The Classic Bic Lighter 

Franco Buestan 

Department of English, The City College of  New York 

English 21007: Writing for Engineering 

Professor Crystal Rodwell

April 7th, 2022

Table of Contents 

Introduction ………………………….. 3

Top Parts……………………………… 3 – 4

Middle Parts …………………………. 5 

Bottom Parts ………………………… 6

Function ……………………………… 7

Conclusion ……………………………. 7

References ……………………………… 9

The classic Bic lighter is an innovative portable flame starter. Before the lighter was invented approximately 30,000 to 40,000 years ago homosapiens started fires by rubbing two pieces of flint stone in order to create a spark. During the renaissance era (13th century to the 17th century), people used to carry around stone, flint, and a tinder fuse. Rubbing the flint and stone created a spark to ignite the tinder fuse. The first automatic lighter was invented by German chemist Johan Dobereiner in 1823. It managed to create a steady flame through the reaction of zinc with sulfuric acid in order to produce hydrogen. After, in 1903 Austrian chemists introduced ferrocerium which was a synthetic alloy that enabled the spark to be created in a more efficient manner. Then, in 1935, Frenchman Henri Pigeot obtained the patent for the first butane gas lighter. In 1939 Marcel Quercia bought the patent for the first butane gas lighter. Who then started selling under the brand name Flaminaire in 1947. After 24 years, Marcel Bich, a ballpoint pen manufacturer wanted to get in the lighter market so his BIC company bought Flaminaire in order to create the most efficient and durable lighter. As a result, in 1973, the classic Bic lighter was launched.

The bic lighter since then has been a technical innovation that has been around for 40 years. It has allowed the ability to create fire with ease. The classic Bic lighter is composed of  three main parts and ten subparts as is shown in figure 5. The main parts include the hood, body, and base. The subparts of the hood include the sparkwheel, guard, and fork. Subparts of the body are the flint, jet, butane gas, valve, fork spring, flint spring, and flint. The subpart of the base is the ball. These parts work together to efficiently create a flame. 

The top parts of the bic lighter include the hood, sparkwheel, guard, and fork. The hood is silver and made of nickel plated hardened steel with the bic logo scribed into it. It also has a molded cut which gives it its curved shape. Its dimensions are 3/8” in height, 1/2” in length, and 5/8” in width. The sparkwheel measures 5/16” in height by 1/4” in width and is made of die cast zinc zamak alloy. It is gray and has a cylindrical shape which offers rotation. The guard is a safety device that is put on all bic lighters and is made of nickel plated hardened steel, with a string shape. It has a silver color with a length of 1”. The fork is made of polyacetal plastic that is injection molded. Figure 1 shows the shape as an elongated oval with two oval shaped holes and a red/silver color. It measures 7/8” in length by 3/8” in width.. 

Figure 2 illustrates the parts in the middle of the lighter which are made up of the jet, valve, butane gas, flint, and fork spring. The jet is made of brass with a synthetic rubber stopper. It has the color of rust and is shaped as a small cylinder with a length of ½” and a diameter of 1/32”. The valve is also ½” in length but has a diameter of 1/64”. It  is made from electrolytically processed aluminum with a micro porous membrane. As can be seen in figure 2, it resembles the shape of a cylinder and is the color gray. Inside the body is butane gas. It is colorless, flammable, and has a slight petroleum odor. The flint is a cylindrical shaped ferr black rod which is made out of six aluminum alloys. It measures 7/16” in length and 1/16” in diameter. Connected  to the fork is the fork spring. The spring is dark gray and has a length of  ⅞”.  Made out of low alloy spring steel, the fork spring spring curves around itself similar to a mattress coil.

The bottom parts of the lighter consist of the flint spring, body,  base, and ball. The flint spring is attached to the flint. It is ⅝” in length with a diameter of ⅝”. The flint spring is dark gray and is made from low alloy steel. Shaped like a coil with smooth curves all the way through. With reference to figure 3, the body of the lighter can come in many different colors but this one is aqua blue. It is shaped as a 3 dimensional oval and is constructed of delrin, a high tech crystalline resin. The body has a length of 3 and ⅝” with a circumference of 2 ⅖”. The base is made from plastic, shaped as an oval which is impregnated into the body. Its dimensions are 31/32” length by ½” width.  The ball is a mini sphere at the bottom of the base that is made from carbide steel. It is the color silver with a circumference of 2/64”. 

 When all these parts come all together the lighter creates a flame which enables the user to create a fire. The sparkwheel first is turned by the user pressing down on the fork as demonstrated in figure 4. It then creates friction with the flint initiating a spark. At the same time this is occurring the jet and valve open from where the iso butane is released. Then the gas is ignited in combination with the spark creating a steady flame. This process is an innovation since the body of the bic classic lighter allows there to be no explosions and fire is created from just one stroke. The lighter has many uses. It can help you start a fire. It can provide some form of light. It can warm you up. In addition, it can light a cigarette. 

To conclude the bic classic lighter has been quite the innovation. Making fire evolved from having to make one from ordinary hand tools to having a portable flame starting device. Apart from its safety and design the bic classic lighter offers durability. From the moment it was first manufactured in 1973 it has not stopped selling. As a result the classic Bic lighter is and will most likely continue to be relied on by the public.

References 

Bic, Company. (2000, February 9). [Picture of the Parts of a Classic Bic Lighter]. media-cdn.bic. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://media-cdn.bic.com/media/Lighters-cms/lighter-parts-t_1.png 

C., B. (2013, August 24). 40th Bic Lighter . bicworld.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.bicworld.com/sites/default/files/2017-02/bic_lighter_40years_1.pdf 

Peshin , A. (2022, January 22). How do lighters work? Science ABC. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.scienceabc.com/innovation/how-doe-lighters-work.html 

Smith, C. (2013, October 13). Materials Bic lighter. prezi.com. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://prezi.com/tr3empvqi4ex/materials-bic-lighter/ 

Willis, Co. (2010, October 28). A BRIEF HISTORY OF FLAME: THE STORY OF THE EVERYDAY LIGHTER. A brief history of flame: The story of the everyday lighter. Retrieved April 7, 2022, from https://sharrowmills.com/pages/the-story-of-the-everyday-lighter