Zippo
A Zippo is a gasoline-powered storm lighter that has been manufactured in an almost unchanged design since 1933 by the Zippo Manufacturing Co., founded in Bradford , Pennsylvania ( USA ) in 1932 . The Zippo has been sold over 550 million times, making it the best-selling petrol lighter in the world.
history
The inventor of the Zippo is George Grant Blaisdell (1895–1978). Blaisdell took the Austrian Hurricane lighter that he had seen at a friend's place as a model, bought the rights and developed the Zippo. It should have the same function, but be operated with one hand. The name "Zippo" was chosen by Blaisdell because he liked the sound of the English word zipper . The first Zippos were sold at $ 1.95 each in 1933 .
Blaisdell was so confident of its reliability that he gave customers a lifetime guarantee on its product. The advertising slogan “It works or we fix it for free” has become synonymous with the reliability of the product. Necessary repairs are still carried out free of charge in Zippo's own workshop. For legal reasons, the guarantee in Germany is "only" 30 years.
The shape of the Zippo has changed only minimally since the first models were introduced. Today up to 70,000 Zippos are manufactured in Bradford every day, which corresponds to an annual production of around 15 million pieces. While the production of the 400 millionth Zippo was announced in September 2003, the 500 millionth Zippo was manufactured on February 5, 2012, the year in which the Zippo company celebrated its 80th anniversary. A limited Zippo with a special headstamp was released for this occasion.
construction
Each Zippo consists of a cover and an inlay. The covers are available in hundreds of variants, whereas the inlays are always the same. They consist of a tank filled with cotton wool , which holds and stores the gasoline through capillary force . The wick runs through the wadding to the chimney. The burning end of the wick, which protrudes from the tank through a hole next to the friction wheel, is located in the so-called "chimney". This is open at the top, the sides are made of metal, which is provided with holes. The "chimney" thus fulfills two tasks:
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Protection of the flame
Protection of the flame is achieved through the shield on the side. Winds are swirled and slowed down through the punched holes in the fireplace so that the lighter works even in a storm. At the same time, the punched holes let air into the flame even when there is no wind. -
Holding the friction wheel In
addition, the friction wheel is attached to the “chimney”, which, together with the piece of Cereisen, generates the spark that is necessary to ignite the flame.
The cerium iron is stored in a thin tube below the friction wheel. At the lower end of the lighter there is an insert for Cereisen, pressure spring and fixing screw. The spring, which is screwed in under the Cereisen, pushes the Cereisen upwards, where it is pressed against the friction wheel through the tube that is open at the top. If you now turn the friction wheel, a spark is generated with the help of the cerium iron, which ignites the gasoline vapors that have formed around the wick.
Zippos are so-called "not self-extinguishing lighters" or colloquial "storm lighters". Compared to gas lighters, it takes a strong wind or blow to extinguish the flame. To extinguish the flame “normally”, the flap of the lighter is closed, which deprives the flame of oxygen and suffocates it. The noise when opening it quickly is typical of Zippos: the spring lever, which primarily keeps the protective cap of the lighter closed, hits the sheet metal of the protective cap and creates the characteristic sound.
Dating
Every Zippo manufactured since 1955 can be assigned to a year of production, since July 1986 the month has also been recognizable. The determination takes place via a code stamped into the bottom on the outside of the cover. This changed several times in the past. Blaisdell wanted to find out when a new change was coming in for repair. So it was just a guide for him and not a dating aid.
Year-month code
A "year-month code" can be found on the bottom of the lighter and read from left to right. The year-month code, which has been used since July 1986, is:
- a letter (A – L), where A means January and L means December
- the Zippo lettering (Slim Model: ® below; Regular Model: ® below, from 2006 the ® is above)
- Roman numerals from II to XVI, where the II means the year 1986 and XVI the year 2000. Since 2001, a two-digit number has been used instead of the Roman numerals, where 01 denotes the year 2001, further years accordingly (02 = 2002 etc.).
Thus you can z. B. notice that the code "C VIII" indicates the production date "March 1992". Underneath there is the writing: “BRADFORD.PA. MADE IN USA "
Other models
Pipe lighter
The pipe lighters, which are otherwise identical to the normal storm lighter, are equipped with a special chimney that is particularly suitable for lighting tobacco pipes. Instead of the usual punched holes, this has only one larger hole on the sides, which allows the flame to be sucked into the tobacco chamber without damaging the bowl when the lighter is held horizontally.
Zippo Slim
The Zippo Slim is also offered with the same technical structure as the classic Zippo, but with smaller overall dimensions. Like the classic Zippo, it is available in numerous colors. For both the classic Zippo and the Zippo Slim, gas inserts are now being offered by third-party suppliers that can be inserted into the housing instead of the petrol insert and through which the lighter, which is actually designed as a petrol lighter, can be converted into a gas lighter without it being externally is recognizable. These inserts are available both with classic friction wheel ignition and with piezo ignition as a "normal flame" or as a "jet flame".
Zippo BLU
With the Zippo 2007 collection, a gas-powered lighter from the Zippo brand was presented for the second time since 1985. Outwardly, it is slightly different from the original Zippo lighter. It has a more curved shape than its gasoline-powered brother. In addition, it has a viewing window that allows you to see the fill level. Otherwise you will find the usual Zippo features such as the famous "click" and the friction wheel with the flint. What is new, however, is that there is a button for the gas valve next to the friction wheel. This means that the lid is just a protective cover, as the flame goes out as soon as you let go of the valve button. In addition, the flame on the BLU cannot be adjusted. The name BLU is derived from the blue storm flame of the lighter.
Zippo MPL
In addition, the “MPL”, the “Multi Purpose Lighter”, is manufactured at Zippo. This is also a gas lighter, but not a lighter in the conventional sense. In the form of a stick lighter, the MPL is more suitable as a lighter if the user wants to keep a little distance from the object to be lit. Zippo only gives a five-year guarantee for the MPL.
Contempo
Already from 1985 to 1989 a gas lighter called "Contempo" was manufactured under license from Zippo in Japan, but it differed significantly from the original Zippo in terms of its construction and had nothing in common with it except the "bottom embossing".
Hand warmers
A gasoline-powered hand warmer has been on the market since 2007. It is powered by a burner and has some similarities with the gasoline lighter.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Repair guarantee from Zippo.de, accessed on August 17, 2015
- ^ History of Zippo