US746321A - Match. - Google Patents

Description

Patenced December 8, 1903.

PATENI OEFICE.

HUGH GAIR, or OAKPARK, ILLINOIS.

MATO H.

SPECIFICATIO1\ formng part of Letters Patent N o. 746,321, dated December 8, 1903.

Application filed February 18,1903. Serial No. 143.922. (No model) T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGH GAIR, a resident of Oakpark, in thecounty of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and usefui Improvements in Matches, of which the following is a specification. This invention relates to improvements in matches, and pertains more particularly toferred towhich has a detachable portion which is so formed that the detach ment thereof does not shorten or substanti2tlly destroy the couvnience andburning capacity of the match; to provide a construction which may be economically and readily nianufactured by machinery, and in general to provide a simple and improved device of the character referred to.

To the above ends the inven tion consists in the matters hereinafter described, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, and Will be readily understood from the following description by reference to the accompanying drawings,f0rminga part thereof, and in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a complete match e'mbodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the butt-end portion of a match enlarged Fig. 3is a cross-sectional view .taken approximately on line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4, 5, and 6 are views corresponding, re-

spectively, to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 of'a modified construction.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates as a whole the body or match-splint, which in the most approved form is rectangular in crosssection and may be of the ordinary dimensions or desirably slightly larger than those most commonly used at present.

2 designates the ignition-head, which ma be applied in-any of the well-known ways, and in the most approved form'of the invention consists of a composition which will ignite only when applied to a special friction composition.

3 designates a detachable section of the match-body, and 4a coatingof abrasive material or chemical composition adapted to igmite the match when the head of the latteris rubbed thereon. In the preferred embodiment (shown in Fgs. 1 to 3 inclusive) the detachable section 3 is a wedge-shaped piece which is made readily detachable by formi ng v oblique longitudinallyextending cuts 5 in the laterally-opposite sides of the match-body, near one end thereof, theends of the cuts 5 at the wider end of the detachable Section being preferably arranged to terminate a short distance from the end of the match-body, as

ndicated at 6. These cuts are arranged in the same plane and extend into the body of the match a distance slightly less than onehalf the Width of the match, so as to leave an intervening uncut web portion 7 (see Fig. 3) in addition to the uncut butt-end portion 8, thereby leaving the detachable portion 3 reliably unitedwith the match-body, but capable of being detached therefrom readily by twisting the detachable portion relatively to the main body of the match. The coating 4 desirably covers the principal part of the broader exposed side of the detachable sec tion, as shown clearly in the drawings.

In use the user first detaches the section and then applies it to the head of the match with a combined drawing a'nd rubbing motion, and so ignites the match, or the section may be detached and the match-body reversed and the head applied thereto and rubbed upon the detached section in the usual manner.

It will be noted that the removal of the detached section does notshorten the match,

but, on the contrary, leaves it of its full origi nal length, although tapering at its butt-end. The detached section is, moreover,of suflicient length and breadth to enable it to be.convenroo and may therefore be made by a knife which is arranged to cut inwardly from the top surface of the splint to a depth sufficient to intersect the plano of the longitudinal cuts 9. In this instance said longitudinal cuts 9 are shown as extendng entirely to the butt-end of the splint, and in order to prevent the detachable section from being broken off too easily the butt-ends of the splint are provided with a coating 10, of glue or analogous reinforcing material.

Obviously either of these forms may be embodied in the ordinary friction-matchesi. e., those provided with an ignition compound which will ignite when applied to any suitable friction-surface; but it is equally obvious that the utility of the invention is greatest when embodied in a safety-match. It Will be further obvious that the precise form of the detachable section is not essential so long as it be such that when detached it does not substantially shorten the match body and at the same time is of sufficient length to be conveniently handled and applied to the match-head. I do not, therefore, limit myself to the precise details of construction shown.

I claim as my invention 1. A match provided with a detachable sec tion forming a part of the original splint and separable therefrom along longitudinal division-cuts whereby the original length of the splint remains substantially unimpaired after the section has been detached, said sections being provided respectively with an gniting and a friction substance at points normally remote from each other.

2. A match-body cut or scored to separate longitudinally from the butt-end to a point intermediate its length, the longer section being provided at one end with an ignitible head, and the other section With a coating of friction material.

3. A match-body of rectangular form in cross-section provided at its butt-end With cuts arranged in the same plane and extending obliquely from points near the butt-end and near one side of the match-body to points intermediate the length of the splint and at the opposite side of the match-body, the combined depth of said cuts being less than the thickness of the match-body.

HUGH GAIR.

Witnesses:

ALBERT H. GRAVES, FREDERICK C. GOODWIN.

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