US 8,459,270 B2Granted

Method and apparatus for processing cigarette butts

OwnerMalcolm Coven, Gregory Matthew Crossley +1inventors

InventorsMalcolm Coven, Gregory Matthew Crossley, Kevin Mako

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Abstract

A device to process cigarette butts has top and bottoms sections, one pivotably mounted on the other for rocking movement between open and closed positions. The bottom section has two access holes which are opened and closed by the rocking movement. When the holes are open, a user can insert a butt into one access hole and then can rock the top section, thus cutting the butt into a filter tip, and tobacco and paper materials. The tobacco and paper materials fall through a passage from the one access hole to the ground but do not cause a litter problem since they quickly biodegrade. The filter tips can be inserted into the second access hole into a storage space for later treatment and disposal. The bottom section has a thinned rear portion which allows increased rocking amplitude while minimizing the device thickness.

Claims9

Dependent claims

A device for processing cigarette butts, said butts being of the kind having a filter tip and having a tobacco and paper portion extending from the filter tip, said device comprising

(a) A container having top and bottom sections, said top and bottom sections each having a sidewall, said sidewalls extending toward each other, the sidewall of one of said sections being larger in perimeter than the sidewall of the other section and said sidewalls being of shape such that one of said sections is nested within the other,
(b) said top and bottom sections being held together in said nested position by a set of hinges, said hinges being arranged to allow at least one of said top and bottom sections to pivot back and forth on the other,
(c) the sidewall of one of said top and bottom sections having a pair of openings therein, one of said openings being to accept said tobacco and paper portion, the other being to accept said filter tip,
(d) the sidewall of the other of said top and bottom sections having a sharpened edge adjacent said openings, so that when one section is pivoted relative to the other section, said sharpened edge will move past said opening to cut off said filter tip from said tobacco and paper portion,
(e) so that the user may then insert the cut-off filter tip through another of said openings to store such cut-off filter tip in said container until the user is ready to discard it.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.