DEVICE FOR SHREDDING CIGARETTE FILTERS AND BUTTS OF ALL KINDS

Description

Field of the Invention

[0001] This invention concerns a device for shredding cigarette butts, in particular their filters, to facilitate disposal. One example of such device is disclosed in US 2737350. State of the Art

[0002] Disposal of cigarette butts is a problem that still requires solving. Often, cigarette butts are piled in ashtrays where, besides creating a feeling of untidiness and dirtiness, they can generate an unpleasant smell and, if not completely put out, partial combustion of the filters. This being the case both in the domestic environment and in places attended by smokers. Cigarette butts can often be seen on the ground even in open areas such as roads, squares, parks and gardens. Even though they are partially biodegradable, except for some types of cigarette filters made of plastic or a synthetic material, the butts and in particular the filter, require a certain amount of time to decompose under the influence of atmospheric agents, also causing that same sense of dirtiness and squalor outdoors, which not even their removal, often not very regular, is able to reduce. Furthermore, cigarette butts, if not completely put out and thrown on the ground during pauses or walks in woods, or in parched areas, may cause fires.

[0003] It would therefore be desirable for cigarette butts to be treated so as to ensure they go out and which would facilitate spontaneous decomposition, better still if this treatment was carried out spontaneously by smokers themselves, stimulated by suitable awakening advertising.

Objectives and Summary of the Invention

[0004] One object of this invention is in fact to propose a device able to resolve the problem criticized above of removing cigarette butts, by shredding them to facilitate collection and rapid decomposition besides ensuring they are extinguished.

[0005] A further object of the invention is to provide a pocket, consequently portable, device for shredding cigarette butts and the like which is immediately available and usable by the smoker and above all acting as an ashtray.

[0006] Another object of the invention is to provide a device for shredding cigarette butts and the like which can also be positioned permanently in public places at the disposal of smokers.

[0007] Said objects are achieved, according to the invention, in a device for shredding cigarette butts and the like to facilitate collection and disposal, comprising a box shaped body having two front and rear walls, two facing lateral walls, one bottom wall and a top wall; a shredder duct which extends crossways between the lateral walls of said body, forming a housing to receive a butt to be shredded and having a number of transverse separated slots in parallel; and a number of slicing blades in line with the slots of said duct, guided at least between the front and rear walls of the box shaped body and associated with a control pushbutton guided in the top wall of said body, said slicing blades being moved by the control pushbutton from a retracted idle position to a forward active one, where the slicing blades are pushed through the slots of the shredder duct for a slicing operation.

[0008] Further aspects of the invention are explained in the other claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009] The invention will however be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed indicative and not limiting drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows a view in perspective of the device;

Fig. 2 shows a longitudinal sectional view of the device; and

Fig. 3 shows a cross section view in the direction of arrows A-A in Fig.

2.

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0010] As shown, the device of the invention comprises a prismatic box shaped body 11 that can be made of any type of material. As a preference however it is made plastic and made up of two complementary halves 11' which are joined and are fixed together.

[0011] When assembled, the body 11, forms an internal chamber 12 with two front and back walls 13, 14,two facing lateral walls 15,16, one bottom wall 17 and one top wall 18. Said chamber 12 is provided with a shredding duct 19 forming a horizontal housing 20, placed on a transverse X axis to the body 11 and dimensioned to receive the whole cigarette butts to be shredded. This duct 19 can be an integral part of the two halves of the body - Fig. 3- or can be made up of an element apart inserted and attached in said body. It extends parallel to and at a distance from the bottom wall 17, forming a collection area 21, to receive the parts of the butts which have been shredded and which can be accessed through a door 22, to empty it.

[0012] More in detail, the shredder duct 19 can be semi-cylindrical or cylindrical, and the housing 20 it forms can be accessed through a hole in line 23 machined in a side wall 15 of the body 11. Furthermore, the shredder duct 19 has for a least a part of its length a number of through slots cut crossways and spaced parallel to each other.

[0013] The slots 24 are associated with the same number of slicing blades 25 oriented and movable according to a Y axis at right angles to the X axis of the shredder duct 19. Said slicing blades 25 are metal and their distant ends from the duct 19 are fixed to a rod which extends crossways inn the body 11 and the end parts of which can be guided in grooves 27 provided on the inner faces of the lateral walls of the body.

[0014] The rod 26 holding the slicing blades 25 is connected to and moves through a control pushbutton 28 guided in the top wall of the body 11 and moving by hand between an inactive position, retracted, where it protrudes from the body - and the blades are idle - Figs. 1 and 2, and an active forward position, where the slicing blades 25 are pushed through the slots 24 of the shredder duct 19 to perform shredding.

[0015] It should be borne in mind that in order to maintain the slicing blades 25 parallel without the possibility of deviating sideways, the slicing blades 25 can be guided in slots provided in a fixed crosspiece 29 associated with the shredder duct 19 and between the front and rear walls 13, 14 of the body - Fig. 3. Furthermore, each blade 25 has a cutting end 25' which is slanting and which remains inserted, consequently centred, in the respective slot 24 of the duct 19 also when the pushbutton 28 is retracted in the idle position.

[0016] Between the pushbutton 28 and the fixed crosspiece 25 there are two guide columns 30, preferably telescopic, resultant from opposite sides and parallel to the numerous slicing blades 25. The columns are to guide the pushbutton, and therefore the slicing blades, between the abovementioned active and idle positions and each one houses a compressible spring 31 used to push to maintain the pushbutton 28, and with it the blades, in the idle position. The forward movement of the pushbutton and the blades is on the other hand carried out manually by pressing down the pushbutton contrasting the action of said springs.

[0017] The device described above is used by inserting the cigarette butt with filter, into the lateral hole 23, in the shredder duct 19 and then by manually operating the pushbutton 28 to move and push the slicing blades 25 through the respective slots 24. In this way you achieve a large number of cross cuts and consequently a shredding of the butt, shredding which can be repeated and increased by activating the blades two or more times to favour collecting and deterioration the cigarette filters.

[0018] The shredded parts are then sent and downloaded into the collection area on the bottom of the body. To facilitate the moving of the shredded parts to the collection are a 21, a thrust rod 32 can be provided and used which is inserted in the shredder duct 19 through the lateral hole 23 and in preference a pusher 33 fixed to the rod 26 holding the slicing blades to follow its movements. The pusher 33, which can be tubular, is facing towards and in line with a transverse hole 34 cut in the end part of the duct 19 opposite the one with the hole 20 to insert the butt. In this way, the pusher moves forward each time the pushbutton is pressed and is able to push the shredded parts from the horizontal housing to the collection area. On the other hand, when not in use, the pusher rod 32 can be placed and stored in a housing formed in combination with the control pushbutton and the tubular pusher as shown in Fig. 2.

[0019] Lastly, and worthy of note is the fact that the device described above can be modified in detail without by this exiting the field of the invention and also that besides the pocket version, the device itself can be set up also for use in public places or in those places set aside for smokers. Furthermore, in the pushbutton 28 a small space 35 can be provided which can be accessed through an opening 36, housing a butt extinguisher 37 and used to collect the ash.

Claims

1. Device for shredding cigarette butts with filter to facilitate collection and disposal, characterised by a box shaped body (11) having two front and rear walls, two facing lateral walls, one bottom wall and a top wall, by a shredder duct (19) which extends crossways between the lateral walls of said body, forming a housing (20) to receive a butt to be shredded and having a number of transverse separated slots (24) in parallel, and by a number of slicing blades (25) in line with the slots (24) of said duct, guided at least between the front and rear walls of the box shaped body and associated with a control pushbutton (28) guided in the top wall of said body, said slicing blades (25) being moved by the control pushbutton from a retracted idle position to a forward active one, where the slicing blades are pushed through the slots (24) of the shredder duct (19) for a slicing operation.

2. Device according to claim 1, in which said slicing blades are fixed to a rod (26) connected to the control pushbutton and pass through guide slots cut in a crosspiece (29) that extends in the box shaped body parallel to the shredder duct, between the latter and the control pushbutton.

3. Device according to claims 1 and 2, in which the slicing blades (25) each have a slanting cutting edge (25') which remains inserted in the respective slot (24) of the shredder duct even when they are retracted in the idle position.

4. Device according to the previous claims, in which the control pushbutton is associated with two guide columns (30) and a pair of springs (31) whose normal task is to hold the slicing blades in the retracted idle position.

5. Device according to the previous claims, in which said shredder duct (19) is in an intermediate part of the box shaped body (11), can be accessed through a hole (23) in a lateral part of said body and forms with the bottom wall a collection area (21) for the shredded parts which can be accessed through a door (22).

6. Device according to claim 5, in which the rod (26) holding the slicing blades is equipped with a pusher (33) in line with a transverse hole (34) provided in the shredder duct to send the shredded parts from said duct to the collection area.

7. Device according to any of the previous claims, in which the box shaped body is made up of two assembled halves, and in which at least the shredder duct is an integral part of said body, said duct being either cylindrical or semi-cylindrical.

8. Device according to any of the previous claims, in which the pushbutton is provided with an ashtray space with a butt extinguisher.

9. Device according to any of the previous claims, comprising also a rod which can be inserted in the shredder duct to push the shredded parts towards the collection area.

Ansprüche

1. Vorrichtung zum Zerkleinern von Zigarettenstummeln mit Filter, um das Sammeln und die Aufbewahrung zu erleichtern, dadurch gekennzeichnet, dass ein schachtelförmiges Gehäuse (11) mit zwei Wänden vorne und hinten, zwei gegenüberliegenden Seitenwänden, einer Bodenwand und einer Deckelwand, durch einen Zerkleinerungskanal (19), der quer zwischen den Seitenwänden dieses Gehäuses läuft und eine Aufnahme (20) für den zu zerkleinernden Zigarettenstummel bildet und eine Vielzahl von parallelen, voneinander getrennten Querschlitzen (24) hat, und eine Vielzahl von mit den Schlitzen (24) dieses Kanals ausgefluchteten Schneidmessern (25), die zumindest zwischen den Wänden vorne und hinten des schachtelförmigen Gehäuses geführt werden und einer Bedientaste (28) zugeordnet sind, die in der Deckelwand dieses Gehäuses geführt wird, da diese Schneidmesser (25) durch die Bedienung der Taste von einer inaktiven zurückgefahrenen Position in eine aktive vorgeschobene Position bewegt werden, in der die Schneidmesser für einen Schneidvorgang durch die Schlitze (24) des Zerkleinerungskanals (19) geschoben werden.

2. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1, wobei der diese Schneidmesser an einem Stab (26) befestigt sind, der mit der Bedientaste verbunden ist, und die durch die in einem Querträger (29) herausgearbeiteten Führungschlitze hindurchgehen; der Querträger verläuft im Innern des schachtelförmigen Gehäuses parallel zum Zerkleinerungskanal, zwischen dem letzterem und der Bedientaste.

3. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 1 und 2, wobei der jedes Schneidmesser (25) eine schräge Schneidkante (25') hat, die auch dann im entsprechenden Schlitz (24) des Schneidkanals bleibt, wenn die Schneidmesser in die inaktive Position zurückgefahren sind.

4. Vorrichtung nach den vorangegangenen Ansprüchen, wobei die Bedientaste zwei Führungschaften (30) und einem Federpaar (31) zugeordnet ist, die normale Aufgabe des Federpaars besteht darin die Schneidmesser in der zurückgefahrenen inaktiven Position zu bewahren.

5. Vorrichtung nach den vorangegangenen Ansprüchen, wobei der sich dieser Zerkleinerungskanal (19) in einem Zwischenteil des schachtelförmigen Gehäuses (11) befindet, der Zugang dazu ist durch ein Loch (23) in einem Seitenteil dieses Gehäuses möglich und bildet mit der Bodenwand einen Sammelschacht (21) für die zerkleinerten Teile, zu dem man durch eine Klappe (22) Zugang bekommt.

6. Vorrichtung nach Anspruch 5, wobei der Stab (26) mit den Schneidmessern mit einem Schubelement (33) versehen ist, das mit einem im Zerkleinerungskanal vorgesehenen Querloch (34) ausgefluchtet ist, um die zerkleinerten Teile von diesem Kanal in den Sammelschacht zu leiten.

7. Vorrichtung nach den vorangegangenen Ansprüchen, wobei der das schachtelförmige Gehäuse aus zwei gekoppelten Hälften besteht und in der zumindest der Zerkleinerungskanal ein integrierender Bestandteil dieses Gehäuses ist, da dieser Zerkleinerungskanal zylinderförmig oder halbzylinderförmig ist.

8. Vorrichtung nach den vorangegangenen Ansprüchen, wobei der die Taste mit einer Aschenbechervertiefung mit einem Element zum Ausdrücken der Zigarettenstummel versehen ist.

9. Vorrichtung nach den vorangegangenen Ansprüchen, wobei einschließlich auch eines Stöckchens, das in den Zerkleinerungskanal geschoben werden kann, um die zerkleinerten Teile zum Sammelschacht zu schieben.

Revendications

1. Dispositif de déchiquetage de mégots de cigarettes à filtre pour faciliter le ramassage et le stockage, caractérisé par un corps en forme de boite (11) ayant deux parois, une devant et une derrière, deux parois latérales situées opposée, un fond et un faîte, un canal de déchiquetage (19) qui se déroule de manière transversale entre les parois latérales du corps, formant un réceptacle (20) pour recevoir un mégot à déchiqueter et ayant une pluralité de fentes transversales séparées (24) et parallèles, et une pluralité de lames de cisaille (25) en ligne avec les fentes (24) du canal, situées au moins entre les parois avant et arrière du corps en forme de boite et associées à un bouton de commande (28) situé dans le faîte du corps, les lames de cisaille (25) étant mises en marche par la commande du bouton, d'une position inactive en arrière à une position active en avant, par laquelle les lames de cisaille sont poussées dans les fentes (24) du canal de déchiquetage (19) pour une opération de cisaillement.

2. Dispositif selon la revendication 1, dans lequel les lames de cisaille sont fixées à une jauge (26) connectée au bouton de commande et passent à travers les fentes de guidage placées dans une entretoise (29) placée à l'intérieur du corps en forme de boite parallèlement au canal di déchiquetage, entre ce dernier et le bouton de commande.

3. Dispositif selon les revendications 1 et 2, dans lequel chaque lame de cisaille (25) a un fil coupant incliné (25') qui reste inséré dans la fente correspondante (24) du canal de cisaillement, également quand elles sont à l'arrêt dans la position inactive.

4. Dispositif selon les revendications précédentes, dans lequel le bouton de commande est associé à deux tiges de guidage (30) et à une paire de ressorts (31) dont le but normal est de maintenir les lames de cisaille dans la position inactive en arrière.

5. Dispositif selon les revendications précédentes, dans lequel le canal de déchiquetage (19) est dans une partie intermédiaire du corps en forme de boite (11), on peut y accéder par un trou (23) située sur une partie latérale du corps et forme, avec la paroi du fond un panier de ramassage (21) pour les parties déchiquetées et auquel on peut accéder à travers un panneau (22).

6. Dispositif selon la revendication 5, dans lequel la jauge (26) portant les lames de cisaille est équipée d'un élément de poussée (33) aligné à un trou transversal (34) prévu dans le canal de déchiquetage pour envoyer les morceaux déchiquetés du canal dans le panier de ramassage.

7. Dispositif selon n'importe lesquelles des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le corps en forme de boite est formé de deux moitiés accouplées, et dans lequel au moins le canal de déchiquetage est une partie intégrale du corps, le canal étant cylindrique ou semi-cylindrique.

8. Dispositif selon n'importe lesquelles des revendications précédentes, dans lequel le bouton est équipé d'un cendrier avec un élément pour éteindre les mégots.

9. Dispositif selon n'importe lesquelles des revendications précédentes, comprenant également un bâtonnet qui peut être inséré dans le canal de cisaillement pour pousser les morceaux déchiquetés vers le panier de ramassage.

Drawing