US3140593A

US3140593A - Gas fueled lighter

Info

Publication number: US3140593A
Application number: US225273A
Authority: US
Inventors: Baumann Kurt; Buss Klaus
Original assignee: Wieden & Co Fa GmbH
Current assignee: Wieden & Co Fa GmbH; Wieden & Co G M B H Firma
Priority date: 1961-10-11
Filing date: 1962-09-21
Publication date: 1964-07-14
Anticipated expiration: 1981-07-14
Also published as: NL283274A; CH398154A; DE1156590B; GB985228A; DE1156591B

Description

K. BAUMANN E-rAL July 14, 1964 GAS FUELED LIGHTER Fig. l

1 u e e h W t e e h S 2 2 6 9 l ll 2 t. p e s d e l .1 F

i A /U Fig.4

INVENTQXRs KEMA wm uf @mw July 14, 1954 K. BAUMANN ETAL 3,140,593

GAS FUELED LIGHTER Filed Sept. 21A, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 7l 2 n' Flg2 t i l0l 26- kiff," 3o- 25- V Eg? 24 Q 25'- w29 2a- 21' 23! 8'- l n l 22 1.9' /Tr INV EN TORS @mn/MJ United States Patent C) 3,140,593 `GAS FUELED LIGHTER Kurt Baumann, Solingen-Merscheid, and Klaus Buss, Solingen, Germany, assgnors to Firma Wieden & Co. G.m.b.H., Solingen-Obligs, Germany, a corporation of Germany Filed Sept. 21, 1962, Ser. No. 225,273 Claims priority, application Germany Oct. 11, 1961 Claims. (Cl. 67--7.1)

The present invention relates to a gas fueled lighter with a burner, wherein the gas feeding is controlled by squeezing of a wick, in such manner, that a valve cone, equipped with a discharge channel, sits around the discharge channel on a wick wound about a core member.

In these known lighters operated with a liquefied, gaseous fuel, as butane or the like, the liquid fuel is fed by means of a wick to a fuel discharge channel closeable by a valve, in order to provide a volume control of the combustion of the fuel. The valve cone, having the discharge channel, is adjustable in axial direction by means of a thread connection and sits on the wick by forming a throttle zone. The fuel discharge channel forms, thereby, a hollow chamber disposed downstream of the throttle zone, which chamber is closed up towards the outside by a valve plate. By increasing or decreasing the clamping pressure, the wick is more or less strongly squeezed, so that the gas feed can be adjusted at will. These lighters have particularly the drawback, that during the first ignition moment the llame appears with an appreciable overlength and becomes then smaller. The flame rushes upwardly during the ignition moment; an appreciable surplus quantity of fuel is consumed thereby. It has been found that this is caused substantially by the fact that a quantity of fuel accumulates in the fuel discharge channel downstream of the squeezing zone of the wick, which fuel quantity is suddenly freed upon opening of the valve. This operation is of a disadvantage for many reasons in its technical use. Also, the ignition safety deteriorates in such lighters, if the lighter is used several times within short time periods and if the flame has burned for a longer period of time, respectively.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter with a burner, wherein the burner is designed with a gas feed controllable by squeezing of a wick wound about a core member such, that without any appreciable effort always an equally large and equally intensive flame is created from the first moment of ignition to the extinguishing of the ame.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter, wherein a fibrous stopper is disposed in the fuel discharge channel of the valve cone, the direction of the fibres of the fibrous stopper being disposed crosswise to those of the wick within the range of the squeezing zone, and wherein a chamber of the burner housing disposed upstream of the valve cone and receiving the wick to be squeezed has a free connecting opening to the fuel chamber of the lighter.

Due to this arrangement, a completely equalized and ignition-safe working gas fueled lighter is obtained, without the requirement of any particular additional means. The off-going ignition of the fiame rushing to a greater height causing appreciable fuel loss connected therewith is avoided. The fibrous stopper disposed in the fuel discharge channel causes an equalization of the gas stream. It has been found, that within the fibrous stopper likewise merely a fuel stream takes place; the fuel fed in liquid form by means of the wick does not flow upwardly in liquid form within the fibrous stopper, even if the latter engages the wick. The Carburation takes place rather still to a larger measure directly downstream of the squeezing 3,140,593 Patented July 14., 1964 zone, and in particular within the range of the transformation from the highly compressed wick material into the non-compressed fibrous material of the fibrous stopper. The valve seat always remains dry. A more reliable sealing can be obtained. Also, the interference zone formed by the crosswise disposal of the wick fibres to the bres of the fibrous stopper contributes to the fact, that no feeding of the liquefied fuel into the brous stopper takes place.

The additional connecting opening, provided in the burner housing, between the wick chamber of the burner housing and the fuel chamber of the lighter, brings about that the ignition safety of the lighter is completely maintained, regardless, whether the flame is ignited repeatedly in a continuous sequence and is extinguished or whether the flame burns for a very long time, in order to be ignited again after being extinguished.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter, wherein a favorable design as to manufacture and as to technical operation is brought about by forming the connecting opening as a small longitudinal slot at the lower end of the burner housing.

It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter, wherein the fibrous stopper disposed in the cylindrical discharge channel of the valve cone has a length which is a multiple of its diameter and which reaches closely to below the valve seat.

It is yet a still further object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter, wherein the core member, around which the wick is wound, is made of elastic material. By this arrangement it is achieved, that the squeezing pressure operating on the core members produces a plurality of throttle zones of different throttle effects, disposed in series one behind the other, whereby, however, the upper throttle zone is subjected to the greatest squeezing pressure. lt is of advantage, thereby, if in accordance with the present invention the core member is equipped with lateral longitudinal grooves for receiving sections of the wick slings.

It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter, wherein the valve cone has a free and narrow feeding opening on its side facing the wick, which feeding opening connects the valve head With the fibrous stopper, if it is desirable to control the cone of the valve directly from the displacement of the hollow shaft or body generally equipped with a control wheel. Due to this arrangement it is possible, to form the hollow shaft carrying the control wheel integral with the valve cone without causing appreciable drawbacks within the range of the squeezing zone due to the joint rotation. No rotation of fibres on fibres takes place, which could lead easily to ball-shaped formations and, thereby, to further drawbacks relating to wear, to rotatability and to the flow conditions.

It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide a gas fueled lighter, wherein the feeding opening is formed by a bore in the bottom of a pot-shaped intermediate member itted to the bottom of the valve cone.

With these and other objects in view, which will become apparent in the following detailed description, the present invention will be clearly understood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, of a gas fueled lighter;

FIG. 2 is an axial section through another embodiment of the burner shown at an enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary elevation of the lower end of the burner housing; and

FIG. 4 is an end view of the core member.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. l, 3 and 4, the gas fueled lighter comprises a container la defining a fuel chamber G, the lighter cap L with an operating member T pivotally connected with the container 1a and also the friction wheel R against which the iiint F is urged in known manner by spring pressure. The lighter cap L closes the burner housing 1 in known manner, which is rigidly mounted in the container la.

This burner housing 1 is of tubular configuration and has at its upper portion an inner thread 2, which receives threadedly a hollow shaft 4 of the knurled setting wheel 5, which hollow shaft 4 is equipped with an outer thread 3.

A burner tube 7 sits in the bore 6 of the hollow shaft 4. A cap is secured to the outer end of the burner tube 7 and a spring 11 surrounds the burner tube 7 and engages the cap 10 in order to urge the cap 10 and simultaneously also the burner tube 7 into their outermost positions. The lower end of the burner tube 7 is adapted to engage the upper end of a valve piston 13, which is normally spaced apart from the burner tube 7 by a spring 13a. Upon mounting the lighter cap L on the burner tube 7, the latter is urged inwardly in the direction of the arrow x, so that the burner tube 7 is pressed to the upper end of the valve piston 13 and the latter to the upper side of a valve cone 14. The valve piston 13 has at its inner end an insert of elastic material for the purpose of providing a better sealing.

In the embodiment of the present invention, disclosed in FIG. 1, the hollow shaft 4 abuts the valve cone 14, and the latter has an upwardly extending cylindrical projection which is sealed against the inner face of the burner housing 1 by means of an annular packing 15. The valve cone 14 has a conical valve head face 14a and is furthermore equipped with a fuel discharge bore 24 having an open diameter of about 0.4 mm. The fibrous stopper 25 is disposed in the fuel discharge bore 24. This fibrous stopper 25 brings about a completely equalized burning from the first ignition moment up to the extinction of the flame. In the embodiment according to FIG. 1, the iibrous stopper 25 extends down to the lower valve head face.

The embodiment of the present invention disclosed in FIG. 2 is substantially identical with that shown in FIG. l and comprises a burner housing 1' having at its upper portion an inner thread 2', which burner housing 1' receives threadedly a hollow shaft 4 by means of an outer thread 3' of the latter.

A burner tube 7' sits also in this embodiment in the bore 6 of the hollow shaft 4 and a cap 10' is secured to the outer end of the burner tube 7'. A spring 11' surrounds the burner tube 7 and engages the cap 10' to urge the latter and, thus, also the burner tube '7' into the outermost position. A valve piston 13 is formed integrally with the burner tube 7' in this embodiment. The lighter cap moves the burner tube '7' downwardly into its closed position. The valve piston 13' is equipped again with an insert of elastic material.

In the embodiment, disclosed in FIG. 2, the hollow shaft 4' is formed integrally with the valve cone 14'.

A free and narrow passage opening 2S is provided between the lower end 25' of the fibrous stopper 2S' and the valve head face 14', the latter engaging the wick 21'. The passage opening 23 is narrower than the fuel discharge channel 24'. The fibrous stopper 25 thus does not engage directly the wick 21' in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2. The upper end of the fibrous stopper 25' extends up to short of the valve seat face 215L of the collar 26 formed at the upper end of the valve cone 14.

The passage opening 28 is disposed in the bottom of a. pot-shaped intermediate member 29, which is tted to the bottom side of the conical valve head face 14a and which is mounted with its wall 2911 by a fitting seat on the valve cone 14'. The end faces of the cylindrical portion of the wall 29at abut a sealing ring 30 disposed on the annular bottom face of the valve cone 14.

At the lower end of the burner housing 1' is disposed an annular shoulder 16 and 16', respectively, which supports a valve seat body 17 and 17', respectively, and is retained in position by means of a control spring 19 and 19', respectively, the latter engaging the valve cone 14 and 14', respectively.

The valve seat body 17 and 17' defines a chamber 18 and 18', respectively, through which the wick 21 and 21', respectively, extends. The bore 2t) and 20', respectively, is disposed in the valve seat body and extends, in the cmbodiment shown in FIG. 2, into a collar 17a projecting downwardly from the valve seat body 17'. The wick 21 and 21', respectively, is wound about an elastic core member 22 and 22', respectively, disposed within the chamber 18 and 18', respectively, of the valve seat body and in particular, in longitudinal grooves 23 and 23', respectively, so that the thread-like wick is disposed diametrically on the end faces of the core member 22 and 22', respectively, and is disposed axially opposite the bearing face of the latter, whereby the two joint wick legs are received in the bore 20 and 20', respectively.

At the lower corner of the burner housing 1 and 1', respectively, is arranged another opening 31 and 31', respectively, which provides a communication betweenI the fuel chamber G of the lighter with the lower inner chamber 1n of the burner housing 1 and 1', respectively.

The valve cone 14 and 14', respectively, is pressed towards the valve seat body 17, 17' by more or less screwing the

hollow shaft

4, 4 into the burner housing 1, 1'. The conically shaped valve head face 14a, 14a of the

valve cone

14, 14 fits then on the wick 21, 21', presses against the latter and, under circumstances, also against the core member 22, 22', so that a throttling is brought about. Upon exerting high pressure, the core member is deformed to a slight bulbous shape, so that laterally likewise throttle zones are created. The fuel gas evaporates at the upper throttle zone and enters as such the fibrous stopper 25. In the open condition of the valve piston 13, 13' the fuel gas escapes.

In the formation according to FIG. 2 an entrance channel is provided in the burner tube 7.

In the formation according to FIG. l, however, the burner tube 7 is open at the bottom. The connecting

opening

31, 31 brings about a continuous pressure balance and a sufiicient soaking of the wick.

While we have disclosed two embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined by the objects and the claims.

We claim:

1. A gas fueled lighter comprising a container, defining a fuel chamber,

a tubular burner housing rigidly secured to and disposed within said fuel chamber,

a closing cap pivotally mounted on said burner houslng said tubular burner housing having an inner thread at its upper end,

a hollow shaft having an outer thread at its upper end complementary to said inner thread of said tubular burner and threadedly received by the latter,

a burner tube mounted in said hollow shaft,

spring means surrounding the upper end of said burner tube and urging said burner tube into its outermost position,

a Valve piston disposed in said hollow shaft below said burner tube,

a valve cone disposed in said burner housing below and opposite said valve piston and having an upper seat and an axial fuel discharge bore extending through said valve cone,

said valve piston being axially spaced apart from said Valve cone in its operative, lifted and fuel-feeding position and urged against the upper side of said valve cone upon closing said closing cap in its lowered, inoperative position,

a core member disposed in said bruner housing below said valve cone.

wick surrounding said core member and said valve cone being pressed on said wick by means with a variable pressure in order to control the fuel feed from said wick through said discharge bore of said valve cone,

fibrous stopper disposed in said discharge bore of said valve cone,

the run of the fibers of said fibrous stopper being disposed crosswise to the fibers of said wick within the range of engagement of the lower face 0f said valve cone with said wick,

the inner end of said burner housing below said valve 2. wherein said opening in said chamber comprises a narrow,

longitudinal slot disposed at the lowermost end of said burner housing.

The gas fueled lighter, as set forth in claim 1, wheresaid core member surrounded by said wick is of elastic material, and said core member is equipped with 6 lateral longitudinal grooves receiving sections of loops of said wick. 4. The gas fueled lighter, as set forth in claim 1, where- 1n said valve cone has a narrow, axial passage axially aligned with said bore of said valve cone and disposed at the face of said valve cone engaging said wick, in order to provide a communication between said fibrous stopper and said wick. 5. The gas fueled lighter, as set forth in claim 4, which includes a pot-shaped intermediate member fitted to the bottom face of said valve cone and having said narrow, axial passage.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,737,037 Zellweger Mar, 6, 1956 2,764,008 Gruber Sept. 26, 1956 2,895,318 Zellweger July 21, 1959 3,083,554 Iketani Apr. 2, 1963 3,085,412 Mohr et al. Apr. 16, 1963 3,096,636 Newman July 9, 1963 FOREIGN PATENTS 833,074 Great Britain Apr. 21, 1960 886,289 Great Britain Jan. 3, 1962 1,200,837 France July 6, 1959

Claims

1. A GAS FUELED LIGHTER COMPRISING A CONTAINER, DEFINING A FUEL CHAMBER, A TUBULAR BURNER HOUSING RIGIDLY SECURED TO AND DISPOSED WITHIN SAID FUEL CHAMBER, A CLOSING CAP PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ON SAID BURNER HOUSING, SAID TUBULAR BURNER HOUSING HAVING AN INNER THREAD AT ITS UPPER END, A HOLLOW SHAFT HAVING AN OUTER THREAD AT ITS UPPER END COMPLEMENTARY TO SAID INNER THREAD OF SAID TUBULAR BURNER AND THREADEDLY RECEIVED BY THE LATTER, A BURNER TUBE MOUNTED IN SAID HOLLOW SHAFT, SPRING MEANS SURROUNDING THE UPPER END OF SAID BURNER TUBE AND URGING SAID BURNER TUBE INTO ITS OUTERMOST POSITION, A VALVE PISTON DISPOSED IN SAID HOLLOW SHAFT BELOW SAID BURNER TUBE, A VALVE CONE DISPOSED IN SAID BURNER HOUSING BELOW AND OPPOSITE SAID VALVE PISTON AND HAVING AN UPPER SEAT AND AN AXIAL FUEL DISCHARGE BORE EXTENDING THROUGH SAID VALVE CONE, SAID VALVE PISTON BEING AXIALLY SPACED APART FROM SAID VALVE CONE IN ITS OPERATIVE, LIFTED AND FUEL-FEEDING POSITION AND URGED AGAINST THE UPPER SIDE OF SAID VALVE CONE UPON CLOSING SAID CLOSING CAP IN ITS LOWERED, INOPERATIVE POSITION, A CORE MEMBER DISPOSED IN SAID BURNER HOUSING BELOW SAID VALVE CONE. A WICK SURROUNDING SAID CORE MEMBER AND SAID VALVE CONE BEING PRESSED ON SAID WICK BY MEANS WITH A VARIABLE PRESSURE IN ORDER TO CONTROL THE FUEL FEED FROM SAID WICK THROUGH SAID DISCHARGE BORE OF SAID VALVE CONE, A FIBROUS STOPPER DISPOSED IN SAID DISCHARGE BORE OF SAID VALVE CONE, THE RUN OF THE FIBERS OF SAID FIBROUS STOPPER BEING DISPOSED CROSSWISE TO THE FIBERS OF SAID WICK WITHIN THE RANGE OF ENGAGEMENT OF THE LOWER FACE OF SAID VALVE CONE WITH SAID WICK, THE INNER END OF SAID BURNER HOUSING BELOW SAID VALVE CONE DEFINING A CHAMBER RECEIVING SAID WICK AND HAVING AN OPENING FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID LAST-MENTIONED CHAMBER AND SAID FUEL CHAMBER, AND SAID FIBROUS STOPPER, BEING DISPOSED IN SAID DISCHARGE BORE OF SAID VALVE CONE, HAS A LENGTH AMOUNTING TO A MULTIPLE OF THE DIAMETER OF SAID DISCHARGE BORE AND EXTENDS TO A POINT SHORT OF SAID UPPER SEAT OF SAID VALVE CONE.