US3327504A

US3327504A - Burner-inlet valve

Info

Publication number: US3327504A
Application number: US320061A
Authority: US
Inventors: Smith James Donald
Original assignee: Ronson Corp
Current assignee: Ronson Corp
Priority date: 1963-10-30
Filing date: 1963-10-30
Publication date: 1967-06-27
Anticipated expiration: 1984-06-27
Also published as: GB1084442A

Description

June 27, 1967 J. D. SMITH 3,327,504

BURNER-INLET VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 30, 1963 INVENTOR: Q) 2 \l JAMES DONALD SMITH L: BY

ATTORNEY.

June 27, 1967 J. D. SMITH BURNER-II:ILET VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 30, 1963 ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,327,504 BURNER-INLET VALVE James Donald Smith, Stroudsburg, Pa., assignor to Ronson Corporation, a corporation of New Jersey Filed Oct. 50, 1963, Ser. No. 320,061 4 Claims. (Cl. 67--7.1)

This invention relates to cigarette lighters and similar objects of the type filled with liquified gas, and more particularly to means that can alternately function as burner valve mean and inlet valve means.

Valves for filling the reservoirs of gas lighters or the like with liquified gas by means of a refill vessel having a connecting member are already known in the art. Such valve means comprise generally at least one outer or fixed member, one inner or movable member, and at least one sealing member.

Burner valves for gas lighters are also known in the art. Such burner valves generally comprise a fixed outer member, movable inner member, gas flow throttling means between the outer fixed and the movable inner member, and shutoff means which can be selectively operated to permit the controlled escape of gas through said burner valve.

Inlet valves of the afore-described type which are especially intended for filling the reservoir of a gas lighter using liquified gas are described for example in US. Patents Nos. Re. 24,163 and 2,882,940.

Burner valves of the afore-described type which are situated in liquified gas lighters and are generally in communication with the reservoirs of said lighters are described for example in US. Patents Numbers 2,620,643 and 2,561,270 and French Patent No. 787,706, granted on July 8, 1935, and which issued in the name of M. Pingeot.

Furthermore, it should also be noted that in the past, attempts were made to combine the inlet valve and burner valve of a liquified gas lighter into one housing. Examples of such construction can be found in the German published patent application, No. 1,059,224. However, in the embodiment disclosed and described in the aforementioned published patent application the inlet valve is situated on the bottom wall of the casing or reservoir of a gas lighter and the burner valve is situated on the opposite top wall of the same casing or reservoir.

In addition thereto, the prior art disclose and describes combination burner and inlet valves wherein a fixed or flexible housing is located on the top wall of the casing or reservoir of a gas lighter. This housing serves the dual function of a burner valve housing and an inlet valve housing. However, in the prior art the various constructions disclose different inner movable valve members for the burner valve and inlet valve. These inner movable valve members had to be exchanged in order to adapt the valve as a whole to function as either a burner valve or an inlet valve. Illustrative of this part of the prior art are the disclosures in French Patent No. 923,219 in the name of Quercia, Feb. 17, 1947, and U.S. Patent No. 2,608,081.

All of the afore-described constructions have certain important disadvantages. For instance, a standard gas lighter known in the prior art, as described above, has a burner valve which is generally mounted on the top plate of the casing of the gas lighter, and an inlet valve which is generally mounted on the bottom plate of the casing. Both the burner valve and inlet valve of a gas lighter have complicated precision manufactured parts and are, therefore, expensive to construct and assemble.

Furthermore, since the butane, propane or like liquified gases are stored in the reservoir of a gas lighter under considerable pressure, these valves must be mounted in the reservoir of the gas lighter in such a manner that there is no gas leakage of the pressurized, liquified gas stored in the reservoir. It will be obvious to those persons skilled in the art, that when there are two separately mounted valves in a gas lighter the possibilities of leakage are approximately increased by one hundred percent, compared with a lighter in which there is only one valve housing. The afore-described disadvantage also exists in the type of gas lighter illustrated in the German published patent application No. 1,059,224. In this type of construction the combination inlet-burner valve is still elaborate and complicated, despite the fact that there is only one tubular valve housing extending through the entire lighter casing which usually supports the separate inner movable valve members for the inlet and burner valves. In this type of gas lighter leakage can still occur through two different peripheral sealing surfaces. Furthermore, since there are separate inner movable valve members, the possibilities of malfunctioning of this type of combination burner-inlet valve is not significantly reduced when compared with those known embodiments which have separate burner and inlet valves.

The type of combination burner and inlet valve that is illustrated by the examples disclosed in French Patent No. 923,219, Quercia, Feb. 17, 1947, and US. Patent No. 2,608,081 also has important disadvantages compared with the construction forming part of this invention which will be described and defined below. In the last mentioned type of known combination burner and inlet valve, the housing for both the inlet and burner valve is mounted generally on the top plate of the casing of the gas lighter. This housing has the dual function of providing alternatively a seat for the inner movable member of a burner valve and the inner movable member of an inlet valve. However, two separate and distinct inner movable members are provided in this type of combination valve, one such member functioning as a burner valve and the other functioningas an inlet valve. In normal use, the burner valve member is mounted in the housing; when the lighter is to be filled the burner valve member must be removed from the housing and replaced by the inlet valve member. This obviously constitutes a very cumbersome method of refilling a gas lighter and also results in unreliable sealing of the valve.

More recently a combination burner-inlet valve has been devised which has only one housing and one inner movable member and which, nevertheless, can satisfactorily perform alternatively both the function of a burner valve and an inlet valve for a liquified gas lighter. This type of burner-inlet valve is disclosed, defined and claimed in the co-pending patent application Ser. No. 486,265, filed Aug. 26, 1965, now Patent 3,277,674, a continuation of application Ser. No. 269,026, of which Mr. James Donald Smith, the inventor of the instant application, is a co-inventor.

It is a general object of this invention to overcome to a certain extent the afore-described disadvantages.

It is another general object of this invention to provide a burner-inlet valve having a more simplified and more economic construction than those combination burner and inlet valves of the afore-described character which are known in the art.

It is a further more specific object of this invention to provide a burner-inlet valve which has only one valve housing in which there is mounted a fixed inner movable member, and which, nevertheless, can perform alternatively satisfactorily both the functions of a burner valve and an inlet valve for a liquified gas lighter.

The invention comprises generally a burner-inlet valve for a gas lighter or the like having a fuel reservoir adapted to be filled from a refill vessel. The valve includes means defining a conduit between the interior of the reservoir and the exterior thereof, said means having an engagement portion exteriorly thereof for engaging such refill 3,3 Q to" vessel to receive fuel therefrom and to pass fuel into said conduit, and terminating in two branches within said reservoir. Fuel conduction and evaporation means is interposed between one of said two branches and the reservoir for controlling flow of fuel in gaseous form between the reservoir and the conduit. Inlet valve means is located in the other of said two branches for providing communication between the conduit and the reservoir only when the pressure in the conduit exceeds that in the reservoir by a predetermined amount. Exhaust valve means are provided for venting the reservoir to the exterior of the lighter, which exhaust valve means have an actuating member separate from said conduit defining means and positioned to engage and to be actuated by an exterior surface of the refill vessel.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims.

Several illustrative embodiments of the burner-inlet valve constructed in accordance with this invention together with additional objects and advantages thereof will be best understood from the following description of specific embodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevation of one embodiment of this invention showing the burner-inlet valve in the burner-open position;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional elevation of the burner-inlet valve illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 together with a refill container showing the burner-inlet valve in the inletopen position.

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional elevation of a second embodiment of my invention showing the burner-inlet valve in the burner-closed position;

FIG. 5 is a plan sectional view along line 55 of FIG. 4.

Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1 is illustrated a burner-inlet valve having an exterior housing 1 preferably of cylindrical shape that is screwed into a neck portion 2 of a casing 3 of a gas lighter. A washer 4 of resilient material serves to make the connection between the neck portion 2 and the valve housing 1 gas-tight. Alternatively, the housing 1 may be welded to the casing 3. A preferably tubular member 5 filled with a sintered material 6 is secured to the underside of housing 1 in axial relationship thereto. The sintered material 6 may be sintered metal, sintered plastic, sintered ceramic or any other suitable porous material. An inner tubular conduit member 7 is usually secured in a gas-tight manner to the valve housing 1. An end portion 8 of the conduit member 7 projects from the bottom of the housing 1 into the sintered material 6 of the tubular member 5. The conduit member 7 has a conduit 11 which is in communication with the sintered material 6 inside tubular member 5 via the small aperture 9 at the bottom 10 of the conduit member 7. An opening 12 at the pointed top end 13 of the conduit member 7 places the sintered material 6 inside the member 5 in communication with the ambient atmosphere via the aperture 9 and the conduit 11. The top of the housing 1 has a flange portion 14 with at least one pair of aligned slots 15, which are used to remove the valve by means of a special tool (not shown). A T-shaped vent valve member 16 is reciprocatably mounted in an opening or passage 17 in the housing 1. The hole 17 is located near the bottom 18 of the socket 19 of valve housing 1. The valve member 16 has a peripheral groove 19a in which there is mounted a circular sealing washer 20 of any suitable elastomer material. A split ring 21, or equivalent means, mounted in a peripheral groove 21a around the exterior of the housing 1, urges the valve member 16 into a closed position so that a portion 22 of the T-shaped valve member projects into the socket 19. The split ring 21 may be of steel or any :1 other suitable metal or plastic material that is sufliciently strong to keep a gas-tight seal, by means of the washer 20, between the interior of the fuel tank of the gas lighter and the atmosphere.

A second T-shaped inlet valve member 24 is reciprocatably mounted in an opening 25 in the neck portion 23. As shown in FIGURE 1, the

inlet valve members

16 and 21 are placed approximately on opposite sides of the valve housing. Similar to the valve member 16, the valve member 24 has a peripheral groove 26 in which there is mounted a circular sealing Washer 27 of any suitable elastomer material. A split ring 28, mounted in a peripheral groove 28a around the exterior of the neck portion 23, urges the valve member 24 into a closed position. Similarly to the split ring 21, the split ring 28 may be of steel or any other suitable metal or plastic material that will exert just a sufficient force to keep the valve member 29 properly mounted in hole 25 and, on the other hand, yield sufficiently to cause an unsealing of the valve member 24 when the gas lighter is being refilled via the conduit 11.

The burner-inlet valve illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 operates as follows:

In the burner-open position,

valve members

16 and 24 seal the interior of the fuel tank of the gas lighter from the atmosphere respectively by means of the

seals

20 and 27. The liquified butane under pressure wets the sintered material 6 and ascends therethrough due to capillary action. The liquified butane also converts from the liquid phase to the gaseous phase while passing through the sintered material 6. Therefore, gaseous butane passes through the hole 9, the conduit 11 and finally exits from the opening 12 where it is ignited. FIG..3 illustrates the burner-inlet valve in the inlet-open position. In this position the neck 29. of a refill container 30 is placed over the conduit member 7, so that liquified butane under pressure may flow from the interior of the refill container 30 into the interior of the fuel tank of the gas lighter (not shown). At the front end of the neck 29 a pierceable self-sealing rubber-like sealing membrane 31, well known in the art, is mounted, which forms a gas tight seal around the conduit member 7 when the refill container 30 is fully inserted into the socket 19. When the refill container is withdrawn, the sealing membrane 31 self-seals itself so that no further liquified butane can escape from the refill container 30. Alternatively, the well known aerosol type ofsrefill container (not illustrated) can be used to refill a gas lighter having a burner-inlet valve forming the subject matter of the instant invention. In the latter type of refill container the opening and closing takes place by depressing a movable neck against the action of an elastic member mounted inside the refill container. In the latter type of refill container at least a portion of the inside cylindrical surface of the neck seals around the conduit member 7 when the neck of the refill container is fully inserted so that the liquified butane flows from the container into the fuel tank without any leakage. In FIG. 3 the neck 29 of the refill container is shown fully inserted in the socket 19. The outside diameter of the neck 29 of the refill vessel 30 is only slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the socket19 so that when the neck 29 is pushed past the valve member 16, it displaces the latter in an outward radial directionthereby unsealing the hole 17. The liquified butane gas inside the fuel tank of the gas lighter now starts to escape to the atmosphere causing thereby a pressure drop inside the fuel tank of the gas lighter. This pressure drop in turn causes a pressure differential between the pressure inside the refill container 30 and the conduit 7, on the one hand, and inside the fuel tank (not shown) on the other hand, The strength of the split ring 28 is such that the aforementioned pressure differential will cause the valve member 24 to unseal the hole 25. The liquified butane now flows from the refill container 30 into the fuel tank of the gas lighter via the conduit 11 and the hole 25. Simultaneously therewith, gaseous butane escapes to the atmosphere via the hole 17. The sizes of the holes and 17 are such that the inlet flow is substantially larger than the outlet flow. In this manner the fuel tank of the gas lighter can be filled in several seconds. When the liquified butane inside the fuel tank of the gas lighter has reached the level of the hole 17, the butane starts to escape in the form of a fine mist which indicates that the gas lighter has been filled. Thereupon the refill container is withdrawn and holes 17 and 25 are automatically sealed by their

respective valve members

16 and 24 due to the gas pressure inside the fuel tank and the pressure exerted by their respective split rings 21 and 28.

FIGS. 4 and 5 illustrate a modified embodiment of the burner-inlet valve forming the subject matter of this invention. The same reference numerals have been used for equivalent parts in the two embodiments illustrated in the drawings. The burner-inlet valve illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 is shown in the closed position. In FIG. 4 a snuffer 32 is also illustrated. This type of snuffer is usually associated with known automatic types of gas lighters and is mounted about a shaft and is shown as biased against the top of the conduit member 7. A resilient membrane is mounted inside the snuffer housing 35 between a retaining washer 35a and a spring 3511. The instant burner-inlet valve of FIGS. 4 and 5 is illustrated in the so called automatic type of gas lighter, well known in the art, in which a spring biased fingerpiece reciprocally mounted on the top of the gas lighter actuates the snuffer 32 and a flintwheel 33a into operative positions where the burner opening 12 is exposed and the butane gas exiting therefrom is ignited. It should be noted however, that other shut-off means can be used with the burner-inlet valve of the instant invention and it should, therefore, be understood that such other means are intended to fall within the scope of the instant invention.

The burner valve illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 differs from the burner-inlet valve illustrated in FIGS. l-3 in that it includes adjusting means that enable the user to regulate the outlet flow of butane gas through the conduit 11. The adjusting means comprise two telescopically and threadably mounted valve housings 36 and 37. The valve housing 37, preferably of cylindrical shape is screwed into a neck portion 2a of the casing 3 of a gas lighter. A washer 4 of resilient material serves to make the connection between the neck portion 2a and the valve housing 37 gas-tight. Alternatively, the housing 37 may be welded to the casing 3. The housing 36, preferably of cylindrical shape, is shown threadably mounted inside the housing 37. A sealing ring 38, of elastic material, is mounted in an outer peripheral groove 39 of the housing 36. The ring 38 makes the threaded connection between the housing 36 and 37 gas-tight. The valve housing 37 has an elongated bottom portion 40. In the bottom 41 thereof, there is nested a ball 42 of suitable metal or plastic material. A wick 44, of cotton or other suitable material, extends through two aligned transverse openings 43a and 4317 into the fuel tank of the gas lighter. The wick 44, by means of capillary action, conducts liquified butane into the zone 9a where the butane expands and ascends through the opening 91) via the conduit 11 to the atmosphere. By axially adjusting the distance between the bottom of the housing 36 and the top of the ball 42 the pressure on the wedged portion 9a of the wick 44 is adjusted and the butane gas fiowing through hole 9b is thereby regulated.

The valve housing 36 can be axially adjusted with respect to the valve housing 37 by means of a special tool, which is inserted into a pair of aligned slots 1511, at the top of the housing 36. The valve housing 37, in turn, can be axially threaded into the neck portion 2a by means of a similar tool which is inserted into a pair of aligned slots 15 at the top of housing 37.

The

valve members

16 and 24 and the parts associated therewith function identically to their counterparts in FIGS. l-3. The gaseous butane escaping from the gas 6 lighter exits through opening 45 in the valve housing 37 and the opening 17 of the valve housing 36 (-a minor amount of butane gas may also escape through openings 43a and 43b when the fuel tank is nearly full).

All of the sealing members and sealing rings illustrated in the figures and the other sealing members not illustrated that perform the same and similar functions in the gas lighter may be formed of a suitable resilient sheet material, for example, rubber, synthetic rubber or other suitable elastomer. The other parts of the burnerinlet valve may be formed of a suitable metal or plastic having the required physical and chemical properties such as a certain degree of rigidity, substantial chemical inertness to the pressurized liquified gas, workability, etc. It has been found that brass and certain plastics such as delrin are well suited for this purpose.

Although the present invention has been described in conjunction with preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that modifications and variations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as those skilled in the art will readily understand. Such modifications and variations are considered to be within the purview and scope of the invention and appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A burner-inlet valve for a gas lighter or the like having a fuel reservoir adapted to be filled from a refill vessel and comprising, in combination: a valve housing mountable in a gas-tight manner in a wall of such reservoir and forming a socket opening exteriorly thereof;

means forming an inner conduit within and axially fixed relative to said socket, communicating through the wall thereof with the interior of said reservoir, said means including an engagement portion for engaging the neck of a refill vessel inserted into said socket to provide communication between said vessel and the reservoir;

first and second passages in said valve housing, spaced from one another, said first passage connecting the interior of said socket with the reservoir and said second passage connecting the inner conduit with the reservoir;

first and second valve members reciprocatably mounted in said first and second passages respectively, said first valve member extending into said socket such that it will be actuated by the neck of a refill vessel inserted into the socket to open the first passage;

and fuel conducting and evaporating means interposed between the inner conduit and the reservoir for passing fuel from the reservoir into the inner conduit.

2. A burner-inlet valve as defined in claim 1 wherein said first and second passages are on opposite sides of the valve housing and including sealing washers on each of said first and second valve members, each for sealing its respective passage when the associated valve member is in its closed position, and first and second biasing means for urging a respective valve member to its closed position, so that when insertion of a refill vessel into the socket causes the first passage to open, the difference in pressure between the refill vessel and the reservoir will overcome the bias of the second biasing means, allowing flow of fuel from the refill vessel to the reservoir.

3. A burner-inlet valve for a gas lighter or the like having a fuel reservoir adapted to be filled from a refill vessel and comprising, in combination: a first valve housing mountable in a gas-tight manner in a wall of such reservoir and forming a socket opening toward the exterior thereof;

a second valve housing forming a socket opening exteriorly of the reservoir and axially movably mounted in a gas-tight manner in said first valve housing so that an interspace is formed between said first and second housings;

means forming an inner conduit within the second valve housing socket, communicating through the Wall thereof with said interspace and including an engagement portion for engaging the neck of a refill vessel inserted intothe second valve housing socket to provide a passage between said vessel and the reservoir;

at least one passage in said first valve housing connecting said interspace With the reservoir;

fuel conducting and evaporating means extending from within the reservoir via said one passage to said interspace and communicating therein with said inner conduit;

first and second passages in the second valve housing,

spaced from one another, said first passage connecting the interior of said second valve housing socket with said interspace, said second passage connecting the inner conduit with said interspace;

first and second valve members operably mounted in .said first and second passages, respectively, said first valve member extending into the second valve housing socket such that it will be actuated by the neck of a refill vessel inserted therein to open the first passage, so that When the second valve housing is moved axially with respect to the first valve housing 8 the pressure on the fuel conducting and evaporating means extending therebetween is varied, thereby controlling gas flow from the reservoir into the inner conduit.

4. A burner-inlet valve as defined in claim 3 wherein said first and second valve members have first and second sealing washers respectively operatively mounted thereon to seal said first and second passages When said first and second valve members are in their closed positions, and first and second biasing means respectively operatively connected to said first and second valve members urging the latter members into their closed positions.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,205,923 9/1965 Wilson 14l29l 3,221,782 12/1965 Zellweger et al. l4l302 X FOREIGN PATENTS 227,010 4/1963 Austria.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner.

E. EARLS, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A BURNER-INLET VALVE FOR A GAS LIGHTER OR THE LIKE HAVING A FUEL RESERVOIR ADAPTED TO BE FILLED FROM A REFILL VESSEL AND COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A VALVE HOUSING MOUNTABLE IN A GAS-TIGHT MANNER IN A WALL OF SUCH RESERVOIR AND FORMING A SOCKET OPENING EXTERIORLY THEREOF; MEANS FORMING AN INNER CONDUIT WITHIN AND AXIALLY FIXED RELATIVE TO SAID SOCKET, COMMUNICATING THROUGH THE WALL THEREOF WITH THE INTERIOR OF SAID RESERVOIR, SAID MEANS INCLUDING AN ENGAGEMENT PORTION FOR ENGAGING THE NECK OF A REFILL VESSEL INSERTED INTO SAID SOCKET TO PROVIDE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID VESSEL AND THE RESERVOIR; FIRST AND SECOND PASSAGES IN SAID VALVE HOUSING, SPACED FROM ONE ANOTHER, SAID FIRST PASSAGE CONNECTING THE INTERIOR OF SAID SOCKET WITH THE RESERVOIR AND SAID SECOND PASSAGE CONNECTING THE INNER CONDUIT WITH THE RESERVOIR; FIRST AND SECOND VALVE MEMBERS RECIPROCATABLY MOUNTED IN SAID FIRST AND SECOND PASSAGES RESPECTIVELY, SAID FIRST VALVE MEMBER EXTENDING INTO SAID SOCKET SUCH THAT IT WILL BE ACTUATED BY THE NECK OF A REFILL VESSEL INSERTED INTO THE SOCKET TO OPEN THE FIRST PASSAGE; AND FUEL CONDUCTING AND EVAPORATING MEANS INTERPOSED BETWEEN THE INNER CONDUIT AND THE RESERVOIR FOR PASSING FUEL FROM THE RESERVOIR INTO THE INNER CONDUIT.