Patent Application
20070012308
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas control knob, and more particularly to a gas control knob for a gas stove or range.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional gas control knob for a gas stove comprises a valve body, a valve cap mounted on the valve body, a throttling cock rotatably mounted in the valve body to regulate the gas flow rate, and a rotation lever rotatably mounted on the valve cap and connected to the throttling cock to control movement of the throttling cock so as to regulate the gas flow rate. However, the rotation lever is rotatable on the valve cap freely without any temporary positioning effect, so that the user cannot control the gas flow rate exactly by rotating the rotation lever, thereby causing inconvenience to the user in regulating and controlling the gas flow rate of the gas stove.
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a gas control knob, comprising a valve body, a valve cap mounted on the valve body and having an end face formed with an annular track having a toothed face and at least one opening, a rotation lever rotatably mounted and axially movable in the valve cap, and a cam secured on the rotation lever to rotate and move therewith and having a periphery formed with a protruding engaging tooth. The cam is movable between a first position where the engaging tooth of the cam is limited in the opening of the valve cap so that the cam is secured in the valve cap and a second position where the engaging tooth of the cam is detached from the opening of the valve cap and detachably engaged with the toothed face of the track of the valve cap.
The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a gas control knob that produces vibration and sound during rotation.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a gas control knob, wherein when the rotation lever is rotated to regulate the gas flow rate, the engaging tooth of the cam is axially and reciprocally movable on the toothed face of the track of the valve cap synchronously to produce vibration and sound during rotation of the rotation lever, thereby providing a notification function to the user so as to assure the safety when using the gas stove.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a gas control knob, wherein the toothed face of the valve cap provides a temporary positioning effect to the engaging tooth of the cam during rotation of the rotation lever, so that the rotation of the rotation lever is controlled step by step by the user so as to regulate the gas flow rate exactly.
Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings.
Referring to the drawings and initially to
Referring to
A throttling cock 14 is rotatably mounted in the mounting hole 13 of the valve body 10 and has a throttling channel (not shown) that can change the connection area between the gas inlet hole 11 and the gas outlet hole 12 so as to regulate the gas flow rate. The throttling cock 14 has a distal end formed with an insertion recess 140.
The valve cap 30 is mounted on the valve body 10 and has an end face juxtaposed to the end face of the mounting hole 13 of the valve body 10. The valve cap 30 has a central portion formed with a rotation hole 31. The end face of the valve cap 30 is formed with an annular abutting groove 32 co-axial with the rotation hole 31 and having a diameter greater than that of the rotation hole 31. The end face of the valve cap 30 has a periphery formed with an annular track 33 having a diameter greater than that of the abutting groove 32. The track 33 of the valve cap 30 has a substantially arc-shaped toothed face 36, a substantially arc-shaped protruding block 35 located adjacent to the toothed face 36 and juxtaposed to the second stepped hole 131 of the valve body 10, and two spaced openings 34 located between the toothed face 36 and the protruding block 35.
The rotation lever 40 is rotatably mounted in the rotation hole 31 of the valve cap 30 and axially movable in the rotation hole 31 of the valve cap 30. The rotation lever 40 has a first end formed with an insert 42 that is movable with the rotation lever 40. Thus, when the rotation lever 40 is movable toward the valve body 10, the insert 42 of the rotation lever 40 is inserted into the insertion recess 140 of the throttling cock 14 so that the throttling cock 14 is rotated by the rotation lever 40, and when the rotation lever 40 is movable outward relative to the valve body 10, the insert 42 of the rotation lever 40 is detached from the insertion recess 140 of the throttling cock 14 so that the throttling cock 14 is detached from and not rotated by the rotation lever 40. The first end of the rotation lever 40 is formed with an annular shoulder 41 positioned in the abutting groove 32 of the valve cap 30, thereby preventing the rotation lever 40 from being detached from the valve cap 30. The rotation lever 40 has a second end protruding from the valve cap 30.
The cam 43 is secured on the rotation lever 40 to rotate and move therewith and is movably and rotatably mounted in the abutting groove 32 of the valve cap 30. The cam 43 has a periphery formed with a protruding engaging tooth 44. The cam 43 is movable between a first position where the insert 42 of the rotation lever 40 is detached from the insertion recess 140 of the throttling cock 14 and the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is limited in either one of the two spaced openings 34 of the valve cap 30 so that the cam 43 is secured in the valve cap 30 and a second position where the insert 42 of the rotation lever 40 is inserted into the insertion recess 140 of the throttling cock 14 and the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is detached from the openings 34 of the valve cap 30 and detachably engaged with the toothed face 36 of the track 33 of the valve cap 30.
The spring 20 is mounted in the first stepped hole 130 of the valve body 10 and biased between the valve body 10 and the cam 43 to push the cam 43 toward the valve cap 30 so that the insert 42 of the rotation lever 40 is detached from the insertion recess 140 of the throttling cock 14 and the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is limited in either one of the two spaced openings 34 of the valve cap 30.
In operation, when the rotation lever 40 is pressed to move toward the valve body 10 to overcome the elastic force of the spring 20, the insert 42 of the rotation lever 40 is inserted into the insertion recess 140 of the throttling cock 14, and the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is detached from the openings 34 of the valve cap 30. Then, the rotation lever 40 is rotated to rotate the cam 43 so that the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is rested on the toothed face 36 of the track 33 of the valve cap 30. After the rotation lever 40 is released, the cam 43 is pushed toward the valve cap 30 by the restoring force of the spring 20, so that the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is engaged with the toothed face 36 of the track 33 of the valve cap 30.
Accordingly, when the rotation lever 40 is rotated to drive the throttling cock 14 to regulate the gas flow rate, the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 is axially and reciprocally movable on the toothed face 36 of the track 33 of the valve cap 30 synchronously to produce vibration and sound during rotation of the rotation lever 40, thereby providing a notification function to the user so as to assure the safety when using the gas stove. In addition, the toothed face 36 of the valve cap 30 provides a temporary positioning effect to the engaging tooth 44 of the cam 43 during rotation of the rotation lever 40, so that the rotation of the rotation lever 40 is controlled step by step by the user so as to regulate the gas flow rate exactly.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.
