US20100099053A1

US20100099053A1 - Structure of lighter with safety button

Info

Publication number: US20100099053A1
Application number: US12/285,907
Authority: US
Inventors: I-Hsuan Lai
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-10-16
Filing date: 2008-10-16
Publication date: 2010-04-22

Abstract

A lighter, in the form of a tubular shape in particular, is provided with a safety button. The lighter includes an ignition button having a surface to which the safety button is mounted. The surface of the ignition button defines a slot in which the safety button is received. The safety button is biased by a spring to have a pin engaging a notch defined in an inside wall of a casing of the lighter to set the lighter in a locked status. The safety button can be manually moved against the spring to disengage the safety pin from the notch to thereby release the locked status, and then the ignition button can be pressed down to set a fire at a fire outlet orifice that receives fuel from a fuel container accommodated in the casing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a lighter, and in particular to a lighter having a safety button so that to actuate the lighter to set a fire, the safety button must be moved first to release a locked status of the lighter whereby operation safety of the lighter can be ensured.
2. The Related Art
Conventional lighters, in order to reduce manufacturing costs, are of a disposable design containing a fixed amount of fuel. These lighters are made up of fixed structure and elements so that the construction of lighters of this kind is extremely simple, cheap and very commonly seen. Such a disposable lighter is thus prevailing and a great number of such lighter products are sold every year. Due to such an enormous amount of lighters, which is easy to operate and lights up without any safety device, around us, the misuse of lighter leading to a fire accident is frequently heard.
The present invention is made to assure that under any circumstances, the fuel inside the lighter will not leak, and cannot produce flames without safety operations. Preventing children from accidentally triggering the lighter and causing danger is a major issue of the new generation lighter disclosed herein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thu, the present invention is aimed to provide a lighter having an improved safety button to ensure operation safety of the lighter.
The main objective of the present invention is to provide a structure of lighter, which has a tubular shape, to which a safety button is mounted so that before pressing an ignition button to actuate the lighter, the safety button must be manually operated to release a locked status of the lighter thereby ensuring operation safety of the lighter.
To realize the above objective, the present invention introduces the technique described below.
The present invention provides a lighter comprising an improved safety button, wherein the lighter comprises an ignition button attached to the top of an outer casing the tubular-shaped lighter and the safety button is attached to a surface of the ignition button.
Inside the tubular-shaped outer casing, the lighter body and a fuel container are accommodated. An igniter is located atop the fuel container, and the top of the igniter is in contact with a press arm of the ignition button. A fire outlet orifice is formed at the topmost location of the lighter and is covered by an extension section of the ignition button.
The ignition button, which is of a substantially S-shape, is pivotally mounted to the top of the outer casing. On one side of the ignition button is the extension section, which covers the fire outlet orifice. The press arm is mounted to the bottom of the ignition button and has a front end engaging the igniter. A slot is defined in the surface of the ignition button for movably receiving the safety button therein and also limiting the safety button to move along the surface of the ignition button in a direction set by the slot.
The safety button comprises a projection mount extending from a bottom thereof in a direction through the slot into the outer casing thereby allowing the safety button to be secured to the surface of the ignition button. The projection pin is formed on an end face of the projection mount and engageable with the notch defined in an inside wall of the outer casing, to set a locked status. A spring is located between the projection mount and an inside wall of the ignition button to provide the safety button with elastic repositioning function. Also, the spring provides a biasing force that biases the projection mount in such a way to position the projection pin into the notch to thereby lock the safety button and prevent the ignition button from being pressed down.
To actuate the ignition button, the safety button first has to be pushed away before activating the ignition button. The projection mount, which is pushed away in a direction against the spring, compresses the spring, allowing the projection pin to leave or disengage from the notch thereby releasing the locked status. Then, the ignition button can be pressed down. This provides extreme security.
The distinguishing feature of the present invention is that it provides clear and effective safety mechanism with only simple elements and structure. Without any other device, a locked status for safety purposes can be ensured and this is very innovative.
The improved lighter safety button will not affect the regular use of the lighter. But for children, it would be difficult to activate, preventing danger caused by accidentally igniting the lighter.
In order to clearly show and make better comprehension of these and other features and structures of the present invention. The present invention will be explained in more detail with reference to an embodiment illustrated in the drawings, in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a lighter having a safety button constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the lighter of the present invention with an ignition button being not pressed down;

FIG. 3 is the cross-sectional view of the lighter of the present invention with the ignition button being pressed down;

FIG. 4 is side elevational view of the lighter of the present invention, which is partially broken to illustrate the safety button, wherein the safety button is not pushed away and the ignition button cannot be pressed down; and

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the lighter of the present invention, which is partially broken to illustrate the safety button, wherein the safety is pushed away and the igniter button can be pressed down.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 1 and 2, a lighter constructed in accordance with the present invention, generally designated with reference numeral 10, is shown. The lighter 10 has a tubular configuration defined by an outer casing 11. On the top of the outer casing 11, an ignition button 20 is provided and a safety button 30 is arranged on the surface of the ignition button 20.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the outer casing 11 accommodates a main body of the lighter 10 and a fuel container 12. An igniter 13 is located atop the fuel container 12, and top of the igniter 13 is in contact with a press arm 22 of the ignition button 20. A fire outlet orifice 14 is formed at the topmost location of the lighter and is covered by an extension section 21 of the ignition button 20.
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the ignition button 20, illustrating a condition where the safety button 30 is not pushed open, and the igniter button 20 is prevented from being pressed down.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIG. 4, illustrating that the safety button 30 is pushed open, whereby a projection pin 32 disengages from a notch 33, allowing the ignition button 20 ready to be activated.
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the ignition button 20, which is of a substantially S-shape, is pivotally mounted to the top of the outer casing 11. On one side of the ignition button 20 is the extension section 21, which covers the fire outlet orifice 14. The press arm 22 is mounted to the bottom of the ignition button 20 and has a front end engaging the igniter 13. A slot 23 is defined in the surface of the ignition button 20 for movably receiving the safety button 30 therein and also limiting the safety button 30 to move along the surface of the ignition button 20 in a direction set by the slot 23.
The safety button 30 comprises a projection mount 31 extending from a bottom thereof in a direction through the slot 23 into the outer casing 11 thereby allowing the safety button 30 to be secured to the surface of the ignition button 20. The projection pin 32 is formed on an end face of the projection mount 31 and engageable with the notch 33 defined in an inside wall of the outer casing 11, to set a locked status. A spring 34 is located between the projection mount 31 and an inside wall of the ignition button 20 to provide the safety button 30 with elastic repositioning function. Also, the spring 34 provides a biasing force that biases the projection mount 31 in such a way to position the projection pin 32 into the notch 33 to thereby lock the safety button 30 and prevent the ignition button 20 from being pressed down.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 5, to actuate the ignition button 20, the safety button 30 first has to be pushed away before activating the ignition button 20. The projection mount 31, which is pushed away in a direction against the spring 34, compresses the spring 34 allowing the projection pin 32 to leave or disengage from the notch 33 thereby releasing the locked status, as shown in FIG. 5. Now the ignition button 20 can be pressed down, opening the extension section 21 of the ignition button 20 and allowing the fire outlet orifice 14 to reveal, as shown in FIG. 3. With the ignition button 20 pressed down, the press arm 22 formed on the bottom of the ignition button 20 presses and thus trigger the igniter 13 to set a fire that comes out of the fire outlet orifice 14.
When the ignition button 20 is released and regains its regular or home or original position, the extension section 21 once again covers the fire outlet orifice 14. The spring 34 arranged below the safety button 30 drives the projection mount 31 to put the projection pin 32 back to its engagement position inside the notch 33 thereby locking the safety button 30 again. As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 4, under this situation, the ignition button 20 cannot be pressed down, and this ensures absolute safety of operation of the lighter 10.
The distinguishing feature of the present invention is that it provides clear and effective safety mechanism with only simple elements and structure. Without any other device, the projection pin 32 of the safety button 30 engaging the notch 33 can form a locked status and act as a safety mechanism, which is very innovative.
The improved lighter safety button in the present invention, will not affect the regular use of the lighter. But for children, it would be difficult to activate, preventing danger caused by accidentally igniting the lighter, in order to realize the objective.
The embodiment of the present invention is capable of realizing the expected objective. Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A lighter, comprising:

an outer casing enclosing a lighter body and forming a fuel container in interior thereof, an igniter being arranged atop the fuel container, top of the igniter being in contact with a press arm of an ignition button, a fire outlet orifice formed at a topmost position of the lighter body and covered by an extension section of the ignition button;

the ignition button, which is arranged on top of the outer casing and assuming a substantially S-shape, and which comprises the extension section configured to cover the fire outlet orifice and the press arm arranged at a lower portion of the ignition button and having a front end in engagement with the igniter, the ignition button having a surface in which a slot is defined to receive a safety button and limiting the safety button to move on the surface of the ignition button in a direction set by the slot; and

the safety button, which comprises a projection mount received through the slot of the ignition button and retaining the safety button on the surface of the ignition button, the projection mount comprising a projection pin engageable with a notch defined in an inside wall of the outer casing to set a locked status, a spring located between the projection mount and an inside wall of the ignition button to provide the safety button with elastic repositioning function and to provide the projection mount with a biasing force that drives the projection pin into the notch to thereby set the safety button to the locked status and preventing the ignition button from being pressed for actuation;

wherein to press and thus actuate the ignition button, the safety button has to be pushed away first, allowing the projection mount to compress the spring and thus disengaging the projection pin from the notch, and then the ignition button is pressed down simultaneously causing the extension section to reveal the fire outlet orifice and the press arm to press the igniter so as to set a fire in and out of the fire outlet orifice.