US1787775A - Safety cock for gas burners - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 6, 1931. s. e. CAMFBELJ.

SAFETY cocx FOR GAS aunusas Filed June 6, 1928 n. m. ,6. M M 7 e I t I inventor Samuel 61' @Zzm sition.

Patented Jan. 6, 1931 STAT YES FATE oFFicE I sAMuEL G. CAMPBELL, or NEWTON, iIOWA SAFETY COCK FOR GAS BURNERS:

Application fi1ed June 6,192B. Serial No. 283,174.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide an improved safety lock for the valve I of a gas'burner which operates not only to prevent movement of the valve f'roin comn1 .pletely closed .to open positio'mbut also to prevent movement from certain intermediate points to further opened pos1tion, unt1l after the ur os'eful'a li'cation of force to P i p release the locking means. w

Still another object of the invention isf to provide a device of the character/set forth which is simple and economical of construction and capable of being attached to a burner valve without a great expense.

With these and other objects in view my invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of my device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich; M

Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section showing a burner having a valve or cock equipped with one form of my improved latching means. I m

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevationon anen- I larged scaleon the line 2'2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section through the valve on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. l is a bottom plan view partly in section onthe line4l l of Fi 2 and illustrating two diiferent positions of the meclmmsm.

Fig. 5 is a detail horizontal section on the line 5 5 of Fig. 1. V 1

Fi 6 is a verticalsection through a burner valve actuating mechanism and illustrating the applicationjof' adift'erent form of my improved safety locking means.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view showing the detached spring latching means employed in the form shown in Fig. 6.

,It is a well known fact that in the use of deal of trouble or.

gas burners such as are commonly employed 111' heating and cooking stoves and the like, particularly where the burner is equipped with" a valve having a lever operating means, as dis anguished from a screw threaded operating means. there is considerable danger that the valve will at times be moved to open position inadvertently through "contact with clothil' fof, persons moving about the room or by children in their play or acting under the pron'iptingsof curiosity. Such acts may at times result fatally tooccupants of a roomor buildin or may resultin considerable damage to life and'property through .an explosion which may occur later in the presence of an open flame It is to prevent such occurrences that I have providedthe improved latching means or safety lock which forms the subject matter of this application.

In the accompanying drawings, the numeral 10 is employed to designate a gasburn'er adapted tobe supplied w'ithgas from a feed pipe 12 througha manually operatedcock or valve. v

The valve here shown includes a valve body 14. havingan inlet nipple 18 communicating with the feed pipe 12 and an outlet nipple 18 communicating with the burner 10. The valve alsoin'cludes a, tapered valve plug 20 mounted vertically through the body 14. and having a port 22 extending transversely therethro'ugh and adapted at times to register with he opening through the nipples 16 and 18.

This type of valve alsoemploys an expansive coil spring245'mounted on the projecting lower end of the valve plug QObetween washers26, the lowermost said washers being held in place by a screw 28 threaded in the lower end of the plug 20. It is the function of the spring 2% to. apply a yielding pressure on the valve plug 20 to draw it firmly into the tapered bore of the valve body 14.

In this type of valve the valve plug pro gects upwardly a considerable distance above the body 14 and isprovided at its upper end.

with a laterally extending lever or handle 30 adapted formanual actuation to operate the valve. The valve plug is normally movable through an arc of about 90 degrees and the limits of such movement are defined by a stop pin 32 projecting laterally from the valve alui and restricted as to movement in either direction by shoulders 34 and 36 formed at'thc u per end of the valve body l4.

'i ho pans lu/reinheiore described are con1 niou andwell known and constitute a valve mocha: sni'which in common use... lhey are here shown and describediir detail to form a basis for the disclosure of my improved safety latching means.

In both forms o my inven ion shown by.

the accompanying drawing, I employ a yield- 111g latching means adapted for engagement with a ratcheted stop surface'on the valve bony 14 so that the valvemay be locked or tending throughout that portion of the plug .which is inclosed within the valve body 14 and in this groove a latching member is I slidablv mounted.

r The latching member 40 projects below the valve body 14 and is formed at its'l'ower end with a laterallyprojecting latching lap; 42. which adapted to coact with the ratcheted stop 38 by engaging the shoulders thereof.

The latching lug 42 is engaged by the no permost washer 26 and is pressed upwardly into engagement with the ratchet 38 by. the action of the coil spring 24. I

The latching member 40 also projects above the valve body 14 and extends upwardly and terminates in a hood 44 or similar member overly ng the upper end of said plug adjacent'the valve handle or leverBO.

As shown in 3, the slidable latching member 40'is formed in two parts which meet v at a point intermediate of the tapered valve plug 20. This arrangement is merely for convenience of assembly of the parts and to permit insertion of the upper end portion of the latching member fron'i above and the lower end portion from. below since there are projecting parts at the extreme ends of. both of said members.

In this form of the invention the latching lug 42 is released by thumb pressure on the hood 44 coincident with or just prior-to the act of moving the valve or handle 30 'toward open position. The pressure moves the slidable latching member 40 with its latching lug 42 downwardly so that said lug clears the teeth of the ratchet stop 38 and permits free movement of the valve members.

"Vhen pressure on the hood 44 1s released,

the spring 24 acts to return the latching' lug 4 to engagement with one or the other 01 the teeth. of the ratchet 38, thus effectively )I(. venting movement of the valve members to furtheropened position until such time as the latching means is released by purposeful pressure. on the member 44.

In the form shown in Figs. (land 7, an arcuate ratchete-d stop 46 is formed on the upper end of the valve body 14.

In this form, the latching member itself has the characteristics of a spring. This latching member has its central portion bent to substantially V form as at 48 and this portion underlies and'is in close contact with the taperedhandle or-lever 30, asclearly shown in Fig. 6.,

At one end, the V-shaped latching member 48 is formed with an upturned anchoring lug or car 50. r

In assembling or attaching the latchiu member to the valve thelever 3.0 is removed by taking out thescrew 52, which is employed for attaching it to the upper end of the valve plugQO. Then, the latching member is placed in position against the valve plug and the lever: and screw are replaced, the screw passing through an aperture 51 in the attaching'ear 50.

'At its opposite end the latching member 43 is formedwith a downwardly extending pertion 54. which isslidably arranged 111 a groove 56 formed longitudinally 1n the upper portion otthe valve plug '20.

At its lower end, the straight portion ol? the latching member is formed with a laterally projecting ear 58 adapted to cooperate with the ratcheted stop 46 by engagement with one or another of the teeth or shoulders thereof. :7 f r To release this form of latching means, upward pressure is applied to the lower member of the V-shaped spring portion 40 at the same time that lateral pressure is applied to move the lever orhandle 30 toward open position. r

It will be noted that in both forms of the mechanism very little extra effort is required to release the latching means and that such effort as is required may be easily and rearh ily applied coincident with the normal act of moving the valve lever.

With respect to the first described i'm'iu. it will be noted that in the natural position of the hand for operating the valve lever. the thumb will overlie the upper end of the valve plug and the only effort required to release the latch is a slight pressure with the thumb downwardly on the hood 44.

With respect tothesecond described form ofthe invention, it will be noted that the natural position of the hand for moving the valve lever involves a placing of one or more of the fingers beneath the valve lever and in such position that such finger or fingers will naturally come into contact with the spring portion 48 when it is mounted below said lever. The onlyextra efiort required to release the locking means is an upward pressure against the spring portion 48 with one or more of the fingers, thus causing the straight portion 54- to slide upwardly in the groove 5b and cause the latching lug 58 to clear the ratchet 48.

The particular reason for having several 7 stops for engagement by the latching lug 42 or 58 is to prevent danger which might occur through a closing of the valve followed. by an opening movement without relighting the burner. For instance, when children are playing about a rooni containing a lighted gas burner, they .niaylhrmigh curiosity or otherwise, turn the va e to closed or nearly closed position so the flame will be extinguished and then may thereafter open the valve or attempt to place it in the same condition in which it was originally.

If the burner is not relighted or is not provided Withmeans for automatically relighting it when opened, such an act will'of course result in the escape of gas.

When a burner is equipped with my improved latching means for the valve, the valvewill be automatically locked in closed or partly closed position, thus preventing member and arranged to coact with said stop,

said" latch having a part extending over the end of the valve plug acent the lever and adapted to receivethumb. pressurefor releasing the lug from said stop simultaneously with aturning force applied to said lever for rotating the valve plug.

2. A safety cock comprising a valve body, a tapered plug extending through and projecting at both ends from said body, a handle on one end of said plug, a spring at the opposite end for causing said plug to be firmly seated in the body, and a latch member ere tending through said body and having one end located adjacent said handle, the other end of said latch member being formed with a laterallydirected lug, said body being formed with a ratchetedstop adjacent said spring, said lug being urged by said spring into engagement with said stop.

SAMUEL G. CAMPBELL.

the further opening of the valve without a release of the latching means.

By making the stop of ratchet form, there is no interferencewith closing movement of the valve lever and the latching lug need not be released to permit closing movement.

Although I have shown and described my improved latching means as applied to a valve for gas burners, yet it is obvious that- 'it may also be used for other purposes and particularly for other types and kinds of valves; Hence, I do not desire to be understood as limiting mysell to the application of this improvement to valves for gas burners.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement ofthe parts of my device without departing from the real spirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my in tention to cover by my claims, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents, which may be reasonably inchided within their scope.

1 claim as my invention:

1.. A safety latch for a gas burner valve, said valve including a valve body, a valve plug rotatably mounted therein, and a lever ilXBd to and projecting laterally from one end o'l said plug, said safety latch comprisin. a spring actuated latching member, said valve plug being formed with a longitudinal groove extending to its other end to receive said latching member for sliding movement through the valve body, a stop on said valve body at the end opposite to said lever, and a latching lug carried by the spring actuated

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