US854177A - Electric gas-lighter. - Google Patents

Description

No. 854,177. PATENTED MAY 21, 1907.

" E. H. PRYGE.

ELECTRIC GAS LIGHTER. APPLICATION FILED JULY1L1906.

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EDMUND HUGH PRYCE, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

ELECTRIC GAS-LIGHTERu Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1907.

Application filed July 11,1906. Serial No. 325,677.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDMUND HUGH PRYCE, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Yonkers, in the county of l/Vestchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric Gas-Lighters, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for lighting gas by electricity.

The objects of the invention are to obtain an igniting spark without batteries or an in duction coil; to actuate the vibrator without the necessity of turning the handle rapidly; to secure compactness; and to obtain simlicity of mechanical construction.

l/Vithout regard to the exact scopes of novelty which are attended to in the claims, the invention comprises any kind of a handle, a coiled spring adapted to be wound up there by, a gas valve actuated by said handle, an alternator, an automatic escapement for permitting said spring to uncoil rapidly for rotating the armature of the alternator, and an electro-magnetic vibrating circuit-breaker, whose spark contacts and magnet are in series circuit with said alternator.

Figure 1 is a diagram of the electric circuits and of some parts that are not shown in other figures, besides other parts which are shown in a different direction from that in other figures. The elements are in their nor- Fig. 2 is a section of the principal mechanical elements in their normal positions. Some parts are not in section. Some of the field magnet is broken away to exhibit the interior thereof. Fig. 3 is an exterior of the general organization. The mechanical parts are covered by an ornamental casing. F ig. 4 is a front view of the com plete ratchet wheel which is shown in section in Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a complete view of a portion of the frame that is shown in central section in Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a different view of what is shown in Fig. 5. Fig. 7 shows an en larged detail of a portion of the ratchet mechanism not clear in Fig. 2.

The device consists specifically of the combination of a main shaft 1, a loose sleeve 2 thereon, a handle 3 fixed to the sleeve 2 by a set screw 4, a head 5 on the shaft 1 for preventing the sleeve 2 from slipping off of the l shaft 1, a gas valve operating crank 6, a connecting rod 7 oining sald sleeve to said crank 6, a ratchet wheel 8, a set screw 9 fastening said wheel to said shaft, spring actuated pawls 1O engaging with the teeth of said ratchet wheel 8, a helical coiled spring 11, having one end fixed to the shaft 1, a nut 12 having a post 13 to which the other end of said spring is fixed, a propelling screw 14 pinned fast to the shaft 1, for feeding said nut longitudinally of said shaft, a flanged sleeve 15 loose on the shaft 1 and between the nut 12 and the stationary frame 16, which is provided with tapering pockets, conveniently formed by tongues 17 bent downward from slots, stop pins 18 carried by said nut 12, passing loosely through the flange of the flanged sleeve 15 and extending respectively into said pockets, a gear wheel 19, a set screw 20 fastening said wheel 19 to the flanged sleeve 15, a pinion 21 engaged with the wheel 19, an alternator armature 22, and a field magnet 23. The alternator is shown in diagram in Fig. 1 at 22. The remaining details comprise a gas pipe 24, a gas tip 25, an electro magnet 26, an armature therefor 27, a vibrating lever 28 carrying the armature 27, and two electric contacts 29 and 30, the former being carried by the lever 28, said contacts and the magnet 26 being in series circuit with the alternator 22. Stationary studs 31 may be provided in the path of the set screw 4, which may be made longer than shown in Fig. 2, as seen in Fig. 1 at 4. 32 is a casing for covering the mechanism.

1 will now describe the operation from the beginning to the end V\ hen the handle 3 is turned to the right, the sleeve 2 is turned with it because of the set screw 4, and the connecting rod 7 causes the gas valve to be opened, and therefore the gas is turned on in advance of the sparking, as will soon appear. The spring pawls 10 turn the ratchet wheel 8 to the right, and also the shaft 1 because of the set screw 9. The shaft 1 winds up the spring 11, for storing power therein, to be liberated afterward for operating the alternator. The continued rotation of the shaft 1 to the right feeds the nut 12 away from the frame 16, and consequently the pins 18 soon escape from the pockets 17 and therefore the stored up energy of the spring rapidly rotates the nut 12, the flanged sleeve 18, the gear wheel 19, the pinion 21, and the alternator armature 22. The handle 3 may there- I fore be turned with only the same speed as that for turning on gas in an ordinary gas burner, and yet the alternator will be rotated so rapidly as to generate sufficient voltage for operating the vibrating circuit interrupter. WVhen the handle 3 is turned to the left, for turning off the gas, the pawls l0 slip over the ratchet Wheel teeth without rotating the shaft 1. The device is now ready for repeated operations of the same kind.

I claim as my invention 1. In an. electric gas lighter, the combination of a handle, a shaft, a loose sleeve on said shaft, and fixed to said handle, a gas valve crank, a connecting rod between said crank and said sleeve, spring actuated pawls carried by said sleeve, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft and engaging with said pawls, a power storing spring having one end connected to said shaft, a nut, a post thereon connected to the other end of said spring, a stationary frame having sloping pockets, a flanged sleeve loose on said shaft, a gear wheel fixed to said flanged sleeve, pins fixed to said nut, passing loosely through the flange of said flanged sleeve and terminating in said pockets, and a screw fixed on said shaft and engaging with said nut for feeding the same away from said frame until said pins escape from said pockets.

2. In an electric gas lighter, the combination of a handle, a shaft, a loose sleeve on said shaft, and fixed to said handle, a gas valve crank, a connecting rod between said crank and said sleeve, spring actuated pawls carried by said sleeve, a ratchet wheel fixed to said shaft and engaging with said pawls, a power storing spring having one end connected to said shaft, a nut, a post thereon connected to the other end of said spring, a stationary frame having sloping pockets, at flanged sleeve loose on said shaft, a gear wheel fixed to said flanged sleeve, pins fixed to said nut, passing loosely through the flange of said flanged sleeve and terminating in said pockets, a screw fixed on said shaft and engaging with said nut for feeding the same away from said frame until said pins escape from said pockets, an alternator driven by said gear wheel, a magnet and vibratory contacts in series circuit with said alternator, and an armature actuated by said magnet for opening and closing said contacts.

3. In an electric gas lighter, the combination of an electric generator, a handle, a gas valve, and mechanism by which said handle may be operated at a slow speed, by which said valve may be opened while the handle is being operated, and by which said generator is rapidly actuated only after said valve has been substantially all the way opened.

4. In an electric gas lighter, the C(Hl'lbllizttion of an electric generator, a handle a gas valve, a power storing spring wound up by said handle, means actuated by said handle for releasing the power of said spring to turn said generator, means governed by said handle for turning on the gas, a circuit interrupter and electro magnet in series circuit with said generator, and an armature for said magnet for opening said. circuit interrupter, a retractile spring being proviced to close said interrupter again.

5. In an electric gas lighter, the combination of a handle, a gas valve actuated thereby, a circuit interrupter, a magneto actuated by said handle, an electro magnet in. series circuit with said interrupter and said magneto, and an armature for said. magnet for breaking the circuit at said interrupter every time said. armature is attracted by said 11mgnet.

6. In an electric gas lighter, the combination of a handle, a gas valve actuated. to turn on the gas by said handle when the latter is turned in one direction, and to turn off the gas when said handle is turned in the other direction, a magneto actuated by said handle only when turned in the first direction, a circuit interrupter, and an electro magneticdevice energized by the current from said magneto for rapidly andsuccessively opening and closing said interrupter.

EDMUND HUGH Pinter. [t s] IVitnesses LoUIs O. PIPER, VVM. A. KELLY.

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