Household lighter

A household lighter comprises an outer housing formed by two half-shells and accommodating a piezoelectric cartridge and an actuation pushbutton, a gas supply reservoir forming the lighter handle and a block connecting the outer housing and the handle. The block has a projecting flange at a lateral surface thereof so as to define a first portion fitting within wall ends of the reservoir and a second portion clamped between the two half-shells of the outer housing. The block is also provided with engagement members allowing a firm connection between the parts.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to a household lighter structure. 
As is known, household lighters are presently available on the market 
which, additionally to generating a spark through a piezoelectric 
cartridge or the like means, can also issue a continuous flame which is 
fed with liquefied gas from a container defined within the lighter. 
In such prior lighter structures, the gas container comprises a reservoir 
accommodated inside a box-like housing of the lighter, which poses 
problems of operation autonomy if the lighter is not to be manufactured in 
excessively large sizes or sizes that would make the lighter unwieldy to 
use. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
It is an object of this invention to obviate such prior disadvantages by 
providing a household lighter structure incorporating a liquefied gas 
reservoir, which affords the possibility of fitting a relatively large 
capacity reservoir therein without unduly increasing the lighter overall 
size. 
A further object of the invention is to provide a lighter structure which 
involves a simplified assembling procedure, and requires a relatively 
small number of component parts. 
It is another object of this invention to provide a lighter structure the 
various component parts whereof are arranged to produce an apparatus which 
is highly reliable and practical to use. 
Still another object of the invention is to provide a lighter structure 
which can be easily manufactured from commercially readily available 
materials and be highly competitive from the purely economical standpoint. 
These and other objects, such as will be apparent hereinafter, are achieved 
by a household lighter structure, according to the invention, comprising 
an outer housing containing a spark generating cartridge for operation by 
a pushbutton barely protruding from said housing, characterized in that it 
comprises a liquefied gas supply reservoir forming the handle of said 
lighter and being closed at one end by a small block constituting the 
connective element to said box-like housing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
With reference to the drawing views, this household lighter structure, 
generally indicated at 1, comprises an outer housing 2 which is 
advantageously formed by two half-shells, respectively indicated at 2a and 
2b, which can be coupled together. 
Accommodated within the housing 2 is a conventional piezoelectric cartridge 
4 operative to generate a spark by means of a pushbutton 3 which stands 
barely out of the top portion of the housing 2. 
A peculiar aspect of the invention is that the lighter comprises a 
liquefied gas supply reservoir, generally designated with the reference 
numeral 10, which forms in practice the lighter handle, thus affording the 
possibility of making the reservoir relatively large without increasing 
the lighter overall size excessively. 
The reservoir 10 has an elongate configuration closed at the rear end, 
where a gas filler valve is provided, and open at the front. 
The reservoir 10 is closed at the front by a small block 11 which also 
forms a connective element for attachment to the box-like housing. 
More in detail, the block 11, which has an approximately parallelepipedal 
shape, defines on its lateral surface a projecting flange 12 which divides 
said lateral surface into a first portion 13, adapted for fitting into and 
connecting as by welding or cementing to the inside of the wall ends of 
the reservoir 10, and a second portion 14 which is practically clamped 
between the ends of the two half-shells 2a and 2b. 
To provide a firm fit in the housing 2, the portion 14 has a hole 15 across 
it, wherethrough a pin 16 is passed which is formed integrally with the 
half-shell 2a. During the mounting of the lighter, the end of the pin 16 
abuts against the half-shell 2b and arranges in a seat 30 provided 
therein. Thereafter the end of the pin and the seat are welded, for 
example by means of the ultrasonic technique. Furthermore the portion 14 
has projecting wings 17 adapted to fit into receptacles 18 correspondingly 
formed on the inside walls of the half-shells 2a and 2b. 
The block is also formed with a throughgoing cavity 20, for accommodating 
delivery valve means 21 intended to supply gas outwardly. 
It may be appreciated from the foregoing description how the household 
lighter structure of this invention is specially practical to use, since 
the reservoir forms itself the lighter handle and affords, accordingly, a 
large capacity for gas within relatively small overall dimensions of the 
lighter, while the block 11 arranged to close the reservoir also forms an 
element of connection between the reservoir and box-like housing. 
Furthermore, the interlocking elements provided, namely, the wings 17, 
receptacles 18, and cross hole 15 and pin 16, all combine to make the 
assembling of the lighter quite rapid, thus bringing about inherent 
economical advantages. 
In practicing the invention, the materials used, provided that they are 
compatible with the intended application, as well as the dimensions and 
contingent shapes, may be any selected ones to meet individual 
requirements.