US2224660A - Cigarette holder - Google Patents

Description

' I a. :smmszas 224 56 cmsmmms momma Filed Aug. 18,, 31 958 Patented Dec. 10, 1940 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates to cigarette holders and it has for its principal object to provide a cigarette holder of such shape and configuration that, irrespective of the position in which the holder may be placed on a substantially level surface, such, for example, as a table top, the mouthpiece of the holder as Well as the cigarette carried thereby will be maintained in spaced relation to the level surface so as to prevent the cigarette from burning the surface and the mouthpiece from contacting dirt and dust which may be on the surface.

Another object of the invention is to provide a cigarette holder which may be easily held between the forefinger and thumb of a user.

5 A primary feature of the invention consists in providing the cigarette holder with a stem which is offset intermediate its ends and with a member which extends longitudinally of the stem and forms with the offset portion a finger receiving opening, the stem and member being respectively provided with flat surfaces for selectively supporting the holder in such positions that a cigarette carried by the holder as well as the mouthpiece will be maintained in spaced relation to a substantially level surface on which the holder may be placed.

Another feature of the invention consists in providing the holder with laterally projecting portions which are adapted to maintain the ciga- 30 rette carried by the holder as well as the mouthpiece in spaced relation to a substantially level surface on which the holder may be placed on its side.

Other and more specific features of the inven- 35 tion, residing in advantageous forms, combinations and relations of parts, will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the holder in 40 the position in which it is primarily intended to be held by a user in the act of smoking.

Figure 2 illustrates the position occupied by the holder when supported on a substantially level surface in one of its upright positions.

5 Figure 3 illustrates the position occupied by the holder when it is placed on its side on a substantially level surface.

Figure 4 illustrates the position of the holder when it is placed on a substantially level surface 50 in another of its upright positions.

Figure 5 is an end elevational view of the holder showing the position it is likely to occupy when accidentally knocked over from the upright position shown in dotted lines in the figure.

55 Figure 6 is an end elevational view of the holder showing the position it is likely to occupy when accidentally knocked over from the upright dotted line position shown in the figure.

Figure 7 illustrates a slightly modified form of the holder.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, lv indicates the stem of the holder which is provided at one end with a mouthpiece 2 and at the other end with a cigarette receiving portion 3, a draft channel 4 extending continuously through the 10- stem from end to end.

Intermediate its ends, the stem-is provided with an offset portion 5 having a substantially flat face 6 forming a supporting base which is so arranged and disposed that, when the holder is placed on a substantially level surface with the face 8 in engagement therewith, as shown in Figure 4, the mouthpiece 2 as Well as a cigarette carried by the holder will be maintained in spaced relation to the surface.

Extending longitudinally of the stem is a preferably arcuate-shapedmember 1 which forms with the oifset portion 5 of the stem an opening 8 for receiving a finger of a user of the holder. The cross sectional area of member I is materially less than the cross sectional area of the stem so that the holder may be conveniently and easily held with the base 6 facing upwardly by grasping member 1 between the forefinger, which may be partially inserted within the opening 8, and the thumb. Although the base 6 on which the holder is primarily intended to rest, when not in use, faces upwardly when the holder is held in the position just described, the natural inclination of a user in removing the holder from his mouth preparatory to putting it down is to rotate the holder in such manner as to cause the base 6 to face downwardly. No awkward or unnecessary movement. is, therefore, required. of the user to place the holder with its base 6 on a supporting object.

As some users, however, may find it more convenient to place the holder on a support in substantially the same relative position it occupies when in the mouth, that is with the base 6 facing upwardly, member 7 is provided with an enlarged relatively flat surface 9 which is so arranged and disposed that, when the holder is placed on a substantially level surface with the face 9 in engagement therewith the mouthpiece as well as a ciga- 5O rette carried by the holder will be maintained in spaced relation to thelevel surface. To counteract any tendency of the holder when in this position to tip over in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2, the holder may be provided at some suitable point intermediate the surface 9 and the cigarette receiving portion 3 with a projecting portion Hi, the outer end of which is adapted to also engage the level surface engaged by the face 9.

To prevent the mouthpiece as Well as the cigarette carried by the holder from contacting the surface on which the holder may rest in the event the holder is accidentally knocked over from either the upright position indicated in Figure 4 or the inverted upright position indicated in-Figure 2, as Well as to provide means for maintaining the mouthpiece and cigarette in spaced relation to the level surface should the holder be initially placed thereon on its side, the holder is provided with a plurality of pairs of oppositely extending lateral projections. Two of these pairs of projections, respectively designated 1| and 12, are formed integrally with the stem I, while another pair of the projections designated by the numeral I3 is formed integrally with the arcuate member I. The projections are so proportioned and are so located with respect to each other and to the center of mass of the holder that, when those on either side of the holder are, as shown in Figure 3, in engagement with a level supporting surface, the mouthpiece as well as the cigarette carried by the holder will be maintained in spaced relation to the surface. The projections will function in this manner not only if the holder is initially placed on its side on the supporting surface but also if the holder is accidentally knocked over from the inverted upright position shown in dotted lines in Figure 5. Moreover, the arrangement and location of projections II and 12 are such that they will maintain the holder in the position indicated in full lines in Figure 6, should it be accidentally knocked over from the upright position shown in dotted lines in that figure.

To eliminate the necessity of providing the holder with a projection l0 which serves, as hereinbefore indicated, to prevent the holder from rotating in a counterclockwise direction, as viewed in Figure 2, about an axis parallel with the axis of opening 8, the fiat face 9 on the member I may be elongated as indicated at M in Figure 7 in the direction of length of the holder so as to provide a face of such area that there will be little or no tendency of the holder to tip over.

From the foregoing, it will be observed that I have provided a cigarette holder of such shape and configuration that, irrespective of the position which the holder may occupy on a supporting surface, the mouthpiece as well as the cigarette carried by the holder will be maintained in spaced relation to the supporting surface. It will, of course, be appreciated that various modifications and alterations may be made in detail features of the holder without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A cigarette holder including a stem having an offset portion intermediate its ends and being provided with a mouthpiece at one end and a cigarette receiving portion at the other, a member extending longitudinally of the stem providing the holder adjacent said offset portion with a finger receiving opening, said member having a substantially flat face, and means projecting from the stem adjacent one end of the member and constituting with said flat face means adapted to support the holder in such position that a cigarette carried thereby and the mouthpiece will be disposed in spaced relation to a level surface engaged by the outer end of said projecting means and said fiat face.

2. A cigarette holder having a stem provided with a mouthpiece portion and a cigarette receiving portion, and a member extending longitudinally of the stem providing the holder with a finger receiving opening, opposite sides of said stem and member being respectively provided with projections extending in the direction of the axis of said opening for supporting said mouthpiece and a cigarette carried by the stem in spaced relation to a level surface on which the holder may be placed on its side.

3. A cigarette holder having a stem provided with a mouthpiece and a cigarette receiving portion, and amember extending longitudinally of the stem and forming therewith a finger receiving opening, said stem and member respectively having substantially flat faces adapted to selectively support the holder in upright and inverted upright positions with the mouthpiece and the cigarette carried by the holder in spaced relation to a substantially level surface on which the holder is placed, and means projecting laterally from the sides of said stem and member for supporting the mouthpiece and cigarette in spaced relation to said level surface should the holder be placed thereon on its side.

4. A cigarette holder having a supporting base, a mouthpiece extending rearwardly from said base, a cigarette receiving portion extending forwardly from the base, means adjacent said base providing a finger receiving opening, said base being so disposed and arranged as to support the holder in an upright position with the mouthpiece and a cigarette carried by the holder in spaced relation to a level surface on which said base may rest, and a plurality of projections spaced longitudinally of the holder on each side thereof adjacent said finger receiving opening for preventing the cigarette carried by the holder and the mouthpiece from contacting said level surface should the holder be accidentally knocked over from said upright position.

JOSEPH BARTOW STUBBS.

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