Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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LIGHTER HAVING SAFETY DEVICE
The invention relates to a piezoelectric lighter including a greatly
simplified structure or configuration for preventing the lighter from
being actuated or ignited by small children inadvertently.
Typical lighters comprise an actuating or igniting button slidably
attached to a body casing or housing for being depressed or actuated
by the users to actuate or to operate an igniting device of the lighter.
The typical lighters may be easily depressed or actuated by small
children.
For preventing the lighters from being depressed or actuated by
small children inadvertently, various kinds of safety locking devices
have been developed and provided for attaching to the body casing
or housing and for engaging with the actuating or igniting button, in
order to prevent the actuating or igniting button from being
depressed or actuated or operated by small children inadvertently.
For example, U.S. Patent No. 5,971,751 to Lee discloses one of the
typical lighters comprising a coil spring and a resilient member
serially arranged inside an actuation button and arranged to resist
actuation unless the coil spring is fully compressed.
However, both the coil spring and the resilient member are flexible
and may have a good chance to be distorted and thus may not be
effectively depressed or actuated by the users. In addition, the
typical lighter have to provide a specifically designed receiving
guider to receive the coil spring and the resilient member, and the
coil spring and the resilient member may not be attached to the other
lighters.
U.S. Patent No. 6,979,190 to Ichikawa et al. discloses another
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typical lighter also comprising a first elastic member to resist the
movement of the manual actuator, and a second elastic member is
further required and positioned to also resist the movement of the
manual actuator.
However, a specifically designed supporting or holder member
and/or a specifically designed actuation button is required to be
provided to mold or to support the specifically designed
cantilevered leaf springs, such that the cantilevered leaf springs and
the holder member and the actuation button also may not be attached
to the other lighters.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a
piezoelectric lighter including a greatly simplified configuration
having a safety device for preventing the lighter from being actuated
or ignited by small children inadvertently and for allowing the
lighter to be easily and quickly and readily made without changing
the configuration or structure thereof.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the invention there is provided a lighter comprising:-
a gas tank including a chamber formed therein for storing fuel gas,
and including a compartment formed therein,
a gas supply tube disposed in the chamber of the gas tank and
including an end portion extended out of the gas tank for supplying
the fuel gas out of the gas tank,
a housing disposed in the compartment of the gas tank and having
a space formed therein,
a piezoelectric contact disposed in the housing, a hammer slidably
received in the space of the housing,
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an actuating member slidably received in the space of the housing
and depressible by a user to move to engage with the hammer and to
selectively actuate the hammer to strike onto the piezoelectric
contact and to generate sparks,
a spring member engaged between the actuating member and the
hammer for spacing the hammer from the actuating member and for
being selectively compressed by the actuating member, and
a safety device disposed in the compartment of the gas tank and
disposed close to the actuating member for being selectively
depressed by the actuating member. The actuating member is
depressible and movable relative to the hammer for a first moving
distance to compress the spring member onto the hammer before
contacting with the safety device, and then engageable with the
safety device and depressible and movable relative to the hammer
for a second moving distance to compress the safety device before
actuating the hammer to strike onto the piezoelectric contact.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1, illustrating the
operation of the piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 3 is a partial exploded view of the piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 4 is a partial cross sectional view of the piezoelectric lighter
taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is a plan schematic view illustrating a piezoelectric ignition
device of the piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the piezoelectric ignition device of
the piezoelectric lighter;
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FIG. 7 is a partial cross sectional view of the piezoelectric lighter
taken along lines 7-7 of FIG. 6;
FIGS. 8, 9 are partial cross sectional views similar to FIG. 7,
illustrating the operation of the piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 10 is a plan schematic view illustrating the other arrangement
of the piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 11 is a plan schematic view illustrating the further
arrangement of the piezoelectric lighter;
FIG. 12 is an enlarged partial cross sectional view similar to FIGS.
7-9, illustrating the further application of the piezoelectric lighter;
and
FIG. 13 is a partial cross sectional view similar to FIGS. 7-9,
illustrating the still further application of the piezoelectric lighter.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1-4, a
piezoelectric lighter comprises a gas tank 10 including a chamber 11
formed therein (FIG. 4) and defined by an outer peripheral wall 12
and/or an upper panel 13 for receiving or storing fuel gas such as
butane gas inside the chamber 11 of the gas tank 10, and including a
compartment 14 formed or provided therein, such as formed in one
side of the upper portion 15 of the gas tank 10 and sealingly spaced
from the chamber 11 of the gas tank 10 by the upper panel 13 for
receiving a piezoelectric ignition firing rod or device 20 therein.
As shown in FIG. 4, a gas supply tube 16 is longitudinally or
vertically disposed within the chamber 11 of the gas tank 10 and
includes one end, such as an upper portion or upper port 17 extended
through the upper panel 13 of the gas tank 10 and extended outward
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of the gas tank 10 for supplying the fuel gas out of the gas tank 10.
An actuator device 18 may be attached or coupled to the upper
portion 17 of the gas supply tube 16 for controlling the gas to flow
out of the gas supply tube 16. For example, the actuator device 18
may be coupled to the piezoelectric ignition device 20 for being
operated or actuated by the piezoelectric ignition device 20. The
above-described structure is typical and will not be described in
further details.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5-9, the piezoelectric ignition device 20
includes a housing 21 disposed or secured in the compartment 14 of
the gas tank 10 and having a space 22 formed therein, a piezoelectric
crystal or contact 23 disposed in the inner or bottom portion of the
housing 21 for generating striking sparks and coupled to an igniting
electrode 24 which is directed toward the upper portion 17 of the gas
supply tube 16 for supplying the sparks toward and to ignite the gas
flowing out of the upper portion 17 of the gas supply tube 16. The
housing 21 further includes one or more, such as two opposite
L-shaped guide grooves 25 formed therein, each guide groove 25
includes a lateral or horizontal groove segment 26 and a vertical
groove segment 27 formed therein.
A hammer 30 is slidably received in the space 22 of the housing 21
and includes one or more, such as two projections 31 extended
outwardly therefrom and slidably received in the guide grooves 25
of the housing 21 respectively, a recovering spring member 32 may
also be received in the space 22 of the housing 21 and engaged
between the housing 21 or the piezoelectric contact 23 and the
hammer 30 for suitably spacing the hammer 30 from the
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piezoelectric contact 23 for a predetermined distance "d". In
addition, the projections 31 of the hammer 30 may also be engaged
with and supported in the lateral or horizontal groove segments 26
of the guide grooves 25 of the housing 21 respectively for further
stably supporting and spacing the hammer 30 from the piezoelectric
contact 23.
A casing or actuating member 33 is also slidably received in the
space 22 of the housing 21 and includes an enlarged head 34 formed
or provided on top thereof for engaging with the housing 21 and for
preventing the actuating member 33 from being completely engaged
into the housing 21, or for limiting the actuating member 33 to move
relative to the housing 21. The actuating member 33 further includes
one or more, such as two opposite oblong or inclined actuating
means or grooves 35 formed therein (FIG. 3) for slidably receiving
the projections 31 of the hammer 30 and for allowing the actuating
member 33 to be moved relative to the hammer 30 and the housing
21 before the actuating member 33 is moved to be contacted or
engaged with the projections 31 of the hammer 30.
Another spring member 36 may be engaged between the actuating
member 33 and the hammer 30 for suitably spacing the hammer 30
from the actuating member 33, and for being compressed or
depressed by the actuating member 33, and the compressed spring
member 36 may bias or force the hammer 30 to hit or to strike onto
or against the piezoelectric contact 23 when the projections 31 of
the hammer 30 are relatively moved toward the upper portion of the
inclined actuating grooves 35 of the actuating member 33 and when
the projections 31 of the hammer 30 are moved laterally or sidewise
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toward the vertical groove segments 27 of the guide grooves 25 of
the housing 21 respectively by the actuating member 33. A
thumb-push cap 37 may be slidably attached to the gas tank 10 and
engaged with the actuating member 33 for depressing the actuating
member 33 against the spring member 36.
In operation, as shown in FIG. 7, before actuating or operating, the
hammer 30 may be spaced from the piezoelectric contact 23 by the
spring member 32 and/or by the engagement of the projections 31 of
the hammer 30 in the lateral or horizontal groove segments 26 of the
guide grooves 25 of the housing 21 respectively, and the head 34 of
the actuating member 33 may also be spaced from the hammer 30 by
the other spring member 36. When the cap 37 and the actuating
member 33 are depressed and moved relative to the gas tank 10 and
the housing 21 against the spring member 36 (FIG. 8), the spring
member 36 may be compressed or depressed by the actuating
member 33 to accumulate a spring biasing or striking force.
When the actuating member 33 is further compressed or depressed
toward the housing 21 and engaged with the projections 31 of the
hammer 30, the actuating member 33 may move the projections 31
of the hammer 30 laterally or sidewise toward the vertical groove
segments 27 of the guide grooves 25 respectively, and the
compressed spring member 36 may then bias or force the hammer 30
to hit or to strike onto the piezoelectric contact 23 (FIG. 9) in order
to generate striking sparks and to supply the striking sparks to the
igniting electrode 24 and thus to ignite the gas flowing out of the
upper portion 17 of the gas supply tube 16.
The piezoelectric lighter in accordance with the present invention
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is to further provide a safety means or device 40 disposed in the
compartment 14 of the gas tank 10 and disposed or located close to
the actuating member 33 and made of soft or resilient rubber
materials or synthetic materials for resisting the final movement of
the actuating member 33 relative to the gas tank 10 and the housing
21 before the actuating member 33 is forced to engage with and to
move the projections 31 of the hammer 30 laterally or sidewise
toward the vertical groove segments 27 of the guide grooves 25
respectively. The final movement of the actuating member 33 before
engaging with and moving the projections 31 of the hammer 30
laterally or sidewise is preferably designed or arranged for about
0.5mm to 3.0mm.
As shown in FIGS. 1-9, the safety device 40 includes a loop or
peripheral structure having a bore 41 formed therein for slidably
receiving the actuating member 33 or for allowing the actuating
member 33 to be slidably engaged into the bore 41 of the safety
device 40. The safety device 40 may be engaged with or positioned
on the upper portion 15 of the gas tank 10 and arranged for being
engaged with and compressed or depressed by the head 34 of the
actuating member 33. It is to be noted that, without the safety device
40, the actuating member 33 may also be compressed or depressed
to actuate the hammer 30 to hit or strike onto or against the
piezoelectric contact 23.
The safety device 40 in accordance with the present invention may
thus be easily engaged onto various typical piezoelectric lighters for
resisting the final movement of the actuating member 33 of the
piezoelectric ignition firing rod or device 20 without changing the
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configuration of the typical piezoelectric lighters. It is to be noted
that the actuating member 33 may first be depressed and moved
relative to the hammer 30 for a first moving distance or stroke and
will compress the spring member 36 onto the hammer 30 before
contacting with the safety device 40, and may then be engaged with
the safety device 40 and moved relative to the hammer 30 for a
second moving distance or stroke to compress the safety device 40
before engaging with and moving the projections 31 of the hammer
30 laterally or sidewise. The safety device 40 may be provided for
resisting the final movement of the actuating member 33 and for
preventing the lighter from being actuated or ignited by small
children inadvertently.
Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10, the safety device 40 may also
be disposed or engaged in the lower portion of the actuating member
33 for being depressed or actuated by the actuating member 33. As
shown in FIG. 11, the safety device 40 may also be disposed or
engaged in the lower portion of the actuating member 33 of a
lighting rod or lighting gun. As shown in FIG. 12, the safety device
40 may also be disposed or engaged in the compartment 14 of the
gas tank 10 and arranged for being depressed or actuated by the
thumb-push cap 37.
As shown in FIG. 13, the piezoelectric ignition device 20 may
include a piezoelectric crystal or contact 50 disposed in a casing 51,
a hammer 52 slidably disposed in a container 53 and/or engaged
with a spring member 54, and another spring member 55 engaged
between the piezoelectric crystal or contact 50 or the casing 51 and
the hammer 52 or the container 53 for allowing the hammer 52 to be
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biased to strike onto the piezoelectric crystal or contact 50 when the
casing 51 is depressed against the spring member 55.
Accordingly, the piezoelectric lighter includes a greatly simplified
configuration having a safety device for preventing the lighter from
being actuated or ignited by small children inadvertently and for
allowing the lighter to be easily and quickly and readily made
without changing the configuration or structure thereof.
