Cellphones Powering Cigarette Lighters

A rather odd patent has just been filed in South Korea, that enables a cellphone to be used as the power source for a cigarette lighter. The patent, reference WO2005043040 suggests connecting the phone to the lighter so that the phone can supply electrical power to the lighter.

According to the present invention, a lighter for use as an accessory for a mobile phone comprises: a housing in the form of a hollow case having a heat discharging hole on the front side; a printed circuit board contained in the housing and provided with parts for the lighter; a heat emitting means mounted on the printed circuit board to emit heat by the supply of voltage from a battery of the mobile phone; a protective cap provided above the heat emitting means to be fitted to the heat discharging hole of the housing in order to protect the heat emitting means and to prevent entrance of foreign materials into the housing; and a connector provided to be fixed at one side end of the printed circuit board to protrude outside of the housing and to be connected to a power supply connector of the mobile phone.

You can read the entire patent here - http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=WO2005043040&F=0"

Posted to the site on 31st May 2005