Patent Publication Number: US-7223096-B2

Title: Lighter

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to a lighter, and in particular, to a lighter with an upper cover. 
   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Currently, lighters with upper covers on market have their upper covers connected to brackets of combustion devices, which disadvantageously make the structures complicated and the connections between the upper covers and the brackets vulnerable to abrasion. Besides, it is relatively difficult to manufacture and assemble the lighter with such structure, which may lead to high rate of unqualified products, and furthermore, if there is any failure in the connection, it would be much difficult to fix it. In addition to such lighters, there is another type of lighter which has its upper cover integrated with the lighter housing. Disadvantages of such structure are that the structure is complicated, the proportion of unqualified products is high due to the application of point-welding process to the connection, and the overall aesthetic effect of the lighter is damaged by possible concave welding spots caused by high temperature welding. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   One objective of the present invention is to provide a lighter with an upper cover to overcome the above defects of the prior art and have simple structure, easy process of assembly and low cost. 
   In accordance with the present invention, the lighter comprises a lighter housing, a gas container for storing liquid inflammable gas, a combustion device connected to said gas container, and an igniter for igniting inflammable gas in said combustion device, characterized in that said housing includes an upper cover and a case, wherein one side of said upper cover includes a protuberance forming a small hole thereon; a connector disposed below said protuberance of said upper cover for connecting said upper cover and said case, wherein said connector includes a recess portion coupling with said protuberance and having transverse holes on both sides of the recess portion; and a bolt for rotationally connecting said protuberance and the recess portion; wherein said case has at its edge port a longitudinal groove being connected to said connector and having an opening at the edge port of the groove to couple with the protuberance of said upper cover. Furthermore, the connector has a thickness from 1.0 mm to 11 mm. 
   The lighter with an upper cover according to the present invention is simple in structure and easy in assembly. Since there is provided with a connector, the variation to the structure of the upper cover and the case of the lighter may achieve simple and rational assembly of the case with low cost and simple manufacture. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a structural sectional view of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a structural sketch of the upper cover, connector and case according to the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a drawing showing enlarged sectional structure of the connector of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a drawing showing enlarged sectional structure of the case of the present invention. 
   

   Wherein:  1 —lighter housing;  11 —upper cover;  110 —protuberance;  111 —small hole;  12 —case;  121 —longitudinal groove;  122 —opening;  2 —gas container;  3 —combustion device;  4 —igniter;  5 —connector;  51 —transverse hole;  52 —recess portion;  6 —bolt. 
   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The present invention now will be described in detail with reference to the embodiments and drawings. 
   Refer to  FIG. 1 , a lighter comprises a lighter housing  1 , a gas container  21  for containing liquid inflammable fuel gas, a combustion device  3  connecting to said container  2 , and an igniter  4  for igniting inflammable gas in said combustion device  3 , wherein said housing  1  includes an upper cover  11  and a case  12 . At one side of said upper cover  11  there is a protuberance  110  having a small hole  111  thereon (Refer to  FIG. 2 ). 
   Refer to  FIGS. 2 and 3 , there is a connector  5  between said upper cover  11  and said case  12  in the lighter housing. The connector  5  is disposed below the protuberance  110  of the upper cover  11  to connect the upper cover  11  and case  12 . The connector  5  includes a recess portion  52  coupling with the protuberance  110  of the upper cover  11  and having transverse holes  51  on both sides of the recess portion  52 . A bolt  6  is provided to rotationally connect the protuberance  110  and recess portion  52 . 
   Refer to  FIG. 4 , there is a longitudinal groove  121  at the edge port of the case  12 . The connector  5  is fitted in with and connected to the longitudinal groove  121 . The longitudinal groove  121  has at its edge port an opening  122  fitting the protuberance  110  of the upper cover  11  therein. 
   During the process of assembly, the protuberance  110  is inserted into the recess portion  52 , and the bolt  6  passes through the transverse holes  51  and the small hole  111  to connect the connector  5  and the protuberance  110 . At the edge of the case  12 , there are two longitudinal grooves  121  corresponding to both sides  53  of the connectors  5  (refer to  FIG. 4 ). In this way, the connectors  5  may easily inserted into the longitudinal grooves  121 , or further fixed with glue, so as to form a simple integrated lighter housing. In this structure, the upper cover  11  is connected directly to and integrated with the case  12  to eliminate the problem of fitting the upper cover  11  tightly against a core without welding or screw connection and fixation, and thus making the lighter appear a good aesthetic and glossy without any flaw. 
   The connector has a thickness from 1.0 mm to 11 mm, which facilitate to couple the connector  5  with the upper cover  11  and the case  12 . Accordingly, the connector  5  has an inner side and an outer side having a width larger than a width of the inner side to form the two sidewalls of the connector  5  to fit into the two longitudinal grooves  121  respectively. In addition, the thickness of the case side edge of the case  12  is substantially larger than a thickness of the connector  5  such that when the connector  5  is received in the edge port, the connecting device is embedded within the case side edge of the case  12  in a hidden manner. 
   In order to open or close the upper cover  11  of the housing  1  without hitch, an opening  122  is formed at the edge port of the longitudinal groove  121  of the case  12  so as to moveably connect the protuberance  110  and case  12  when the upper cover  11  fits in the case  12 . 
   Though the present invention has been described in details with reference to the drawings and embodiment, it should be understood by those skilled in the art that the aforementioned embodiments are only for description of the invention and not intended to limit to the present invention. A various of modifications or variations could be made according to the invention and will fall into the protective scope of the present invention.