Business

Video: Playing with matches lands Calverton man an invention

BARBARAELLEN KOCH PHOTO | Inventor Willie Rangel demonstrates his cigar match, which lights when one end is tapped on a hard surface.

Sometimes the key to an invention is not necessarily creating something entirely new, but taking an existing product and making it better.

Willie Rangel of Calverton hoped to accomplish that with his cigar match — which ignites when one end is tapped on a hard surface, eliminating the need to continually strike the end against the box. Mr. Rangel has a patent pending for the product, which he hopes can be used by the U.S. military as a self-contained lighting device for explosives.

A former mortgage broker who now works part-time, Mr. Rangel has dabbled in inventing before.

To read more about Mr. Rangel and his cigar match, pick up a copy of this week’s Riverhead News-Review Thursday.

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