Description CIGARETTE EXTINGUISHER Background of the Invention
[ 1 ] 1. Field of the Invention
[2] The present invention relates to a cigarette extinguisher including a helical coil which easily extinguishes a cigarette without crushing or breaking up a burning cigarette butt and thus maintains a cigarette shape 'as is' to thereby makes it possible to use the cigarette butt later. Also, the present invention relates to a cigarette extinguisher with a light fitting which can be used conveniently in a dark place.
[3] 2. Description of the Related Art
[4] In general, a cigarette is extinguished by crushing it in an ashtray or by putting it in an ashtray having water or sand therein. In case that a smoker has a smoke in a place where an ashtray is not installed, he/she beats off a cigarette ash or throws away a cigarette butt anywhere.
[5] If a cigarette is extinguished by crushing it as described above, he/she can get burned a finger, and particularly, a rank odor can be clung to his/her finger for a long time. Also, if a cigarette ash is beaten off or a cigarette butt is thrown away anywhere, a surrounding environment becomes dirty, and even there is a risk that a fire breaks out in a dry season.
[6] In a tendency that a non-smoking building or area is increasing, there is no tools that can rapidly extinguish a cigarette in a place without an ashtray and prevent non- smokers from being suffered from a smoke and a rank odor. Summary of the Invention
[7] It is an object of the present invention to provide a cigarette extinguisher which can conveniently extinguish a cigarette without crushing it, prevent a smoker from getting burnt and a cigarette rank odor from clinging to a finger, keep a surrounding environment clean, and prevent a risk of a fire.
[8] It is another object of the present invention to provide a cigarette extinguisher which can keep a cigarette butt not to be crushed 'as is' and make it possible to use the cigarette butt later.
[9] It is a still object of the present invention to provide a cigarette extinguisher with a light fitting which can be used in a dark place conveniently. Brief Description of the Drawings
[10] The above and other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:
[11] FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a cigarette extinguisher according to a first embodiment of the present invention;
[12] FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the cigarette extinguisher of FIG. 1 ; and
[13] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cigarette extinguisher according to a second embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Description of the Invention
[14] The present invention will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. In the drawings, the thickness of layers and regions are exaggerated for clarity. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout the specification.
[15] FIGs. 1 and 2 are a perspective view and a cross-sectional view illustrating a cigarette extinguisher according to a first embodiment of the present invention, respectively.
[16] The cigarette extinguisher 1 includes a body 2 composed of a helical coil which is tightly arranged and has a cylindrical shape, and an inserting portion 3 which is inserted into one end of the body and made of an incombustible material such as a plastic.
[17] The body 2 includes an inlet portion 21 which has a shape that its diameter and cross-section area are larger outwardly to easily receive a cigarette and a ring portion 22 which is arranged at an opposite side to the inlet portion 21 and is formed by bending a portion of the coil.
[18] The body 2 may have a cylindrical shape as shown in FIGs. 1 and 2, but is not limited to this, and may have a circular cone shape or a circular truncated cone shape whose diameter becomes smaller toward the ring portion 22. If the body has a cone shape, there is an advantage in that the cigarette extinguisher of the present invention can be used for a cigarette having a small diameter.
[19] The body 2 is made of steel, stainless steel, aluminum, titan, cupper, brass, bronze, or incombustible plastic, but not limited to these.
[20] Meanwhile, as described above, the body 2 has the ring portion 22 formed on one end thereof, and the ring portion 22 is formed of a double ring. Thus, the cigarette extinguisher 1 can be carried by hanging it to a personal belonging such as a key ring, a lighter, and a cellular phone or the double ring can be used like a clip to be fitted in an article such as a document, a pocket, a cigarette case or an ashtray.
[21] Function of the cigarette extinguisher 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention is explained below.
[22] At first, in order to extinguish the cigarette 4, a smoker who has a smoke inserts a cigarette 4 in the inlet 21 of the cigarette extinguisher 1 while twisting it. If the cigarette 4 is inserted in the cigarette extinguisher 1, as described above, a first directly touches the helical coil of the body 2 that a cross-sectional diameter is smaller than the inlet 21 along its circumference and, thus a first is momentarily extinguished and also suffocated and extinguished, and a first heat is propagated through the whole coil and thus a fire extinguished is accelerated. In addition, the inserting portion 3 inserted in the cigarette extinguisher 1 helps cover up tight an inside of the body 2, so that a first is surely suffocated and extinguished.
[23] At this time, since the cigarette 4 is inserted in the cigarette extinguisher 4, a shape of the cigarette 4 is not crushed down when it is extinguished and is kept 'as is'. Also, the cigarette 4 serves to close up tight the cigarette extinguisher 1, and thus a cigarette butt as well as a cigarette ash cannot come out of the cigarette extinguisher 1.
[24] FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cigarette extinguisher according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The cigarette extinguisher 1' of FIG. 3 has the same configuration as that of FIGs. 1 and 2 except an inserting portion 3.
[25] In more detail, on one end of the body 2 which is tightly arranged and has a cylindrical shape, arranged is an inserting portion 3 including an insulating cover 31 having a relatively thin disc shape, a light fitting 32 installed to be perpendicular outwardly to the insulating cover 31, at least battery 33 accommodated in the body 2 as a power source of the light fitting 32, a switch 34 which electrically connects the light fitting 32 to the battery 33, and a cover 35 which is located 2 at an opposite side to the insulating cover 31 in the body and has a thin disc shape.
[26] The insulating cover 31 has two holes which allow wires to pass therethrough so that the wires from the light fitting 32 may not be shorted. It is preferred that the insulating cover 31 is permanently attached to the body 2. Meanwhile, the cover 35 is
optionally e iipped while being rotated along the helical coil.
[27] Also, a LED bulb is preferably employed as the light fitting 32.
[28] Therefore, the cigarette extinguisher 1' according to the second embodiment of the present invention can momentarily extinguish the cigarette like the cigarette extinguisher 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention, and when lighting is needed to look for a personal belonging or a key hole in a dark place, the switch 34 is connected to turn on the light fitting 32 to provide light.
[29] As described herein before, the cigarette extinguisher of the present invention can conveniently extinguish a cigarette, prevent a smoker from getting burnt and a cigarette rank odor from clinging to a finger, keep a surrounding environment clean, and prevent a risk of a fire.
[30] Further, in a place where a cigarette ashtray is not installed, a cigarette can be rapidly extinguished, and an indirect damage to non-smokers resulting from a smoke and an odor rank is prevented.
[31] Furthermore, since a cigarette is kept 'as is' without being crushed, a smoker can use it later. Thus, that is economical.
[32] Besides, since a cigarette extinguisher has a light fitting, it can conveniently be used in a dark place.