Safety gas burner

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6439879
  • Patent Number
    6,439,879
  • Date Filed
    Thursday, January 25, 2001
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, August 27, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Bennett; Henry
    • Cocks; Josiah C.
    Agents
    • Bacon & Thomas, PLLC
Abstract
A safety gas burner. The burner includes a shell having a front extension tube, a metal flame tube mounted in the front extension tube, a butane well, a gas valve adapted to control output of fuel gas from the butane well, a gas lever pivoted to the gas valve and adapted to open the gas valve for output of fuel gas from the butane well. An igniter is mounted in the shell, and the igniter includes a first terminal connected to the flame tube by a conductor and a second terminal connected to a spark discharging electrode suspended in the flame tube.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to gas burners and, more specifically, to a safety gas burner.




A regular gas burner


1


, as shown in

FIG. 1

, comprises a substantially rectangular shell


10


, a front extension tube


40


forwardly extended from one end of the shell


10


, a metal flame tube


41


mounted in the front extension tube


40


, a butane well


11


and an igniter


12


and an actuating device


13


respectively mounted inside the shell


10


, a gas valve


111


mounted in the top outlet of the butane well


11


, a flexible gas tube


112


extended from the gas valve


111


to the free end of the front extension tube


40


and connected to a spark discharging electrode


31


, which is connected to one terminal


122


of the igniter


12


by a conductor, a gas lever


113


coupled to the gas valve


111


, an ignition switch button


16


mounted in a through hole


21


of the shell


10


and stopped against the igniter


12


, a safety button


14


supported on a spring


141


in a locating hole


18


of the shell


10


, and a link


17


supported on a spring


171


at the actuating member


13


. When operating the gas burner, the safety button


14


is depressed to move the actuating member


13


and the link


17


to such position that the link


17


is aligned between a rod


161


of the ignition switch button


16


and the gas lever


113


, and then the ignition switch button


16


is depressed to force the rod


161


against the link


17


and to drive the igniter


12


, causing the link


17


to drive the gas lever


113


to open the gas valve


111


and the igniter


12


to discharge sparks through the spark discharging electrode


31


, and therefore fuel gas is discharged to the flame tube


41


and burned by the sparks discharged through the spark discharging electrode


31


. If the user does not depress the safety button


14


, depressing the ignition switch button


16


simply drives the igniter


12


to discharge sparks through the spark discharging electrode


31


without causing the gas lever


113


to open the gas valve


111


, therefore no fuel gas is provided to the flame tube


41


. However, this structure of gas burner is still not safe in use. Because the safety button


14


is exposed to the outside of the shell


10


, the child playing the gas burner can easily found the presence of the safety button


14


and operate it, and a flame may be produced accidentally.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The present invention has been accomplished to provide a safety lock for gas burner, which eliminates the aforesaid problem. It is main object of the present invention to provide a safety burner, which uses a spring-supported stop member to stop the safety button from operation. It is another object of the present invention to provide a safety burner, in which the contact area of the stop member to the safety button is concealed from sight, so that the child cannot easily find the way to unlock the safety button when playing the safety gas burner. According to the present invention, the safety button has a mushroom-like cap, the shell has a sliding slot disposed adjacent to the safety button and holding a spring-supported stop member. Normally, the stop member is stopped between the cap of the safety button and the outside wall of the shell to stop the safety button from operation. When in use, the stop member is moved downwards in the sliding slot and disengaged from the safety button, enabling the safety button to be operated.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a plain view of a gas burner according to the prior art.





FIG. 2

is a perspective view of the present invention.





FIG. 3

is a plain view of the present invention showing the stop member disengaged from the safety button.





FIG. 4

is another plain view of the present invention, showing the stop member disengaged from the safety button.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Referring to

FIGS. 2 and 3

, the gas burner


1


is shown comprising a substantially rectangular shell


10


, a front extension tube


40


forwardly extended from one end of the shell


10


, a metal flame tube


41


mounted in the front extension tube


40


, a butane well


11


and an igniter


12


and an actuating device


13


respectively mounted inside the shell


10


, a gas valve


111


mounted in the top outlet of the butane well


11


, a flexible gas tube


112


extended from the gas valve


111


to the free end of the front extension tube


40


and connected to a spark discharging electrode


31


, which is connected to one terminal


122


of the igniter


12


by a conductor, a gas lever


113


coupled to the gas valve


111


, an ignition switch button


16


mounted in a through hole


21


of the shell


10


and stopped against the igniter


12


, a safety button


14


supported on a spring


141


in a locating hole


18


of the shell


10


, the safety button


14


having one end connected to the actuating member


13


by a screw joint and an opposite end extended out of the shell


10


and provided with a mushroom-like cap


142


, a link


17


supported on a spring


171


at the actuating member


13


, and a spring-supported stop member


151


mounted in a sliding slot


15


of the shell


10


and stopped between the outside wall of the shell


10


and the cap


142


of the safety button


14


to stop the safety button


14


from operation.




Referring to

FIG. 3

again, when operating the gas burner, the spring-supported stop member


151


is moved downwards from the top end of sliding slot


15


to the bottom end thereof and disengaged from the cap


142


of the safety button


14


to unlock the safety button


14


, and then the safety button


14


is depressed to move the actuating member


13


and the link


17


to such position that the link


17


is aligned between a rod


161


of the ignition switch button


16


and the gas lever


113


, and then the ignition switch button


16


is depressed to force rod


161


of the ignition switch button


16


and the gas lever


113


, and then the ignition switch button


16


is depressed to force the rod


161


against the link


17


and to drive the igniter


12


, causing the link


17


to drive the gas lever


113


to open the gas valve


111


and the igniter


12


to discharge sparks through the spark discharging electrode


31


, and therefore fuel gas is discharged to the flame tube


41


and burned by the sparks discharged through the spark discharging electrode


31


.




Referring to FIG.


4


and

FIG. 3

again, the gas lever


113


is pivoted to the gas valve


111


, and the gas outlet of the gas valve


111


is connected to flame tube


41


adjacent to the spark-discharging electrode


31


. When forcing the link


17


against one end of the gas lever


113


, the other end of the gas lever


113


is lifted to open the gas valve


111


, enabling fuel gas to flow from the butane well


11


through the flexible gas tube


112


to the area around the spark discharging electrode


31


for burning. A flame adjustment wheel


114


is coupled to the gas valve


111


, and adapted to control the flow rate of fuel gas passing out of the gas valve


111


.




Referring to

FIG. 3

again, the ignition switch button


16


is mounted in the through hole


21


of the shell


10


and stopped against the igniter


12


. An opening


50


is made through the shell


10


in communication with the through hole


21


. The user can insert the thumb into the opening


50


to operate the ignition switch button


16


. The igniter


12


is mounted inside the shell


10


and stopped against the bottom end of the ignition switch button


16


, having one terminal


122


connected to the spark discharging electrode


31


by a conductor (not shown), and the other terminal


123


connected to the flame tube


41


by a conductor (not shown). When depressing the ignition switch button


16


to drive the igniter


12


, an electric arc is produced between the flame tube and the spark-discharging electrode


31


. The igniter


12


is supported on spring means (not shown), which automatically returns the igniter


12


to its former position after each operation of the ignition switch button


16


.




By means of the aforesaid arrangement, the user must move the spring-supported stop member


151


from the top end of sliding slot


15


to the bottom end thereof to unlock the safety button


14


upon each use of the gas burner, so that the safety button


14


can be depressed to move the actuating member


13


and the link


17


to the operative position. After the actuating member


13


and the link


17


have been moved to the operative position, the ignition switch button


16


is depressed to open the gas valve


111


and to simultaneously trigger the igniter


12


.




Referring to

FIG. 2

again, the cap


142


of the safety button


14


is shaped like a mushroom, and the stop member


151


is retained between the cap


142


of the safety button


14


and the outside wall of the shell


10


. Viewing from the outside, a child cannot easily find that the stop member


151


and the safety button


14


are two separate members and can be separated from each other. Therefore, when playing the gas burner, the child does not know the way to unlock the safety button


14


.




While only one embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that various modifications and changes could be made thereunto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention disclosed.



Claims
  • 1. A safety gas burner comprising:a shell, said shell comprising a front extension tube forwardly extended from a front end thereof, a metal flame tube mounted in said front extension tube, a butane well, a gas valve adapted to control output of fuel gas from said butane well, a gas lever pivoted to said gas valve and adapted to open said gas valve for output of fuel gas from said butane well; an igniter mounted in said shell, said igniter having a first terminal connected to said flame tube by a conductor and a second terminal connected to a spark discharging electrode suspended in said flame tube; an ignition switch button mounted in a through hole of said shell and stopped against said igniter and adapted for depressing by hand to trigger said igniter and to drive said gas lever to open said gas valve; a safety button supported on a spring in a locating hole of said shell and adapted to let said gas lever be driven by said ignition switch button when depressed, said safety button having a cap disposed outside said shell; and a spring-supported stop member mounted in a sliding slot of said shell and stopped between an outside wall of said shell and the cap of said safety button to stop said safety button from operation.
  • 2. The safety gas burner of claim 1 further comprising an actuating member link connected to one end of said safety button inside said shell, and a link supported on a spring at said actuating member link and adapted to drive said gas lever upon depression of said ignition switch button after said safety button has been depressed.
  • 3. The safety gas burner of claim 1, further comprising a flame adjustment wheel pivoted to said gas valve and adapted to control the flow rate of fuel gas discharged from said gas valve.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
089221263 U Dec 2000 TW
US Referenced Citations (6)
Number Name Date Kind
5496169 Chen Mar 1996 A
5697775 Saito et al. Dec 1997 A
5931656 Kanno Aug 1999 A
6059563 Hsu May 2000 A
6244858 Wang Jun 2001 B1
6293782 Tsai Sep 2001 B1