and a plunger member at least a portion of which is moveable between a first state where an engaging portion of the plunger member is associated with an engaging portion of the actuating assembly and a second state where the engaging portion of the actuating assembly is unassociated with the engaging portion of the plunger member, wherein the lighter is configured an adapted so that less than about 10 kg applied to the trigger actuates the ignition assembly when the plunger member is in the first state.
- 41. The lighter according to claim 40, further including a valve assembly for dispensing the fuel having a valve stem movable between a first valve position and a second valve position, and upon applying the less than about 10 kg to the trigger the valve stem moves from the first valve stem position to the second valve stem position.
- 42. The lighter according to claim 40, wherein the ignition assembly is a piezoelectric unit and upon applying the less than about 10 kg to the trigger the piezoelectric unit ignites the fuel.
- 43. The lighter according to claim 40, further including a latch member coupled to the housing; and the plunger member is operatively associated with the latch member and the latch member is moveable between a first latch member position and a second latch member position, in the first latch member position the plunger member is operatively associated with the engaging portion of the actuating assembly and a biasing member such that when the trigger is moved the biasing member provides a force to oppose movement of the trigger, and in the second latch member position when the trigger is moved, the biasing member freely allows movement of the trigger, wherein sufficient movement of the trigger selectively activates the ignition assembly and selectively dispenses fuel.
- 44. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a supply of fuel; an ignition assembly for igniting the dispensed fuel; an actuating member associated with the housing, wherein a predetermined actuating force is necessary to move the actuating member to an actuation position to actuate the lighter; and a repositionable plunger member disposed to the housing, wherein in a first position the plunger member is associated with the actuating member such that a first actuating force greater than said predetermined actuating force is required to move the actuating member to the actuation position.
- 45. The lighter according to claim 44, wherein the plunger member is movable to a second position such that the user applies a second actuating force to move the actuating member to the actuation position, wherein the second actuating force is less than the first actuating force.
- 46. The lighter according to claim 44, wherein the second actuating force is substantially the same as the predetermined actuating force.
- 47. The lighter according to claim 44, wherein the actuating member is at least one trigger.
- 48. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a supply of fuel; an actuating member for selectively igniting the fuel, the actuating member associated with the housing; and first and second inhibiting members for at least increasing the difficulty of moving the actuation member to ignite the fuel, wherein at least one of the inhibiting members allows the actuating member to move and immobilizes the actuating member sufficiently to prevent ignition of the fuel.
- 49. The lighter according to claim 48, further including a movable wand assembly and the first inhibiting member increases the difficulty of moving the actuation member based on the position of the wand assembly.
- 50. The lighter according to claim 48, wherein the second inhibiting member comprises a plunger member.
- 51. The lighter according to claim 49, wherein the first inhibiting member prevents substantial movement of the actuating member when the wand assembly is in a closed position.
- 52. The lighter according to claim 48, wherein a user applies a first actuating force to the actuating member to ignite the fuel when the plunger member is positioned in a first member position and a second actuating force to the actuating member to ignite the fuel when the plunger member is positioned in a second member position, the first actuating force being greater than the second actuating force.
- 53. A lighter comprising:
a housing having a supply of fuel; and an actuating member for selectively igniting the fuel, the actuating member associated with the housing, wherein the actuating member is movable to operate the in a high-actuation-force mode and a low-actuation-force mode.
Parent Case Info
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/704,688, filed on Nov. 3, 2000, now pending, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09704688 |
Nov 2000 |
US |
Child |
09819021 |
Mar 2001 |
US |