Clipping attachment for lighters

A clipping attachment for releasably fixing a cigarette lighter to a substantially parallelepiped-shaped pack of cigarettes having an outer jacket and an inner sleeve. The outer jacket of the cigarette pack having a front wall, a back wall, and a pair of opposite side walls. The inner sleeve of the cigarette pack being adapted to slidably move up and down relatively to the outer jacket in order to respectively allow access to the cigarettes and to prevent access to the latter. The clipping attachment has a substantially elongated and flat tongue adapted to be slidably inserted between the inner sleeve and one of the side walls of the outer jacket. A spacing section extends substantially perpendicullarly from the top end of the tongue for spacing the tongue from the lighter. A fixing device for fixing the clipping attachment to the lighter extends integrally from the spacing section.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
Referring to FIGS. 1 through 6, there is illustrated in an elevational 
view, a clipping attachment 10 in accordance with a first embodiment of 
the present invention. 
The clipping attachment 10 is mounted on a conventional cigarette lighter 
12 having a combustible reservoir 14, and a friction wheel 16 part of an 
ignition mechanism 18. The clipping attachment 10 allows the lighter 12 to 
be releasably fixed to a conventional substantially parallelepiped shaped 
pack of cigarettes 20 having an outer jacket and an inner sleeve. 
The outer jacket of the cigarette pack 20 has a front wall 22, a back wall 
24 and a pair of opposite side walls 26. The inner sleeve of the cigarette 
pack 20 is adapted to slidably move up and down relatively to the outer 
jacket in order to respectively allow access to the cigarettes and to 
prevent access to the latter. The inner sleeve comprises a back wall 28, a 
substantially "L"-shaped top flap 30, a pair of opposed side flaps 32 and 
a substantially "L"-shaped bottom flap 34, the flaps 30, 32 and 34 all 
extending integrally from the back wall 28. 
The clipping attachment 10 has a clipping tongue 36 extending integrally 
and substantially orthogonally into a spacing section 38. The spacing 
section 38 extends integrally into a fixing cover 40. The fixing cover 40 
is adapted to be snappingly fixed to the bottom of the combustible 
reservoir 14 of the lighter 12 in place of the conventional bottom cover 
of the ligther 12. The clipping tongue 36 has a relatively elongated and 
flat body 42 which extends integrally into a lower section 44 also 
relatively flat but angled relatively to the elongated body 42. 
As illustrated more specifically in FIG. 5, the clipping tongue 36 is 
taperred from top to bottom, the width indicated by the reference letter A 
of the body 42 at its upper end being greater then the width indicated by 
the reference letter B of the lower section 44 adjacent its lower end. 
As illustrated more specifically in FIG. 6, the spacing section 38 creates 
a spacing indicated by the reference letter C between a side wall 46 of 
the combustible reservoir 14 and the inner surface 48 of the body 42. The 
inclination of the lower section 44 which projects the latter away from 
the side wall 46 creates a spacing indicated by the reference letter D 
between the lower end of the lower section 44 and the inner surface 48 of 
the body 42. The clipping tongue 36 and the spacing section 38 are 
preferably made of relatively resilient material such as soft metals or 
flexible polymeric resins. 
In use, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the clipping tongue 36 is adapted 
to be slidably inserted in the cigarette pack 20 between a side wall 26 of 
the outer jacket and a corresponding adjacent side flap 32 of the inner 
sleeve. The spacing section 38 is specifically sized to create a spacing C 
substantially corresponding to the tichkness of the side wall 26 of a 
conventional pack of cigarette. The width a is also specifically sized so 
as to correspond substantially to the thichkness of inner sleeve of a 
conventional pack of cigarette. This allows the tongue 36 to be fittingly 
inserted inside the cigarette pack without damaging the latter. 
The taper configuration of the tongue 36 is adapted to facilitate its 
insertion into the cigarette pack. The angle between the flat body 42 and 
the lower section 44 is adapted both to facilitate insertion of the tongue 
in an ergonomical fashion and to to provide for a releasable means for 
preventing unwanted withdrawal of the tongue 36 from the cigarette pack. 
Indeed, The angled nature of the lower section 44 relatively to the body 
42 provides for a greater potential contact surface with the cigarette 
pack during the initial contact between the tongue 36 and the cigarette 
pack 20. This facilitates the guiding of the tongue 36 inside the 
relatively narrow spacing between the side wall 26 and the side flap 32 of 
the cigarette pack 20. Once the initial contact is made, the user merely 
needs to push the lighter downwardly relatively to the cigarette pack 20 
in order to complete the insertion procedure. 
Furthermore, the angled nature of the lower section 44 relatively to the 
body 42 allows for the tip portion 45 of the lower section 44 to 
frictionally abut against a side flap 32 of the inner sleeve once the 
tongue has been inserted. This frictional abutment releasably prevents the 
tongue 36 from unvoluntarily sliding out of the cigarette pack 20. 
FIGS. 7 through 9 illustrate a second embodiment 10' of the invention 
wherein the spacing section 38' extends integrally into a fixing plate 50. 
The fixing plate 50 is substantially parallel to the body 42'. The fixing 
plate 50 is provided with a strip 52 of adhesive material on its face 
opposite the tongue 36'. The adhesive strip 52 is adapted to be adhesively 
fixed to a side wall 46 of the lighter 12 for fixing the clipping 
attachment 10' to the lighter 12. 
FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate a third embodiment 10" of the invention wherein 
the spacing section 38" extends integrally into a lip 54 substantially 
parallel to the body 42". The lip 54 is adapted to be slidably inserted 
into the structure of the lighter 12 preferably between the cover and one 
of the side walls of the combustible reservoir, for fixing the clipping 
attachment 10" to the lighter 12. 
FIGS. 12 through 14 illustrate a fourth embodiment of the invention 10"' 
wherein the spacing section 38"' extends integrally into a cover 56 
adapted to be positionned in place of the conventional combustible 
reservoir cover of a conventional lighter. In other words, the fourth 
embodiment 10"' provides a means for replacing the conventional cover of a 
lighter which would not have a clipping attachment with a cover 56 having 
an integral tongue 36"'. The resulting structure is similar to the 
structure illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 6 wherein the clipping attachment 
is incorporated during the manufacturing process of the lighter. The cover 
56 has a top wall 58 and a prong 60 extending integrally from the lower 
surface of the wall 58. The prong 60 is adapted to be inserted in the 
combustible reservoir of a conventional lighter for fittingly fixing the 
clipping attachment 10"' to the lighter. 
FIGS. 15 to 19 illustrate a fifth embodiment of the invention 10"" wherein 
a substantially "U"-shaped clip 62 is used to releasably secure the 
clipping attacment 10"" to a conventional lighter 12'. The "U"-shaped clip 
62 extends integrally from the spacing section 38"". The clip 62 has a 
relatively flat cylindrical wall 64 correspondingly configured to 
fittingly grasp the outer periphery of the combustible reservoir 14' of 
the lighter 12'. The wall 62 is preferrably made of relatively resilient 
material and is provided with an expension slot 66. 
Numerous modifications, variations and adaptations may be made to the 
particular embodiments of the invention described above without departing 
from the scope of the invention, which is defined in the claims.