Patent Publication Number: US-6220428-B1

Title: Automatic cigarette lighting case

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an automatic cigarette case which can be operated by one hand for withdrawing and lighting a cigarette. It mainly consists of a cigarette case which can hold a plurality of cigarettes, a turning device for handling the cigarette, a revolving device and a lighting device. In use, the cigarettes are first arranged in order inside the cigarette case. The turning device mainly consists of a turning drum. The drum is provided with a recess portion for holding one cigarette. The cigarette can be rotated from inside to outside of the case. The turning drum is provided with an axle in the axial direction. The axle is used for pivotally connecting to the case. The turning drum is located on the notch at the edge of the cigarette case, which is arranged in parallel with and touching the cigarettes inside the case. When the recess portion is rotated to the inside of the case, the cigarette inside the case may enter the recess portion. The revolving device is provided with a blocking member, which is located at one end of the turning drum (outside of the cigarette case). By rotating the turning drum and the blocking member, the cigarette inside the recess portion can be revolved. The lighting device is provided inside the turning drum at a location that is convenient to light the cigarette. In use, the recess portion of the turning drum is rotated inside of the cigarette case, (if it is already inside the case, this step is not required), allowing a cigarette to enter and stay inside the recess portion. The turning drum can then be turned, allowing the cigarette and the recess portion to rotate to outside of case. When the lighting end of the cigarette touches the blocking member, the turning drum continues to rotate, and the other end of the cigarette departs from the recess portion and sticks up. By appropriate design, the stick-up cigarette stays at the lighting position ready to be lighted. 
     For a more detail description, the cigarette case can be provided with a push plate which can be pushed by the resiliency of a spring. The push plate pushes the cigarette into the recess portion of the turning drum. Despite simplicity, without the push plate will require the cigarette case to be tilted in order to refill the cigarette into the case. 
     Since the turning drum is pivotally connected to the case, when the cigarette inside the recess portion sticks up in the lighting position, it must be stopped. Therefore, suitable stopping block is provided so that the turning drum can be stopped in the correct position. 
     For the convenience of sealing, the turning drum is also provided with a lid. Between the lid and the turning drum is provided with a suitable driving device. When the lid is open, the driving device will rotate the turning drum. This driving device can satisfy the rotational requirement of the turning drum. If the lid is closed, the recess portion stays outside of the cigarette case. When the lid is open, the recess portion will rotate inside the case to hold the cigarette and return back to the outside of case. If the lid is not open, and the recess portion stays outside of the case, then when the lid is open, the recess portion will rotate to the outside of the case. In addition, the requirement depends on the design when closing the lid; the driving device can either rotate the recess portion or maintain its position. 
     The revolving device consists of a blocking member and a cigarette holder, which is located at one end of the turning drum. When the recess portion is rotated, the holder can hold the cigarette firmly, and allows it to stay between the blocking member and the holder. (this is the suitable position for the turning drum to be stopped.) 
     The lighting device is merely a cigarette lighter. When the cigarette revolved reaches the correct position, a finger can start the lighter. For the convenience of one-hand operation, the lighting device is also provided with a starting device, a press arm and a push arm. The starting device is designed based on the structure of the lighter. For lighters that only require pressing, the starting device can be a keypad. The starting device can also be eliminated, instead, the press arm can start the lighter directly. For lighters that require the striking of the wheels (designated as component  62  in all the drawings), the starting device shall consists of the pushing member and the pressing member. The press arm is a movable arm, which can press or ignite the lighter. The driving device of the press arm is an appropriate driving device and is provided between the turning drum and the press arm. The rotation of the lid drives the press arm. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front view according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 2 is a front view of the sector gear used as a driving device for the turning drum according to the present invention. 
     FIG. 3 is another view of the automatic cigarette case in FIG. 2, in which the lid of the turning drum is wide open. 
     FIG. 4 is a front view of the automatic cigarette case in which a belt wheel or a rope wheel is used as the driving device of the turning drum, all the components in the turning drum being not shown in this drawing. 
     FIG. 5 is a front view of the automatic cigarette case  1 . 
     FIGS. 6 through 8 are respectively the bottom view, the top view and the right elevation view of FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 9 is a left elevation view in which a majority of the components are remove. 
     FIG. 10 is a side elevation view of the turning drum  2 ; i.e., it is a right elevation view of FIG.  11 . 
     FIG. 11 is an elevation view of the turning drum. 
     FIG. 12 is the A—A section of FIG.  11 . 
     FIG. 13 is a front view of the sector gear slat; the pitch line of the sector gear slat is shown with the center line. 
     FIGS. 14 through 16 are respectively the top view, the bottom view an the right elevation view of FIG.  13 . 
     FIG. 17 shows a front view of lid  3  of the turning drum, however, in the following embodiments, there is a slight modification to the bottom side plate  32  of the lid when the driving device of turning drum  2  is different. 
     FIGS. 18 and 19 are respectively the top view and the left elevation view of FIG.  17 . 
     FIG. 20 is a front view of the blocking member  5 . 
     FIGS. 21 through 23 are respectively the right elevation view, the bottom view and the top view of FIG.  20 . 
     FIG. 24 is a front view of the cigarette holding member  52 . 
     FIGS. 25 and 26 are respectively the right elevation view and the top view of FIG.  24 . 
     FIG. 27 is the right elevation view of FIG. 3 with the lid  3  removed. 
     FIG. 28 is the front view of the turning part  611  for lighting the cigarette lighter. 
     FIGS. 29 through 31 are respectively the top view, the bottom view and the right elevation view of FIG.  28 . 
     FIG. 32 shows the front view of the press member  612  for lighting the cigarette lighter. 
     FIGS. 33 through 35 are respectively the bottom view, the right elevation view and the top view of FIG.  32 . 
     FIG. 36 shows a top view of the assembly in which the turning drum  2 , lighting member  61  and holding member  52  are put together, the lighter and the blocking member  5  are shown in imaginary lines. 
     FIG. 37 shows a top view of FIG. 3, with the lid removed, leaving only the driving wheel  732  of the press arm driving device. 
     FIG. 38 is another top view of FIG. 3, but the embodiment shown is an electronic lighter with a lighting key  61 , (shown in imaginary lines), lid  3  is also removed with only the driving wheel  732  remaining. 
     FIG. 39 is a top view of FIG.  1 . 
     FIGS. 40 through 42 are the front views showing the transmission wheel being used as the driving device for the turning drum, FIG. 41 is another view of FIG. 40 with all the components in the turning drum, together with the bottom plate  21  and the right side portion of the cigarette case removed, so as to see the structure of the driving device; FIG. 42 shows a view of FIG. 41 in which lid  3  is wide open and cigarette  18  us being revolved. 
     FIGS. 43 through 45 are the front views showing the pin wheel  326  is used to drive the turning drum, FIG. 44 is another view of FIG. 43 with all the components in the turning drum, together with the bottom plate  21  and the right side portion of the cigarette case removed, so as to see the structure of the driving device; FIG. 45 shows a view of FIG. 44 in which lid  3  is wide open and cigarette  18  is being revolved. 
     FIGS. 46 through 48 shows the front views in which another type of pin wheels  3291  and  3292  are used to drive the turning drum; in these views all of the components of the turning drum, together with bottom plate  21  and the right side portion of the cigarette case are removed for viewing the driving structure, FIGS. 46 through 48 shows the conditions of lid  3  which is completely closed, partially open and wide open respectively. 
     FIGS. 49 through 52 shows B—B section, C—C section, D—D section and E—E section of FIG.  46 . 
     FIG. 53 shows a top view of the exterior of FIG.  46 . 
     FIGS. 54 through 57 shows the front views in which another type of pin wheel  326  is used to drive the turning drum; in these views all the components of the turning drum, together with bottom plate  21 , upper side plate  31  and the right side portion of the cigarette case are removed for viewing the driving structure. FIG. 54 shows the condition in which lid  3  is completely closed, FIG. 55 shows the condition in which lid  3  is slightly open, guide plate  32991  will prevent pin wheel from touching guide member  224  and the turning drum will not turn; FIG. 56 also shows the condition in which the lid is slightly open, the guide plate enables the pin wheel to drive the guide member and the turning drum so that a cigarette can be dispensed from the case; FIG. 57 shows the condition in which the lid is wide open. 
     FIGS. 58,  59  and  61  are respectively the F—F section, G—G section and the partial back view H—H section in the neighborhood of the directional rod  32994  of FIG.  54 . 
     FIG. 60 is a back view of a section of the directional rod shown in FIG.  54 . 
     FIG. 62 is a top view of the exterior of FIG.  54 . 
     FIG. 63 is a front view of the most simplified embodiment of the automatic cigarette case. 
     FIG. 64 is the K—K section of FIG.  63 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the cigarette case  1  is an elongated body having a cover  11  on one side (see FIGS. 6,  8  and  9  concurrently). The cover  11  is pivotally connected to the cigarette case  1  through an axle  12 , which is used as a center of rotation for opening the cover  11 . The cigarette case  1  comprises a push plate  13  having a curved surface (shown by dotted lines in FIGS.  1  and  5 ). The push plate  13  can be pushed to its right for pushing cigarettes. The two edges  131  of the push plate  13  are abutting the inner wall of the cigarette case  1  to prevent the push plate  13  from tilting when it is pushed. The left side of the push plate  13  is provided with a spring  132  for pushing the push plate  13  to the right side. The center on the left side of the push plate  13  is connected to a pull string  133 , which is inserted through a hole  133 A located at the center of the left wall of the push plate  13 . The pull string  133  can be pulled from outside of the cigarette case  1  so that the push plate  13  inside the cigarette case  1  can be pulled to the left side. The end of the pull string  133  is connected to a ring  1331 , which is used to attach onto a hook  1331 A when the pull string  133  pulls the push plate  13  to the left side, so that the push plate  13  can be maintained on the left side for loading the cigarettes when the cover  11  is open. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the turning drum  2  is rotatable about an axle. (shown by dotted lines in FIG. 2) The axle  22  can be seen in FIG. 4 as the bottom plate  21  of the drum  2  is removed. The axle  22  is fed through a hole  141  located on the lower side plate  14  of the cigarette case  1 . The exterior of the turning drum  2  is provided with an elongated curved recess portion  23  (see FIGS. 10 and 11) for holding cigarettes  18  in the case. (The cigarettes  18  are shown by phantom lines in FIGS. 2 through 4. The turning drum  2  is provided with several assembling strips  241  surrounding the lighter  6  and extend from the axial direction of the bottom plate of the drum  2 . The lighter  6  is tightly fitted into the assembling strips  241  and the inner wall of the drum  2 . If the lighter  6  needs to be replaced, it can be pulled out in the axial direction for replacement. The inside wall of the turning drum  2  (close to the flame of the lighter  6 ) is provided with several layers of protective plates  242 , which are made of a heat-insulated material such as mica or aluminum foil. Same protective plates  242  are provided between the lighter and the wall of the drum, while the other are placed in the protective assembling strips  243 , which are extended from the bottom plate  21  of the drum  2  along the wall in the axial direction. When the lighter  6  is lighted for a longer time, the wall of the turning drum  2  is protected from burning and damaging. 
     Referring to FIGS. 24 through 26 and FIGS. 10 and 11, the inside of the turning drum  2  is provided with a cigarette holding member  52 . The elongated strip  251  underneath the cigarette holding member  52  is inserted slots  25 A 1  and  25 B 1  of the holding member assembling strips  25 A and  25 B of the turning drum. The curved surface  522  provided in the upper part of the holding member is used for holding cigarettes. 
     In FIGS. 10 through 12, the upper edges  261 ,  262  on the same circumference can be touching the inside surface of the top side plate  16  of the cigarette case during the rotation, so that the turning drum  2  is not easy to be tilted. When the exterior corrugated portion of  27  the drum  2  is turned, cigarettes inside the case  1  are pushed and loosened. At the same time, any cigarette that is tilted can be straightened. The upper edge  271  of the corrugated portion  27  is lower than the upper edge  261  and  262 , during the rotation the blocking member  5  will be prevented from touching. The bottom plate  21  of the turning drum  2  is provided with elongated standstill holes  211  and  212  (as shown in dotted lines in FIG.  2  and phantom lines in FIGS.  11  and  12 ). The bottom side plate  14  of the cigarette case  1  is provided with standstill resilient plate  144 , the active end of which is provided with suitable circular arc  441  for latching into holes  211  and  212  for stopping. The exterior surface of bottom plate  21  is provided with suitable slanted surface  213  for guiding the circular arc  1441  into holes  211  and  212 . When the circular arc  1441  of the resilient plate is latched into hole  211 , the turning drum  2  is stopped and the revolving cigarette will be located in a position suitable for lighting. When the circular arc  1441  of the resilient plate is latched onto hole  212 , the turning drum  2  is stopped in a suitable location of the cigarette case  1 . 
     For the lighting device, please refer to FIGS. 28 through 31 for details of turning part  611  of the lighting member  61  and the striking wheel  62  of lighter  6 . The turning surface  6111  is rough or is provided with an appropriate creased surface. The surface  6111  is in contact with the striking wheel  62  of the lighter  6 . When the turning surface  6111  is pressed down, it contacts the striking wheel  62  of the lighter  6  so that the lighter  6  is turned to light the cigarette. The press member  612  of the lighting member  61  is shown in details in FIGS.  32  through  35 , in which the press member plate  6121  is substantially elongated in shape. The bottom surface  61211  is used to press a key of the lighter  6  so that butane from gas well can be discharged for burning. On each side underneath the press member plate is provided with a guide post  6122 , which is used to insert into a hollow tube in the axial direction surrounded by rib  241 A for up and down movement in the axial direction. The rib  241 A is extended from the bottom plate and along the inside wall of the turning drum  2 . The rib  241 A is also used to press against the lighter  6 . Its function is similar to that of the assembling strips  241 . For lighters without the striking wheels, the guide post and rib  241 A are not needed, therefore, they are not shown in FIG.  11 . Inside the hollow tube, underneath the guide post  6122  is provided with a spring  61221  (shown by phantom lines in FIG.  36 ), which is used to bounce up the guide post. The press member plate is extended and provided with a plate member  6123  in the vertical direction, and the plate member is provided with a shaft member  6124  in the lateral direction. The shaft member  6124  can be fed through a hole  6112  underneath the turning part  611 , thereby allowing a small amplitude of movement for the turning part during the operation, and therefore, enabling the turning part to maintain a good contact with the striking wheel. The side of the plate member  6123  is connected in parallel to a post member  6125 , the top of which is provided with a supporting plate  6126  from which the turning part is supported. The top surface  61261  of the supporting plate butts against the bottom edge  6113  of the turning part  611 . (see FIGS. 36,  2  and  3 ). FIG. 36 is the top view of the turning drum, components in the lighting portion and the holding member of FIG.  3 . The lighter and the blocking member are shown in phantom lines. The short post  6127  on the bottom of shaft member  6124  is wound by a spiral spring  6128 . One of the arm member  61281  of the spring butts against the post  6114  of the turning part, while another arm member  61282  is curved and hooked onto the side edge  61231  of the plate member  6123 . The resiliency of spring  6128  is to maintain the contact between the bottom edge  6113  of the turning part and the top surface  61261  of the supporting plate; thus the turning part will not swing at random when it is not operating. In the top side plate  16  of the cigarette case, the rotational shaft  71  of the press arm  7  is fed through a shaft hole  721  at the supporting base  72 , which is connected to the top side plate. The end of the rotational shaft  71  is connected to the driven wheel  731  of the press arm driving device so that the press arm  7  and the driven wheel  731  can be rotated together. The upper side plate  31  of the lid holds the driving wheel  732  in place. An end of the pull string  733  is wound around an string groove  7321  so that it is secured with the driving wheel. The other end of the pull string  733  is wound around the string groove  7311  and secured with the driven wheel. (see FIGS.  37  and  39 ). When lid  3  is open, the press arm  7  will swing up from the position of the top side plate, then it is turned to the press arm border  74  located on top of the turning drum. By continuing to open lid  3 , the pressing surface of the press arm border starts to touch the top edge  6115  of the turning part  611 . The side of the press arm border  74  is attached with a press protective plate  742 . As the pressing surface  741  touches the top edge  6115  of the turning part, this press protective plate butts against the back side  6116  of the turning part, so as to prevent the latter from rotating around its hole  6112  and departing from the striking wheel of the lighter  6 . In addition, the turning surface  6111  can be pressing tightly against the striking wheel. The turning part  611  is made of a material with a suitable resiliency, so that during the pressing down, minor deformation is allowed to comply to the requirement. When the press arm continues to press down on the turning part, the striker wheel  62  can be turned and the lighter key can be pressed down to light. The position being pressed down to the bottom is shown by phantom lines in FIGS. 37 and 39. The press arm shown in FIG. 3 is a view in which the position of the pressing surface begins to press the turning part. When the press arm is withdrawn from the top edge of the turning part, since there is no restriction from the press protective plate  742 , the turning part can be turned around its hole  6112  and disengaged from the striking wheel and so the spring provided below guide post  6122  can easily bounce up the press member and the turning part. 
     The other end of the rotational shaft  71  of the press arm is connected to a short post  711 , which is wound with a torsional spiral spring  712 . One arm  7121  of the spring  712  is pushing against the top side plate  16  of the cigarette case  1 . The other arm  7122  is curved and fed through a hole  75  of the press arm. When the lid is open, the resiliency of the spring  712  causes the press arm to rotate back to its starting point, and the driven wheel  731 , the pull string  733  and the driving wheel  732  also return to their own starting position. 
     When the press arm border  74  is lifted up to withdraw from the turning part, the guide post  6122  of the press member and the spring  61221  provided on the bottom plate  21  of the turning drum (as shown by phantom lines in FIG. 26) will bounce up the press member so that the lighting component returns to its starting position. 
     If the lighter used is the type with a keypad for lighting (such as the electronic lighter), then the starting of the lighter can be simplified into an extended keypad  61  (see FIG.  38 ). The press arm border  74  and the shape of the pressing surface  741  are modified as shown in FIG. 38, in which the press protective plate  742  is being eliminated to start the lighter. 
     The driving device of the turning drum  2  may have a variety of configurations as long as its turning requirement is satisfied. Sector gear type, pulling member driving device type, feeding device and transmission wheel device are listed in this case. FIGS. 2 and 3 show a sector gear used as a major component of the driving device. The upper side plate  31  and the lower side plate  32  of the lid  3  of the turning drum are respectively provided with shaft holes  311  and  321 , from which the shafts  15 A and  15 B outside of the cigarette case  1  are attached for rotation (see FIGS. 5 through 7 and FIGS. 17 through 19 simultaneously). The curved side plate  33  of the lid not only can accommodate the turning drum, but it also can cooperate with the circular portion on the right-hand side of the cigarette case, and the circular upper side plate  31  of the lid cooperates with the missing semi circle on the right-hand side of the top side plate  16 . In addition, the staircase edging  331  of the curved side plate  33  cooperates with staircase edging  171  extended from the right side of the back side plate  17  of the cigarette case. By means of this configuration, the turning drum  2  can be completely sealed when lid  3  is closed. The front surface  41  of the sector gear plate  4  (see FIGS. 13 through 16) consists of protruded curved inner gear  411  and outer gear  412 , these two sector gears having their teeth meshed with the teeth of the gear  221  on axis  22  of the turning drum  2 . (Its addendum circle is shown by dotted lines and its pitch circle by center lines in FIGS. 2 and 3.) Since the distance between the inner and outer sector gears is larger than the outside diameter of gear  221 , therefore, the two sectors gears will not come into contact with gear  221  at the same time. The inner and outer gears are respectively provided with bases  4111  and  4121 , which are interconnected with the sector gear plate  4 . The shaft  15 B outside of the cigarette case is coupled to the elongated hole  43  of the sector gear plate  4  for free movement. The reverse side  42  of the sector gear plate  4  is provided with protruded turning block  421  and protruded recovery block  422 , which come in contact with the driving block  322  (which is provided on the lower side plate of the lid) and be pushed. The semi-circular notch  44  of the gear plate cooperates with the semi-circular blocking post  142  (which extends downward from the bottom side plate) so that the gear plate  4  can be blocked. When operation begins, lid  3  is closed and the gear plate  4  is located at the left most position, (shown by dotted lines in FIG.  2 ). The shaft  15 B is located below the elongated hole  43 . When it is turned and the lid is open to a distance as shown in FIG. 2, the driving block  322  of the lid starts to touch the protruded turning block  421  of the gear plate. Then, the inner gear starts to touch the gear  221  of the turning drum, causing the turning drum to rotate in the counter clockwise direction. When the inner gear touches the gear  221 , the arc-shaped block  143  protruded from the bottom surface  146  of the bottom side plate  14  also begins its position between the arc-shaped base  4121  and protruded block member  413  (the protruded block member is protruded from the front surface  41  of gear plate). Therefore, when the gear plate is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, it will assure that the gears of inner gear and gear  221  are meshed together without falling apart. The exterior surface on the right side of cover  11  of the cigarette case is provided with a blocking member  5 , (see FIGS.  20  through  23 ), the slim forward portion of the blocking member  5  is curved to reach the top portion of the turning drum, as the turning drum is rotated in a counter-clockwise direction, the cigarettes originally contained in the recess portion  23  will be rotated together with the recess portion. When the recess portion rotates to the outside of the cigarette case, the cigarette close to the lighting portion will come in contact with a portion  51  extended from the lateral direction of the blocking member. In the meantime, the other end of this cigarette will be stuck up, (refer to FIG.  27 ). When the recess portion is rotated to a position as shown in FIG. 3, this cigarette have revolved 90°. At this time the bottom of cigarette  18  is supported by the arc-shaped surface  522  of the cigarette holding member  52 , and the top of cigarette  18  is griped tightly by the sharp teeth portion  511  of the blocking member. At the same time, the standstill hole  211  of the bottom plate  21  of the turning drum has just reached to the standstill resilient plate  144  provided on the inner surface of bottom side plate  144  of the cigarette case, allowing arc portion  1441  of the resilient plate  144  to hook onto standstill holes  211 . Thus the position of the turning drum is fixed, the position of the cigarettes revolved is also fixed. Before the turning drum reaches this standstill position, the slant surface of the base  4121  of the outer gear starts touching slant surface  1451  of the protruded block  145 , thus the sector gear plate  4  moves in a direction away from the center of the circle. When it reaches the position as shown in FIG. 3, shaft  15 B is already at the top of the elongated hole  43 , the protruded block  421  also displaced and disengaged from the driving block  322 . By such configuration, when the lid continuous to be open, the sector gear plate will not follow the movement. 
     At this time, the pressing surface  741  of the press arm border  74  starts touching the top edge  6115  of the turning part  611 . Continuing to open the lid  3 , the press arm will initiate the lighting member to press down to light the cigarette. 
     When lid  3  is closed, spring  712  pulls the pull string  733  backward. When it reaches the position as shown in FIG.  3 , the driving block starts touching the protruded recovery block  422 , pushing the sector gear plate  4  to rotate in a clockwise direction. Then the outer gear  412  starts touching gear  211  of the turning drum, allowing the turning drum  2  to rotate in a clockwise direction. When the outer gear and gear  2221  start touching, the protruded block member  413  also starts touching the exterior arc surface  1431  of the arc-shaped block  143  of the bottom surface  146  of the bottom side plate. Therefore, when the gear plate is rotating in a clockwise direction, it will assure that the gears of the outer gear and gear  211  will be meshed together without falling apart. When the outer gear finishes the rotation with the gear  211  and begins to disengage, the slant surface  41111  of the base of the inner gear gets into contact with the slant surface  1471  of the starting-point protruded block  147  of the bottom surface  146  of the bottom side plate  14  of the cigarette case, allowing the sector gear plate to move toward the center of the circle. Further, the protruded recovery block  422  also moves toward the center and disengage from the driving block  322  of the lid. (As shown in FIG. 2, the turning drum also rotates to the position as shown in this Figure.) The next time the lid is open, the driving block  322  will push the protruded turning block  421 . 
     At the edge of the lower side plate  32  of the lid is provided with a cover plate  34 , which is perpendicular to the edge and is curved into an arc shape, the cover plate is used to cover part of the driving device of the turning drum. In addition, another cover plate  148  extended from the edge of the bottom side plate  14  may also be used to cover part of the driving device of the turning drum. 
     The transmission device for lid  3  and the turning drum by using some simple pulling member driving device are shown in FIG.  4 . In order to clearly indicate the structure of the transmission, all of the components and the bottom plate of the turning drum  2  are removed. The right portion of the cigarette case  1  is also removed. The axle  22  underneath the bottom plate is shown in its sectional view. As a set of rotating wheels for transmission, the driving wheel  323  is secured onto the lower side plate  32  of the lid, the driven wheel  222  is secured with the axle  22  of the turning drum, and the pulling member  4 A is wound around the driving wheel  323  and the driven wheel  222 . Thus the turning drum  2  turns counter clockwise when the lid  3  is open, cigarettes in the recess portion  23  is being revolved and the press arm  7  starts to light the lighter  6 . As soon as the cigarette completes the revolving, it will be lit. When the lid is closed, the turning drum reverses its rotation and returns to the position as shown in FIG.  4 . 
     The method using the transmission wheel device to drive the turning drum is shown in FIGS. 40 through 42. FIG. 41 is a view of FIG. 40 in which the internal structure of the turning drum  2 , components and the bottom plate  21 , the right portion of the cigarette case, and the press arm  7  provided on the top side plate  16  of the cigarette case as well as their components are removed. The shape and position of these components are shown in phantom lines. The shape of lighter  6  is also shown in phantom lines. The driving wheel  324 , the driven wheel  223 , elliptic wheel  4 B can either be a frictional wheel or a gear. The driving wheel  324  has a sector shape, another surface parallel to the driving wheel (but maintain a distance in between) is provided with arc-shaped plates  325 A and  325 B, the driving wheel  324 , the arc-shaped plates  325 A and  325 B are secured with lid  3 . The driven wheel  223  is secured to the axle  22  of the turning drum  2 . The bottom side plate  14  of the cigarette case is provided with an axle  149 . The elliptic wheel  4 B pivotally connected to this axis can touch the driving wheel and the driven wheel for transmission. A blocking plate  45  which is in the same plane as the arc-shaped plates  325 A and  325 B is secured to the elliptic wheel. The arc-shaped portion  452  on the blocking plate cooperates with the arc-shaped edging  325 B 1  of the arc-shaped plate  325 B. When the lid  3  is completely closed, the arc-shaped edging  325 A 1  of the arc-shaped plate  325 A totally fits with arc-shaped portion  451  of the blocking plate  45 ; thus, the elliptic wheel and the driven wheel are stopped, and the turning drum also stops in the position as shown in FIG.  41 . When the lid is open to a position as shown in FIG. 41, the arc-shaped edging  325 A 1  withdraws from the arc-shaped portion  451  slowly, the elliptic wheel starts to rotate, and the driving wheel also starts to touch the elliptic wheel, allowing the elliptic wheel to rotate in a clockwise direction. This type of transmission allows the driven wheel  223  and the turning drum to rotate in a counter clockwise direction. When the lid is open to the position as shown in FIG. 42, the cigarette has been stuck up and revolved, the driving wheel is separated from the elliptic wheel, the arc-shaped edging  325 B 1  of the arc-shaped plate  325 B is slowly attached to the arc-shaped portion  452  of the blocking plate  45 , causing the turning drum to be stopped. When the lid is closed, all of the wheels rotate in a reverse direction, and the recess portion  23  of the turning drum also returns to the inside of the cigarette case. 
     FIGS. 43 through 45 illustrate the turning drum being driven by the feeding device. FIG. 44 shows a view of FIG. 43 from which the internal structure, components and the bottom plate of the turning drum are being removed. The lower side plate  32  acts like a pin wheel, the internal surface of which has 3 pin-wheel teeth  326 . Each of the teeth  326  shapes like a column with suitable height. A circular shaped guide member  224  is secured onto the axle  22  of the turning drum. The pin-wheel teeth is provided to cooperate with a slot  2241  of the guide member to push and rotate the guide member. The lower side plate  32  is provided with two stopping blocks  327  and  328  extended in arc shape and having the same height as the pin-wheel teeth. These two stopping blocks respectively cooperate with the arc-shaped portions  2243  and  2244  of the guide member. When they are attached together, they can stop the guide member from rotating. When the lid is closed completely, the stopping block  327  and the arc-shaped portion  2243  are attached together, the guide member  224  and the turning drum  2  are stopped in the position as shown in FIG.  44 . As the lid is open to the position as shown in FIG. 44, the stopping block  327  departs from the arc-shaped portion  2243 , and the pin-wheel teeth  326  begins entering the slot  2241  of the guide member  224 , it pushes and rotate the guide member and the turning drum to rotate in a counter clockwise direction. When the lid is open to the position as shown in FIG. 45, the turning drum has already been turned to the position where the cigarette has been stuck up and revolved. At this time, the last pin-wheel teeth leaves the slot of the guide member, and the stopping block  328  is slowly attached to the arc-shaped portion  2244  of the guide member, causing the guide member and the turning drum to stop. When the lid is closed, the pin wheel (i.e., the lower side plate  32  of the lid), the guide member and the turning drum rotate in the reverse direction, the recess portion  23  is retract to the inside of the cigarette case. 
     FIG. 46 through 52 is a preferred embodiment using the feeding device to drive the turning drum. In FIGS. 46 through 48, the structure of the turning drum  2 , components, the bottom plate  21  and the right portion of the cigarette case are removed. The bottom surface of the lower side plate  32  of the lid is provided with a pin-wheel plate  329 , (see FIG. 53 concurrently). This pin-wheel plate is to equivalent a large and a small pin wheels that are coincide together. The teeth  3291  of the small pin wheel and the teeth  3292  of the large pin wheel are respectively secured to one end of the resilient plates  3293  (the resilient plates have the same size and shape), [see FIG. 49 (B—B section in FIG.  46 )]. The other ends of the resilient plates are secured to the pin-wheel plate. The lower side plate of the lid is provided with elongated holes  3210  corresponding to the positions of the pin-wheel teeth. The holes are provided for the pin-wheel teeth to feed through so that the latter can come out from the lower side plate of the lid. The top of both of the column-shaped pin-wheel teeth  3291  and  3292  are provided with identical slant surface  32911  and  32921 , [please refer to FIG. 50 (C—C section of FIG.  46 )]. The lower part of the slant surfaces are provided with notches  32912  and  32922 , which match with the protect portion  32101  at the edge of the elongated hole  3210 , thus touching the slant surfaces  32911  and  32921  in the lateral direction (in a direction parallel to the surface of the lower side plate). The pin-wheel teeth  32912  or  32922  retract into the elongated hole  3210 , touching the pin-wheel teeth in a reverse direction. The notches  32912  or  32922  and the project portion  32101  match together, and the pin-wheel teeth will not retract into the elongated holes. The axle  22  of the turning drum is secured to a blocking plate  45 , below which is a guide member  224  that forms into a circular shape. The circumference of the guide member is provided with a long slot  2241  and a short slot  2242 . The teeth  3291  of the small pin wheel can cooperate with the long slot  2241  to push and rotate the guide member. The pin-wheel teeth  3292  of the large pin wheel can cooperate with the short slot  2242  to push and rotate the guide member. When lid  3  is completely closed, the right most pin-wheel teeth  3201  stays in the long slot  2241  to prevent the guide member and the turning drum to rotate. The recess portion  23  stays outside of the cigarette case (as shown in FIG.  46 ). When the lid starts to open, the pin-wheel teeth  3291  of the small pin wheel pushes the guide member  224  so that the turning drum  2  rotates in the clockwise direction, allowing the recess portion  23  to turn into the cigarette case and allowing the cigarette to enter the recess portion. When it is rotated to the position as shown in FIG. 47, the pin-wheel teeth of the last small pin wheel depart from the long slot  2241  of the guide member. Meanwhile the pin-wheel teeth of the large pin wheel pushes and rotates the guide member, enabling the turning drum to rotate in the counter clockwise direction. When it reaches the position as shown in FIG. 48, the cigarette  8  in the recess portion has just revolved to the lighting position, at this time, the pin-wheel teeth of the large pin wheel leaves the short slot, the stopping block  328  slowly touches the arc-shaped portion  452  on the edge of the blocking plate 45  and stops the blocking plate, guide member and the turning drum. When the lid is closed, all of the pin-wheel teeth use their slant surfaces  32911  or  32921  to touch the guide member  224 . Therefore, as soon as the pin-wheel teeth touches the guide member, it will retract into the elongated hole  3210  and will not push the guide member. Hence, the recess portion  23  stays in the original position until the lid is completely closed. 
     If the lighter of the automatic cigarette case is to be used as lighting a fire or illumination, instead of lighting a cigarette, then the pin wheel plate can be pulled out so that all of the pin-wheel teeth retract into the elongated hole. The detail description is given as follows: The bottom surface of the lower side plate is provided with 4 guide post  3294 , [see FIGS. 53 and 51, and the D—D section of FIG.  46 .] The corresponding position in the pin-wheel plate  329  is provided with a hole  3295 , which may slide on the guide post. In this way the pin-wheel plate can be moved in parallel to allow the pin-wheel teeth to expand and retract. The diameter of the root  32941  of the guide post is larger than the hole  3295 , and the diameter of the top  32942  is also larger than the hole  3295 . Hence, the pin-wheel plate is restricted in the central portion of the guide post for parallel movement. When the pin-wheel plate is pulled out and touches the top portion  32942 , the pin-wheel teeth  3291  and  3292  retract into the elongated hole  3210  and will not touch the guide member  224 . By this configuration, the turning drum maintains its position as shown in FIG. 48 when the lid is open or closed, the cigarette will not be shifted out from the case, and the lighter can be lighted after the lid is open. When the pin-wheel plate is pushed to touch the root portion  32942 , the pin-wheel teeth stretches out from the elongated hole  3210  to rotate guide member. Then, the distance between the pin-wheel teeth and the external surface of the lower side plate  32  allows the retraction of the pin-wheel teeth, (when the slant surface  32911  or  32921  of the pin-wheel teeth touches the guide member, the pin-wheel teeth will retract into the elongated hole). In order to restrict the pin-wheel plate to remain in the position which touches the root portion when it is pushed or touches the top portion when it is pulled (and will not stay in between), the exterior surface of the lower side plate  32  is secured with resilient plate  3296  which is bent and is shown in FIG. 52, (E—E section of FIG.  46 ). The pin-wheel plate is provided with a hole  3297  in a position corresponding to the resilient plate. The hole is provided for the top portion  32961  of the resilient plate to feed through. One side of hole is provided with an upper slant surface  32971  and a lower slant surface  32972 . The location where the resilient plate is bent is also provided with corresponding upper slant surface  32962  and lower slant surface  32963 . When the pin-wheel plate is pushed to its limit (i.e., the pin-wheel plate touches the root position of the guide post), the slant surface  32963  of the resilient plate presses the upper slant surface  32971  of the hole. As the pin-wheel plate is pulled to its limit, (i.e., the pin-wheel plate touches the top portion of the guide post), the upper slant surface of the resilient plate  32962  presses the lower slant surface  32972  of the hole to latch the pin-wheel plate. 
     FIGS. 54 through 62 show another embodiment of the driving device in which the turning drum is driven by the feeding device. The inner surface of the lower side plate  32  is provided with a pin-wheel plate  329 , which has 6 pin-wheel teeth  326  protruded outward, (see FIG. 58 F—F section of FIG.  54 ). On the back of each of the pin-wheel teeth is provided with a latch  3298  for latching the pin-wheel plate onto the lower side plate. The root portion  32981  of each latch is free to move within a hole  3210  on the lower side plate. The diameter of the circular portion  32982  of the latch is larger than the size of the hole  3210  to prevent the pin-wheel plate to fall off. The pin-wheel plate is also provided with a long, protruded guide track  3299 , which is bent to an arc shape having the same height as the pin-wheel teeth. The outer surface on the bottom side plate  14  o the cigarette case is provided with a protruded guide block  1410 . [since the bottom side plate where the guide block is located has been removed, only sectional views of the guide block are shown in FIGS. 54 through 56. (see FIG. 59 G—G section of FIG.  54 ). The protruded guide block  1410  can touch the guide track. On the right side of the guide track is provided with a guide plate  32991  which is made of resilient material. The end  32992  of the resilient plate is curved and is inserted into a swivel latch  32993 . The end of the resilient plate inserted into the swivel latch is shown by phantom lines in FIG. 59. A conical surface of the swivel latch is attached to a hole  1411  (with similar conical surface) on the bottom side plate  32 , therefore, they can be turned without falling off. A directional rod  32994  is provided below the swivel latch, thus a finger can push the directional rod to change the direction of the guide plate. The directional rod is provided with a ball-shaped protruded block  32995 , and the pin-wheel plate is provided with two holes  32995 A and  32995 B which can cap the ball-shaped protruded block, (FIG.  60  is a back view of a section of the directional rod in FIG.  54 ), thus the directional rod and the guide plate can be positioned. On the left side of the guide track is also provided with a guide plate  32996  which is made of resilient material and may come in contact with the guide block  1410 . The axle  22  below the bottom plate of the turning drum is provided with a blocking plate  45 , below which is secured with a circular guide member  224 . The circumference of the guide member is provided with 6 slots  2241  which cooperate with the pin-wheel teeth  326 . In addition, the inside surface of the lower side plate  32  of the lid is provided with a curved and protruded stopping block  327  which is used for stopping the blocking plate and preventing it from rotation. FIG. 61 is the H—H section of FIG.  54 . The other similar stopping block  328  can come into contact with the arc-shaped portion  452  on the edging of the blocking plate to stop the blocking plate. In use, if a user wants to turn the turning drum to get to a cigarette, then he needs to push the directional rod to a position as shown in FIG. 54, allowing the ball-shaped protruded block to latch into hole  32995 A. When lid  3  is open, the external arc surface  32997  of the guide track  3299  is guided by the guide plate  32991  to come into contact with the guide block  1410  so that they can slide, allowing the pin-wheel plate  329  to move in an upward direction as shown in FIG.  56 . (Since the root portion  32981  can move freely inside the hole  3210 , as described earlier). Each of the pin-wheel teeth can, therefore, be inserted into the slot  2241  of the guide member, allowing the guide member and the turning drum to rotate in a counter clockwise direction. When the lid is open to the position as shown in FIG. 57, the turning drum has rotated 360° in a counter clockwise direction, the recess portion  23  has entered the cigarette case and a cigarette is shifted out. In addition, by use of the blocking member  5 , the cigarette is revolved and stuck up to the lighting position. By opening the lid and use the lighter the cigarette can be lighted. In addition, when the lid is open to the position as shown in FIG. 57, the stopping block  328  slowly touches the arc-shaped portion  452  so as to stop the blocking plate, the guide plate and the turning drum. When the lid is closed, the guide plate  32996  on the left side of the guide track comes in contact with guide block  1410  and slides. Thus all the pin-wheel teeth will not be able to touch the guide member, therefore, the guide member and the turning drum remain in their original positions. 
     If a cigarette does not need to be lighted, instead, the lighter needs to be ignited for other purpose, then the turning drum does not need to be turned when the lid is being opened. At this time, the directional rod  32994  needs to be pushed to the position as shown in FIG. 55, allowing the ball-shaped protruded block to be inserted into hole  32995 B. When the lid is open, the guide plate  32991  guides the guide track so that its inside arc surface  32998  comes in contact with the guide block  1410 , thus the position of the pin-wheel plate shifts down from its position in FIG. 55, and each of the pin-wheel teeth will not touch the guide member, therefore, the turning drum will not rotate. By opening the lid the lighter can be ignited. 
     FIG. 63 shows the most simplified embodiment of the automatic cigarette case according to the present invention. The turning device in this Figure consists of the turning drum  2 , and the recovery spring  28 ; the lighting device is made up of lighter  6 ; the pushing plate inside the cigarette case is curved into a “C” shape, the central portion of the upper and the lower parts are provided with protruded sliding blocks  134 , (only the upper sliding block can be seen in FIG.  63 ). The sliding blocks  134  respectively slide inside slot  161  provided on the upper side plate  16  of the cigarette case, and inside the slot  1410  provided on the inner part of the lower side plate. The front of the sliding block on top of the push plate is connected to a resilient retractable cable (or rubber band)  135 . This resilient retractable cable passes through slot  161  and around the vertical branch  1611 , passing though the square tube  172  of the rear plate  17  of the cigarette case to reach the vertical branch  14101  of the slot of the lower side plate  14  of the cigarette case, (in the Figure, slot  161  and the vertical branch coincides with each other, therefore, they cannot be seen), and then it is routed through the slot  1410  to connect to the sliding block below the push plate. Thus the resilient retractable cable can pull the top and bottom of the push plate towards the right side. The pull string  133  is used to pull the push plate towards the left side for adding new cigarettes to the case. 
     The turning drum is substantially cylindrical in shape, the corrugated portion  27  as described earlier is not provided. Axis  22  is fed through the hole  141  provided on the lower side plate of the cigarette case so that it can rotate. Part of the top of the turning drum is still supporting the inner surface of the upper side plate  16 . The top of the recovery spring  28  is hooked onto the hole  2811  of the spring box  281 , the lower part is hooked onto the hole  1411  of the lower side plate. FIG. 64 is the K—K section of FIG.  63 . The resiliency can cause the turning drum to turn in a counter clockwise direction. In use, a finger can push the turning drum in a clockwise direction, so that the recess portion  23  is rotated inside the cigarette case to withdraw the cigarette. The finger can then be released and the recovery spring causes the turning drum to rotate in a counter clockwise direction, the cigarette is shifted outside of the case and revolved to a lighting position. At this time, the stopping block  29  provided on the turning drum touches the edging of the rear side plate  17  of the cigarette case, causing the turning drum to stop. The cigarette being revolved is secured in the position ready to be lighted, and finger can then be used to light the cigarette. 
     Many changes and modifications in the above described embodiment of the invention can, of course, be carried out without departing from the scope thereof. Accordingly, to promote the progress in science and the useful arts, the invention is disclosed and is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.