Lock Mechanism for Increasing the Safety of a Lighter
A child resistant lighter includes a housing having a trigger slidably mounted thereon. A latch, internal to the housing, prevents movement of the trigger and thus prevents ignition of the lighter. A lever is pivotally mounted on the trigger. In one position, the lever is flush with the trigger, and not readily discernable as a lock release mechanism. In a second position, the lever is raised off of the trigger. In the raised position, the lever contacts the latch to slide the latch in a direction that enables movement of the trigger.
This application is a continuation and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/686,391 filed Oct. 15, 2003, now allowed, and incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThis invention relates to a lighter and more particularly to an apparatus for securing the lighter to prevent misuse.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAs it is known in the art, lighters are typically equipped with safety mechanisms for preventing the use of the lighter by children. Lighters generally have a trigger which, when depressed causes an igniting device to ignite fuel within the lighter. The safety mechanisms typically include mechanisms to lock the trigger to prevent movement and subsequent ignition of the fuel.
A variety of locking mechanisms have been provided to date. For example, conventional utility lighters generally include a lock switch placed on the housing of the lighter which requires a user to push the switch into an unlocked position to enable depression of the trigger of the lighter. Often such a configuration is insufficient to prevent the misuse of the lighter; either because the user may forget to return the switch to the locked position, or because a child may relatively easily figure out how to operate the device. An improved locking mechanism includes a spring loaded latch that is placed on the housing, a distance from the trigger, requiring the user to push against the latch to unlock the trigger while activating the trigger. When pressure is taken off the latch, it returns to an unlocked position. Such a lighter configuration is advantageous because it prevents the above problems of the trigger being left unsecured. In addition, because the latch is placed at a distance from the trigger, it is often difficult for a child to engage both the latch and trigger simultaneously due to their smaller sized hands. However, such a latching device requires a certain dexterity that is often difficult for the average user. Similar problems exist with other types of locking mechanisms, such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,599,120, by Lin, which require a simultaneous pushing of a safety lever and sliding of a trigger by an individual. While the motion is difficult for small children, it is also often difficult for the elderly or physically limited to perform. It would be desirable to provide a lighter having a safety mechanism that would be easily manipulated by the proper individuals but still prevent misuse by children.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a safety mechanism for lighters to reduce the probability that inexperienced users such as children will be capable of activating the lighter.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide an improved device for maximizing safety in lighters without compromising ease of use.
According to one aspect of the invention, a lighter includes a housing, a trigger slidably mounted on the housing and including a lever pivotally mounted on the trigger, the lever having a first, locked position for locking the lighter and a second position for permitting use of the lighter.
According to another aspect of the invention, a child resistant lighter includes a housing, a trigger enclosure slidably mounted on the housing, a first ignition medium disposed a portion of the trigger enclosure within the housing and a second ignition medium disposed in the housing. A slidable latch is provided, having a first position for prohibiting movement of the trigger enclosure within the housing and thereby prohibiting contact of the first ignition medium and the second ignition medium and a second position enabling movement of the trigger enclosure within the housing and thereby permitting contact of the first ignition medium and the second ignition medium. A lever is coupled to the trigger, for controlling movement of the latch.
According to another aspect of the invention, a lighter comprises a housing, the housing having an external shell and an internal plate extending there through defining an ignition cavity and a trigger cavity. The lighter also includes a trigger enclosure, having a first internal wall adjacent to the internal plate of the housing and a second wall having an extension that extends beyond the shell of the housing, the trigger comprising a lever mounted pivotally thereon and a latch, slidably positioned to extend through a slot, the slot extending through the internal plate of the housing and the internal wall of the trigger enclosure, the latch having a first position extending through the slot of the internal plate and the trigger enclosure to prevent movement of the trigger enclosure within the trigger cavity, and a second position extending into the trigger cavity and not within the slot of the internal plate, thereby permitting movement of the trigger enclosure within the trigger cavity, wherein movement of the latch to the second position is controlled by the lever.
According to another aspect of the invention, a lighter includes a housing, the housing including a first ignition means and a second ignition means, the contact of the first and second ignition means resulting in ignition of the lighter, a trigger, the movement thereof for causing contact of the first and second ignition means. means for preventing movement of the trigger; and means, pivotally mounted on the trigger, for enabling movement of the trigger.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring now to
According to one aspect of the invention, a lever 16 is pivotally mounted to the trigger 12 by a pin 18. In the locked position, as shown in
The external surface of the trigger is shown in
In one embodiment of the invention the trigger 12 lies in a depression in the housing 10. At least a portion 31 of the depression extends beyond the trigger to form a concave opening on an external face of the housing. As will be described in more detail below, to unlock the trigger, the lever 16 is pivoted upwards, off the trigger to a position substantially perpendicular to the top face of the trigger and pushed into the portion 31 of the depression. While the depression provides a cavity into which the lever may be pivoted for unlocking the trigger, it is not a limiting feature of the invention.
Referring briefly to
However, once the lock is detected, the lever and trigger arrangement allows for easy, one finger manipulation of the lock/trigger combination. Thus, as shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to
A slot 52 is extends through the interior trigger wall 44 and the interior plate 48. A latch 54 is disposed within the trigger housing 33, aligned with the slot 52. In a locked position a first portion 56 of the latch 54 extends through the slot into a pocket 58 of the ignition cavity, while a second portion of the latch remains in the trigger housing, thereby preventing advancement of the interior trigger wall along the interior plate 48. A spring 57 within the trigger housing urges the latch to the locked position. In one embodiment, the spring 57 is a torsion spring having a first end extending into the latch and a spring body secured in the trigger housing 33, although other alternative spring designs may also be used. Disposed on a top face 59 of the second portion of the latch 54, and extending perpendicularly from the latch is a latch lip 60.
As described previously with regard to
Referring now to
Referring now to
Thus a lighter with a trigger mounted safety mechanism has been shown and described with numerous benefits over the prior art. Providing the lever in flush relation with the trigger obscures the function of the lever and makes it difficult for an uneducated user to unlock the device, thereby safeguarding the lighter against use by children. In addition, the design of the lighter of the present invention is easy to manipulate, because only one digit and one movement is required for operation; the spring design lever/finger placement of the present invention provides the unlatching force. Thus, this overcome the previous problems of the prior art that required force by multiple fingers or in multiple directions for use.
Having described various embodiments of the invention, it is understood that the present invention is not to be limited in scope by the specific embodiments described herein. Indeed, various modifications of the present invention, in addition to those described herein, will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Accordingly, the present invention should only be limited by the attached claims.
Claims
1. A lighter comprising:
- a housing;
- a trigger slidably mounted on the housing and including a lever pivotably mounted on the trigger, the lever having a first, locked position for locking the lighter, wherein the lever is biased against an upper surface of the trigger, and a second position for permitting use of the lighter, wherein when the lever is pivoted upwardly from the upper surface of the trigger, the trigger can be moved downwardly from a first non-actuated position to a second, actuated position.
2. The lighter of claim 1, wherein, in the first position the lever lies flush on a top face of the trigger.
3. The lighter of claim 2, wherein the lever extends in length to match a front face of the trigger.
4. The lighter of claim 1, wherein the lighter further comprises an interior plate positioned internally within the housing and defining an ignition cavity and a trigger cavity.
5. The lighter of claim 4, wherein the trigger further comprises:
- a trigger enclosure, comprising a first wall positioned in the housing adjacent to the interior plate and a second wall having an extension extending beyond an external face of the housing; and
- a first spring, coupling the trigger to the lever, the spring for urging the lever to a position flush with a top face of the extension and defining a pivot point for the lever.
6. The lighter of claim 5, further comprising a slot, extending through the interior plate and the first wall of the trigger enclosure; and a latch, aligned with the slot and extending into the trigger enclosure, the latch extending through the interior plate of the lighter when the lighter is in the first, locked position.
7. The lighter of claim 6, wherein the lever further comprises a lever lip positioned on an interior edge of the lever, extending perpendicularly from the lever into the trigger enclosure.
8. The lighter of claim 7, wherein the latch includes a latch lip, extending perpendicularly from a top surface of the latch towards the lever, wherein, when the lever rotates around the pivot point, the lever lip engages the latch lip to urge the latch out of the slot in the interior plate of the housing.
9. The lighter according to claim 9 further including a second spring, disposed in an interior of the trigger enclosure and coupled to the latch, the spring for urging the latch into the slot of the interior plate.
10. The lighter of claim 5, wherein the first spring is a torsion spring.
11. The lighter of claim 9 wherein the second spring is a torsion spring.
12. The lighter of claim 1, wherein the trigger comprises an extension portion that protrudes from the housing having ridges formed thereon.
13. The lighter of claim 1, further comprising an ignition means, the ignition means comprising a first ignition substance coupled to the trigger enclosure and extending into the ignition cavity and a second ignition substance disposed within the ignition cavity, wherein when the lever is in the second position, the trigger enclosure may be moved to cause contact between the first ignition substance and the second ignition substance.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 25, 2006
Publication Date: Mar 1, 2007
Inventor: Ming Wong (Tai Hang)
Application Number: 11/552,531
International Classification: F23Q 25/00 (20060101); F23D 11/36 (20060101); F23D 14/28 (20060101); F23D 14/46 (20060101);