US2515092A - Lighter - Google Patents

Description

July l1, 1950 P. B. MILLER 2,515,092

LIGHTER Filed Sept. 30, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 @W j@ /f v A TTOR EY.

July ll, 1950 P. B. MILLER LIGHTER Filed Sept. 30, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FW 'l IN VENTOR.

BY Z

A 4 t A TOR EY.

Patented July 11, 1950 LIGHTER Price B. Miller, Kansas City, Mo., assignor to Miller Liter Company, Kansas City, Mo.

Application September 30, 1946, Serial No. 700,310

1 claim. l

This invention relates to igniting devices of 'lighters wherein is provided unique and novel mechanism for supplying fuel from a'hollow tank 4formed in the casing thereof to the wick compartment.

The primary aim of this invention is to provvide a lighter having a casing formed entirely from transparent material and having spaced lcompartments for fuel and a wickgand having avalved interconnecting conduit for permitting flow of fuel to the wick when the valve is open, all of which parts are readily seen by the operator to the end that the operator may know when the supply of fuel becomes low, and to make it possible for him to control the fiow of fuel'to the wick by watching such flow.

One of the most important aims of this invention is the provision of a lighter having spaced compartments for housing the wick and a supply of fuel respectively, joined by a cylinder and conduit assembly and having a manually actuated valve for opening and closing the cylinder to restrict the flow of fuel from the supply compartment to the wick compartment except when the operator desires to saturate the wick.

An important aim of this invention is to provide in a lighter having the aforesaid separate compartments, a cylinder formed in the casing and communicating with the fuel supply, wherein isy reciprocably mounted a spring-loaded plunger provided with a valve on one end thereof to close the cylinder when the plunger is held at one end of its path of travel by the spring and open the same when the plunger is manually shifted inwardly into the cylinder.

Another aim of this invention is to provide a lighter having a specially formed snuffer arm, disposed to reciprocate the plunger as the same is swung to and from a closed position, and to hold the plunger with the valve open when in a partially open position whereby the fluid may ow from the supply tank to the wick saturation chamber as the operator tilts the lighter toward an inverted position.

Further objects, and particularly such as relate to the more purely structural details, will be made clear or become apparent as this specification progresses.

In the accompanying drawing, I have shown my invention in two forms which at present are preferred by me. Referring to the drawing:

' Eig. 1 is a side elevational view of a lighter made in accordance with one for-m of my invention, parts being broken away for clearness'.

Fig. 2 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a top plan viewv thereof.

4 is a fragmentary, detailed cross-sectional view showing the various positions of the snuffer arm, and the valve in an open position.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 4, showing the valve in a closed condition.

Fig. 6 is a, side elevational view of a lighter made in accordance with a modified form of my invention,parts being broken away for clearness.

Fig. 7 is an end elevational view thereof.

Fig. 8 is a cross-sectional fragmentary view showing details of construction and .taken on an enlarged scale; and

Fig. 9 is an enlarged, detailed, cross-sectional view taken on line IX-IX of Fig. 8, showing the valve in a closed condition.

One of the most aggravating problems inherent in conventional cigar and cigarette lighters is the inability of the users thereof to determine when the supply of fuel is becoming low. Consequently, the lighter becomes dry most frequently when the user is unable to refill the same until he reaches his home or office where a new supply of fuel is maintained. This problem hasbeen obviated in my invention by forming the lighter fromv transparent and translucent material, preferably plastic, whereby the fuel in the lighter is easily seen at all times, and the user may rell the same as the supply becomes low,

ythereby never having :an inoperable lighter at inopportune times. Inasmuch as the provision of a conventional lighter with a casing made from such translucent material Would Serve no useful purpose in that the operator would be unable to` deter-mine whether the Wick and packing assembly was dry or saturated, my invention also includes a separate fuel supply chamber and saturation compartment, joined by the valve assembly about to be described.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figs. l to 5 inclusive, the numeral II) broadly designates a casing', molded or otherwise formed entirely from plastic or other translucent material, Within which is created a hollow fuel tank I2 .near the bottom wall thereof. This fuel tank I2 extends upwardly within the casing III as at I4 and communicates with the exterior of casing AI 0 through a short conduit I6, internally threaded to receive a cap screw I8, the removal of which affords al meansy for filling the tank I2 with the as at 28 to present a seat for a valve 30 fixed n y to the lowermost end of the plunger 24. This valve 36 comprises a circular disk formed from rubber or other resilient material to conform to the contour of the seat 28 as a spring 32 coiled about the plunger 24 yieldably maintains the same at the [uppermost end of its path of travel, whereby valve 3i) closes the lowermost end of the cylinder 2l). This formation of valve 30 when closed, is clearly shownin Fig. 5. A shoulder 33 extends inwardly from'the walls forming cylinder for receiving the 'lowermost end of spring 2, and plunger 24 is enlarged at the uppermost end thereof as at 35 to `present .a bearing Surface for the upper end of spring '32. Spring 32 therefore, tends to maintain plunger 24 at the uppermost end of its path of travel.

A transverse conduit 34 interconnects the cylinder 2i) and a hollow wick compartment 36, which compartment 36 is in' turn in communication with the wall 22 of the casing I0- through a passage 38. A wick 40 in the compartment 36 is 'surrounded with the usual lling or wadding 42, and projects through the passage 38 to extend a short distance beyond the wall 22, in the well known manner. This lling I2 extends into the conduit-34 as shown to surround the plunger 24, thereby preventing the flow of fluid toward the uppermost end of the cylinder 20. y

The wall 22 of casing I0 has extension 44 projecting upwardly therefrom, provided with a tube which holds the pyrophoric element 48, disposed in such a manner that it readily cooperates with a friction Wheel 49 to produce a spark for igniting the wick 40. The snuffer arm 25 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 50 interconnecting a flange 52 and the' extension 44.

vSnuier arm 26 extends beyond the shaft 5t to present a pair of edges 55 and 53 which contact the uppermost end of the plunger 351:0 open the valve 3U as the arm 26 is moved to and from a fully closed position as shown in Fig. 1. It is readily seen that when snuffer arm 25 in the two horizontal positions where the Same is either fully closed or entirely open respectively, and when the arm 28 is in the vertical position, the edges 56 4and 58 will not be in contact with the plunger 24 and therefore, valve 3e will remain closed. However, when arm 25 is in the two positions midway between fully closed and the vertical and fully open and the vertical positions, edges 55 and 58 respectively, will push plunger 24 downwardly to open valve 30. Withthe exception of the full open position, all of the above described positions are clearly shown by full and dotted lines in Fig. 4. A spring-loaded pin 60 bears against arm 26 to yeldably hold the latter in any of the positions described. Pin 60 reciprocates in an opening formed in case I0 extending inwardly from wall 22 adjacent cylinder 20 and below that end of the arm 26'having edges 56 and 58 thereon. The spring for pin 60 iswithin such opening below pin 60.

' When the lighter just described is not in use, valve 30- will remain closed since snuffer arm' 26 is usually kept in a position covering the upper end of the wick Ml. Thus, the tendency common in most lighters of the fluid leaking out into the pocket is eliminated. A small amount of fuel will collect on the valve 3@ and each time the lighter is used, this collection will pass by capillary action into the chamber 2ll and thence to the iilling 42, which action will normally maintain a suicient supplyofl fuel in compartment 36. However, it may become necessary to occasionally replenish the chamber 35 with fuel to saturate the filling 42 and the wick 4b, which is accomplished by moving arm 26 to one of the positions where valve 30 is open and then tipping the lighter toward an inverted position where the fuel will flow freely into cylinder 2t and thence into conduitv 34 for passage into chamber 36.

In the form of my invention illustrated in Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive, a casing I'0Il has a fuel tank I 02, extending upwardly as at IM, and is provided with a supply opening I in virtually the same manner `as `inst described with respect to the form shown in Figs.l 1 to 5 inclusive. In this forrn however, a cylinder lila lies horizontally within the casing Ilil .and opens on one wall IIIJ thereof rather than the top wall of the lighter. A plunger II'2 within the cylinder m8 has a spring IIlI coiled thereabout in such manner as to vtend to hold plunger I I2 outwardly and at one end of ilts path of travel where valve Il@ closes cylinder 8.

In this instance, the `cylinder |08 has enlarged bores I'I8 and I2 for receiving a head I 22 and the valve II' .at opposite ends of the plunger H2 respectively, each of which forms an integral part of the plunger II2. A portion l|24 .oi the plunger H2 is enlarged to present a stop for one end of spring I'I4 while the opposite end thereof bears against a shoulder I25'in cylinder IIlIl. The valve I I5 in this instance is also diskshaped, however, one face thereof is beveled as at l'I for seating against a resilient washer |29 in the bore I2@ to close opening I3I therethrough when in the positionillustrated in Fig. 9.

A compartment I'26 for the wick |27 and lling |30 communicates with the cylinder IUS through a conduit I 32. yThis filling |30 likewise extends into the conduit VI32 and surrounds plunger I I2 to prevent leakage of fluid outwardly from casing lii through bore 58. The snuier arm and ignition assembly at the top of the lighter takes the same form as above described except that snuifer arm does not actuate the valve assembly and .need not be repeated. It is readily seen that in this form, compartment E25 may be easily replenished for saturating the iilling |30 and wick I2'l by pressing upon head I 22 of plunger II2 whereby valve I It will be opened and tilting kof the lighter will allow passage of fuel through cylinder H38 and conduit I32 into the compartment |26.

While only two embodiments of my lighter have been illustrated and described, it is understood that various changes may be 'made in the form and the arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

In a lighter of the kind described, in combination, a hollowbocly having a normally uppermost wall; a partition in the body defining a fuel tank atthe bottom of the body anda wick compartment near the top of' the bedy,` there being a passage in said partition interconnecting said tank and said compartment and an opening aligned with said passage and formed through said wall in register with the compartment; a Valve in the tank having a stem reciprocably mounted in the passage and the opening and eX- tending outwardly beyond said Wall; means for yieldably holding said valve biased toward a posi'- tion closing the passage; and an elongated snuifer arm pivotally mounted on said Wall for swinging movement on an axis spaced directly above the uppermost end of said stem, said arm having a bottom Wall and an end Wall, defining a corner on one side of said pivotal mounting, movable as the arm is swung, into and out of engagement 15 with said stem for shifting the latter and the valve therein to a position opening and closing said passage respectively, said end Wall of the arm being spaced from said top wall of the body when the arm is in a position vertical to said top 6 Wall of the body, permitting movement of the valve to a closed position When the arm is in said position.

PRICE B. MILLER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,584,258 Thorens May 11, 1926 2,211,500 Gabritsch Aug. 13, 1940 2,244,563 Mansfield June 3, 1941 2,444,956 Schmitt July 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 79,997 Switzerland Feb. 1, 1919 530,438 Germany July 29, 1931

Images