JP2003343832A - Igniter such as cigarette lighter with safety lock mechanism - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an ignition accident by a child by arranging locking means for blocking a depressing operation of a push button and disabling an igniting operation unless the lock is released. <P>SOLUTION: A sidewall of a casing annexed to a side of a device body opens as an unlocking operation window. The casing is fitted with an unlocking slide case vertically movable inside three sidewalls except one facing the device body. A high voltage electricity generator is inserted and fixed in the slide case. A lock member consisting of a long plate spring with an upper end reaching a lower edge of the push button capping a movable member of the high voltage electricity generator and loosely fitting in the casing is inserted and fixed in an operation space and placed in springy contact with the slide case. In the slide case, a lower projection brought in contact with an inclined portion of the lock member, and tongues for click stops engaged with recessed and projected portions on the device body side are projected respectively on a lower portion, and vertical edges on an open face facing the device body, to form a safety lock mechanism. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an ignition device equipped with a safety lock mechanism such as a smoking lighter and a desk burner which ignite and burn liquefied gas fuel by discharge sparks.

[0002]

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Using liquefied gas as fuel,
In smoking lighters and desktop burners that employ a high-voltage electricity generator that uses a piezoelectric element as the ignition source, the high-voltage electricity generated by the impact of the piezoelectric element is discharged between the electrodes near the nozzle, and the sparks generated there cause the nozzle to discharge. It has a structure in which liquefied gas ejected from is ignited and burned.

For the ignition operation, hold the lighter body which also serves as a fuel tank and place your thumb on the operation cap,
All you have to do is push your thumb and push the pusher as it is, so that the combustion valve is opened and the high-voltage electricity generator is activated at almost the same time. A flame is generated.

As described above, a smoking lighter or the like which can perform ignition and combustion only by depressing the pusher with finger pressure is good in that the purpose can be achieved by one action with one hand, but the pusher is good. Since pressing does not require such a strong finger pressure, there is a risk that the pusher will be pressed with some rhythm when carrying it and unexpected ignition combustion will occur. In addition, since strong gripping force and finger pressure are not required, it is often possible for even weak children to operate the ignition, and in households that normally use a smoking lighter,
Children with great curiosity often ignite a lighter that was left on a table, etc., in a place that adults can't see and ignite it by imitating the appearance, resulting in burns and sometimes a fire. It also has extremely dangerous issues.

In the United States, it is obligatory to add a safety mechanism such that a child cannot perform an ignition operation as a child resistance for a smoking lighter or the like. Tend to be adopted as a safety standard.

[0006] The normally considered safety mechanism is
It is to make the operation more complicated than before by making the ignition operation two-action or even three-action.
However, if the number of operation steps increases, ignition combustion becomes troublesome, and it becomes difficult to use for smoking especially in a structure using both hands. In addition, the observing power of children is sharp, and in the operation where the steps are clear from the eyes of the infant, when an adult casually uses it, he remembers it while gazing at the procedure, and the lighter is left, It can also be seen that it is operated by relying on memory to release the safety device and perform ignition combustion.

For this reason, even if the lock mechanism is released and the ignition operation is performed by two actions, the operation of the operation is performed by the button, and the release procedure of the lock mechanism for immobilizing the pusher cannot be seen from the outside. Also, the release can be performed by adopting elastic deformation of the pusher made of resin that is integrally engaged with the lock release member, so that it cannot be released by the finger pressure or the grip force of the child, and the safety is ensured. An ignition device having a safety lock mechanism for a new smoking lighter was invented earlier.

FIG. 8 and the following figures are referred to in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-099425.
2 shows a safety lock mechanism for a smoking lighter according to the previous invention disclosed in the publication (US 6,234,784). In this safety lock mechanism, a locking step 2a for locking is formed on the inner surface of the casing 2 of the lighter main body 1, and a fixing member 3a is vertically housed in the casing 2 to generate a high voltage electricity generated from the casing 2. At the top of the movable member 3b of the device 3,
A flat cross section in which the pusher 4 and the foot 5 for locking a leaf spring whose lower end is located on the locking step portion 2a are attached, and the upper portion 6a is fitted to the three side surfaces of the pusher 4 and the lower portion 6b is fitted to the inner surface of the casing. Is U
The lock release member 6 having the shape of the upper and lower portions as the support step 7 of the pusher 4 is pushed by the lower end of the lock step 2a to push the locking foot 5 into the gap 8 to unlock the movable member 4b. So that it can be moved vertically, the lock release member 6 and the pusher 4 are made of resin, and are engaged with and disengaged from the inner and outer surfaces of their side ends by elastic deformation of the pusher side. An engaging portion for restraint by the groove 9 and the locking projection 10 is provided, and both of them are restrained to each other.

In such a structure, the thumb is placed on the upper edge of the opening in the upper part of the lock releasing member 8, and the lock releasing member 8 is strongly pressed and pushed down by finger pressure as it is, and the lock releasing member of the pusher 4 shown in FIG. The engaging portion with 8 must be elastically displaced inward by the pressing force to release the engagement,
Further, the lock releasing member 8 released from the pusher 4 is pushed down by the thumb to push the lower end portion of the locking foot piece 9 into the gap 8 from the state shown in FIG. 9 (A) to the state shown in FIG. 9 (B).
Since the movable member 3b has to be in a free state with respect to the downward movement, a child with weak finger pressure has a difficulty in pushing it down, and it becomes extremely difficult to release the lock release member 8 from the constraint. However, even such a structure requiring a strong pressing force cannot be said to be perfect, and further safety is required.

The present invention has been newly conceived in view of such circumstances, and an object thereof is to release a lock member by operating a slide case in a casing even if a leaf spring is used for locking a pusher. In addition, it is extremely difficult for a child to release the safety lock by configuring it to require finger force, and it is possible to lock the slide case, requiring two operations to release the safety lock. Another object of the present invention is to provide an ignition device having a new safety lock mechanism that can also be used.

[0011]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention according to the above-mentioned object is provided in a side portion of an apparatus main body having a combustion section on a fuel tank.
A casing with an open top is installed side by side, and the fixing member of the high-voltage electricity generator is inserted and fixed in the casing, and a cap-shaped pusher is attached to the movable member protruding to the side of the combustion section. In an ignition device with a rim fitted in a casing, an unlocking operation window opened on the side wall of the casing and a sliding case for unlocking vertically fitted inside the three side walls of the casing excluding the device body side. And an operating space formed between the side wall on the window side of the slide case and the fixing member, the lower end is fixed to the high-voltage electricity generator side and elastically contacted with the slide case, and the upper end is the lower edge of the ignition pusher. , A lock member in the working space by a vertically long leaf spring, and a lower protrusion inside the slide case that abuts the inclined portion of the lock member,
A safety lock mechanism is configured by a click-stop projection piece that is elastically formed on the vertical edge of the open surface of the slide case facing the apparatus body, and an uneven portion on the side surface of the apparatus body that engages with the projection piece. , Is.

Further, according to the present invention, an inner block is laterally slidably fitted to a side surface of a window side slide case to which the lock member is elastically contacted, and a stopper plate fitted to the block is fitted to the side surface of the casing. Located in the space between the lock button in the installed operation window and the convex edge protruding on one side surface of the block and the inner surface of the casing,
From a spring member that constantly presses the lock button together with the block in one direction, and a recess that is provided on the side edge of the lock member adjacent to the inside of the convex edge and that engages with the convex edge by the elastic force of the spring member. It also has a lock mechanism for the slide case.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The illustrated ignition device according to the present invention is a smoking lighter, FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment, and FIGS. 4 to 7 show a second embodiment. .

In the figure, reference numeral 11 denotes a resin lighter main body which also serves as a fuel tank, and is provided with a combustion section 12 having a crater lid 12a on its upper part. Although the internal structure of the combustion unit 12 is omitted, as in the prior art shown in FIG. 8, the combustion unit 12 is provided with a combustion valve having nozzles on the fuel tank for liquefied gas, an electrode base, and an opening / closing member for the combustion valve.

Reference numeral 13 is a casing of a high-voltage electricity generator 16 which is integrally provided side by side with the lighter body 11. The upper portion of the casing 13 is open, and an operation window 14 for unlocking is opened on the side wall opposite to the lighter body 11.

Inside the casing 13, there is fitted a lock-releasing slide case 15 which moves up and down along the three side walls except the lighter body side, and the high-voltage electricity generator 16 and the lock case are locked in the slide case 15. The member 17 is inserted.

The slide case 15 has a stepped portion 15a for receiving the lower edge of the cap-shaped pusher 19 on the upper inner surface of the side wall on the window side, and the lock member 1 on the lower inner surface.
7 has a lower protrusion 15b which is in contact with a lower inclined portion of the member 7. Further, on the upper part of the vertical edge of the open surface facing the lighter main body 11, there is provided a click stop projection 15d having a semicircular tip which is elastically formed by the vertical slit 15c.

The high-voltage electricity generating device 16 has a normal structure, and although the internal structure is omitted in the drawing, the fixing member 1 is a rectangular parallelepiped in which a piezoelectric element and a hammer for impact thereabove are incorporated.
6a and a movable member 16b slidably fitted to the fixed member 16a with a hollow biasing coil spring interposed between the hammer and the top plate. Further, the fixing member 16
A lead wire 16c is led out to the side portion of a, and the fixing member 16a is inserted into the casing 13 with the lead wire 16c facing the lighter body side. By the insertion of the fixed member 16a, the movable member 16b projects from the opening of the casing 13 and is positioned on the side of the combustion section 12.

A required working space 18 is provided between the side wall of the slide case 15 on the window side and the fixing member 16a.
The lock member 17 is located in the working space 18 thereof. The lock member 17 has a length whose upper end is located above the stepped portion 15a, and is composed of a vertically long elastic plate body formed by bending an upper side of a horizontally bent lower end 17a to form an inclined surface. The lower end 17a is attached to the seat piece 16
It is sandwiched between the bottom surface of the case and the fixing member 16a together with d, and is elastically contacted with the slide case. Due to the elastic contact of the lock member 17, the slide case 15 is pressed against the case side wall around the operation window. Therefore, the lock member 1
In combination with the frictional resistance of the lower protrusion 15b that is in contact with the inclined portion of Fig. 7, the slide case 15 is in a state where it cannot easily slide upward with a weak finger pressure.

The resin-made pusher 19 is attached to the top of the movable member 16b, and the lower part of the pusher 19 is loosely fitted to the inner surfaces of the three side walls of the slide case 15.
9a. The skirt portion 19a is inserted into the casing up to a position where it comes into contact with the upper end of the lock member 17, and the upper end of the skirt portion interferes with pushing of the movable member 16b by the pusher 19 and locks the ignition operation.

On the side surface of the lighter body 11 where the click stop projection 15d of the slide case 15 is located, an uneven portion 21a that engages with and disengages the projection 15d of the turret member 20 installed in the combustion portion 12 is provided. It is formed and provided on the side surface of the column 21 extending to the lower side. As a result, the protrusion 15
The d is fitted in the recess on the upper side of the concave-convex portion 21a so that the upper slide of the slide case 15 requires an operating force.

In order to perform the ignition operation in the smoking lighter having the above structure, the skirt portion 19a of the pusher is received by the upper end of the lock member 17 and is locked so that it cannot be pushed. A thumb is applied to the slide case 15 from 14 and the slide case 15 is moved upward by a strong finger pressure. As a result, the lower protrusion 15b slides on the plate surface while pressing the lock member 17 inward.

As a result, as shown in FIG. 3A, the upper end of the lock member 17 is pushed inside the skirt portion 19a of the pusher 19 and is displaced from the lower edge. Also, the protrusion 15d
The engagement between the concave and convex portions 21a on the lighter body side is changed to the upper side, the slide case 15 is hooked to the upper position, and the downward obstacle of the pusher 19 due to the upper end of the lock member 17 is eliminated. Can be pushed down. Due to the pressing force, the movable member 16b compresses an internal hammer biasing spring member (not shown) to operate the piezoelectric generator 16, and at the same time, the pusher 19 opens the inner valve opening / closing lever 22 to move the valve from the valve. Ignition and combustion of the ejected gas.

In the process of pushing down, the pusher 19 is pressed by
As shown in (B), the lower edge of the skirt portion 19a contacts the receiving step portion 15a of the slide case 15, and is further pushed down together with the slide case 15. As a result, the slide case 15 is returned to the original position, and the slide case 15
The skirt portion 19a is interposed between the lock member 17 and
The projecting piece 15d is fitted in the recess on the lower side of the uneven portion 21a to fix the slide case 15 at the position before the operation. Therefore, the slide case 15 automatically returns to the state before the operation by the ignition operation.

When the pressing force on the pusher 19 is removed, the movable member 16b is pushed back by the compressed spring member inside,
As a result, the skirt portion 19aa is pushed back to the original position. At the same time, the lock member 17 also returns to the position where it comes into contact with the slide case 15 due to its own repulsive force, and the upper end thereof is again positioned below the lower edge of the skirt portion 19a to prevent the pusher 19 from being pushed.

In this way, the lock member 17 made of an elastic plate is used.
In the safety lock device that releases the slide case 15 by operating the slide case 15, the slide operation of the slide case 15 upwards is repelled by the lower protrusion 15b provided on the slide case 15 and the vertical edge of the open surface facing the lighter body. Formed protrusion 15
Since it can be configured such that a large finger pressure is required by means of d and d, the unlocking is extremely difficult with the finger pressure of a child, which is highly safe.

4 to 7 show that the slide case 1 is attached to the wall surface of the operation window 14 of the slide case 15.
5 shows an embodiment in which the lock mechanism of No. 5 is configured by the lock member 17 and the lateral slide lock button 23 attached to the slide case 15 to further enhance the function of the safety lock mechanism.

The lock button 23 has a quadrilateral block 23a on the back side of the face plate, as shown in FIG.
Is integrally formed, and one side surface of the block 23a has a convex edge 23
It is a quadrilateral having a dovetail groove 23c formed vertically in the plane. In this lock button 23, a block 23a is laterally slidably fitted in a slide hole 26 formed in a slide case 15 on the window side, and a stopper plate 25 is inserted into the dovetail groove 23c exposed on the inside to slide the lock case 23 in the slide case 15. It is installed in the operation window of.

In the space 27 between the convex edge 23b of the block 23a and the inner surface of the casing 13, the block 2
A plate-shaped spring member 24 that constantly presses the lock button 23 in one direction together with 3a is provided. Further, the lock member 1
7 is provided on the side edge adjacent to the inside of the convex edge 23b.
A recess 28 into which b is fitted by elastic pressure is recessed, and the movement of the slide case 15 is blocked by the lock member 17 due to the contact between the upper edge 28a of the recess 28 and the upper surface of the convex edge, and the slide case 15 It is designed so that 15 cannot be slid upward.

In the slide case 15 having such a lock mechanism, as shown in FIG.
Since the convex edge 23b is elastically pressed by the recess 28 and is engaged with the lock member 17, it cannot be slid to the upper side as it is. Therefore, unless this is released, the pusher 19 by the lock member 17 cannot be released. Can't be unlocked.

To unlock the slide case 15,
As shown in FIG. 7B, the lock button 23 is pressed in the spring direction by finger pressure to compress the spring member 24, and the convex edge 2
3b slips out of the recess 28 and slides laterally to the position where the movement clearance S is generated. As a result, the restraint of the slide case 15 by the lock member 17 is released, and the slide movement can be performed in the upward direction. Therefore, the slide case 15 can be pushed up as it is to unlock the pusher 19. Further, the upper edge of the stop plate 25 fulfills the same function as the receiving step portion 15a of the slide case 15 of the above embodiment.

When the pressing force is removed from the horizontally slid lock button 23, the compressed spring member 24 pushes the lock button 23 back, so that the lock button 23 is unlocked in the lateral and upward directions. Will be required. Therefore, the operation is more complicated than the unlocking by only operating the slide case 15, and the unlocking cannot be performed by a child, so that the safety is further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional front view of a main part of a smoking lighter having a safety lock mechanism according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the above.

FIG. 3 is a vertical cross-sectional side view of essential parts showing an unlocking operation (A) and an ignition operation (B).

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a smoking lighter having a safety lock mechanism according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a member that locks a slide case.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of a vertical side surface (A) and a flat cross section (B) of a slide case and a lock member.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram when the slide case is locked (A) and released (B).

FIG. 8 is a side view showing a longitudinal section of a smoking lighter having a conventional safety lock mechanism.

FIG. 9 is the same as the above when locked (A) and unlocked (B).
It is a vertical side view of the main part showing.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 Lighter body 12 High-voltage electricity generator 13 casing 14 Operation window 15 slide case 15a Receiving step 15b Lower protrusion 15c slit 15d Projection piece for click stop 16 Piezoelectric generator 16a fixing member 16b movable member 17 Lock member 18 working space 19 Cap-shaped pusher 19a Skirt part 21a Uneven part for click stop 23 Lock button 23a block 23b convex edge 24 Plate-shaped spring member 25 stop plate 26 Slide hole

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A casing having an open top is integrally provided side by side on a side portion of an apparatus main body having a combustion section on a fuel tank,
An ignition device such as a smoking lighter in which a fixed member of a high-voltage electricity generator is inserted and fixed in the casing, and a cap-shaped pusher is attached to a movable member projecting to the side of the combustion section and the lower edge is fitted in the casing. In the above, an unlocking operation window opened on the side wall of the casing, a lock releasing slide case fitted vertically inside the three side walls of the casing except the device main body side, and a window side of the slide case Working space formed between the side wall and the fixing member, and a working space by a vertically long leaf spring that is elastically contacted to the slide case with the lower end fixed to the high-voltage electricity generator side and the upper end reaches the lower edge of the pusher. Lock member inside, the lower protrusion inside the slide case that abuts the inclined part of the lock member, and the vertical edge of the open surface of the slide case that faces the device body. A smoking lighter provided with a safety lock mechanism, characterized in that a safety lock mechanism is configured by a click stop protrusion that is elastically formed and an uneven portion on the side surface of the device body that engages with the protrusion. Ignition device such as. 2. An operation in which an inner block is laterally slidably fitted to a side surface of a wind-side slide case to which the lock member is elastically contacted, and a stop plate fitted to the block is attached to the side surface of the casing. A lock release button in the window, a spring member located in the space between the convex edge projecting on one side surface of the block and the inner surface of the casing, and constantly elastically pressing the lock button in one direction together with the block; 2. A lock mechanism for a slide case, comprising: a recess formed on a side edge of the lock member adjacent to the inside of the lock member, the lock mechanism including a recess that engages with the convex edge by elastic force of the spring member. Ignition device with safety lock mechanism.