Device for lighting cigarettes, for special application in automotors

Claim 1

In a device for lighting cigarettes for installation in a panel of an automotive vehicle, including a fixed housing (1) securely affixed in said panel and a removable assembly (5) fitted into the fixed housing when electric power is supplied thereto and manually removable from the fixed housing for use in lighting cigarettes, the improved removable assembly comprising: A. a removable housing (12) sized to fit smoothly into the fixed housing and including therein an electric terminal (17) electrically isolated from the main body of the removable housing, wherein an electric potential may be applied between the terminal and the main body, B. an electric heating element (18) including two electrical ends thereof, the heating element being fixedly mounted within the removable housing and having one of its electrical ends in good electrical contact with the electric terminal (17), the heating element being electrically insulated from said main body, C. bimetallic hooking means (21) fixedly mounted within the removable housing and being in good electrical contact with the other electrical end of the heating element, D. a spring-biased hollow electrically conductive element (6) including a groove (11) placed to be hooked by the hooking means, whereby the hooking means engages the grooves only when the heating element and therefore the hooking means are not heated sufficiently to deform the hooking means and release the groove, and wherein the hollow element is spring biased away from the hooking means when the hooking means release the grooves, the hollow element being in good electrical contact with the main body of the removable housing.