Information
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Patent Grant
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6257874
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Patent Number
6,257,874
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Date Filed
Monday, July 24, 200024 years ago
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Date Issued
Tuesday, July 10, 200123 years ago
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Inventors
-
-
Examiners
Agents
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CPC
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US Classifications
Field of Search
US
- 431 344
- 431 345
- 431 153
- 431 255
- 431 277
- 431 130
- 431 131
- 251 81
- 251 121
- 251 291
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International Classifications
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Abstract
A flame adjusting device for a gas burning device includes a flame adjusting wheel securely mounted to a disk of a valve on a gas tank and a neck extends from a side of the flame adjusting wheel and a ring is mounted to the neck. A protrusion extends from the ring and is accessible for the users. When shifting the protrusion, the ring and the flame adjusting wheel rotate to adjust the gas released via the valve. When a user wants to change the volume of gas released via the valve, he/she holds the protrusion and rotates the flame adjusting wheel so that the disk of the valve is rotated while the ring is remained still.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a flame adjusting device for a gas burning device and includes a wheel having a neck to which a ring is engaged. A valve extends through the ring and is securely connected to the wheel. The wheel can be rotated to rotate the valve while the neck is hold.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A conventional lighter is shown in FIG.
1
and generally includes a valve connected to a top of a tank for receiving butane (for example) therein and the valve includes a disk
12
with a tube
120
extending from the disk
12
. A flame adjusting wheel
11
has a threaded inner periphery is mounted to a threaded outer periphery of the disk
12
. A gas lever
10
is connected to the tube
120
on the disk
12
so that when lifting the gas lever
10
, the valve is actuated and the gas in the tank releases to be burned. A U-shaped member
13
is mounted to the top of the tank and a notch
130
is defined in a lower edge of the U-shaped member
13
. A protrusion
111
extends from the adjusting wheel
11
and is accessed from notch
130
so that when shifting the protrusion
111
, the disk
12
is rotated to adjust the volume of the gas releasing from the valve. The protrusion
111
can only be shifted within the notch
130
so that if the user wants to adjust the flame to an extreme condition, he/she has to remove the adjusting wheel
11
from the disk
12
and then rotate the disk to change the basic status of the disk
12
so as to have a larger or smaller gas volume that is normally released. Nevertheless, this is not an expected way for the users to adjust the gas volume and could damage the lighter.
The present invention intends to provide a flame adjusting device that allows the user to adjust the status of the valve without disassembling the lighter.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flame adjusting device for a gas burning device which has a valve connected to a gas tank and having a disk which controls a volume of gas released via the valve. A tube extends from the disk and a gas lever is connected to the tube. A striker member is located beside the disk. The flame adjusting device comprises a flame adjusting wheel which has a hole for securely engaging the disk therein. A neck extends from a periphery of the hole and a ring is mounted to the neck. A protrusion extends form the ring so that a user may shift the protrusion to adjust the disk.
The primary object of the present invention is to provide a flame adjusting device for a gas burning device wherein the original status of the disk of the valve of the burning device can be adjusted without disassembling the burning device.
These and further objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more obvious from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings which show, for purposes of illustration only, several embodiments in accordance with the present invention.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1
is an exploded view to show a conventional flame adjusting device for a lighter;
FIG. 2
shows that the flame adjusting wheel is lifted to allow the user to adjust the disk of the lighter as shown in
FIG. 1
;
FIG. 3
is an exploded view to show a flame adjusting device of the present invention for a lighter;
FIG. 4
shows the assembly of the flame adjusting device of the present invention;
FIG. 5
is a perspective view to show a user shafting a protrusion of a ring of the flame adjusting device of the present invention;
FIG. 6
is a perspective view to show a user using a stick to rotate a flame adjusting wheel of the flame adjusting device of the present invention, and
FIG. 7
shows the flame adjusting device of the present invention used in another type of gas burning device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring to
FIGS. 3 and 4
, a lighter includes a gas tank and a top cap
21
is mounted to the tank and closes the tank. A valve is received below the top cap
21
and includes a disk
23
which controls a volume of gas released via the valve. A tube
230
extends from the disk
23
and a gas lever
20
is connected to the tube
230
. A striker member
24
is located beside the tube
230
. The flame adjusting device
30
of the present invention comprises a flame adjusting wheel
31
having a hole
311
defined centrally therethrough and a neck
312
extends from a side of the flame adjusting wheel
31
and encloses a periphery of the hole
311
. The hole
311
has a threaded inner periphery and the disk
23
has a threaded outer periphery
231
so that the flame adjusting wheel
31
is co-rotatably mounted to the disk
23
. A ring
32
is mounted to the neck
312
and a protrusion
322
extends radially outward from the ring
32
. The protrusion
322
is accessed from a notch
220
of a U-shaped member
22
mounted to the top of the tank. As shown in
FIG. 5
, a user holds the tank and shifts the protrusions
322
by his/her thumb to adjust the flame. It is to be noted that a plurality of projections
313
extend radially outward from the flame adjusting wheel
31
and the length of the projections
313
is shorter than the protrusion
322
so that when shifting the protrusion
322
, the user's thumb will not touch the flame adjusting wheel
31
. The friction between the neck
312
and the ring
32
is large enough to let the flame adjusting wheel
31
co-rotate with the ring
32
.
As shown in
FIG. 6
, if the user wants to change the volume of gas released via the valve, he/she holds or presses the protrusion
322
or the ring
32
and then uses a stick
33
to rotate the flame adjusting wheel
31
by inserting a top of the stick
33
in one of the gaps defined between the projections
313
. The force applied to the flame adjusting wheel
31
by the stick
33
is larger than the friction between the neck
312
and the ring
32
so that the disk
23
is rotated with the flame adjusting wheel
31
while the ring
32
is remained still.
The flame adjusting device of the present invention can also be used in other type of gas burning device
40
such as shown in FIG.
7
.
While we have shown and described various embodiments in accordance with the present invention, it should be clear to those skilled in the art that further embodiments may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.
Claims
- 1. A gas burning device comprising:a gas tank and a valve connected to said gas tank, said valve having a tube and a disk mounted to said tube so as to control a volume of gas released via said valve, a gas lever connected to said tube and a striker member located beside said disk, and a flame adjusting device connected to said valve and comprising a flame adjusting wheel which has a hole defined centrally therethrough, said disk securely engaged with said hole of said flame adjusting wheel, a neck extending from a periphery of said hole and a ring mounted to said neck so as to be frictionally rotated with said flame adjusting ring.
- 2. The flame adjusting device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said hole has a threaded inner periphery.
- 3. The flame adjusting device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a plurality of projections extending radially outward from said flame adjusting wheel.
- 4. The flame adjusting device as claimed in claim 1 further comprising a protrusion extending radially outward from said ring.
US Referenced Citations (3)
Foreign Referenced Citations (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
1285782 |
Dec 1968 |
DE |
2390678 |
Jan 1979 |
FR |