US2127551A

US2127551A - Cigar lighter

Info

Publication number: US2127551A
Application number: US119912A
Authority: US
Inventors: Bert G Cochrane
Original assignee: Casco Products Corp
Current assignee: Casco Products Corp
Priority date: 1937-01-11
Filing date: 1937-01-11
Publication date: 1938-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 1955-08-23

Description

Aug. 23, 1938. I COCHRANE 2,127,551

CIGAR LIGHTER Filed Jan. 11, 1957 Fig.1 4 5 2/ INVENTOR lierz 6'. Cock/"am,

ATT EY Patented Aug. 23, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Products Corporation,

Bridgeport, Conn, a a

corporation of Connecticut Application January 11, 1937, Serial No. 119,912

6 Claims.

This invention relates to cigar lighters of the type in which an igniting unit is mounted on a holding device for complete removal for use.

Usually in such devices the igniting unit is comparatively short and stubby, having at one end a heating element which is red hot when the igniting unit is removed from the holding device. With some devices, the heating element is in an exposed position on the end of the igniting device.

It is frequently desired that the igniting unit when brought to incandescence be passed from one person to another as for instance by the driver or the occupant of the front seat of an automobile in which the cigar lighter is installed, to an occupant of the rear seat.

With cigar lighters as heretofore proposed this has been a dangerous task, for in transferring the lighter from the hand of one person to that of another either or both might be burned by the hot heating element, unless great care is exercised, and this is not usually possible when the lighter is being passed by the driver.

The danger incident to passing the igniting unit from one person to another has been largely overcome by the present invention, by the provision of a finger-piece or handle in the igniting unit of such size and shape that there is enough room on the handle for two pairs of grasping fingers. Hence the passer may still retain the igniting unit in his grasp while the receiver grips the free surface of the handle with his fingers.

Moreover, according to the present invention, the handle is so disposed on the igniting unit and so shaped that a person grasping the same with the intention of passing it will grasp the handle on one side leaving the other side for the other persons fingers.

These features of the invention are accomplished by providing on the end of the igniting unit an elongate knob or handle preferably flat and not too thick, so that it is easily grasped, and this handle preferably extends in opposite directions from the axis of the igniting unit, and at each side of the center has suflicient surface to receive on opposite faces thereof the index finger and thumb of the person passing or receiving the igniting unit,

Other features and advantages will hereinafter appear.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figure l is a side view of a cigar lighter partly in section showing an embodiment of this in vention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing how the igniting unit may be held when lighting a cigarette.

Fig. 4 shows how two pairs of grasping fingers may simultaneously engage the handle of the igniting unit as when passing the same by one person to another.

While the present invention is applicable to all types of electric cigar lighters in which the igniting unit is mounted on a holding device for removal for use, it is most advantageous when employed with a cigar lighter in which there is a relatively short and stubby body portion in, usually cylindrical in form, having at one end an igniting unit ll including a coil of resistance wire 12, and having at the other end a knob by means of which the igniting unit is operated and carried to bring the resistance wire l2 to the end of a cigar or cigarette to ignite the same.

In such cigar lighters, the igniting unit is supported by a holding device E3 in the form of a well which may be clamped to an instrument board l4, when used in an automobile, by a clamping member 15. Current is supplied to the resistance wire l2 when the igniting unit is in the holding device through the instrument board and through a wire I6 connected to a binding post H on the holding device 13.

When the igniting unit is pushed inwardly of the holding device, the resistance wire I2 is energized by contact means well known in the art, and, after it has been energized sufficiently long to make the wire l2 incandescent, the igniting unit is removed for use.

The resistance Wire l2 has sufficient mass to retain its heat long enough to permit several cigarettes to be lighted without returning the igniting unit to the holding device to be reheated.

Igniting units for such cigar lighters were usually provided with round knobs, generally about the same diameter as the body ill, by means of which the igniting unit was pushed into the holding device to cause it to be energized, and by means of which the igniting unit was transported from the holding device for use. knobs or handles serve their purpose well when the igniting unit is to be retained in the hands of the person carrying it, but, even under such circumstances, there is the ever present danger of the generally round knob slipping from the fingers grasping the same.

If the igniting unit, as heretofore proposed, was to be passed from the grasp of one person to that of another, as is frequently desired, so that a person riding in the back seat of an automobile may have the use of the cigar lighter, this could be done only with extreme danger of either the passer or the receiver, or both, being burned by the heating element because a sufficient gripping surface was not provided on the handle for the convenient simultaneous engagement of the fingers of the person passing and of the person receiving the igniting unit, and because it was dangerous for the person receiving the igniting unit to grasp the same at the relatively short body portion In.

These difficulties have been obviated by the present invention by the provision of a handle having thereon sufficient gripping surface for the convenient simultaneous engagement of two sets of fingers.

Accordingly, the handle of the present invention, in the embodiment herein illustrated, is provided with two opposite

major surfaces

19 and 20, each of which is capable of having laid upon it simultaneously two fingers, more properly, two thumbs or two fingers.

The thickness of the handle between the gripping surfaces IS and 20 is such that two fingers, or a finger and a thumb, of one hand may conveniently grasp the surfaces 19 and 2|] and hold between them the body of the handle.

In the form. of the invention shown, the handle I8 is disposed at right angles to the axis of the body I!) of the cigar lighter, and the handle is further so disposed as to extend in two direc tions from the axis of the body In, thereby producing opposite wing portions 2| nd 22. As so arranged, when the igniting unit is tobe taken from the holding device 13, it will very naturally be grasped by the user as shown in Fig. 3, that is to say, by the thumb and forefinger of the users hand engaging the

opposite surfaces

19 and 20 of the wing 22, leaving the opposite surfaces l9 and 20 of the wing 2| free to be engaged by the forefinger and thumb of the hand of the person to whom it is desired to pass the igniting unit.

The handle [8 is preferably connected by a neck 23 to the body portion ID of the igniting unit, and this neck 23 is preferably so long and of such reduced cross section that heating of the handle through the body of the igniting unit is reduced substantially, and danger of the person who grasps the handle being burned by inadvertently contacting with the igniting unit or the heating wire 12 thereof is reduced to a minimum.

By placing the handle I8 on the axis of the igniting unit so that portions project in opposite directions therefrom and so that a person grasping the handle would naturally grasp it on one side or the other of the axis, the tendency in passing the device from one person to another is to swing the igniting unit downwardly as shown in Fig. 4, to a position where the reverse hand may easily grasp the exposed or unoccupied portion of the surface of the handle I8.

The handle 18 may have any suitable or desirable shape otherwise, and it may be ornamented as desired. As shown, the surfaces l9 and 20 are substantially fiat. They may be convex or concave if desired; but, if made convex, the convexity is preferably so slight as to avoid danger of the portion of the handle engaged by the fingers slipping or turning in the fingers.

To move the igniting unit to energized position, it is customary for the operator to press in on the handle portion. of the cigar lighter,

g and, accordingly, the front surface 24 of the handle is made broad enough to be conveniently engaged by the users finger or thumb, as shown in Fig. 1. This front surface may be entirely fiat or curved, as desired. As shown, it is curved in one direction, and the top surface 25 and bottom surface 26 are inclined so as to avoid sharp corners which might hurt the users hand if the handle were accidentally struck.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of this invention and, portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. A cigar lighter igniting unit of the removable type having a cylindrical body portion; a heating element at one end of the body adapted to be brought to incandescence for use; and a handle on the other end of the body having wings extending a substantial distance beyond the diameter of the body in opposite directions transversely of the axis of the body portion and having surfaces of substantial gripping area for easy engagement by two pairs of fingers simultaneously, one pair at each side of the axis of the igniting unit to provide for the transfer of the igniting unit from the hand of one person to another without necessitating finger contact with the body of the igniting unit.

2. A cigar lighter igniting unit of the removable type having a cylindrical body portion; a heating element at one end of the body adapted to be brought to incandescence for use; and a handle connected to the other end of the body by a long, narrow neck and having wings extending in opposite directions transversely of the axis of the body portion and having surfaces of sub stantial gripping area on opposite sides in planes parallel with the axis of the body portion for easy engagement by two pairs of fingers simultaneously, one pair on each side of said axis.

3. In a cigar lighter, a removable and transportable igniting member comprising a substantially elongate body; a heating element carried by the body at one end thereof; and a pair of manually engageable wings at the other end of the body extending in opposite directions substantially transversely of the axis thereof and for a substantial distance therefrom, each of said wings having surfaces of substantial gripping area for easy engagement by a pair of fingers so that the igniting member can be transferred from one hand to another without touch ing the igniting member body or heating element.

4. In a cigar lighter, a removable and transportable igniting member comprising a substantially elongate body; a heating element carried by the body at one end thereof; and an elongate handle attached at its center by a long neck of reduced diameter to the other end of the body so that its axis is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the body, each of the ends of said handle being of suiiicient gripping area so as to be easily engaged and held by a pair of fingers so that the igniting member can be transferred from one hand to another without touching the igniting member body or heating element.

5. The invention as defined in claim 4, in which the handle is flat and substantially symmetrical so that its principal plane of symmetry contains the axis of the body.

6. A cigar lighter igniting unit of the removable type having a cylindrical body portion; a heating element at one end of the body adapted to be brought to incandescence for use; and a handle on the other end of the body comprising a substantially long neck of reduced cross-section. and substantially long, flat, gripping surfaces extending transversely on opposite sides of the neck for a substantial distance to provide a plurality of gripping surfaces which are adequate to be gripped by a pair of fingers on each side.

BERT G. COCHRANE.