When inverted the movable contact means (24) will vertically slide down as guided by the pin (25) within the guiding slot (23) of the guide plate (22) and will come into contact with the metal plate (17). Upon such contact, the movable contact means (24) operate to connect the plate (17) and high voltage electrode nozzle (15) to the low voltage side of the high voltage generating device (3) thus effectively paralleling and shorting out the spark gap. Therefore, even if the thumb piece (11) is inadvertently pushed by the user, for example, during the course of fuel refilling actuation and while the lighter is inverted, spark discharge in the vicinity of the gas delivery nozzle (15) is precluded because of the short circuit.
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