WO1990000704A1

WO1990000704A1 - Flame lighter

Info

Publication number: WO1990000704A1
Application number: PCT/GB1989/000766
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans J. Lowenthal
Original assignee: Colibri Lighters Limited
Priority date: 1988-07-12
Filing date: 1989-07-06
Publication date: 1990-01-25

Abstract

A gas-burning smoker's lighter has a roller (9) for operating an ignition mechanism and a fingerpiece button (10B) for opening a burner valve. The roller and button are positioned so that the user can operate the lighter by drawing his thumb over the roller and onto the button in one movement.

Description

DESCRIPTION

FPAME LIGHTER

The invention relates to a gas-burning flame lighter comprising a casing containing a fuel reservoir and carrying at an upper portion a burner nozzle to which gaseous fuel can be supplied from the reservoir upon opening of a burner valve; and an ignition mechanism which is actuable by a roller let into the casing and rotation of which about an upright axis provides sparking, usually by means of a flint and flint wheel, adjacent to the burner nozzle to ignite a flame. Such a lighter is hereinafter referred to as of the kind described.

Conventionally, in such lighters, the burner valve is opened by swinging open of a casing lid, prior to the user running his thumb over the roller to operate the ignition mechanism. This order of operating steps involves two possible safety risks. First, the lid might be opened in the pocket, or by a child, thus causing the release of inflammable fuel over a period of time. Second, if the lighter is operated by someone who is infirm or disabled or a child, it might drop to the ground and, with the lid still open, the flame could continue to burn before the lighter is retrieved. Similar problems arise in lighters which have no lid, and in which the burner valve is opened by, for example, initial axial movement of the roller, as the roller may be accidentally displaced or left displaced after use.

It is an object of the invention of modify a lighter of the kind described to overcome these problems, whilst providing an ergonomically efficient manner of operation.

In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved by providing a lighter of the kind described with a burner valve-operating fingerpiece which is exposed externally of the casing alongside the roller and which is displaceable against spring action to cause the burner valve to open and subsequently to close upon release of the fingerpiece, whereby the lighter is operated by rolling the user's thumb in one motion, transverse to the axis of the roller, over the roller and onto the fingerpiece. With this arrangement, no fuel will escape from the burner nozzle accidentally unless and until the fingerpiece is displaced and held displaced. An additional safety feature may involve a mechanical interlock such that the fingerpiece cannot be displaced until some other component has been manipulated, such as opening of a lid of the lighter, or displacement of a projection as the user's thumb moves from the roller onto the fingerpiece.

Equally importantly, the transverse movement of the user's thumb in first rotating the roller and then displacing the fingerpiece in the form of a button, either into or along the casing, e.g. substantially parallel to the outer surface of the casing, or by pivotal movement relatively to the casing, is simple and convenient. This is particularly so if the fingerpiece is displaceable laterally away from the roller to open the burner valve. This lateral action is both ergonomically efficient, and difficult for a child to carry out. It also simplifies the possibility of sliding open a flame aperture at the top of the casing, simultaneously with, and by, the opening of the burner valve upon displacement of the fingerpiece.

The new arrangement is also very advantageous as compared to that of conventional disposable lighters which are operated by drawing the user's thumb down over a flint wheel at a top corner of the casing and immediately onto a depressible burner valve-opening lever. Thus with such earlier lighters the action is clumsy and the thumb remains painfully close to the flame. The new lateral action below the top of the casing is more comfortable in both respects. As the operator will normally use the palm of one hand to hold the lighter and the thumb to operate the roller and to displace the fingerpiece, the return spring for the fingerpiece will preferably be quite soft, requiring a force of the order of as little as 0.25 to 0.5 kg, if there is an interlock, or up to 0.8 kg if there is no interlock, to displace it for opening the valve.

In one pivotal arrangement for the fingerpiece, it is pivotally displaceable about an axis which is substantially parallel to, and preferably spaced from the roller axis. Thus, the fingerpiece may be pivotally mounted at its end adjacent to the roller about an axis substantially parallel to that of the roller, the end of the fingerpiece remote from the roller being normally proud of the casing but being depressible by pivotal action into the casing to open the burner valve.

In a second pivotal arrangement, the fingerpiece is mounted at one end of an arm, which extends substantially perpendicular to the face of the casing over which the fingerpiece works, the other end of the arm being pivotally mounted within the casing, by means of a spindle shaft, about an axis substantially parallel to the roller axis. With this arrangement, upon operation of the lighter, the user's thumb will pass over the roller and onto the fingerpiece, moving the fingerpiece away from the roller to open the burner valve. The movement away from the roller will inevitably be arcuate and if it is desired that the fingerpiece is to remain equidistant from the outer surface of the casing. that portion of the casing is preferably arcuate in a plane perpendicular to the pivotal axis. The ends of the spindle shaft may be located within respective recesses one in a body of the casing and one in a cover plate of the casing. The ends of a spindle shaft of the roller may equally well be located within respective recesses in the casing and in a cover plate of the casing.

In an alternative pivotal arrangement for the fingerpiece it is pivotally mounted about an axis extending substantially perpendicular to the roller axis, and preferably perpendicular to the face of the casing between the roller and fingerpiece. The fingerpiece will then move in a plane which is parallel to the roller axis and can remain equidistant from a flat face of the casing. The pivotal axis of the fingerpiece is preferably adjacent to the end of the roller remote from the burner nozzle, so that the operative arcuate movement of the fingerpiece will have a major component away from the roller. The movement of the user's thumb over the roller and onto and with the fingerpiece can then follow the natural arcuate movement of the thumb relative to the rest of the user's hand. The pivot for the fingerpiece could then be provided by a spindle shaft passing into, or through, an opening in the reservoir tank and located in position by engagement of its end(s) with the lighter casing.

Some examples of lighters constructed in accordance with the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:-

Figures 1 and 2 are front and rear perspective views, respectively, of a first example;

Figure 3 is a partial phantom exploded view, primarily of inner parts of the first example;

Figure 4 is a partly sectional plan of some of the inner parts shown in Figure 3; Figures 5, 6 and 7 are partly sectional elevations of one side, the front and the other side, of the first example;

Figures 8 is a perspective view of a second example;

Figure 9 is a partial exploded view of the second example; and.

Figures 10 to 14 are perspective views of third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh examples. The lighter illustrated in Figures 1 to 7 has a casing 8 provided with a roller 9 for operating a flint wheel 14, a stepped burner valve-actuating fingerpiece button 10, air inlet openings 39, and a top plate 11 provided with a flame aperture 12. The roller 9 is fixed on a spindle 13 which carries the flint wheel 14 and the ends 15 and 16 of which are respectively located in an aperture 17 in the top plate 11 and in a metal bush 18 let into a recess in a plastics fuel reservoir tank 19 within the casing 8. A duct for gaseous fuel leads from the reservoir tank 19 through a burner valve 20 to a burner nozzle 21 located below the flame aperture 12. The burner valve 20 is opened by raising of the adjacent forked end 22 of a lever 23 which is pivoted on a mount 24, and the other ramp end 25 of which is arranged to be depressed upon operation of the fingerpiece 10. The fingerpiece 10 is fixed on the end of an arm 26 which is integrally formed with a bush 27 pivotally mounted on a spindle shaft 28, the upper and lower ends 29 and 30 of which are located in recesses 31 and 32 respectively in the top plate 11 and reservoir tank 19. The arm 26 extends through a rectangular aperture 37 through the reservoir tank. A helically coiled tension spring 33, having an end engaging an annular groove 38 in the arm, and located in a passage 40 in the reservoir tank 19, urges the arm 26 towards the roller 9. As an alternative, the arm could be urged towards the roller by a torsion spring located on the spindle 28. A flint 34, is urged in a flint passage 35, extending through an upper part of the reservoir tank 19 bridging over the aperture 37, by a spring 36, in conventional fashion, into engagement with the flint wheel 14. It will be appreciated that the roller 9 and fingerpiece 10, 26 work through separate openings in the casing 8.

The lighter is operated by holding the casing 8 in the user's right hand and drawing the thumb to the left, as seen in Figures 1 and 3, over the roller 9, to rotate the roller and flint wheel 14 and simultaneously produce a stream of sparks adjacent to the burner nozzle 21, the thumb continuing rapidly onto the fingerpiece 10 which is thus moved to the left against the action of the spring 33 so that the arm 26 rides over the ramp at the end 25 of the lever 23, causing the lever to pivot so that the burner valve 20 is raised and opened and fuel from the reservoir is discharged through the nozzle 21 and ignited by the sparks. upon release of the fingerpiece 10, the spring 33 returns the arm 26 to its rest position, allowing the burner valve 20 to close under an internal return spring and extinguishing the flame. The face of the casing 8 over which the fingerpiece 10 moves is substantially part circular in horizontal section about the axis of the spindle shaft 28, so that the fingerpiece remains substantially equidistant from the casing. Other examples are illustrated more diagrammatically in Figure 8 to 14.

The lighter shown in Figures 8 and 9 has a casing 8 of rectangular parallelopiped shape and formed with a flame aperture 12 above a burner nozzle. A roller actuator 9 of a spark ignition mechanism is let into one vertical corner edge of the casing at the right hand side of a wide face of the casing. A fingerpiece button 10A, which is displaceable, against the action of a leaf spring 53, into the casing to open the burner valve after a secondary button 41 has been moved to the left relatively to the button 10A, to release an interlock, is positioned alongside the roller 9 in the adjacent wider face of the casing. The button 10A actually opens the burner valve by engagement of an abutment 54 on the back of the button with one end of a bell crank lever 48 which is thus rotated against the action of a torsion spring 55 so that a ramp 56 on the other end of the lever underrides and lifts a burner valve stem. As shown in Figure 9, the interlock involves pins 42, 43 carried by the button 41 and sliding in bores 44, 45 in the button 10A. The button 41 is urged by a spring 46 to the right in Figure 9 so that the pin 43 engages in a fixed hasp 47, thereby preventing the button 10A from being displaced into the casing 8 to rotate the lever 48. Thus the lighter is operated by holding the casing normally in the palm of the right hand, and moving the thumb in one sweep across the roller 9, on to the secondary button 41, moving the button to the left and thereby releasing the button 10A which is thereupon pressed into the casing 8 to rotate the lever 48 and open the burner valve while sparks created beneath the flame aperture 12 and adjacent to the burner nozzle are still present to ignite the gas flow and produce the flame through the aperture 12. The lighter shown in Figure 10 differs from that of Figures 8 and 9 in that the burner valve is opened by displacement of a fingerpiece button 10B which slides laterally to and fro along the wider face of the casing. Displacement of the fingerpiece against spring action away from the roller 9 opens the burner valve. The lighter shown in Figure 11 has a primary fingerpiece button IOC which is depressible into the casing to open the burner valve, and a secondary fingerpiece button 41A which provides an interlock with the fingerpiece IOC. The arrangement is such that the fingerpiece IOC cannot be depressed into the casing to open the burner valve until the secondary fingerpiece 41A has been pressed inwardly into the narrower side face of the casing adjacent to and just above the roller 9. This inward movement of the secondary fingerpiece 41A may also open a closure piece for the flame aperture 12. The secondary fingerpiece 41A will remain depressed until the primary fingerpiece IOC is released and travels back under its return spring to a depressed position, this movement releasing the secondary fingerpiece 41A so that it returns also to its rest position under its own spring action.

The lighter shown in Figure 12 is of the semi disposable variety, which is intended to be refuelled a few times, and in which a lower casing part 8A together with a pivotable fingerpiece button 10D and a roller 9C may be made of a cheap material, such as a plastics material, whereas a cap portion 49 of the casing, and provided with a flame aperture 12, is made of metal. In this example the end of the fingerpiece 10D remote from the roller 9 may be pressed into the casing against spring action to open the burner valve. This lighter could also be fully disposable, i.e. without any fuel refilling valve or provision for reflinting.

The lighter shown in Figure 13 differs only from the lighter of Figure 10 in the provision of a hinged lid 50, which covers the burner nozzle and must be swung up about a transverse hinge 51 to expose the burner nozzle prior to operation of the lighter. However the upward the swinging of the lid plays no part in opening the burner valve, except possibly for providing an interlock with the fingerpiece preventing the fingerpiece button 10B from being displaced away from the roller 9 until the lid has been raised. Figure 14 shows a lighter in which the lid 50A carries a hasp 47A which engages a pin 52 carried by a depressible fingerpiece button 10E, to prevent depression of the button when the lid is closed. This interlock prevents operation of the lighter until the lid has been opened.

The various examples of fingerpiece and casing construction referred to herein could be used in any possible combination.

Claims

C AI S

1. A gas-burning flame lighter comprising a casing (8) containing a fuel reservoir (19) and carrying at an upper portion a burner nozzle (21) to which gaseous fuel can be supplied from the reservoir upon opening of a burner valve (20); and an ignition mechanism which is actuable by a roller (9) let into the casing and rotation of which about an upright axis provides sparking adjacent to the burner nozzle to ignite a ^"flame; characterised by a burner valve-operating fingerpiece (10) which is exposed externally of the casing alongside the roller and which is displaceable against spring action to cause the burner valve to open and subsequently to close upon release of the fingerpiece, whereby the lighter is operated by rolling the user's thumb in one motion, tranverse to the axis of the roller, over the roller and onto the fingerpiece.

2. A lighter according to claim 1, in which the fingerpiece comprises a button (10,10B) which is displaceable along the casing.

3. A lighter according to claim 2, in which the button is displaceable substantially parallel to the outer surface of the casing.

4. A lighter according to claim 1, in which the fingerpiece comprises a button (10A,10C,10D,10E) which is displaceable into the casing.

5. A lighter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the fingerpiece (10,10D) is pivotally displaceable about an axis which is substantially parallel to the roller axis.

6. A lighter according to claim 5, in which the pivotal axis of the fingerpiece is spaced from the roller axis.

7. A lighter according to claim 6, in which the fingerpiece (10) is mounted at one end of an arm

(26) , which extends substantially perpendicular to the face of the casing at which the fingerpiece works, the other end of the arm being pivotally mounted within the casing by means of a spindle shaft (28).

8. A lighter according to claim 7 , in which the ends (29,30) of the spindle shaft (28) are located within respective recesses (31,32) one in a body of the casing (8) and one in a cover plate (11) of the casing.

9. A lighter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the ends of a spindle shaft (13) of the roller (9) are located within respective recesses (17,18) in a body of the casing (8) and in a cover plate (11) of the casing.

10. A lighter according to any one claims 1 to 4, in which the fingerpiece is pivotally displaceable about an axis extending substantially perpendicular to the roller axis.

11. A lighter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the fingerpiece (10) and roller (9) work in different apertures in the casing.

12. A lighter according to any one of the preceding claims, which includes a mechanical interlock

(41,41A,52) such that the fingerpiece (10) cannot be displaced until some other component (41,41A,50A) has been manipulated.

13. A lighter according to claim 12, in which the other component is a hinged lid (50A) of the lighter which has to be opened to allow displacement of the fingerpiece (10E) .

14. A lighter according to claim 12, in which the other component is a projection (41) which is arranged to be displaced as the user's thumb moves from the roller (9) onto the fingerpiece (10A) .

15. A lighter according to any one of the preceding claims, in which displacement of the fingerpiece (10) to cause the burner valve to open also causes a closure for a flame aperture at the top of the casing to slide to an open position.