US3561452A

US3561452A - Ash tray with cigarette extinguisher and ash removing grating

Info

Publication number: US3561452A
Application number: US768421A
Authority: US
Inventors: Mario Artelli
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1968-10-17
Filing date: 1968-10-17
Publication date: 1971-02-09
Anticipated expiration: 1988-02-09

Abstract

An ash receiver is disclosed which contains a rotatable snubber assembly, a rotatable grate assembly, a lever assembly coupling the snubber and grate assemblies and a receptacle for housing the snubber, grate and lever assemblies.

Description

United States Patent References Cited [72] Inventor Mario Artelli mm 5 aw m 3 mm 1 M 3 S n H T m m N m S m E H" u M mm mm p m S u u E m mmm m m N r V. e m mmm m SmflacE m PNMMRF E O P 9784 4 N4346 6 UNNWN m 4 W W U 1 1 264 0 l 3920 0 3 5337 3 0053 8 D223 .m m mmm im. I A ,R 2 mmu i 4 Lw mn syil oa wm CBM mm SCW. 8 mc inn-H. 19 s a n 3 9 m mAn u 8th 0-1 8 8 UCHG7MF o d N m L n Wem Ha AFP UM 224 Iii.

R Primary Examiner.loseph S. Reich Att0rneyRoger A. Clapp [54] ASH TRAY WITH CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHE AND ASH REMOVING GRATING 7 Claims, 12 Drawing Figs.

receptacle for housing the snubber, grate and lever assemblies.

[50] FieldofSearch........................................... 131/231, 237; 131/235, 240, 242

"PATENIEDFEB sum 3,661,452

" sumifibfz INVENTOR.

Y MARIO ARTELLI 47/174 mu W FIGQB.

FIG. 7

PATENTEDFEB 9 I971 sum 2 or 2 INVENTOR.

ash receiver which can easily be cleaned both inside and out.

AS TRAY WITH CIGARETTE EXTINGUlSl-IER AND V ASH REMOVING GRATING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention pertains to receptacles for receiving debris and relates in particular to those which arecommonly. used to receive the byproducts of tobacco usage; viz., ash receivers.

While ash receivers of all sorts are known, each generally exhibits some disadvantage. For example, ofttimes a cigarette or cigar snubbed in an ash receiver will not go out entirely. In-

stead, itmerely smolders, much to the annoyance and discomfort of nearby persons. a

Accordingly, it is broadly an object of this invention to improve ash receivers, and it is a particular object of this invention to reduce discomfort to persons nearby the ash receiver, and avoid any occasional danger of flame. I

Specifically, another object of this invention is to provide an persons nearby is reduced and cleaning is simplified by the combination of a snubber assembly which includes a block having; a number of snubbing holes for positively, spontaneously and immediately extinguishing butts and which is rotatable to dump extinguished butts, a grate assembly which has spaces large enough to pass ash and other debris from partially consumed tobacco products and the like but not large enough to pass a cigarette or butt; and a lever assembly which joins the snubber assembly and the grate assembly so that when one assembly is dumped, the other will automatically dump also.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ash receiver constructed in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view of the ash receiver shown in FIG. 1. r i

' FIG. 3 is an end elevation view of the ash receiver shown in FlG.l.,, v i

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the ash receiver shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a partial bottom plan view of the ash receiver shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a partialsection view of the ash receiver shown in FIG. 1 taken along the line 6-6 shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 7 is an end elevation view of a snubber assembly.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation view of the snubber assembly in FIG. 7 and has portions broken away to show interior details.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a grate assembly.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view of the interior of the ash receiver taken along the line 10-10 in FIG. 11 and illustrates a lever assembly which joins the snubber assembly and the grate assembly.

FIG. 11 is a partial top elevation view of the ash receiver shown in FIG. 1 with parts broken away to illustrate the lever assembly.

FIG. 12 is a partial schematic view of the ash receiver shown in FIG. 1 and is taken in elevation to show the interaction between the snubber assembly and the grate assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Turning now to a detailed description of the invention and its cooperating parts. an ashreceiver is shown in FIG. 1. The ash receiver 20 comprises a receptacle 21, a snubber assembly 30, a grate assembly 40 and, as best seen in FIG. 10, a

. lever assembly 50.

The receptacle 21 has four sides, 22a, 22b, 22c and 22d, which are joined to form a box open at the top and bottom. The bottom of the box is closed .by :a cleanout plate 23 while the top is partially closed by an extension of the side 22c. As shown in FIGS. 2 and ,10, the plate 23 is joined at one end to the receptacle 21 by a pivot pin 24 and at the other by a clip 25 Both the

sides

22a, 22b, 22c, 22d and the plate 23 must be made on a nonflammable material and aluminum is particularly convenient As to the pivot pin 24 and the clip 25 both are conveniently made of brass. Finally, the side 22a includes located in the snubber block 31 with one end rigidly engaging the snubber block 31 and the other end rotatably engaging the receptacle 21. The handle assembly 32 includes a knurled knob 35 and a shaft 36 joined to the knob 35 at one end and to the snubber block 31 at the other. For convenience, the knob 35 is rotatably joined to the end of the shaft 36. As can be seen from FIGS. 1,2, 3, 4 and 6, theknob 35 extends outwardly from the snubber block 3l and the

slots

26a and 26b restrain the extremity of movement of the shaft 36. as it swings during operation. Finally, the snubbing ports or holes 34 are holes drilled part way through the snubber block 31. The diameter of each hole 34 is slightly larger than a cigarette and each hole 34 is countersunk with a tapered hole. As best seen in FIG. 4, the diameter of the tapered holes is chosen so that the lip of each hole will be almost, if not exactly, tangent to the lip of its neighbors. As a consequence, when butts are snubbed, they 'will automatically be guided into one of the holes 34.

The grate assembly 40 fills the remaining open portion in the top of the receptacle 21. As best seen in FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12, it comprises a frame 41, a plurality of bars 42, and a pair of pivot pins .43. The frame 41 is conveniently an open rectangle made of aluminum and includes two flanges 44 for accepting the pivot pins 43. The bars 42 are also conveniently made of aluminum andextend in parallel relationship to each other across the opening in the frame 41 to form a grating. The pivot pins 43 are conveniently made of brass, and are joined rigidly at one end to the flanges 44 as by a threaded end which screws into the flanges 44. The other end of each pivot pin 43 is rotatably joined to the receptacle 21.

The lever assembly 50, as best seen in FIGS. 10 and 11, comprises a pair of crank members 51, a connecting bar 52 and a pair of coupling pins 53 for joining the ends of the connectingbar 52 to the crank members 51. In the embodiment disclosed, the crank members 51 are conveniently made of aluminum and are bolted to the

pivot pins

33 and 43. As best seen in FIG. 10, the ends of

adjacent pivot pins

33 and 43 are threaded. The crank members 51 are'each perforated with a hole (not shown) which is large enough to accept the end of the threaded end of a

pivot pin

33 or 43. As can be seen in FIGS. 10 and 11, when the crank members 51 are mounted on the

pivot pins

33 and 43, they are held rigidly in place by nuts so that each pivot pin and crank member combination turns as a unit. As also seen in FIGS. 10 and l I, the connector bar- 52, which is conveniently made of aluminum, is joined to the ends of the crank members 51 by the coupling pins 53. The coupling pins 53 are conveniently made of brass and, for simplicity-of assembly, are threaded at one end. Also, the connecting bar 52 has two tapped holes (not shown) to accept the .ends of the coupling pins 53. As shown in FIG. 11, a spacer 56 abutting the crank member 51 spaces the connecting bar 52 away from the other components of the lever assembly 50.

DESCRlPTlON OF OPERATION The snubber assembly 30 is designed to snub out butts in a manner which prevents smoldering while the grate assembly serves as an ash remover. Clearly, however, when both assemblies are full of debris, they must be dumped. Dumping is best understood by reference to FIG. 12. As shown in FIG. 12, the handle assembly 32 moves through 'a semicircle in a dumping operation; that is, the shaft 36 moves from slot 26a to 26b as it carries the snubber assembly 30 through the positions shown. At each position, the snubber assembly 30 is moved closer to the final dump position. As can be seen from F 16S. and 11, the movement of the snubber assembly 30 is automatically imparted to the grate assembly 40 through the lever assembly 50. The four positions of the grate assembly 40 shown in FIG. -12 correspond to those shown for the snubber assembly 30. Thus, by simply rotating the handle assembly 32 until the shaft 36 moves from the slot 26a to the slot 26b, both the snubber and the grate assemblies are easily and simply cleaned. Whether or not automatic return is available is not part of the present invention. The angular displacement of the snubber assembly 30 and the grate assembly 40, however, are not equal as shown in FIG. 12. Accordingly, various modes, including placing of weights or the like, could be used by one skilled in the art to achieve automatic return.

In summary, an ash receiver has been disclosed which reduces discomfort to nearby persons from smoldering butts and which is easily and simply cleaned. While only one embodiment of this invention has been disclosed, it will be recognized that the embodiment is only illustrative of the principals of the invention and many others will occur to others skilled in the art which will fall within the scope of the invention.

1. In an ash receiver, the combination comprising:

a receptacle for collecting ashes and other debris, said receptacle having an opening at one end;

a grate assembly located in one portion of said opening, said grate assembly including an open frame, a plurality of regularly spaced bars spanning the opening in said frame and joined in parallel relation to said frame by their ends to form a grating, and first pivot means rotatably joining said open frame to said receptacle;

a snubber assembly located in another portion of said opening, said snubber assembly including a snubber block, there being a plurality of holes disposed adjacent to each other in said snubber block, second pivot means rotatably joining said snubber block to said receptacle and handle means for rotating said snubber-block around said second pivot means to a dumping'position, said holes extending only part way through said snubber block; and a lever assembly for rotating said open frame around said first pivot means to a dumping position in response to rotation of said snubber block around said second pivot means to a dumping position wherebyashes and other debris retained by said grating will automatically be dumped into said receptacle when said snubber block is dumped. 2. An ash receiver in accordance with claim 1 wherein the surface of said snubber assembly includes means providing a plurality of tapered openings in register with said holes, said jecting out of opposite sides of said open frame to rotatably attach said open frame to the walls of said receptacle; said second pivot means includes two centrally located pivot pins projecting out of opposite sides of said snubber block and rotatably attached to the walls of said receptacle; and said lever assembly includes two crank members rigidly attached to adjacent pivot pins and a lever bar interconnecting said crank members whereby rotation of one of said adjacent pivot pins rotates the other automatically. I

4. An ash receptacle m accor ance with claim 1 wherein said handle means includes a knurled knob and a shaft for attaching said knurled knob to said snubber block.

5. An ash receiver in accordance with claim 1 wherein said receptacle includes a slot for accommodating said handle means when said snubber block is in the rest position and another slot for accommodating said handle means when said snubber block is in the dump position.

6. An ash receiver in accordance with claim 1 wherein said receptacle includes a cleanout plate rotatably attached to said receptacle opposite said snubber block and frame.

7. An ash receiver in accordance with claim 1 wherein said lever assembly includes a crank member attached to said snubber assembly, a crank member attached to said grate assembly and a bar interconnecting said two crank members whereby operation of one of said assemblies will automatically operate the other.

Claims

1. In an ash receiver, the combination comprising: a receptacle for collecting ashes and other debris, said receptacle having an opening at one end; a grate assembly located in one portion of said opening, said grate assembly including an open frame, a plurality of regularly spaced bars spanning the opening in said frame and joined in parallel relation to said frame by their ends to form a grating, and first pivot means rotatably joining said open frame to said receptacle; a snubber assembly located in another portion of said opening, said snubber assembly including a snubber block, there being a plurality of holes disposed adjacent to each other in said snubber block, second pivot means rotatably joining said snubber block to said receptacle and handle means for rotating said snubber block around said second pivot means to a dumping position, said holes extending only part way through said snubber block; and a lever assembly for rotating said open frame around said first pivot means to a dumping position in response to rotation of said snubber block around said second pivot means to a dumping position whereby ashes and other debris retained by said grating will automatically be dumped into said receptacle when said snubber block is dumped.

2. An ash receiver in accordance with claim 1 wherein the surface of said snubber assembly includes means providing a plurality of Tapered openings in register with said holes, said tapered openings being disposed in tangential relationship to each other whereby a butt snubbed in said snubber assembly will automatically be guided into one of said holes.

3. An ash receiver in accordance with claim 1 wherein said first pivot means includes two centrally located pivot pins projecting out of opposite sides of said open frame to rotatably attach said open frame to the walls of said receptacle; said second pivot means includes two centrally located pivot pins projecting out of opposite sides of said snubber block and rotatably attached to the walls of said receptacle; and said lever assembly includes two crank members rigidly attached to adjacent pivot pins and a lever bar interconnecting said crank members whereby rotation of one of said adjacent pivot pins rotates the other automatically.

4. An ash receptacle in accordance with claim 1 wherein said handle means includes a knurled knob and a shaft for attaching said knurled knob to said snubber block.