US3500835A - Automotive ash tray and snuffer - Google Patents

Description

March 17, 1970 E. J. KLASSEN 3,500,835

AUTOMOTIVE ASH TRAY AND SNUFFER Filed July 19, 1967 INVENTOR. famzea JA4441$N United States Patent O US. Cl. 131-235 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A sliding ash tray for automotive use includes a snufling bowl having a removable apertured cover and an integral arm arranged to be attached to a resilient latching arm extending into the tray. The arm has a portion which extends radially outwardly of the bowl and upwardly to substantially the upper end of the same. The aperture in the cover is flared and has a diameter such that when the lit end of a cigarette is inserted therethrough and into the bowl it will be sanded by the exclusion of oxygen.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to ash receivers for cigarettes and the like, but it is more particularly concerned with a device for quickly extinguishing a burning cigarette.

Smoking in automobiles creates problems that arise particularly in connection with the extinction and disposition of the lighted cigarettes after smoking. The usual ash receivers or trays in automobiles are not designed to do much more than to hold the ashes and the butts, although they usually do provide elemental means for extinguishing a cigarette by grinding down a lighted end.

It is objectionable for many reasons to drop a lighted cigarette or the coals from it into an ash receiver containing butt ends. Often times the lighted coals smoulder for quite a while and thus are able to re-ignite the previously smoked cigarette stubs. Not only does this create an unpleasant odor but the smoke arising from the ash receiver is annoying and uncomfortable.

For this reason the smoker generally attempts to extinguish the lighted cigarette by grinding the lighted end on the small surface or surface with hole or slotted grid such as is frequently provided by automobile makers in the ash trays for this purpose. Sometimes this act creates a shower of sparks which are carried by air currents in the car to positions where they can land on and burn upholstery, clothing, or other articles. Also, sometimes the coals are merely knocked loose from the end of the cigarette, falling down into the ash receiver where they continue to smoulder, in which case little advantage is gained by attempting to extinguish the cigarette.

A particular objection to extinguishing a cigarette by this method is that it generally requires the automobile driver to take his eyes off the road at least long enough to locate the surface on which the cigarette is to be crushed and sometimes for a longer period of time while the process of extinguishing the cigarette is carried on. Generally the smoker desires to be sure that the operation is being carried on successfully and without unnecessary movement of the cigarette so that it generally requires at least a second glance towards the ash receiver, thus again distracting the driver from the primary obligation of attending to driving.

Thus it becomes a general object of the present invention to provide a device for extinguishing a lighted cigarette which is particularly adaptable to a use in an automobile and which extinguishes a cigarette quickly, com- 7 pletely, without the possibility of creating a shower of flying sparks.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide a cigarette extinguishing device which can be used in connection with existing ash receivers on automobiles and which can be located quickly and easily by the driver without requiring the driver to take his eyes away from the road ahead.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a cigarette extinguishing device having the above characteristics and advantages which is simple in construction and which can be quickly and easily mounted upon the existing ash trays or receivers in automobiles.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above and other objects of the present invention have been achieved in a cigarette snuffer which comprises a bowl open at one side, and provided with a perforated cover member which preferably has a tubular section open at both ends. This cover member is removably mounted on the bowl at the open side thereof with one end of the tubular section opening into the bowl, the minimum diameter of the tubular section being such as to receive a cigarette with a loose sliding fit but close enough thereby to substantially exclude air from the bowl. The volume of the bowl is purposely made small so that the lighted end of the cigarette is fully received within the bowl while the cigarette projects above the tubular member, even though it has been smoked down to a relatively short stub, and thereby the oxygen within the bowl becomes exhausted in about five to ten seconds and will no longer support combustion of the burning end of the cigarette.

The cover is removably mounted on the bowl and means are provided for locking it in place by an arrangement of spaced external ramps around the rim of the bowl and a depending annular flange on the cover surrounding the bowl at the rim, said flange having internal arcuate surfaces which engage the peripheral surfaces of the ramps to lock the cover in place by a Wedging action as the cover is rotated relative to the bowl.

Although the bowl and cover may be used alone to form a snuffer, in a typical and preferred embodiment of the invention adapted to use in connection with an ash receiver in an automobile, an arm is provided on the bowl by which the snuffer can be attached to a resilient arm on the ash receiver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING How the above and other objects of the invention are attained will be more readily understood by reference to the following description and to the annexed drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective View of a typical ash receiver for an automobile with the snulfer of the present invention mounted therein.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal vertical median section through the snuffer and the tip of the resilient arm of the ash receiver upon which the snufi'er is mounted, another style of ash receiver being shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal transverse section through the snulfer bowl and cover on line 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing portion of FIG. 3 with the cover member of the bowl in locked position.

FIG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the snuffer of FIG. 2 including the mounting means.

FIG. 6 is a side and top perspective view of an embodiment of the invention in which the snulfer bowl has no mounting arm.

FIG. 7 is a vertical section through an ash tray adapted 0 to receive the snuifer of FIG. 6.

3 DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows in perspective a typical drawer-type ash receiver which is slidably mounted in some portion of an automobile, for example an instrument panel. Within the ash receiver 10, the snuffer indicated generally at 12 is mounted on a flat, resilient arm 14 in such a position that the snuifer is contained entirely within the ash receiver and does not interfere with opening or closing the receiver by sliding or swinging motion, the latter being the motion of some hinged ash receivers.

Snuffer 12 is shown in greater detail in FIG. 2 in which it will be seen that it comprises a bowl 15 open at one side at which is mounted cover 16 which, as will be explained, partially closes the open side of the bowl. An arm 17 is preferably made integral with the bowl and provides means for attaching the snutfer to resilient arm 14 of the ash receiver.

As shown particularly in FIG. 3, the bowl is generally circular in cross-section and has an annular rim surrounding the open side. The bottom of the bowl is preferably rounded, although the shape of the bottom is optional.

Cover 16 has a central opening into which cigarette C can be inserted to bring the lighted end of the cigarette into bowl 15. The central opening 19 in the cover is preferably surrounded or formed by a tubular portion 18 and has an upwardly and outwardly flared mouth with a progressively decreasing diameter as shown. The minimum diameter of the central opening is such as to receive the cigarette C with a loose sliding fit. For example, the minimum diameter of the opening may be equal to the diameter of the cigarette plus to of an inch. The object is to allow easy access of the cigarette to the interior of the bowl while at the same time substantially cutting off circulation of outside air into the bowl when the cigarette is inserted through the cover so that a fresh supply of air cannot enter the bowl, and any clearance accomplishing this is suitable.

The internal volume of bowl 15 when cover 16 is in place is preferably such that the cigarette is extinguished in a short time, say from five to ten seconds, because the burning end of the cigarette has by then exhausted all of the available oxygen within the bowl and consequently the cigarette dies out. The presence of the cigarette in the central opening 19 through cover 16 blocks entrance of fresh air to the bowl interior so that combustion is no longer supported after the initial oxygen supply is exhausted.

The outwardly flare nature of the central opening is such as to provide a guide for the cigarette enabling the driver of the vehicle to locate the snuffer and place the cigarette in the central opening by the sense of touch alone and without necessarily taking his eyes from the highway in order to observe the location of opening 19. The location of the central opening can be made more fully and easily evident to the driver by providing around the edge of cover 16 a plurality of spaced ribs 20 which preferably extend upwardly above the level of the top of the cover, as shown in FIG. 2. The ends of the ribs are rounded and thus provide a series of easily identified knobs or projections which, when engaged by the fingers of the driver, enable him to quickly locate the central opening and insert the cigarette C thereinto.

Since the driver may not wish to continue to hold the cigarette once it is inserted in the snutfer, the spacing between the bottom of bowl 15 and the inner end of the tubular member 18 is such that one end of the cigarette, when smoked down to the usual length, projects above cover 16 while the lighted end is fully within the bowl and below tubular portion 18. This enables the smoker to leave the cigarette in place while it is being extinguished, if he so desires, and insures that the cigarette will not he accidentally dislodged from the snuffer prior to its deliberate removal for dropping it into ash receiver 10.

It will be understood that it is not the intention of the snulfer to act as an ash receiver in replacement of the sliding drawer 10. In normal operation, the lighted end of the cigarette is quickly extinguished and the burning pieces of tobacco on the end of the cigarette fuse into a more or less cohesive mass so that they are withdrawn with the stub end of the cigarette. Consequently, only a minor quantity of the ash falls into bowl 15 from each cigarette extinguished. The dead cigarettes are then placed in the receiver 10 which is much larger and is designed to act in a storage capacity.

Means are provided for mounting the snuffer on the ash receiver. It is a usual construction for a sliding receiver 10 to be provided with a resilient arm 14 having a detent 22 which is normally biased to an upper position in which it engages a fixed portion of the automobile to limit outward movement of the drawer, that is movement towards the right in FIG. 1. By depressing the end of resilient arm 14, detent 22 is then disengaged and the drawer can be removed for emptying. The end of arm 14 provides a convenient place for mounting the snuffer, as shown.

Arm 17 terminates at its outward end in a recess 23 closed at one side by web 24. The web has a central opening sized to receive bolt 25. The recess is hexagonal in outline, as shown in FIG. 5, to receive a hexagonal nut 27 in the recess so that the nut is held by the recess wall against turning. This permits the bolt 25 to be tight ened quickly from above without a tool to hold the nut. Bolt 25 passes through an opening through the end of ash receiver arm 14, such opening being commonly provided by the manufacturer.

It will be evident that the snutfer can be used with a wide variety of sizes and shapes of ash receivers, including those that are hinged to swing downwardly from the dash or instrument panel. Receivers of this type generally have a very shallow front, as indicated by the dotted outline 10a in FIG. 2. Because of this, the arm 17 is inclined relative to bowl 1 5 and the wall around recess 23 has a relatively short vertical dimension at the maximum distance from the bowl. This avoids contact with the sharply sloping bottom wall of the ash receiver and makes the snulfer adaptable to mounting on a receiver of the dash board type with a hole in a detent release arm or a rigid ledge with a ledge hole or grid secured to the front or side of the ash tray, or the type that hinges downward. Also it is adaptable to stationary ash trays with holes in a strap spanning the ash tray or ledge holes or grid at sides of the ash tray.

Cover 16 and bowl 15 are provided with cooperating elements which serve as means for locking the cover in place. Around the outside of bowl 15 near the upper end thereof, are a plurality of outwardly extending ramps 30 of which one is shown in FIG. 4. These may have an arcuate outer peripheral surface, as shown, and terminate at one end in a more or less radial shoulder 30a. Cover 16 has a depending flange 31 on the inner face of which there is a plurality of indentations, each formed by an arcuate surface 32 on the cover flanges and ending at a radial shoulder 31a. These indentations are at least equal in number to the number of ramps 30 and are so spaced and located that the arcuate surfaces 32 cooperate with and engage the outer peripheral surfaces of ramps30. The radial dimensions of each of the recesses is such that when a ramp 30 is at the large end of the recess as in FIG. 3, cover 16 is free with respect to bowl 15 and can be lifted 011?. However, when the cover is turned clockwise, viewed from above, the surface 32 being eccentric with respect to the axis of rotation of the cover and consequently of decreasing radius with respect to the ramp, creates a wedging action between the bowl and depending flange 31 which tightens the cover in place and holds it against accidental removal. By twisting the cover in the opposite direction, it is returned to a position where shoulders 30a and 31a abut and in which the cover is free and can be removed.

This arrangement permits the cover to be removed so that when ash receiver is taken out of the automobile and inverted to empty it, any ashes accumulated in bowl are likewise dumped out. Cover 16 is then replaced and tightened by twisting clockwise.

It is preferable that ramps 30 are all spaced slightly below the rim or top edge of the wall of bowl 15. This permits the cover to first be generally aligned with the rim of the bowl, after which it can be turned to bringv DESCRIPTION OF VARIATIONAL FORM FIG. 7 illustrates a form of snufler 40 which is the same in all respects as the snuffer already described, except that arm 17 is omitted and the exterior surface of bowl 15a is provided with a series of grooves 41 (see FIGS. 6 and 8) so that the bowl may be held in the fingers more easily without slipping during removal and/or replacement of cover members 16.

A snutfer of this type is designed to be received in complementary well 44 in an ash tray generally indicated at 45. This tray can be used on a desk or table and the snufier located at any point on the tray that may be desirable. Snuifer 40 is held by gravity in well or socket 44, since this is satisfactory under ordinary conditions; however, the invention is not necessarily limited to this feature.

Cover 16 is held on bowl 15 in the embodiment of FIGS. 6 and 7, in the same manner as already described; and the cover preferably engages the tray 45 to support the snutfer firmly without rocking in the well.

The preferred material for the snutfer is one of the various heat resistant plastic currently available, polyphenylene oxide being a highly satisfactory material because of its physical characteristics. This material is highly elastic and, while firm, is not entirely rigid. Conse quently, the thin wall of the depending flange 31 can spring out very slightly when the cover is tightened against ramps 30, thereby holding the cover firmly in place. Because of the elasticity, the cover resumes its original shape when removed and does not become permanently deformed by the springing action.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that various changes in the detailed construction and arrangement of the parts of my improved cigarette snufier may occur to persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Accordingly, such modifications are considered to come within the scope of the invention disclosed herein.

I claim:

1. A dry cigarette snuffer, comprising: a bowl open at one side; a cover removably mounted on the bowl at the open side thereof and having an opening through the cover admitting a cigarette axially into the bowl, the diameter of the opening being such as to receive a cigarette with a sliding fit thereby substantially to exclude air from the bowl;

the bowl and cover when assembled defining an airfilled interior space of such volume as to snuff out the lighted end of a cigarette therein in about 5 to 10' seconds from depletion of oxygen; and

an arm integral with the bowl for securing the snuffer to the arm of an automobile ash tray, said integral arm being connected to the bowl centrally thereof and extending radially outwardly therefrom and upwardly to substantially the level of the open end of the bowl and said integral arm having a hole therein at the end remote from the bowl for receiving means securing the snufi'er to the ash tray.

2. A cigarette snutfer as claimed in claim -1 in which the opening in the cover is surrounded by a tubular wall portion of the cover that extends into the bowl and is spaced from the bottom of the bowl a distance suflicient to admit fully the burning portion of the cigarette and the length of the tube is such that the cigarette projects above the tubular member.

3. A cigarette snuffer as claimed in claim 1 that also includes means locking the cover to the bowl comprising:

a plurality of exterior ramps spaced apart around the bowl adjacent said open side;

and an overhanging flange on the cover having a plurality of arcuate internal surfaces equal in number to said ramps and engaging the ramps with a wedging action upon rotation of the cover relative to the bowl.

4. A cigarette snuifer as claimed in claim 1 in which the bowl and integral arm are molded from a thermosetting, nonmetallic material.

5. A cigarette snuffer as claimed in claim 4 in which the material is polyphenylene oxide.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 57,212 3/ 1921 Carter.

D. 141,182 5/1945 Levinger.

D. 147,870 11/1947 Russo.

D. 152,022 12/1948 Revell.

D. 173,595 11/1954 Sulak.

D. 203,641 2/1966 McClure 131-231 X 1,818,125 8/1931 Eve 131-236 2,652,944 9/ 1953 Visser 131235 X 2,736,321 2/1956 Lewis 131-256 2,748,778 6/ 1956 Olson 131235 2,765,950 10/ 1956 Wheeler.

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,444,405 5/ 1966 France.

JOSEPH S. REICH, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R.

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