BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION One aspect of smoking that can prove tiresome is the on-going need to have not only the packet of cigarettes constantly available to hand, but also the lighter. The packet, being comparatively large, is relatively difficult to lose (and besides, the packet is quickly replaced in any event), but it is all too easy for a smoker to mislay the much smaller lighter.

The invention is aimed at providing a means for retaining the lighter physically against the side of the cigarette packet, being a means that holds the lighter securely enough for everyday use. It is also an aim of the invention that the means should permit the lighter to be detached from an empty packet, and secured to a fresh packet, with a minimum of time and attention on the part of the smoker.

THE PRIOR ART Examples of previous devices for assisting smokers in keeping a lighter secured to a cigarette packet are shown in the following patent publications: US-2,769,219 (Nov 1956, Elkavich), US-3,763,996 (Oct 1973, Shepherd), US-4,579,222 (Apr 1986, Olazabal), US-D, 293,387 (Dec 1987, Wagner), US-4,852,729 (Aug 1989, Conte), US-5,088,684 (Feb 1992, Torras).

BASIC FEATURES OF THE INVENTION The invention provides an apparatus for a cigarette lighter to a cigarette packet, comprising a length of fabric material, and a plate. Preferably, the length of fabric material is configured into two loops, a lighter-loop and a packet-loop. The packet-

loop extends from one side of the plate, and the lighter-loop from the other side of the plate.

Preferably, at least a portion of the length of fabric material is elastic. The circumferential length of the packet-loop, when unstretched, should be shorter than the circumferential length of the cigarette packet, and the circumferential length of the packet-loop, when unstretched, should be shorter than the circumferential length of the lighter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS By way of further explanation of the invention, exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig 1 is a pictorial view showing a cigarette lighter, to which has been attached an elastic band accessory; Fig 2 is a plan view of a cigarette packet, to which a lighter has been attached by means of the accessory of Fig 1; Fig 3 is a pictorial view of the accessory of Fig 1, which has been assembled over a cigarette packet, the lighter not being present; Fig 4 is a view of a plate component of the accessory of Fig 1; Fig 5 is a view corresponding to Fig 4 of another version of the plate component; Fig 6 is a pictorial view of another embodiment of the invention.

The apparatuses shown in the accompanying drawings and described below are examples which embody the invention. It should be noted that the scope of the invention is defined by the accompanying claims, and not necessarily by specific features of exemplary embodiments.

As shown in Fig 1, the accessory 20 comprises an elastic band 23. The band 23 includes a length 24 of elasticated fabric material. The material is about 25 mm wide, and has a thickness of about 2 mm. The band is formed into an endless loop, in that the ends of the length of elastic material are stitched into a linking piece 25, of leather or the like. The linking piece 25 is stitched to the ends of the elasticated fabric material 24, and is non-adjustable.

The accessory also includes a plate 26 ! which is made of rigid plastic. The plate 26 is provided with slots 27,28. The length of elasticated fabric material 24 is fed through the slots 27,28 before the ends of the material are stitched into the linking piece 25.

Once the stitching is done, the plate 26 cannot be removed from the band 23.

The slots 27,28 are wide enough to enable the elastic material to be fed through, and to enable the elastic material to move or slide through the slots during use of the accessory. On the other hand, the slots are tight enough to provide some resistance to the free sliding of the elastic material therethrough.

That is to say, the slots in the plate 26 are loose enough that the material can move through the slots, but the slots are tight enough to provide some restraint to that movement. The slots 27,28 are tight enough that the linking-piece 25 cannot pass through the slots.

Good results have been obtained when the slot width is nominally equal to the thickness of the elastic fabric material (i. e about 2 mm in this case). The plate 26 can be moved along and around the band 23 by simple hand-manipulation, but after the plate has been moved, by hand, and released, the plate then stays put in the location on the band to which it has been moved.

The plate 26 divides the band of material into two loops, a lighter-loop 29 and a packet-loop 30. Moving the plate 26 relative to the band causes one loop to increase in length and the other loop to correspondingly decrease in length.

As shown in Fig 1, a lighter 32 is placed in the lighter-loop 29 of the band 23. The elastic material is pulled through the slots 27,28 in the plate, around the lighter. The friction of the contact between the elastic material and the sides of the slots allows sufficient force to be locked into the elastic material that the lighter remains held against the plate 26, in the lighter-loop 29, pressed against the plate, i. e the lighter does not fall clear.

Fig 2 shows the accessory 20 assembled to a cigarette packet 34. The packet 34 is of the type that is made of cardboard, and includes a slide-out cardboard tray. The invention is advantageously applied to this kind of cigarette package. This kind of

cigarette package is quite strong in itself, should be distinguished from another kind of cigarette package (termed a paper-pouch-pack), in which the pack is made of paper, or similar material, that is quite flimsy, compared with cardboard, and in which the pack does not have a slide-out tray or other means to stiffen the pack.

The cardboard packet 34 has enough structural rigidity, in itself, independently of the cigarettes contained therein, that the packet can support itself, and can remain rectangular, even when the packet is empty or almost empty of cigarettes. By contrast, the paper-pouch-pack type of package relies on the cigarettes themselves to keep the pack in shape. A paper-pouch-pack basically tends to collapse as cigarettes are removed therefrom, and putting an elastic band directly around a pouch-pack package would exacerbate that tendency.

Some cardboard cigarette packets (called flip-top packets) include a hinged cap, rather than a slide-out tray. The flip-top package is equivalent to the slide-out-tray package, for the purposes of this invention, in that the flip-top package is rigid enough, in itself, even when empty, to retain its rectangular shape.

Another type of cardboard package in common use is the pouch-pack. For the purposes of this invention, the pouch-pack is distinguished from the paper-pouch-pack as described above, in that the pouch-pack is made from cardboard, or it might be made of thick paper, laminated with plastic. The pouch-pack, in common with the cardboard packets as described, has enough rigidity, in itself, to maintain its structural shape and dimensions, when acted upon by the encircling band as described herein.

One size of cigarette packet (a 25-pack) is 18mm by 104 mm, having a circumferential length of about 244 mm. A standard pouch-pack, holding 20 cigarettes, is 53mm by 22mm, having a circumferential length of about 150mm.

After stitching, the (unstretched) elastic band has a circumferential loop length of about 260mm for the 244mm pack, and about 185mm for the 150mm pack. These dimensions have been found to give good results, in the specific cases as described herein.

The elastic characteristics of the fabric material are such that the circumference of the

band can be elongated, by hand-stretching the material, between 150 and 200 percent; that is to say, the elasticity of the material is such that its unstretched circumferential length of 28 cm can be stretched to between 42 cm and 56 cm.

However, the amount of stretch, as utilise in order for the band to stretch over and grip the packet and the lighter, is much less, preferably being of the order of 5% or 10%.

It is recognised that, in order for the design as described herein to be successfully applied, the cigarette packet has to be capable of supporting itself against being squashed or crushed, when the elastic band is stretched around the packet. The amount of stretch undergone by the band should be sufficient to keep the band held on, but not enough to damage the packet. Thus, based on the use of the elastic band as described, there is a"window of acceptability"between gripping the packet tightly enough that the band stays attached to the packet, and gripping the packet loosely enough that the packet is not crushed. It is recognized that this window is wide enough to be commercially practical when the package is made of cardboard. It is recognised that the window of acceptability that can be engineered into an elastic band is hardly wide enough when the package is made of paper, if the band is placed directly around the paper-pouch-pack.

As shown in Fig 2, the positions of the slots 27,28 are important, in relation to the dimensions of the packet 34. The slots should be sufficiently close together that the elastic material is caused to apply a slight compression to the end-face 35 of the packet. If the slots were wider apart than shown, the packet-portions 36,37 of the band would be clear of the corner-edges 38,39 between the end-face 35 and the front and rear faces 40,42 of the packet. As illustrated, the packet-portions 36,37 of the band lie in direct touching contact with, and slightly overlie, the corner-edges 38,39 of the packet.

If the slots 27,28 were closer together than shown, the band would not just touch lightly against the corner-edges 38,39 of the packet, but might apply so much force to the corner-edges as to buckle the end-face 35. In other words, the slots in the plate should be far enough apart that the slots hold the packet-portions 36,37 of the band far enough apart, that the packet-portions just start to enwrap or overlie the

corner-edges 38,39. Preferably, the slots should not be so close together that the packet-portions 36,37 of the band are bent around the corner-edges to a major extent, as that might cause the corner-edges to be damaged. Of course, the slots should not be so far apart that the packet-portions do not touch the corner-edges at all. The designer should take care to so arrange the slots 27,28 that the elastic band 23 just slightly enwraps the corner-edges 38,39, as shown. It has been found that the distance apart of the outer sides 43,45 the two slots 27,28 preferably should be just about equal to the nominal thickness of the packet 34, to ensure the correct degree of enwrapping of the corner-edges 38,39. For the 18mm-thick packet, the outer edges of the slots should be 18mm apart, and for the 22mm-thick packet, the outer edges of the slots should be 22mm apart.

The band, as mentioned, has a width of 25 mm. Thus, the plate 26 is retained against the end-face 35 by the lines of contact (a) between the lighter and the lighter-portions 46,47 of the band, and (b) the lines of contact of the packet-portions 36,37 of the band against the corner-edges 38,39 of the packet. It will be understood that, by this means, the plate 26 is held against the end-face 35 of the packet 34 in a very stable manner, which would not be the case if the band were narrow.

The roll axis 48, the pitch axis 49, and the yaw axis 50 of the packet 34 are defined as shown in Fig 3, and the disposition of the lines of contact as mentioned ensure good resistance of the elastic band, when assembled over the packet, against being displaced, and even against being displaced by twisting about the roll-axis 48.

As mentioned, the width of the elastic material of the band 23 is important. If the band were narrower, the length of the lines of contact, as mentioned above, would be shorter. Therefore, the resistance of the lighter to being twisted about the pitch-axis 49 would be correspondingly less. The wider the band 23, the more the lighter is constrained against twisting about the pitch-axis. The band as shown has a width of 25 mm, which gives good results. The lower limit would be about 15 mm; i. e if the band width were less than 15 mm, the lighter would not be properly restrained against pitch-axis twisting.

It may be noted that, because the band is elastic, a slight knock in a direction tending to cause pitch-axis twisting of the lighter (and of the plate 26) tends not to damage the

corner-edges of the packet, whatever the width of the band.

As shown, the plate 26 is curved in the concave sense relative to the lighter.

Therefore, the plate serves as a channel in which the lighter can nestle, being physically located in and constrained by the channel. The benefit of this may be understood in that if the curvature were to be convex relative to the lighter, the lighter would not be held secure against twisting about the pitch-axis 49. Thus, a convexly-curved plate 26, or even a flat plate 26, would be much less effective than the convexly-curved plate, as shown.

The plate 26 is so shaped that the lighter is held in position not so much by direct touching contact with the plate itself, but rather by contact of the lighter with the lighter-portions 46,47 of the elastic band material. It is the lighter-portions 46,47 that are in actual direct touching contact with the plate. Again, it is noted that the portions 46,47 represent lines, rather than points, of contact, the lines being of a length equal to the width of the band.

Thus, the plate is held against the end-face of the packet via the lines of contact of the portions 36,37 of the band against the corner edges 38,39; and in turn, the lighter is held against the plate via the lines of contact of the portions 46,47 of the band against the plate. It will be understood that this arrangement permits the rigidity of the plate to assist in holding the lighter in a correctly-orientated configuration relative to the packet, and in holding the lighter even against twisting of the lighter about the roll-axis.

The configuration of the slots 27,28 in the plate, in relation to the dimensions of the packet 34, and in relation to the thickness of the band 23, is important in achieving the above-described stability of positioning of the lighter on the side of the packet.

It should be noted that a device for attaching a lighter to the side of a cigarette packet is not so simple, but requires careful attention on the part of the designer. The packet, being of cardboard, is not very strong, and care must be taken to apply forces to the packet in such a manner as not to cause crushing of the packet; and yet, the lighter must be held securely. The designer must see to it that the forces that are applied to the packet are applied in a way that wastes none of the strength of the packet supporting forces other than those which will hold the lighter securely.

The lighter needs to be held securely, not only to resist falling off, as such, but also to enable the lighter to be operated at a time when the packet is being held in the hand.

That is to say, the manner of securement of the lighter to the packet should be such as to enable the user to open the packet, extract a cigarette, close the packet, and operate the lighter, all while holding the packet and lighter in the one hand. The lighter needs to be held quite securely to enable this.

The lighter also needs to be held securely in the sense that the lighter should be held securely against the end-face 35 of the packet, and should not slip round the corner-edges 38,39 onto the front face 40 or rear face 42 of the packet, even when the lighter is being operated.

The design as described herein provides these facilities. A key factor is that the slots are so dimensioned and configured as to maintain the lines of contact (i. e indirect contact, through the portions of the elastic material and through the plate) between the lighter and the corner-edges of the packet.

The fact that the lighter and the packet make contact against the elastic material rather than directly against each other is an avantage. The coefficient of friction between the elastic (rubberised) material and the other components is greater than the coefficient of friction between the components when touching each other directly.

Both the cardboard packet and the plastic plate have quite low frictions (as does the lighter), compared with the elastic material. The plate should preferably be so shaped as not to touch directly (i. e. as opposed to touching indirectly, through the elastic material) against either the lighter or the packet.

Some other advantageous aspects of the operation of the accessory may be described as follows.

The elastic band is secure enough that the band and lighter do not readily fall off the packet, during use, but yet the smoker finds it easy enough to remove the elastic band by deliberate action, when changing packets. Upon removal of the band, the lighter stays contained within the lighter-loop 29, the slots providing enough friction between the band and the plate to hold the lighter in the lighter-loop, even during the manipulation of the band that takes place while transferring the band from one packet

to another.

Without the plate 26, there would be no separation of the lighter-loop and the packet-loop, whereby it would be rather awkward to assemble the band around the lighter and the packet. Without the plate, the lighter would not stay at the side of the packet, but might well keep slipping around to the front or back of the packet.

As mentioned, in Fig 2, the elastic band is stitched into an endless loop, and is non-adjustable. The actual length of the loop is not critical, and there is enough stretch in the elastic material to accommodate slight differences in packet size, plus slight differences in lighter size. The application of the design as depicted herein is not limited to disposable-type lighters. A typical disposable lighter has a roughly elliptical cross section, 25mm x 9 mm, with a circumference of about 62 mm.

Non-disposable lighters are generally rather larger, but that can be accommodated by the resilience of the band. The plate enables the gripping forces of the band to be applied to both the lighter and the packet, even though the lighter, and the packet, might be of different shapes and sizes. It is recognized that the size the band needs to be to accommodate a cigarette packet is such that such differences in the size of the lighter amount inevitably to only a small percentage of the circumferential length of the band, whereby the band automatically has the resilient length needed to accommodate the variations.

It may be noted that the band 23 comprises an elastic component 24 and a non- elastic component 25. The designer might prefer to change the proportions of these components, whereby the non-elastic component occupies more of the circumferential length of the band than the elastic component. In that case, the overall resilience of the band would be reduced, but could be sufficient in some cases.

The plate component 26 is shown in Fig 4. It can be awkward in some cases to stitch the band of elastic material after the band has been assembled to the plate. As shown in Fig 5, the plate 56 is manufactured with a single U-shaped slot 57: now, the band can be stitched into a loop in the absence of the plate, and then the loop is assembled over the tongue 58 defined by the U-shaped slot. As mentioned, it is desirable that the thickness of the elastic material should be reasonably tight in the slots, whereby the band, once assembled over the tongue, is held reasonably securely in place on the

plate.

Some advantageous aspects of the use of the accessory may be described as follows.

From the standpoint of safety, it may be mentioned that the accessory enables a smoker-driver to have his lighter to hand, without taking his eyes off the road; without the accessory, a driver has to fumble around separately for his lighter, which can spoil the driver's concentration.

Also, the accessory makes it considerably less likely that a smoker might lose the lighter, for example between seat cushions, which is important not just because of losing the lighter, but because children might come across the lighter later.

A smoker can operate the lighter with one hand, even though the lighter is attached to the packet. The smoker can even use some of the fingers of the same hand to hold the packet together, i. e to stop the tray from falling out, while operating the lighter.

Also, if the band and lighter should get displaced out of position relative to the cigarette packet, it is an easy matter to put them back, with one hand.

Furthermore, the accessory as described can serve as an excellent advertising vehicle.

The band is flat and large enough to carry even a quite complex message, and the message is displayed to the smoker many times per day. Also, persons associating with the smoker can hardly fail to perceive the advertising message printed on the band.

As mentioned, the invention in the form as described above is hardly suitable for use with the paper-pouch-pack type of cigarette container. Fig 6 shows how the invention can be applied in the case of the paper-pouch-pack.

In Fig 6, the paper-pouch-pack 60 is made of paper, laminated with thin plastic film.

As such, the pack is not very capable, in itself, of resisting forces tending to collapse the pack, as cigarettes are withdrawn therefrom.

For the purposes of the invention, a support-box 62 is provided. The support-box 62 is of such a size and shape as to receive a paper-pouch-pack of standard size (i. e 53 x

22 mm). The interior of the support-box should be a tight fit around the paper-pouch- pack.

The support box is open at the top. The sides of the support-box need not extend all the way up the height of the pack. In fact, there are regulations to the effect that warning labels on cigarette packets should not be covered, so the designer of the support-box should ensure that when the paper-pouch-pack is inserted into the support-box, the sides of the support-box do not obscure the label.

As mentioned, as cigarettes are removed from the paper-pouch-pack, the resistance of the paper-pouch-pack to collapsing becomes less. It might be considered therefore that an almost-empty paper-pouch-pack would simply fall out of the support-box.

However, placing the paper-pouch-pack in the support-box can provide enough mechanical protection to the paper-pouch-pack that the pack remains substantially intact and erect, and remains able to take support from the support-box, even when almost empty, whereby the paper-pouch-pack does not collapse, and largely does not tend to fall out of the support-box.

The support-box 62 is made of cardboard, of the same type as that from which regular cigarette packets are made. The elastic band now fits around the support-box, and retains the lighter to the support box, in a similar manner to that described above.

One of the popular benefits of the use of the pouch-pack is that the smoker can shake a single cigarette out of the pack, just by using one hand. Hitherto, that benefit has largely been wasted, in that the smoker has had to use his other hand to light the cigarette. By putting the pouch-pack in the support-box, as described, the smoker still retains the ability to shake a single cigarette out of the pouch-pack, with one hand; but now, by the use of the invention, also the cigarette lighter is presented conveniently and immediately for use, with the same hand, for truly one-handed operation.