Battery powered portable cigarette lighter having a press-fitted ceramic heat concentrating and protective resistance heating filament support

A battery-operated cigarette lighter, comprising:

• a hollow housing;
• said hollow housing formed by a pair of mating casing halves;
• said hollow housing having a top wall, a bottom wall, a front wall, a rear wall, and a pair of side walls;
• a battery means disposed within said hollow housing;
• a filament disposed within said hollow housing;
• a filament-supporting member disposed within said hollow housing;
• an opening formed in said hollow housing for receiving a cigarette thereinto so that a cigarette may abut said filament;
• said filament-supporting member having a generally cylindrical configuration and having an annular raised rib formed therein about mid-length thereof;
• said filament-supporting member having a leading end and a trailing end;
• a generally circular recess formed in said leading end;
• said generally circular recess having a bottom wall;
• said filament being disposed in said recess in closely spaced relation to said bottom wall;
• a rib-engaging mounting surface formed in an interior surface of said top wall of said hollow housing;
• a rib-engaging mounting wall, spaced apart from said rib-engaging mounting surface, positioned within said hollow housing;
• said filament-supporting member being press fit into an operative position between said rib-engaging mounting surface and said rib-engaging mounting wall to facilitate assembly of the lighter;
• a pair of bores formed in said filament-supporting member;
• a pair of conductors, each of which is disposed in electrically communicating relation between said battery means and said filament;
• each conductor of said pair of conductors being disposed in an associated bore of said pair of bores;
• said filament-supporting member being made of a heat-radiating material so that heat generated by said filament heats said filament-supporting member and so that said generally circular recess concentrates heat within said recess so that a cigarette disposed within or near said recess is ignited easily;
• and
• a switch means for selectively activating said filament.