US2612174A - Safety attachment for smokers' ash receptacles - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 30, 1952 F. A. NICHOLS ET AL 2,612,174

SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR SMOKERS ASH'RECEPTACLES Filed April 28, 1951 IN VEN TOR S. FREDE RICK A. MBHULS 1301mm] If, VERU ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 30, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY ATTACHMENT FOR SMOKERS ASH. REGEPTACLES Frederick}. Nichols, Stratford, and Donald H. Veto, Bridgeport, Conn.

Application April 28, 1951, Serial No. 223,474

(01. ltd-+240) Claims. 1

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in smokers accessories and has particular relation to an ash receptacle including means to receive a lighted cigarette or cigar and prevent the same from burning down, ovcrbalancing and falling from the receptacle onto a table or the floor, and which means is adapted when a lighted end of a cigar or.c igarette approaches a predetermined position-with respect to the means to tilt and feed the lighted cigar or cigarette forwardly inwardly over the receptacle and, in some instances, depending Qn. the heat applied to the means by the burning cigar or cigarette, discharge the latter into the receptacle.

An object of the invention is to provide an ash receptacle having the characteristics described.

Another object is to provide an ash receptacle attachment which is easily and quickly applied to an ash receptacle and imparts thereto the characteristics outlined and which is readily applicable to various types or constructions crash receptacles.

Another object is to provide anattachment for the purpose stated and which is of simple construction and easilyassembled and wherein the attachment is not likely to be. damaged while in a place of use.

Other objects and advantages of the-invention will become apparent train a consideration or the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein a satisfactory embodiment of the invention is shown. However, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the details disclosed but includes all such variations and modifications'as fall within the' spirit oi the inventionand the scope of the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view partly inside elevation and partly in section and showing a portion of-an ash receptacle having the invention incorporated therein;

Fig.2 is a view similar to-Fig. 1 but wltl'i the tray of the attachment in reverse liositidii and over the receptacle;-

Fig. 3 is a top plan view-of Fig. hand Fig. 4 is an exploded view showing disassembled the various parts of the presentattachm'ent.

portion of the vertical'or upwardly directed side w ll or receptacle In. The ash rece tacle H1 s merely shown to ssi n an u derstandi 9 the app ication and operation o the i ent on, nsidered s a s fety attachment i 1 a h re i l wales I Such s fety attachment, gener lly designated IZ, is easily applied to and removed it ash r cepta le and as most c ly c mprises but fou parts will q i kly assembld wi hout t e secif anyf eeia tools. Instead (if havin 5'. cQmlil ifid a tachment a erein shown. a porti n of the in 'cnt q m'ai. e incorporated, in th 'r ep aclei lf- Attachmen [2 comprises amounting means or base 13.. shown as blanked and t rme f om a single piece of sheet metal although it may be th rw s m e, as o p as ic 0. he like, if d sired. Base l3 includes el ngat d o y I having a hook it at he undersid of t oute en suen h ok is for ed by ending h Outer ortion of theb dv downwardly ,ep hen i a y At the inner end of the body, a short depending portion l6 attaches to the body a cross piece 11 locatedin .a pjlanenormal to that of the body. Cross piece ll has its remote ends bent inwardly into substantially parallel relation providing a pair of ears l8 and!!! having non-circular openings, illustrated as comprising vertically extend.- ing slotszfl, passing entirely therethriough.

'In additionto the base l3, the attachment l2 includes a pivot member also shown alone in Fig. 4 and'generally designated 2!. This pivot member is formed from a piece of thinfiatstockand inaddition to a body-.22 includes endportionskfi and 2d of reduced width but still having flat SidSS and .19, respectively, whereby the pivotn mber may not rotate. relative to base 1.3. Blather make the pivot member of asingle p ece of sto k-it m y be of 1am ated ccns prising two or more sim -vshaped thin Pisce rely disposed in .side bysside contac ing relaticn'.

The thi d eiementeof' the sa et attachmci t is also shown al ne in F er nc is ge e a lydesisnat d ..lhi e ement c mprises a 'ii sprin dy. 2 ormed i cm-a t ip of t O e exten end n r-H91 7 said sh wn as sli htly longer than th other. t on .8 ther of and the pur ose of the b spiral-and the purposcdf itsconstfilqf t forth in connection with t ...2 1 s m 1dd 9 completed attachment.

somewhat of an angle. is lowered into place with the body Hi of its base The fourth and last element of attachment I2 is a tray generally designated 29 and shown as made up of sheet metal comprising an upper wall 30 the mid portion of which is transversely curved to provide an elongated channel portion for the reception of a cigarette. Beyond the inner end of this mid portion, tray 29 includes extensions 3| and 32 which really comprise extensions of depending side wall portions 33 and 36. These extensions 3! and 32 are each provided with a round opening or perforation 35 and the openings or perforations are substantially aligned. At its outer end, the top wall 38 of the tray is extended providing an extended support 36 for a long or so-called king size cigarette.

In assembling the attachment from the elements described, the spiral 25 is slipped over the pivot member 2! from one end of the latter. The pivot member is of such less width than the internal diameter of the spiral body 25 that its upper edge engages the upper portion of the peripheral inner surface of the spiral body 26 and, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, the side surfaces and lower edge of the pivot member are out of contact with the spiral body. Thus, the spiral body is loosely supported on and about the pivot member, so that there is no restriction to its uniform expansion and contraction, and its substantial line contact support upon the upper edge of the pivot member prevents any'appreciable dissipation of heat to the pivot member. Then the pivot member with the spiral 25 thereon is disposed between the extensions 3! and 32, the tray side wall portions 33 and 34 and the reduced end portions 23 and 24 of the pivot member are inserted into the perforations or openings 35 of the respective extensions. a

At this time, spiral 25 is located in such manner that its longer arm 21 is disposed against the under side of the upper wall 30 of the tray, as in Fig. l, and its shorter arm 28 is extending outwardly. Now the base l3 is'applied by slipping its ears l8 and I9 over the ends of the pivot member 2|, it being understood that the reduced portions 23 and 24 of said pivot member extend beyond the ,outer sides of the extensions 3| and 32 of the tray.

These extending portions of the pivotmember are received in the slots 20 in the ears l8 and IQ of the base. The diameter of openings 35 is such that the tray is mounted for pivotal movement on the pivot member and the tray has a normal position extending over the body Id of the base and, in fact, straddling such body with the side walls 33 and 34 of the tray beyond opposite edges of the body. Additionally, the tray is of such length as to extend beyond the outer downwardly bent or hook portion l of the base. Here it is noted that the side walls 33 and 34 of the tray are tapered longitudinally whereby normally the tray is at an incline of approximately degrees, tending to cause an object placed thereon to move into the receptacle Ill. Also, it is noted that the shorter arm 28 of coil is now disposed on an upper side of the cross piece I! of the base.

When the present attachment is to be used, it is merely necessary to slip its hook portion l5 over the outer edge of the flange H of the ash receptacle, the attachment at this time being at Then the attachment extending radially inwardly over the edge flange of the receptacle with the cross piece I1 and the pivot'member 2| and the spiral 25 all located slightly inwardly of the receptacle flange II and over the hollow portion of the receptacle. All this is as in Figs. 1 and 3. There it will be noted that the tray 29 has its upper wall stopping outwardly of its extensions 3| and 32 and thus the spiral 25 is exposed at the inner end of the tray although in a position flush with or at the most but slightly below thelevel of the lowermost portion of the curved center portion of the tray.

At this time, the underside of the tray is engaged by the arm 21 of the spiral 25. When a lighted cigarette is placed on the tray with the ignited end of the cigarette inwardly or over the receptacle, the cigarette will be prevented from burning back and overbalancing and falling from the tray 23.

the receptacle as onto the floor or onto a table supporting the receptacle. As the cigarette is consumed and its ignited or burning end approaches the spiral 25, heat is applied to the latter and the bimetal tends to distort in an unwinding action.

Since its end portion 23 is against the cross piece ll, such end portion may not move downwardly. However. its end portion 21 is also free merely bearing against the underside of the tray 29 and the latter is pivoted for movement on the extending end- portions 23 and 23 of the pivot member 2|. Thus, as heat is applied tothe bimetal,-its arm 21 presses upwardly on the tray moving the same from the full line position of Fig. 1 as to or toward the dotted line position thereof.

As the tray is so tilted, by gravitational movement, the cigarette will slide downwardly. In the case of a relatively short, or mostly consumed. cigarette having relatively little weight and frictional resistanc it will usually slide entirely off the tray and into the receptacle l0 where the burning cigarettewill do no real harm. In the case of a relatively long, or freshly lighted, cigarette having greater weight and frictional resistance, the burning cigarette moves intermittently only, its burning end moving inwardly from over the spiral 25. In such instance, the spiral will cool because of the remoteness of the burning end of the cigarette and the tray will move back to its normal position (full lines of Fig. 1) or back toward such position.

As the cigarette continues to burn, its ignited end approaches the spiral and the tray is again tilted to either have the cigarette slide ofi the tray into the receptacle or tdhave the cigarette slide inwardly on the tray carrying its burning end from the immediatevicinityof the spiral and, in the latter case, theabove described cycle'will be repeated. I I 5 With a rapidly burning cigarette, the tray may move not only upwardly to the dotted line position of Fig. l, but may continue upwardly to and slightly past a vertical position, and in the latter instance, thetray drops forward as to the position of Fig. 2. However, this does not occur very frequently and the tray is shown in the mentioned positionin. Fig. 2 for the purpose of better illustrating the fact that the arms 2'! and 28 of the spiral 25 are completely unattached and also for the purpose ,of illustrating .Attention isparticularly directed to the fact that the arms) of the spiral 25 are not attached either tothe .base I3, to thereceptacle Iii, or to One of them merely bears against an upper edge of apart of the base and therefore such arm cannot move downwardly and the other armbears against the underside of'the'tray but member.

is not attached to it Where the base i 3 is omitted and the portions corresponding to ears [8 and i9 are-ma dens part-oi thereceptacle, the arm 28' of thespiral-wilPbear-on an upper'e'd'ge portion of-the receptacle.

Should the arms of-the spiral beatta'ched, the

spiral willsoon b'e distortedand-be non wo'rkable tray and the distorted spring maintains the tray elevated and the entire device is rendered useless.

Attention is also especially called to the pivot member'zl. v 25 'iri'. position flush withor'only slightly be low the lanebf the upper surfaceof the curved portion of the tray andthis is accomplished byhaving the spiral rest on the upper edge of the pivot In order to maintain the spiral in position, the pivot member is restrained from move ment out of a position wherein the planes of its flat sides are substantially normal to the plane of the body M. This is accomplished through the use of the fiat sided slots receiving the flat sided end portions 23 and 24 of the pivot member.

If the pivot member were permitted to turn through 90 the spiral would drop from its position a, distance equal to nearly /2 the width of the pivot member and thus be remote from the plane of the cigarette receiving surface of the tray and not properly positioned to be affected by the heat from a burning cigarette. A round pivot member will not serve the present purpose since the mass of its metal absorbs a great'deal of heat from the bimetal, the latter will notbe sufficiently heated from the'burning cigarette or will not retain such heat and transmit it about the spiral or along the spiral for the purpose of having the spiral function in the manner above described. The ears I8 and I9 serve merely as a mounting for the pivot member 2|. Thus, while in an attachment these This pivot member retains thespiral ears are shown as conveniently made part of the base 13, it will be clear that these ears can be formed otherwise, as elements or portions of the receptacle. I

Having thus set forth the nature of our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a smokers ash receptacles, a base including an upwardly facing abutment portion and a pair of spaced ears, a pivot member supported by said ears, a tray pivoted at its inner end on said pivot member for pivotal movement between a sub-' stantially horizontal position extending over said base and an inclined position at an angle to said base, a spiral comprising a strip of bimetal for moving said tray on its pivot from the first toward the second of its named positions when such spiral is heated, said spiral being loosely supported on and about said pivot member and having outwardly extendingfr'ee end legs, one leg constituting an extension from one end of said spiral at the lower portion thereof, said leg extending over and against said abutment portion whereby said leg is limited in its downward movement and being free of connection with said abutment whereby it is free to move upwardly, and the other leg constituting an extension from the other end of said spiral at the upper portion thereofg said other legf'extendingrinivlifting relation'f'at' t he underside or said tray and being free ofconne'ctionwith said-tray;{ If! 'j' 2:'-=In'- safety attachment for I cigarette smokers ash receptacles, a-trayi having an elongated cigarette supporting -surfa'ce; a base member, pivot 'ineans-"carried by said base member pivotal-1y mounting said'tra'y for movement about a horizontal axis between asubstantially I horiizoiital cigarette supporting position and an incli-n'ed cigarette dumping positiomfagheat: respon- 's ive cylindrical spiral comprising :3 Lstrip of bimetal' havirig its-axis parallelitoithe :pivot: axis dissed ray and having'the upperportion'of its outer surface-substantially :in the 'f he-"adjacent saidicigarette supporting Ispi'ral having azleg .iccnstituting .an em onenend of saidrspiral and tex- 'liftingrelationi-to" 'said tray; said pivot means-constituting: a? support? means I for .said

spiral and: having aniupwardlyzdis'posed edge portion insubstantial proximity ttox'said plane of said cigarette supporting surface, said spiral being loosely supported solely on and about said pivot member with only the upper portion of the spirals peripheral inner surface in contact therewith along said upwardly disposed edge.

3. In a safety attachment for cigarette smokers ash receptacles, a tray having an elongated cigarette supporting surface, a base member, pivot means carried by said base member pivotally mounting said tray at one end for movement about a horizontal axis between a substantially horizontal cigarette supporting position and an inclined cigarette dumpin position, said horizontal axis being downwardly offset from the plane of said cigarette supporting surface, a heat responsive cylindrical spiral comprising a strip of bimetal having its axis parallel and substantially contiguous to the pivot axis of said tray and having the upper portion of its peripheral outer surface substantially in the plane of and adjacent said cigarette supporting surface, said spiral having a leg constituting an extension from one end of said spiral and extending in lifting relation to wardly disposed edge portion in substantial proximity to said plane of said cigarette supporting safety attachment for cigarette surface, said spiral being loosely supported on and about said pivot member with .only the upper portion of its peripheral inner surface in contact therewith along said upwardly disposed edge.

smokers ash receptacles, a tray having an elongated cigarette supporting surface, a base member, pivot 'means'carried by said base member pivotally mounting said tray at one end for movement about a horizontal axis between a substantially horizontal cigarette supporting position and an inclined cigarette dumping position, said horizontal axis being downwardly offset from the plane of said cigarette suppOrting surface, a heat responsive cylindrical spiral comprising a strip of bimetal having its axis parallel and'substantially contiguous to the pivot axis of said tray and having the upper portion of its peripheral outer surface substantially in the planeof and adjacentv said cigarette supporting surface, said spiral having a leg constituting an extension from one end of said spiral and extending in lifting relation to said tray, said pivot meansconstituting a support means for said spiral and having a vertically elongated cross section having an up- 4. In a safety attachment for cigarette wardly disposed edge p'ortionin substantial proximity to said plane of said cigarette supporting surface, said spiral being supported on and about said pivotmember withthe upper portion of its peripheral innerv surface in contact therewith along said upwardly disposed edge. r

5. In a safety attachment for cigarette smokers ash receptacles, a tray having an elongated cigarette supporting surface, a base member, pivot means carried by said base member pivotally mounting said tray for movement about a horizontal axisbetween a substantially horizontal cigarettesupporting position and an inclined cigarette dumping position, a heat responsive cylindrical spiral comprising a strip of bimetal having its axis parallel to the pivot axis of said tray and having the upper portion of its peripheral outer surface substantially in the plane of and adjacentsaid cigarette supporting surface, said spiral having a leg constituting an extension from one end of said spiral and extending in lifting relation to said tray, said pivot means constituting a support means for said spiral and an upwardly disposed edge portion in substantial proximity to said plane, of said cigarette supporting surface, said spiral being loosely supported solely on and about said pivot member with only the upper portion of the spirals peripheral inner surface in contact therewith along said upwardly disposed edge, said spiral having opposite ends thereof free-of connection with any portion of thetray. FREDERICK A. NICHOLSF DQNALD H. VERO.

:BE FERE NCES CITED The following references are of record in the fileof this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS ,Grantham June 3, 1941

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