Patent Application
20050155964
This invention pertains to a woodburning device. It applies especially, but not exclusively to, woodburning activities on wood intended for children.
Woodburning is considered to be an early-learning activity or an activity for the intellectual and artistic development of the child. The concept of woodburning consists of heating a metal tip and bringing the tip into contact with a material in a manner such that the material burns or carbonizes under the action of the heated tip. Children often engage in woodburning because this practical exercise is considered to be particularly formative for children.
When children engage in woodburning, it is necessary to provide a maximum safety system to prevent the children's bodies or any other flammable material from coming into contact with the heated tip. In fact, the tips of woodburning devices are on average brought to a temperature close to 400° C., and certain attachment parts commonly reach 150° C.
There are several types of woodburning devices on the market: inertia woodburning tools and filament woodburning tools.
Inertia woodburning tools operate on the same principle as a soldering iron, i.e., by electrically heating the tip of the woodburning tool. In such a case, the tip of the woodburning device has a temperature close to 400° C.
Filament woodburning tools generally use a tungsten filament. The material made of tungsten is heated by the passage of an electric current, essentially in the same manner as a conventional electric light bulb; the tip is heated under the action of this electric current. In such a case, the tip of the woodburning device has a temperature often close to 450° C.
In fact, any material having a high resistance to electrical current as well as a relatively high melting point can be used to constitute the material of the tip of a woodburning tool.
For the purpose of illustrating a conventional woodburning device, U.S. Pat. No. 2,101,913 describes a heated tip that can be retracted into the interior of the woodburning device; the withdrawal of the heated tip allows the woodburning tool to heat the tip. Thus, in that type of set-up there is no protective system to protect the user from being burned upon contact with the heated tip.
Thus, known woodburning devices have a certain number of drawbacks. In fact, these devices which do not provide suitable protection system represent a potentially very great danger in particular for children. Furthermore, there does not presently exist a system that indicates the operating state of the woodburning device.
This invention relates to a woodburning device including a heated tip, an elongated case delimited by a guard device having a substantially circular protrusion and prolonged by a protective cage which allows emergence of an end of the heated tip only when the device is in an operational mode.
Better understanding of the invention will be obtained from the description below, presented for purely explanatory purposes, of examples of the woodburning device according to aspects of the invention with reference to the attached figures:
It will be appreciated that the following description is intended to refer to specific embodiments of the invention selected for illustration in the drawings and is not intended to define or limit the invention, other than in the appended claims.
This invention provides a woodburning device comprising a case that is essentially elongated such that it can be grasped by a user, comprising at one end a wire connection to provide electrical power and at the other end a heated tip, a protective cage surrounding the tip such that only its end protrudes beyond the cage and a pushbutton acting to advance the heated tip beyond the protective cage or vice versa to withdraw the tip into the interior of the protective cage.
The protective cage advantageously has the shape of a truncated cone. The protective cage is preferably made of plastic, e.g., a thermoplastic, a thermoset plastic or the like.
According to one aspect, the woodburning device furthermore comprises a fan positioned in the direction of the tip to blow out air to the exterior of the device; the blown or expelled air passing between the tip and interior wall of the protective cage. Thus, the case can also comprise at least one motor, e.g., an electric motor powered with electricity via the electrical connection, connected to the fan.
According to another aspect, the external atmospheric air stemming from the open end in which is positioned the heated tip is aspirated by the rotation of the fan. The cooling of the heated tip and the hot parts is then comparable to the aspect described above. Fumes can then be evacuated via an exhaust line located opposite the heated tip or moved further away by the intermediary of a flexible tube.
According to another aspect, the motor and the fan are moved to the exterior of the case to lighten the woodburning device, the ventilated air then circulating between the fan and the device via a tube.
The woodburning device preferably comprises a pushbutton controlling the on-off function of the device, i.e., the heating or termination of heating of the tip. In one aspect, when the pushbutton is put in the “off” position, the fan is made to turn more rapidly so that the tip will cool off quickly.
The woodburning device advantageously also comprises a warning or operating light indicating the operating state of the device. Thus, the light may, e.g., be illuminated with a green light when the pushbutton is in the “off” position and with a red light when the pushbutton is in the “on” position.
The pushbutton preferably comprises a control device acting to cause the tip to advance beyond the protective cage or vice versa to be withdrawn inside the cage.
By means of these particular features, the invention enables, due to its internal ventilation system, maintenance of a temperature which does not exceed about 35° C. on any of the accessible zones of the woodburning device with the exception of the functional tip. The versions of the prior art have a temperature of the grasping body greater than 50° C.
Turning now to the Drawings, the woodburning device 1 shown in
The first part 3 has a wire guide 5 essentially in the form of a truncated cone that guides the electric wires 6 sheathed in insulating plastic to the inside of the case 2. The wire guide 5 makes it possible to keep the electric wire connection 6 at a distance from the tip 12 and lightens handling by facilitating displacement of the wire 6.
It should be noted that the heating device for the heated tip 12 operates in a conventional manner.
Thus, the woodburning device 1 is supplied with electric power via at least one wire connection 6. As required, device 1 is connected to an electric supply. Nevertheless, it is possible to provide for the use of another means of generation or storage of electric power to provide an independent, self-contained woodburning device, e.g., a battery or battery system.
In the example selected to illustrate aspects of the invention, a fan 7 of suitable form and size is housed inside case 2. This fan 7 has a rotor 8, the blades of which are oriented in the direction opposite to the wire guide 5, i.e., when the fan 7 is operating, it expels or blows out air in the direction of the heated tip located opposite the first part 3. The fan 7 operates with an electric motor 9 supplied with electric power via the wire connection 6.
The ventilator 7 makes it possible to disperse the fumes that can be harmful to the eyes and to limit the heating of the peripheral zones of the heated tip such as the case 2 or the guard device 10 provided to make secure the holding of the woodburning device 1.
The second part 4 of the case 2 has a generally cylindrical appearance. This second part 4 is intended to receive the user's hand. Its form is therefore designed to match the contours of a hand grasping the second part 4 constituting the holding part of the woodburning device 1.
The second part 4 of the case 2 also comprises a pushbutton 11 for turning the heated tip on and off. Thus, in this device, the pushbutton 11 has the function of providing power to the heated tip. Since this action is commanded by a voluntary act of the user, the tip 12 will not be heated unless the user has the intention of engaging in woodburning. This pushbutton system 11 makes it possible to limit heating to real time use.
The pushbutton 11 moreover secures operation of the woodburning device 1 for the user as well as for people around the user by preventing the risks of untimely burning.
The free end of the second part 4 is delimited by a guard device 10 comprising a circular protrusion which prevents the user's hand from sliding toward the hot zone, i.e., the heated tip 12. Moreover, as a result of guard device 10, as well as the ergonomic design of the case 2 of the device, the user can grasp device 1 close to the heated tip 12 to obtain good precision in the work being executed.
In
Following the guard device 10 is a protective cage 14. The protective cage 14 is in the form of a truncated cone and is of plastic, e.g., a conventional thermoplastic obtained by molding. This protective cage 14 protects the user or those nearby from contact with the hot zone by only allowing protrusion of the end of the heated woodburning tip 12. Moreover, by limiting access to the woodburning tip 12, this device reduces the risks of fire.
As shown in
The woodburning device 1 illustrated in
It is also possible to envisage an arrangement in which the user must hold the command button 18 in the pushed-in position such that if the user withdraws or releases the finger or hand maintaining the pushbutton mechanism, it will again withdraw the heated tip 12 into the interior of the protective cage. Upon withdrawal of the heated tip 12 into the interior of the protective cage 14, the fan 7 begins to aspirate or expel more rapidly the surrounding air to accelerate the cooling rate of the heated tip 12. In this manner, the user is able to concentrate more completely on the work at hand because the user does not have to concentrate or be vigilant to ensure the user's own safety.
The preceding description presented operations characteristic of a filament woodburning device. The principles described can be transposed to an inertia woodburning device with retention of the presence of the protective cage, fan and pushbutton triggering the withdrawal of the heated tip.
Also, the invention was described above as an example. It is understood that one skilled in the art can implement different aspects of the woodburning device 1 according to the invention, in particular with regard to the form of the device as well as the arrangement of the different elements composing the device, without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/07666 | Jun 2002 | FR | national |
This is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/FR2003/001911, with an international filing date of Jun. 20, 2003 (WO 2004/000576, published Dec. 31, 2003), which is based on French Patent Application No. 02/07666, filed Jun. 20, 2002.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | PCT/FR03/01911 | Jun 2003 | US |
| Child | 11009647 | Dec 2004 | US |
