GB1102338A - Automatic gas lighters - Google Patents

Abstract

1,102,338. Cigarette lighters. S. KOBAYASHI. 14 Sept., 1965 [15 Sept., 1964], No. 39163/65. Heading F4F. In a gas lighter a gas valve 101 controlling the flow of gas to the burner nozzle 30 is opened and an electrical filament igniter 26 or a spark electrode igniter is energized by a device which detects the presence of a cigarette. The detector may comprise a CdS element, a solar cell, a photoelectric cell, a photo-transistor or as shown in Fig. 1, an iron or copper member 11 having an electrical capacity which is altered by the presence of a cigarette. The detector 11 is connected to an oscillatory circuit comprising a coil 12 and a condenser 13. The proximity of a cigarette to the detector alters the frequency of the oscillatory circuit and consequently a biasing voltage is developed across a resistor 19 connected between base and emitter of a power transistor 21. A relay 22 in the collector circuit is therefore energized and connects a battery 25 to a disc-shaped electromagnet 23 and to the igniter 26. The burner nozzle 30 is slidably mounted and is urged downwardly to close the gas valve 101 by a spring (not shown). A disc 33 is secured to the nozzle 30 and is raised to open the gas valve by the electromagnet 23. A safety gravity switch 24 comprising a movable contact m and a fixed contact n is adapted to break the circuit to the electromagnet 23 and the igniter 26 when the lighter is in an inclined position. The detector 11 is in the form of a cowling and is mounted in an insulator 31 in the upper wall of the lighter. In a modification, Figs. 3, 4 (not shown), the detector is a phototransistor (11a) illuminated by a beam from a lamp (55) and two condensing lenses (61, 62). The photo-transistor (11a) is followed by a transistor (36) connected to a resistance (35) of positive resistance temperature coefficient so that change in ambient temperature does not influence the operation of the three transistors (37, 41, 44) which follow. The last transistor (44) energizes a relay (22a) adapted to energize an igniter (26) and an electromagnet (23a) actuating a lever (64) for opening a gas valve (101a). When the beam of light is interrupted by a cigarette, the relay is de-energized and its contact closes. The transistors are supplied from a full wave rectifier supplied from a transformer (49) connected to a commercial A.C. supply. The igniter element (26) is energized at the same time as, or with a short time lag or lead after or before, the gas valve is opened. (Fig. 5b) shows a circuit for energizing a pair of discharge electrodes (26a) instead of a heating element (26). A condenser (65) is charged through a two-way switch (67) actuated in the same way as the relay (22) and when the switch is changed over, the condenser discharges through a transformer (68, 69) and causes sparking at the electrodes (26a) connected to the secondary winding (69). The lighter may also be provided with a musical box (72) (Figs. 6, 7) or a magnetic tape recording and playback machine driven by an electric motor (71) and a plurality of coloured lamps (79). The musical box and the lamps are controlled by the circuitry to be energized when the lighter gas valve is open.