Combustion – Correlation of fuel or power supply with component movements...
Utility Patent
2000-05-02
2001-01-02
Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3743)
Combustion
Correlation of fuel or power supply with component movements...
C431S273000, C431S277000
Utility Patent
active
06168421
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of disposable lighters. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of gas lighters having an improved child safety strike wheel assembly for preventing children under five years old from igniting the lighter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Specifically, conventional disposable and non-disposable gas lighters are well known in the art. It is known that small children love to play with gas lighters, but that this may result in bums or even fires. Therefore, there is a need to incorporate a safety feature with conventional gas lighters to make them more difficult to ignite by children.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,414 issued to Zellweger on Mar. 17, 1992 for “Cigarette Lighter” discloses a cigarette lighter which includes a fuel well, a burner, a manually actuated igniting device, and an actuating element acting on the igniting device. The actuating element is disposed between two projecting portions for preventing the actuating element from being. reached by the finger of a child, but permitting it to be actuated by the finger of an adult because of the deformation of the pulp of the adult's finger.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,370 issued to Hwang on Aug. 20, 1996 for “Safety Striker Wheel Assembly For Gas Lighters” discloses a striker wheel assembly which includes a wheel axle mounted between two upright supports at the top of a butane wheel, two driving wheels mounted around the wheel axle between the upright supports, and a striker wheel fixedly mounted around the wheel axle and disposed in contact with a spring-supported flint below and turned by the driving wheels through the wheel axle to strike the spring-supported flint in producing sparks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,868,561 issued to Rogelet on Feb. 9, 1999 for “Gas Lighter Comprising A Safety Ignition System” discloses a gas lighter which includes a reservoir for containing liquefied petroleum gas, a valve mounted on the reservoir and permitting gas to leave the reservoir, a mechanism for opening the valve, an ignition system for including an axle and a flint cooperating with a spark wheel rotationally operated by at least one circular operating wheel mounted coaxially with the spark wheel.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,674 issued to Shimizu on Jun. 22, 1999 for “Safety Lighter” discloses a safety lighter which includes two wheel axles that can be easily and firmly engaged with two sides of a spark wheel respectively, so to properly support the spark wheel on top of the flint and to ensure the spark wheel is absolutely driven by the two wheel axles.
It is desirable to design and construct an improved safety lighter which includes a child safety strike wheel assembly which not only makes the safety lighter difficult to ignite and thereby reduces the injuries and damages resulting from children playing with the lighters, but also easy to use and simple in construction and thereby minimizes the cost of manufacturing the safety lighters with the child safety strike wheel assembly feature.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is an improved safety lighter with a safety strike wheel assembly.
The safety lighter is conventional in the art and it incorporates the safety strike wheel assembly thereto. The safety strike wheel assembly comprises a center strike wheel, two side turning wheels which are fixedly mounted with the center strike wheel, and two driving wheels which are respectively and loosely mounted to the two side turning wheels. Each side turning wheel has an external toothed surface. The unique feature of the safety strike wheel assembly is that it is easy to assemble because of the strike wheel is made of hard material, such as steel, while the two side turning wheels are made of soft material, such as aluminum, where the soft material deforms against the hard material, thereby providing an improved locking mechanism when the two side turning wheels are fixedly mounted to the strike wheel. To operate the safety lighter, a user must press on the driving wheels to have them frictional engage with the two side turning wheels to turn the strike wheel to create a spark.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter with an improved safety strike wheel assembly, which is easily operated by an adult, but very difficult to use by a child especially a child of less than five years old.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter with an improved strike wheel assembly having two side turning wheels which can be easily and firmly engaged to two opposite sides of a spark wheel respectively, so as to properly support the spark wheel on top of a flint and to ensure the spark wheel being absolutely driven by two driving wheels which are respectively and loosely mounted on the two side turning wheels.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter with an improved strike wheel assembly, wherein the strike wheel is made of a hard material while the two side turning wheels are made of a soft material, where the soft material deforms against the hard material, thereby providing an improved locking mechanism when the two side turning wheels are fixedly mounted to the strike wheel.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter with an improved strike wheel assembly, such that a user must press on the driving wheels to have them respectively frictional engage with two side turning wheels to turn the strike wheel to create a spark.
It is still a further object of the present invention to provide a safety lighter which is simple in construction, easy to use and low manufacturing cost.
Further novel features and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, discussion and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the drawings.
REFERENCES:
patent: 5096414 (1992-03-01), Zellweger
patent: 5547370 (1996-08-01), Hwang
patent: 5759023 (1998-06-01), Jenlis
patent: 5868561 (1999-02-01), Rogelet
patent: 5913674 (1999-06-01), Shimizu
patent: 5971749 (1999-10-01), Chen
Chen Tony D.
Clarke Sara
Easton Enterprises, Inc.
Fong Jerry
Lazarus Ira S.
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