US3209940A

US3209940A - Cigarette dispenser and lighter

Info

Publication number: US3209940A
Application number: US189104A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ralph E Gushwa; Daisy M Gushwa
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1962-04-20
Filing date: 1962-04-20
Publication date: 1965-10-05
Anticipated expiration: 1982-10-05

Description

Oct. 5, 1965 R. E. GUSHWA ETAL 3,209,940

CIGARETTE DISPENSER AND LIGHTER Filed April 20, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 i6 INVENTORS Oct. 5, 1965 R. E. GUSHWA ETAL 3,209,940

CIGARETTE DISPENSER AND LIGHTER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed April 20, 1962 FIG. 4.

IN VEN TORS 1965 R. E. GUSHWA ETAL 3,209,940

CIGARETTE DISPENSER AND LIGHTER Filed April 20, 1962 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS. 24APH E. Gash W4, mass Y A4. GusHu/Ar,

United States Patent 3,209,940 CIGARETTE DISPENSER AND LIGHTER Ralph E. Gushwa and Daisy M. Gushwa, both of 117 E. Ash St., Caldwell, Idaho Filed Apr. 20, 1962, Ser. No. 189,104

8 Claims. (Cl. 221--4) This invention relates to a novel cigarette dispenser and lighter.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of a more efficient, more practical, and more easily operated device of the kind indicated, which has, within a closed housing, a rotary cigarette magazine, operated by an external knob on the housing, which is rotatable to drop individual cigarettes onto an electrical igniting element which is energized by the closing of a switch produced by rotation of the knob, the individual cigarettes being supported on the heating element by a trough which leads to the outside of the housing and from which lighted cigarettes are removed from the device.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a device of the character indicated above which is composed of a small number of simple and easily assembled parts, and which can be made in rugged and well-finished forms, at relatively low cost.

A further object of the invention is the provision, in a device of the character indicated above, of more eflicient and reliable energizing means for the igniting elements, which involves an electric relay which is closed by closing of the switch, as the knob is rotated, and is connected to a, step-up transformer, connected to the igniting element, through a hold circuit involving a condenser, an alternating current flattening diode, and an electrolytic capacitor.

Other important objects and advantageous features of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, wherein, for purposes of illustration only, a specific form of the invention is set forth in detail.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a device of the present invention, showing its cover closed;

FIGURE 2 is a view like FIGURE 1, showing the cover open for placing cigarettes in its magazine;

FIGURE 3 is a top plan view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is a transverse vertical section, taken on the line 44 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are horizontal sections taken on the lines 5-5 and 6-6, respectively, of FIGURE 4;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken through the trough and adjacent structure, showing a cigarette engaged with the igniting element;

FIGURES 8 and 9 are horizontal sections taken on the lines 88 and 99 of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 10 is a wiring diagram of the electrical circuit for the igniting element.

Referring in detail to the drawings, wherein like numerals designate like parts throughout the several views, the illustrated device comprises a vertically elongated housing 12 of substantially square cross section. The housing 12 can, however, be of any suitable form and cross section. The housing 12 is composed of a hollow pan-shaped base 14 having an upwardly offset bottom wall 16, and a continuous sidewall 18, and a main hollow portion 20, into whose lower end the upper part of the base is telescoped and secured removably in place, as by means of screws 22.

The main housing portion which is open at its upper end, has a front wall 24, a back wall 26, and side walls 28, the back wall 26 rising above the other Walls. The front wall 24 has a lateral head 30 extending along its upper edge, which is on a level with forward horizontal 3,209,940 Patented Oct. 5, 1965 portions 32 of the upper edges of the side walls 28, which include upwardly and rearwardly inclined rear portions 34, which reach to the upper end of the back wall 26.

A hollow cover 36 is hinged, as indicated at 38, on the upper end of the back wall 26, and comprises a fiat top wall 40, a front wall 42 having a lateral bead 44 along its lower edge, to meet the bead 30 on the front wall of the main housing portion 20, when the cover 36 is closed, and side walls 46. The 'side walls 46 have horizontal forward lower edge portions 48, to coincide with the forward edge portions 32 of the main housing portion 20, and inclined rear edge portions 50, to coincide with the rear edge portions 34 thereof, when the cover is closed, so that a substantially airtight enclosure is obtained.

The cover top wall 40 is centrally traversed by a bearing 52 through which a vertical shaft 54 is journaled, which has fixed thereon and spaced thereabove, a circular knob 56 having projecting from its underside a concentric circle of equally circumferentially spaced rounded bosses 58, herein disclosed as being twenty-one in number. Fixed on the shaft 54, beneath the top wall 40, and turning in an opening 60 in a bearing plate 62, spaced beneath the top wall 40, as by bolts 64 and spaced sleeves 66, is a downwardly opening socket 68, having a belled lower end 70. The sidewall of the socket 68 is formed with a pair of diametrically opposed vertical slots 72, which open to the lower end of the socket.

A normally open switch 74 is mounted through the cover top wall 40 and has a rounded, upwardly spring pressed push button 76, which normally bears against the undersurface of the knob 56, in the line with the bosses 58, so that the button 76 is depressed and the switch 74 closed, as the knob 56 is rotated and a boss 58 engages and depresses the button 76, for energizing a cigratette igniting element, hereinafter described.

Insulated wires

78 and 80 lead downwardly from the switch 74 into the housing 12.

An open-ended vertical cylindrical hollow jacket 82 is spacedly centered within the upper part of the main housing portion 20, and has its upper end 84 substantially on a level with the forward upper edge portions thereof, and a lower end 86 spaced upwardly from the base. Bolts 88 extending through the walls of the main housing portion 20 and the sidewall 90 of the jacket 82, combined with spacers 92 on the bolts, supported jacket spacedly within the housing. A horizontal partition wall 94 extends across the interior of the jacket 82, intermediate its upper and lower ends, and is secured to the jacket sidewall 90, as by means of pendant ears 96 traversed by bolts 98.

A diametrical support bar 100 is fixed to and extends across the lower end of the jacket 82 and is traversed, at its center, by the lower end of an upstanding threaded and rotatable shaft 102, having a rounded upper end 104 loosely engaged in the cover socket and provided with a cross pin 106, whose ends engage in the socket slots 72, whereby rotation of the knob produces rotation of the shaft 102. The shaft 102 extends through an opening 108 in the partition wall and thereabove, has secured thereon a cylindrical cigarette magazine 110, for rotation therewith. The lower end of the shaft 102 is rotatably supported on the bar in a socket 11.

The cigarette magazine 110 can be a solid block or a closed hollow cylinder having a bottom wall 112, a top wall 114, and a sidewall 116, which runs closed to the sidewall of the jacket 82, the top wall 114 being substantially on a level with the upper edge 84 of the jacket 82, and the bottom wall 112 being spaced above the partition wall 94. The top and bottom walls of the maga-v zine 110 have centered openings 118 and 120, respectively, and a sleeve 122 is secured, at related ends thereof, to

the top and bottom walls around these openings. The sleeve 122 closely receives the shaft 102 and is fixed for rotation therewith by upper and

lower nuts

124 and 126, on the shaft and jammed against the upper and lower surfaces of the top and bottom Walls 114 and 112, respectively. The lower nut 126 rests upon a washer 128, circumposed on the shaft 102 between the nut 126 and the partition wall 94.

The sidewall 116 of the magazine 110 is indented by twenty-one vertical semi-circular chambers 130, which are equally spaced around the magazine 110 and correspond in position to the locations of the bosses 58 on the operating knob 56 and numbers 132 of a position indicating scale provided around the edge of the nob, which runs from to 20. As indicated in FIGURE 4, the magazine 110 is somewhat shorter than the height or length of cigarettes C, disposed in the chambers 138, with their lower ends resting upon the partition wall 94. The partition wall has a single opening 134, not larger in diameter than necessary to permit a single cigarette to fall freely therethrough from a magazine chamber when registered with the opening.

The device being intended to hold and dispense the twenty cigarettes of a conventional cigarette package, one at a time, has twenty-one chambers 130, so that at the start, the twenty-first chamber, which is devoid of a cigarette, is registered with the partition wall opening 134, and all of the twenty cigarettes in the other chambers 130 are held in place in the other chambers by the partition wall, until the knob 56 is rotated to put the first, and subsequent chambers, one at a time, in registry with the opening 134 for dispensing of the cigarettes present therein. The top wall 40 of the cover 36 has thereon a mark 136 which, with reference to the scale numerals 132 on the knob 56, indicates the number of cigarettes present in the magazine, after rotation of the knob beyond the 0 position.

An upwardly inclined trough 138 has an upper end portion 140 extending through a flanged vertical slot 142, in the sidewall 90 of the jacket 82, and aligned with the opening, and a vertical slot 144 in the front wall 24 of the main housing portion 20, and is secured in place by rivets 146 which are secured to parallel spaced external ribs 148 on the exterior of the front wall 24. The upper surface of the trough 138 is of semi-circular concave curvature, somewhat larger in diameter than a cigarette, and the trough is shorter than a cigarette C.

A fiat electrical igniting element 150 is supported normal to the lower end 152 of the trough 138 and is slightly spaced therefrom and extends thereabove, for full contact with the lower end of a dispensed cigarette falling into the trough 138 from the opening 134 of the partition wall, and through. the

slots

142 and 144. The igniting element 158 is surrounded by and secured to a dielectric ceramic ring 152, which is mounted on the depressed outer end of an arm 154 whose elevated inner end is secured to the support bar 100.

The igniting element 150 is energized upon closing of the switch and dropping of a cigarette into the trough, by means of a suitable energizing unit contained in the housing base 14, which includes means maintaining the igniting element in operation long enough to assure lighting of a cigarette in contact therewith. A suitable energizing unit, shown in FIGURES 9 and 10, comprises an electromagnetic, normally open, relay 156, a condenser 158, an electrolytic capacitor 168, a step-down transformer 162 having secondary winding wires 164 leading to the igniting element 150. A silicon rectifier 166 has one side connected to a wire 174 which connects the relay coil and one side of the capacitor 160, the other side of the rectifier 166 being connected to a resistor 170, the other side of which is connected to a 110- volt power line 176. The other power line 178 is connected to the other side of the capacitor 160. The line 178 is also connected to a wire 180, and to a relay con tact 182, whose contactor 184 is connected to the remaining side of the primary of the transformer 162. The wire 180 leads to one side of the resistor 168 and to one side of the condenser 158. The other side of the condenser 158 is connected to the relay contactor 186 and to the switch wire 80. The remaining side of the resistor 168 is connected to the contact 188 of the relay 156. The switch wire 78 is connected to one side of the winding of the relay 156, and to the second contact 190 of the relay 156.

The components of the circuit are identified as follows:

The relay 156::10009 d.p.d.t.;

The condenser 158:100 mfd., volts, adjustable for ignition duration;

The capacitor 160:100 mfd., 150 volts;

The transformer 162:110 volts, 6.3 filament;

The rectifier 166:100 ma. silicon;

The resistor 168:100052, 1 watt; and,

The resistor 170:829, 1 watt.

In operation, upon closing of the switch 74, one side of the 110 volt A.C. current passes through the resistor 170, which limits the amount of current passed through the rectifier diode 166, which changes the current to DC. current, which is then filtered to more pure direct current by the capacitor 160. A circuit is completed through switch 74 and resistor 168 to the other side of the 110-volt line through the relay 156 and closes two of its contacts (190, 186). This starts charging the capacitor 158. When the capacitor 158 becomes fully charged, the current drops below the level required to keep the relay closed, and the relay contacts open, whereat the capacitor 158 discharges through. the resistor 168, and is ready for another operation. The second set of contacts (182, 184) of the relay 156 close so that the transformer 162 is energized, while the relay is energized, and sends about 6.3 volts of alternating current to the igniting element 150.

What is claimed is:

1. A cigarette dispenser comprising an open-top housing means, a partition wall extending across the housing means, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing means and extending upwardly through the partition wall, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the housing means, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the side-wall of the housing means with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, a hinged cover normally closing the top of the housing means, rotary means journaled through the cover, and releasable connecting means on said rotary means and operatively connected with the magazine shaft only in the closed position of the cover.

2. A cigarette dispenser comprising an open-top housing means, a partition wall extending across the housing means, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing means and extending upwardly through the partition wall, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the housing means, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the side-Wall of the housing means with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, a hinged cover normally closing the top of the housing means, rotary means journaled through the cover, and releasable connecting means on said rotary means and operatively connected with the magazine shaft only in the closed position of the cover, the sidewall of the housing means having a vertical slot registered with said opening, through which a J cigarette entering the partition wall opening falls, and a dispensing trough mounted on the housing means at the lower end of the housing slot for receiving a fallen cigarette.

3. A cigarette dispenser comprising a housing, a vertical cylindrical jacket supported Within the housing, a partition wall extending across the jacket and spaced below the upper end of the jacket, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing and extending upwardly through the partition Wall and axially through the jacket and thereabove, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the jacket, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound and facing the wall of the jacket, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the sidewall of the jacket with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, said housing having a hinged cover on its upper end, a knob having a shaft journaled through the cover, a socket fixed on the lower end of the knob shaft, said socket being engaged over the upper end of the magazine shaft only in the closed position of the cover, and means for non-rotatably connecting the socket to the magazine shaft in the closed position of the cover.

4. A cigarette dispenser comprising a housing, a vertical cylindrical jacket supported within the housing, a partition wall extending across the jacket and spaced below the upper end of the jacket, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing and extending upwardly through the partition Wall and axially through the jacket and thereabove, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the jacket, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending thereround and facing the wall of the jacket, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the sidewall of the jacket with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, said housing having a hinged cover on its upper end, a knob having a shaft journaled through the cover, a socket fixed on the lower end of the knob shaft, said socket being engaged over the upper end of the magazine shaft only in the closed position of the cover, means for nonrotata-bly connecting the socket to the magazine shaft in the closed position of the cover, an electrical igniting element mounted in a position to be engaged by the end of a cigarette which has dropped through said opening, an electrical igniting unit located Within the housing below the partition wall and connected to the igniting element, and normally open switch means on the cover having an upstanding actuating spring-pressed button positioned beneath and normally engaging the underside of the knob, said switch means being connected to the igniting unit so as to control the same, said knob having circumferentially spaced downwardly projecting bosses corresponding in number and position to the magazine chamber, the knob being adapted to be rotated to engage the bosses with and depress the switch means button and close the switch means for operating the igniting element, as cigarettes fall through said opening one at a time.

5. A cigarette dispenser comprising a housing, a vertical cylindrical jacket supported within the housing, a partition wall extending across the jacket and spaced below the upper end of the jacket, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing and extending upwardly through the partition wall and axially through the jacket and thereabove, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the jacket, the magazine having preipheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound and facing the Wall of the jacket, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the sidewall of the jacket with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, said housing having a hinged cover on its upper end, a knob having a shaft journaled through the cover, a socket fixed on the lower end of the knob shaft, said socket being engaged over the upper end of the magazine sha ft only in the closed position of the cover, means for nonrotatably connecting the socket to, the magazine shaft in the closed position of the cover, an electrical igniting element mounted in a position to be engaged by the end of a cigarette which has dropped through said opening, an electrical igniting unit located within the housing below the partition wall and connected to the igniting element, and normally open switch means on the cover having an upstanding actuating spring-pressed button positioned beneath and normally engaging the underside of the knob, said switch means being connected to the igniting unit so as to control the same, said knob having circumferentially spaced downwardly projecting bosses corresponding in number and position to the magazine chambers, the knob being adapted to be rotated to engage the bosses with and depress the switch means button and close the switch means for operating the igniting element, as cigarettes fall through said opening one at a time, said knob having a circle of indicating numerals thereon corresponding in position to the chambers of the magazine,- and a mark on the cover to which the numerals refer.

6. A cigarette dispenser comprising a housing, a vertical cylindrical jacket supported within the housing, a partition wall extending across the jacket and spaced below the upper end of the jacket, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing and extending upwardly through the partition wall and axially through the jacket and thereabove, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the jacket, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound and facing the wall of the jacket, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the sidewall of the jacket with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, said housing having a hinged cover on its upper end, a knob having a shaft journaled through the cover, a socket fixed on the lower end of the knob shaft, said socket being engaged over the upper end of the magazine shaft only in the closed position of the cover, means for nonrotatably connecting the socket to the magazine shaft in the closed position of the cover, an electrical igniting element mounted in a position to be engaged by the end of a cigarette which has dropped through said opening, an electrical igniting unit located within the housing below the partition wall and connected to the igniting element, and normally open switch means on the cover having an upstanding actuating spring-pressed button positioned beneath and normally engaging the underside of the knob, said switch means being connected to the igniting unit so as to control the same, said knob having circumferentially spaced downwardly projecting bosses corresponding in number and position to the magazine chambers, the knob being adapted to be rotated to engage the bosses with and depress the switch means button and close the switch means for operating the igniting element, as cigarettes fall through said opening one at a time, said igniting unit comprising means for maintaining energization of the igniting element for a period of time after the button of the switch means has been returned to open position by the passage of a boss thereover.

7. A cigarette dispenser comprising a housing, a vertical cylindrical jacket supported within the housing, a partition wall extending across the jacket and spaced below the upper end of the jacket, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing and extending upwardly through the partition wall and axially through the jacket and thereabove, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the jacket, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound and facing the wall of the jacket, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the sidewall of the jacket with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, and means for rotating the magazine relative to the housing, said housing comprising a pan-shaped base having a continuous sidewall, a main portion securably telescoped onto the side wall of the base, said partition wall being located within and mounted on said main portion, the top of the magazine being on a level with the upper end of the jacket.

8. A cigarette dispenser comprising a housing, a vertical cylindrical jacket supported within the housing, a partition wall extending across the jacket and spaced below the upper end of the jacket, a vertical rotary magazine shaft supported on the housing and extending upwardly through the partition wall and axially through the jacket and thereabove, a cylindrical cigarette magazine fixedly circumposed on the shaft within the jacket, the magazine having peripheral circumferentially spaced vertical cigarette chambers extending therearound and facing the wall of the jacket, said partition wall being adapted to support cigarettes positioned in the chambers and having a single opening adjacent to the sidewall of the jacket with which the chambers are registrable one at a time for dispensing a cigarette through the opening, and means for rotating the magazine relative to the housing, said housing comprising a pan-shaped base having a continuous sidewall, a main portion securably telescoped onto the sidewall of the base, said partition wall being located within and mounted on said main portion, the top of the magazine being on a level with the upper end of the jacket, and a cover hinged on the upper end of the main housing portion, on which said rotating means is mounted.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 646,860 4/00 Moyes 2 2'14 2,182,336 12/39 Goldstine 21932 2,243,889 6/41 Shively 22i116 2,340,773 2/44 Shively 2l932.2 2,371,343 3/45 Melchert 2217-6 X 2,422,478 6/47 Geller et a1 22 l- 82 2,663,606 12/53 Cronan 221-82 2,878,960 3/59 Holtsch 2214 FOREIGN PATENTS 70,206 10/49 Denmark.

910,618 2/46 France.

392,317 3 24 Germany.

899,872 12/53 Germany.

RAPHAEL M. LUPO, Primary Examiner.

KENNETH N. LEIMER, Examiner.

Claims

1. A CIGARETTE DISPENSER COMPRISING AN OPEN-TOP HOUSING MEANS, A PARTION WALL EXTENDING ACROSS THE HOUSING MEANS, A VERTICAL ROTARY MAGAZINE SHAFT SUPPORTED ON THE HOUSING MEANS AND EXTENDING UPWARDLY THROUGH THE PARTITION WALL, A CYLINDRICAL CIGARETTE MAGAZINE FIXELDY CIRCUMPOSED ON THE SHAFT WITHIN THE HOUSING MEANS, THE MAGAZINE HAVING PERIPHERAL CIRCUMFERENTIALLY SPACED VERTICAL CIGARETTE CHAMBERS EXTENDING THEREAROUND, SAID PARTITION WALL BEING ADAPTED TO SUPPORT CIGARETTES POSITIONED IN THE CHAMBERS AND HAVING A SINGLE OPENING ADJACENT TO THE SIDE-WALL OF THE HOUSING MEANS WITH WHICH