US3495414A - Valve and metering device for gas-fueled lighters - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent O 3,495,414 VALVE AND METERING DEVICE FOR GAS-FUELED LIGHTERS Frederick A. Fassbender, Essex Fells, N.J., assignor to S. M. Frank & Co., Inc., New York, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed May 16, 1968, Ser. No. 729,729 Int. Cl. F17c 7/02; F23d 13/04 US. CI. 62-50 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A valve mechanism and metering device for gas-fueled lighters comprising a valve stem which can be operated to permit the flow of gaseous fuel to a burner nozzle where it is ignited into a flame by a conventional spark Wheel to produce a flame the size of which can be regulated by an adjustment screw carried by the fuel casing or container and which metering device can be replaced when it becomes defective by retracting the valve adjustment screw from the fuel container.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In conventional gas lighters of this type a contact lever, which is pivotally mounted on the fuel container or casing, engages a valve stem. The valve is opened by depressing the lever against spring bias to permit the gaseous fuel to flow to the burner nozzle where it is ignited into flame by a spark created by the conventional spark wheel. The flame is extinguished simply by releasing the pressure on the lever, which closes the valve and thus cuts off the fuel supply. The fuel normally used is commercial butane which is contained in the fuel tank or receptacle under such pressure that it is maintained in liquid form. This liquid type of fuel has a tendency to escape through very minute openings and therefore an effective seal means must be provided between the moving parts of the valve arrangement to prevent leakage of gas into the atmosphere, the ignition of which might cause serious injury to the operator.

For the purpose of regulating the amount of fuel to the burner nozzle, a regulating or adjusting screw engages a threaded retainer sleeve in the lighter casing or fuel container. This adjustment screw is caused to press against a wick of compressible material, usually composed of fiber cloth. By tightening or loosening the adjusting screw, the wicking is compressed and expanded respectively and thus the amount of fuel to the nozzle is regulated to thereby produce a flame of the desired size. This adjustable valve is generally called a metering valve.

The metering valve is the major source of malfunction in the valve assembly. Due to the repeated compression and expansion of the wick member it becomes lazy and may even become permanently deformed and thus render the valve useless and might even cause possible injury to the user of the lighter. The wick may also become compacted by butane impurities or foreign material, causing interruption of the flow of fuel and thus will cause malfunctioning.

Gas-fueled lighters equipped with the conventional valve and metering assembly, therefore, often have to be returned to the manufacturer for valve replacement as the defective metering device was not accessible without taking the lighter apart. In many cases the lighter was abandoned due to the necessity of frequent repairs.

The problem has become so great that many manufacturers, rather than assume the obligation of repair of the metering assembly, have put on the market a so-called disposable lighter. This disposable lighter has a predetermined amount of liquid fuel sealed in the lighter 3,495,414 Patented Feb. 17, 1970 casing and when the fuel is exhausted, the lighter is discarded. Obviously, because of the intended disposable character of such lighters, quality must be sacrificed for economy.

A fundamental object of the present invention therefore is to provide a separate metering device which can easily be removed when it becomes defective, and which can be replaced with a new one by the user without the necessity of returning the lighter for repair by experienced workmen.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention a novel metering assembly is provided which operates effectively to meter the flow of the fuel, as well as to permit the flow or the shut-01f of the gas. The valve assembly is actuated by a lever having a yoke which engages the valve-stem part of the assembly, causing the same to be raised or lowered. Lifting 0f the valve stem permits the flow of gas and the turning of an adjustment screw determines the volume of gas permitted to flow and the resulting flame height.

The metering device comprises a cylinder-like construction having a small orifice through which the gas enters from the fuel container. The interior of the cylindershaped metering device retains the compressible wicking material such as rubber and fiber disks. The degree of compression of these disks regulates the flow of gaseous fuel into the hollow valve stem and to the nozzle provided thereon. The metering device is removably seated over a reduced-diameter portion of an adjustment screw which threadably engages a retainer sleeve in the fuel container or lighter casing.

The orifice or inlet port in the metering device normally is above the level of the liquified gas so that only gaseous fuel will be admitted and brought into contact with the wicking material. Thus, when the lighter or fuel container is held in upright position, a steady flame, the height of which is regulated by the compression of the wicking material, will emerge from the nozzle. On the other hand, if the lighter or fuel container is tilted or inverted so that fuel in liquid form is permitted to flow through the orifice or inlet port, the wicking material will become saturated with liquid fuel and the flame will immediately become intensified. In the tilted or inverted position the lighter becomes particularly suitable as a pipe lighter, whereas in the upright position it is primarily serviceable as a cigarette or cigar lighter.

If the metering assembly should become defective for the reasons explained herein, the valve adjustment screw is unscrewed from the retaining sleeve and retracted from the fuel container or lighter causing, the metering ring or cylinder with its damaged or inoperable wicking material is simply lifted off the reduced end of the adjustment screw and a new metering cylinder carrying wicking is pushed over the pin portion of the adjustment screw.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed:

FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the improved valve and metering device, with a portion thereof being shown in section;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the same, and

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the same, with a portion thereof fragmentarily shown."

The device is adapted for mounting in any one of a number of lighters of the butane type. It includes a cylindrical mounting or retainer sleeve I mounted in a wall 35 and disposed within the lighter casing and having a mounting flange 2, the same extending around the bore 3 of the sleeve. The sleeve 1 is internally threaded at 4 for the threadable reception of threads 5 provided on an adjustment screw 6 which is thus axially adjustable through the sleeve 1. The adjustment screw 6 carries an O ring 7 which seals the sleeve 1 against leakage of the lighter fuel, while permitting the axial adjustment of the adjustment screw 6 through it.

The adjustment screw 6 is provided at its rear end with a knurled disk 8 disposed externally of the lighter casing to enable the screw 6 to be manually and axially adjusted through the sleeve 1 to meter the lighter fuel. At its opposite end, the screw 6 is formed with a reduceddiameter portion or stem 9 that is adapted to compress one or more layers 10 of packing or wicking which may be composed of rubber, fiber or other suitable compressible and absorbent material. The wicking is fitted in the end of a bushing or cylinder indicated at 11.

The bushing or cylinder 11 fits around the stem 9 of the adjustment screw as shown in FIG. 3 and the wicking 10 is in abutment against a tubular stem 12 formed on one end of a cylindrical valve body 13. Said stem 12 has an axial passage 31 which has one end communicating with the wicking 10 and its opposite end is in communication with a chamber 14 located within the valve body 13. The valve body is formed with external screw threads 30 by means of which it can be mounted in a wall 36 of the lighter casing. A non-round head 16 is provided on the valve body to facilitate the threading of it into the lighter casing wall 36. A valve seat 15 is provided in the chamber 14 at one end of the passage 31.

Mounted for axial slidable movement within the valve body 13 is a valve 17 which is closed at one end by a packing 18 that rests against the seat 15 and closes the passage 31 when the valve stem is in a lowered position. The raising and lowering of the valve 17 is effected by means of a spring-biased lever shown in dotted lines at 19 in FIG. 3. This lever, while indicated in a neutral position in FIG. 3 is normally spring-biased into a lowered valve-closing position wherein the valve packing 18 is urged against the seat 15 to thereby close ofl the passage 31.

The lever 19, which may be one normally employed on this type of lighter, has a clevissed or bifurcated end 20 which fits around the valve 17 between a pair of spaced annular flanges 27 and 28 provided thereon. The valve 17 terminates at one end, disposed externally of the lighter body, in a nozzle 21, and extending longitudinally through the valve is a passage 22 closed at its inner end by the packing 18. Adjacent to the packing is an orifice 29 establishing communication between the interior of the chamber 14 and the axial passage 22 through the valve. An ring 23 encircles the valve and prevents lighter fuel leakage between the stem of the valve and the chamber 13.

An orifice or inlet port 24 is provided in the wall of the sleeve 11 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to provide communication between the fuel container or lighter casing.

It should be noted that the orifice or inlet port 24 normally is above the level of the liquid fuel in the container or lighter casing when the latter is in upright position. Thus, in the latter position only gaseous fuel will be admitted through the port 24 and contact and saturate the wicking 10. On the other hand, when the lighter casing or fuel container is tilted or inverted, the liquid fuel will flow through the orifice 24 and soak the wick material resulting in an intensified jet flame, thus making the lighter particularly serviceable as a pipe lighter.

From the foregoing, the operation of the device will be readily understood. The function of the device is to meter, as well as to permit, either the flow of the fuel out of the nozzle 21 or to shut off the flow. The fuel within the lighter casing, being under pressure, will enter through the orifice 24 and saturate the wicking 10. The wicking is compressed to the desired extent by the pressure of the stem portion 9 of the adjustment screw 6 urging the wicking toward the stem 21, and the fuel is forced through the passage 31 where, if the valve 17 is in its raised position as in FIG. 3, will permit the fuel to flow into the ch mber 14 and through the orifice 29 to reach the passage 22 in the valve and flow therethrough to reach the nozzle 21 and be ignited at the outlet end of said passage at the tip of the nozzle. If the valve 17 is in a lowered position, which is the normal position of the same under the spring bias of the lever 19, the packing 18 will rest against the valve seat 15 and will close oil? the fuel flow and no fuel will reach the point of combustion at the tip of the nozzle.

A feature of the present invention resides in the fact that the metering assembly can readily be replaced when it becomes defective by merely retracting the valve adjustment screw 6 and withdrawing it with the cylinder or bushing '11 on the stem 9. The valve housing and the valve can also be readily removed by unthreading of the threads 30. The replacement is thus easily made, making the lighter again operative. By the adjustment of the screw 6 the extent of compression of the wicking is regulated and the flow of lighting fuel is thus controlled to secure an even flame of predetermined height. In addition, an intensified flame jet will be produced by inverting or tilting the lighter or fuel container.

Having thus described an embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

What I claim is:

1. A valve mechanism and metering device for gasfueled lighters having a container for fuel in liquid form comprising; a valve housing having a passage extending through it, a valve for opening and closing the passage, a sleeve fixedly mounted in the container and having interinal threads, an adjusting screw extending axially through the sleeve, the screw having a reduced-diameter stem portion disposed beyond the sleeve, a bushing fitted around said stem portion, said bushing having wicking mounted within it and against which one end of the stern portion is operative to compress the wicking, the bushing having an aperture in its wall to establish communication between the wicking and the interior of the container, the valve housing having a hollow stem projecting toward the wicking so that by rotati've movement of the screw the wicking will be clampingly and adjustably held between the stem portion of the screw and the stem on the valve housing.

2. A valve mechanism and metering device according to claim 1, wherein the screw carries a sealing ring operative against the inner wall surface of the sleeve, the valve housing including a chamber provided with a valve seat at one end of the hollow stem on the valve housing, the valve having a central passage closed at one end by a packing that seats upon the valve seat upon descent of the valve, a sealing ring arranged around the valve at a distance above the packing and the valve having an aperture in its wall at a point between the said sealing ring and the packing to thereby establish communication between the chamber and the interior of the container.

3. In a metering device and valve mechanism for lighters, a lighter casing, a tubular element having a compressible wicking contained in one end of it, a valve housing threadably mounted in a wall of the casing and having a lower hollow stem portion against which one face of the wicking abuts, a sleeve fixedly mounted on an opposite wall of the casing, an adjusting screw threadably mounted in the sleeve and having an upper end projecting above the sleeve, said adjusting screw having an upper end portion extending through the wick-carrying tubular element to reach and contact with the wicking, the tubular element being free of attachment to the adjusting screw, the screw being withdrawable out of the casing by being unthreaded from the sleeve, with the tubular element and its contained wicking being carried on the end of the screw and being thus removed along with the screw as the screw is removed and is drawn away from the casing.

4. A valve mechanism and metering device for lighters comprising, a lighter casing containing a guide sleeve fixedly attached to a wall of the casing, an adjusting screw threadable axially through the sleeve, said screw having sealing means arranged between it and the wall of the sleeve, a valve housing fitted in an opposite wall of the casing, a removable cylinder fitted over one end of the screw and arranged between the screw and the valve housing, the cylinder containing a wicking within it at one end, the cylinder having an orifice establishing communication between the wicking and the interior of the casing, 1

the valve housing having a lower extension disposed axially in relation to the screw, and the wicking being arranged for the imposition of clamping force between the valve housing and an end of the adjusting screw.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 0 LLOYD L. KING, Primary Examiner U.S. C1. X.R. 431344

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