Ash box

Abstract

An ash box for safely collecting smoking ash having a top and bottom surface that are substantially parallel. The top surface of the ash box has an aperture which is covered by a grating to permit smoking waste to enter the ash box, but also preventing children and pets from accessing the smoking waste. The ash box has an openable drawer collects the smoking waste that enters via the aperture, and the collected smoking waste can be removed by opening the drawer.

What I claim is: 
     
         1 . A receptacle for a smoker's ashes comprising:
 a hollow prism having:
 a top surface joined to a first edge of a side wall, 
 a second edge of said side wall is joined to a bottom surface, 
 wherein said top and bottom surfaces are substantially parallel and the shortest distance separating a point on said top surface from a point on said bottom surfaces is less than the greatest distance separating a first point on said side wall from a second point on said side wall, 
   said top surface of said prism having an aperture connecting the exterior of said hollow prism to its interior, said aperture having an area of between about 0.5 square inches and about 16 square inches, and a grating joined to said top surface of said prism in a manner effective to limit access to the interior of said prism to objects having a cross-sectional area of less than about 0.15 square inches, and   said side wall includes a drawer slidingly coupled to the interior of said hollow prism, the drawer being configured to: (1) when closed, be positioned below said aperture in said top surface so as to collect anything that passes through said grating, and the exterior surface of said drawer is substantially flush with the exterior of said side wall, and (2) when extend to open in a direction away from said side wall.   
     
     
         2 . The receptacle of  claim 1  in which said prism has the shape of a member of the group consisting of a rectangular prism, a square prism, a circular prism, an elliptical prism, a pentagonal prism, a hexagonal prism, and an octagonal prism. 
     
     
         3 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising a lock that when engaged prevents the opening of said drawer. 
     
     
         4 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising a tray configured to fit in said drawer and to be removable. 
     
     
         5 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising an interior wall joined to the interior of said side wall near where said side wall is joined to said top surface, said interior wall being inclined in a manner to guide anything that passes through said grating to said drawer. 
     
     
         6 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising an exterior compartment suitable to contain at least one member of the group consisting of cigarettes, matches, a lighter, and a combination thereof. 
     
     
         7 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising a removable grating connection so that the grading can be manually changed. 
     
     
         8 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising a plurality of gratings that can be rotated into or out of position about said aperture. 
     
     
         9 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising a grating that can be rotated, and held, out of position. 
     
     
         10 . The receptacle of  claim 1  further comprising:
 a tilt sensor; and 
 a sealing flap. 
 
     
     
         11 . The receptacle of  claim 10  wherein said tilt sensor comprises an electronic tilt sensor. 
     
     
         12 . The receptacle of  claim 10  where in said tilt sensor is mechanical.