GB2260602A

GB2260602A - Gaslighter

Info

Publication number: GB2260602A
Application number: GB9221487A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Kyoichi Suzuki
Original assignee: KOHGA PRESS KOGYO CO Ltd
Current assignee: KOHGA PRESS KOGYO CO Ltd
Priority date: 1991-10-14
Filing date: 1992-10-13
Publication date: 1993-04-21
Anticipated expiration: 2012-10-13
Also published as: KR970001471B1; GB9221487D0; GB2260602B; CN1073253A; DE4234489A1; KR930008372A; DE4234489C2

Abstract

A gas lighter comprises two burners 5, 6 sharing a fuel valve and mounted side by side the burner 6 flaming with a visible flame, the other unflaming. The unflaming burner 5 includes a discharging electrode provided above an internal burner nozzle mounted within a hollow wind-shielding cylinder and a fuel and air mixing tube 33. The tube 33 has an air inlet 31 and an orifice which jets liquefied fuel gas upward below the inlet. A difference of the diameter of the orifice and the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle enables almost all of the liquefied fuel gas to be delivered to the external burner nozzle through a fuel passage when both fuel passages to the flaming and unflaming burners are opened. The flaming burner 6 includes an external burner nozzle and a discharging electrode provided above the external burner nozzle. A piezoelectric igniter 3 has two leads. respectively electrically connected to the internal burner nozzle and to the discharging electrode of the flaming burner. <IMAGE>

Description

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SPECIFICATION

TITLE OF THE INVENTION GAS LIGHTER HAVING TWO BURNERS 5 BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a piezoelectric ignition type gas lighter including a flaming burner and an unflaming burner.

2. Background Art

In a conventional piezoelectric ignition type gas lighter, a piezoelectric igniter is operated to discharge electric energy to ignite liquefied fuel gas jetting from a f uel valve into the air to a burning. Such ignitions and burnings of liquefied fuel gas a comprise a flaming in which a long f lame stands up f rom a muzzle and an unf laming or internal flaming in which a gas mixture of a fuel gas and air is burned in a hollow windshielding cylinder and then a very short f lame stands up from a muzzle. Flame standing on a muzzle of a gas lighter is weak against wind and wind often blows out the flame outdoors so that a user fires a tobacco while shielding the muzzle from the wind with his hand. Since in an unflaming flame standing on the muzzle is very short in length and violent because of the gas mixture burning, even a slightly strong wind cannot blow out the f lame. This much f acilitates an outdoor f iring of a tobacco. However, unflaming has drawbacks more difficult to overcome in firing cigar or cigarette than flaming. These drawbacks are that a cigar or cigarette cannot be f ired unless the front end of the cigar or cigarette is approached to the muzzle since a flame is short, that since the cigar or cigarette is positioned obliquely to the muzzle only part of the front end of the cigar or cigarette tends to be in contact with the muzzle and be fired and then the user must smoke the cigar or cigarette a few times to uniformly burn the entire front end of the cigar or cigarette, and that since this smoking sound is relatively loud and surprisingly enough echoes in a quiet indoor place he often cannot use the unflaming gas lighter in such places.

Japanese unexamined patent application publication HEI.3-186114 discloses a gas lighter enabling both the flaming and the unflaming for overcoming the prior art drawbacks described above. Since this gas lighter, however, has a structure in which a flaming burner nozzle is located right above an internal or unflaming burner nozzle in a round hollow wind- shielding cylinder, the outer diameter of the flaming burner nozzle must be smaller than normal to render the inner diameter of the flaming nozzle smaller than normal, and the flaming burner nozzle tends to be choked with foreign matters in a gas fuel so as to be difficult to clean. In addition, since the unf laming burner nozzle acts also as a discharging electrode, none of the flaming and the unflaming can be done and the gas lighter cannot be used when the flaming and unflaming burner nozzles are damaged.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A primary object of the present invention is to provide a gas lighter having a novel structure in which between a flaming burner and an internally-flaming or unflaming burner that are arranged side by side a flaming and an unflaming are switchable at option.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a novel gas lighter in which a simple means enables a switching between two fuel passages to two flaming and unflaming burners to eliminate the need for a fuel valve on an unflaming burner side and each of the burners has an igniting electrode so that the igniting electrodes always enable a secure ignition.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a gas lighter in which a single piezoelectric igniter enables ignitions of the respective burners and which facilitates a wire lead to be electrically connected to the unflaming burner, and an assembly of the gas lighter.

In order to achieve these objects, the present invention comprises a lighter body of a synthetic resin, the 3 - lighter body including a tank for liquefied fuel gas, a receptacle for a piezoelectric igniter and a fuel valve mounted on the tank, two different burners sharing the fuel valve and mounted side by side to a holder of metal, the holder being mounted on the lighter body, one of the burners being a flaming burner, the other of the burners being an unflaming burner, the unflaming burner including a hollow cylinder assembly, the cylinder assembly including a hollow intermediate cylinder of a ceramic material, a hollow bottom cylinder of metal and an open top end, the unflaming burner including an internal burner nozzle of an electrically conductive material supported on the interior surface of the lower end of the cylinder assembly via an insulator surrounding the unflaming burner, the unflaming burner including a discharging electrode provided above the top end of the internal burner nozzle with a discharging gap, the unflaming burner including a fuel and air mixing tube connected to the lower end of the internal burner nozzle the fuel and air mixing tube having an air hole and an orifice below the air hole, the orifice jetting liquefied fuel gas upward, a difference of the diameter of the orifice and the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle enabling almost all of liquefied fuel gas to be delivered to the external burner nozzle through the fuel passage to the external burner nozzle when both the fuel passages are opened, the bottom k cylinder being electrically connected to the discharging electrode of the unflaming burner and fixed to the holder so that the bottom cylinder is electrically connected to the holder, the flaming burner including an external burner nozzle of an electrically conductive material fixed to the holder and a discharging electrode provided above the top end of the external burner nozzle, the discharging electrode of the flaming burner extending through an insulator arranged to a side of the external burner nozzle, the piezoelectric igniter received in the receptacle and having two wire leads, one of the wire leads being electrically connected to the internal burner nozzle via the fuel and air mixing tube, the other of the wire leads being electrically connected to the discharging electrode of the flaming burner, and means for switching fuel passages to the unflaming burner and the flaming burner, the switching means including a shut-off valve mounted to a fuel passage to the flaming burner and an actuator mounted to a lighter case, the actuator operating the shut-off valve to switch a flow of liquefied fuel gas between the fuel passages to the unflaming and flaming burners.

In the present invention, a sufficient difference in passage resistance of the fuel passage to the flaming burner and the fuel passage to the unflaming burner due to a sufficient difference of the inner diameter of the external - 5 burner nozzle of the flaming burner and the diameter of the orif ice in the internal burner nozzle of the unf laming burner automatically causes liquefied fuel gas to be introduced into the fuel passage to the flaming burner when the shut-of f 5 valve is opened.

The discharging electrode of the unflaming burner may be in the form of an annular thin metal sheet and electrically connected to the bottom cylinder and the intermediate cylinder and the insulator supporting the internal burner nozzle may sandwich the discharging electrode of the unflaming burner.

A hook at the front end of the one wire lead may engage a loop of an electrical connecting terminal, the electrical connecting terminal fitting on and being electrically connected to the fuel and air mixing tube so that the one wire lead is electrically connected to the electrical connecting terminal.

The igniter may have a positive high-voltage wire lead and a negative high-voltage wire lead and each of the positive and negative high-voltage wire leads is electrically connected to one of the discharging electrode and the burner nozzle of one of the unf laming burner and the f laming burner.

Only a burner jetting liquefied fuel gas operates but a burner receiving no liquefied fuel gas does not operate when electricity f rom the single piezoelectric igniter is 6 concurrently discharged in both the f laming burner and the unflaming burner.

The switching means may include a burner selector valve operating lever mounted to a burner selector valve as the shut-off valve and the actuator may be slidably mounted in the lighter case.

The switching means may comprise a movable arm entering and leaving a spacing between a bar-shaped means f or operating the fuel valve and a burner selector valve as the shut-off valve, an L-shaped link the corner of which is pivotally mounted to the tank, one end of the L-shaped link being pivoted to one end of the bar-shaped operating means, and an actuating bar as the actuator, the actuating bar being vertically slidably mounted to the interior surf ace of a sidewall of the lighter case, part of the actuating bar projecting out of an opening defined in the sidewall of the lighter case, the bottom end of the actuating bar being pivoted to the other end of the L-shaped link.

In the present invention, the user can select a use of either of the flaming burner and the unflaming burner in accordance with a situation. Since the f laming and unf laming burners have the respective discharging electrodes, he can fire a cigar or cigarette using the gas lighter even if either of the unflaming and flaming burners fails. In addition, since the flaming and unflaming burners are - 7 arranged side by side, the external burner nozzle of the flaming burner can have the inner diameter sufficiently large not to be choked with foreign matters in the fuel gas mixture. Since simply opening and closing the fuel passage to the flaming burner switches between the fuel passage to the flaming burner and the fuel passage to the unflaming burner, a conventional fuel valve on the unflaming burner side can be eliminated and only the fuel valve must have a flow regulator. Even the provision of the two burners cannot complicate the interior structure of the gas lighter and increase the size of the gas lighter. Thus, the present invention can produce a gas lighter and more handy than a conventional gas lighter having two flaming and unflaming burners. Since the intermediate cylinder of the cylinder assembly of the unflaming burner is made of the ceramic material to ref lect the red of a f lame standing on the internal burner nozzle when the unf laming burner operates, the user can more easily confirm the operation of the unflaming burner from the side of the gas lighter than the operation of a conventional unflaming burner even if he uses the gas lighter in a light or dark.

Although the intermediate cylinder and the insulating supporting cylinder of the cylinder assembly sandwich the discharging electrode of the unf laming burner in the form of the annular thin metal sheet, the discharging - 8 electrode of the unf laming burner and the internal burner nozzle can generate an electric arc across the discharging gap substantially in the same manner as those of a conventional gas lighter since the discharging electrode of the unflaming burner is electrically connected to the bottom cylinder. Since an engagement of the loop of the connecting terminal and the hook of the wire lead concurrently enables the igniter to be placed in the receptacle of the lighter body and the wire lead to be electrically connected to the connecting terminal in the assembly of the gas lighter, a step number of the assembly of the gas lighter can be reduced. Since the igniter has both the positive and negative high-voltage wire leads, the discharging electrodes can concurrently discharge and electrical energy required f or discharging ignition can be secured so that none of the two burners fail in an ignition.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front sectional view of a gas lighter according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG.2 is a rear view of the gas lighter of FIG.1; FIG. 3 is a f ront view of an interior of the gas lighter of FIG.1 with a lighter cover longitudinally sectioned; FIG.4 is a front sectional view of a burner 9 - arrangement with an sectioned; unflaming burner longitudinally FIG. 5 is a front view of a gas lighter according to a second embodiment of the present invention, showing a 5 lighter case and a cover in two-dot chain lines; FIG.6 is a rear sectional view of a burner arrangement of the gas lighter of FIG.5 with the lighter body longitudinally sectioned; FIG.7 is a front sectional view of the burner arrangement of FIGA; FIG.8 is a fragmentary front sectional view of an arrangement of a flaming burner and the lighter case of FIG.5; FIG.9 diagrammatically shows an electrical circuit for a piezoelectric igniter; FIG.10 is a front view of an alternative fuel passage switching means of a gas lighter of the present invention, showing a case of a flaming; and FIG.11 is a front view of an alternative fuel passage switching means of the gas lighter of the present invention, showing a case of an unflaming.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings hereinafter.

^c - FIGS. 1-4 show a gas lighter according to a f irst embodiment of the present invention. The gas lighter comprises the lighter body 1 of a synthetic resin. The lighter body 1 includes a tank 2 for liquefied fuel gas and a receptacle 4 for a piezoelectric igniter 3. The lighter body 1 defines a spacing over the top wall of the tank 2. A holder 7 of metal is screwed to the top surf ace of the lighter body 1. The holder 7 holds a hollow wind-shielding cylinder assembly 8 of an unflaming burner 5 and an external burner nozzle 9 of a flaming burner 6 arranged side by side above the spacing.

The lighter body 1 has a fuel valve 10 mounted on the top wall of the tank 2 or the bottom surf ace of the spacing. The fuel valve 10 has a conventional structure in which a fuel discharge tube 12 acting also as an actuator f or a valve body in a casing of the fuel valve 10 is vertically movably mounted on the valve casing of the fuel valve 10. The top end of the fuel discharge tube 12 has a fluid bifurcation 11. The top wall of the fluid bifurcation 11 has an outlet connected to the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6 and the sidewall of the fluid bifurcation 11 has an outlet connected to the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5. A f uel valve operating bar 13 obliquely extends between the f uel discharge tube 12 and a side of the igniter 3 so that the front end of the fuel valve - 11 operating bar 13 fits on the fuel discharge tube 12.

A second flexible fuel passage tube 14 of a synthetic resin or rubber extends from the outlet in the sidewall of the fluid bifurcation 11 to a fuel and air mixing tube 33 (described below) connected to the bottom end of the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5. Thus, the unflaming burner 5 continuously fluidly communicates with the fuel valve 10. A first flexible fuel passage tube 15 of the same material as the second fuel passage tube 14 extends from the outlet on the top wall of the fluid bifurcation 11 to the bottom end of the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6 so as to wind around a stay 16 extending downward from a lower bracket 7a of the holder 7. Thus, the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6 fluidly communicates with the fuel valve 10.

As shown in FIG.3, the winding portion of the first fuel passage tube 15 has a horizontal bar-shaped burner selector 17 which can squeeze part of the first fuel passage tube 15 in cooperation with the stay 16 to close the first fuel passage tube 15. The front end of the burner selector 17 is bent rearward and the rear end of the burner selector 17 is screwed to a cover 18 of metal covering the spacing above the tank 2. The front surface of the burner selector 17 has a selector actuator 19 superposed thereover as shown in phantom lines in FIG.3. The selector actuator 19 has a 1 wedging rear surf ace (not shown) in contact with the f ront surface of the burner selector 17 and slidably fits a horizontal slot (not shown) in the f ront wall of a lighter case 20.

Two wire leads 21 and 22 extend f rom the igniter 3.

The wire lead 21 is electrically connected to an internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5. The wire lead 22, as shown in FIG.2, extends through an insulator 23 of the holder 7 from behind the holder 7 and is electrically connected to a f irst discharging electrode 24 placed above the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6.

The bottom end of the igniter 3 is electrically connected to a flexible grounding bar 25 extending out of the lighter body 1. The grounding bar 25 extending between the lighter body 1 and the lighter case 20 provides a ground comprising the lighter case 20, the cover 18, the holder 7, the wind-shielding cylinder assembly 8 and the external burner nozzle 9.

As shown in FIG. 3, an igniter actuator 26 caps a movable element 3a of the igniter 3. The bottom end of the igniter actuator 26 has a laterally projecting depressor 27 f or the f uel valve operating bar 13. The depressor 27 slidably f its a slot in the cover 18 and is placed on the upper or rear end of the fuel valve operating bar 13.

As shown in FIG. 4, the unf laming burner 5 mainly - 13 comprises the wind-shielding cylinder 8, the internal burner nozzle 29, a second discharging electrode 30, and the fuel and air mixing tube 33. The wind-shielding cylinder assembly 8 comprises a hollow top inner cylinder 8c of metal, a hollow top outer cylinder 8b of metal screwed to the outer cylindrical surface of the top inner cylinder 8c, a hollow intermediate cylinder 28 of a ceramic material, a hollow bottom outer cylinder 8a of metal and a hollow insulating supporting inner cylinder 34. The internal burner nozzle 29 is made of an electrically conductive material and disposed in the insulating supporting inner cylinder 34 of an insulator coaxially with the bottom outer cylinder 8a. The second discharging electrode 30 is in the form of an annular thin metal sheet and fits the inner cylindrical surface of the bottom outer cylinder 8a to be electrically connected to the bottom outer cylinder 8a. The second discharging electrode 30 is also disposed above the internal burner nozzle 29 with a second discharging gap. The insulating intermediate cylinder 28 and the insulating supporting inner cylinder 34 also sandwich the second discharging electrode 30. The outer edge of the second discharging electrode 30 fits on the inner surface of the bottom outer cylinder 8a and is electrically connected to the bottom outer cylinder 8a. The fuel and air mixing tube 33 is made of an electrically conductive material, is screwed to the outer cylindrical surf ace of the bottom end of the internal burner nozzle 29 and is fitted into the insulating supporting inner cylinder 34. The sidewall of an intermediate portion of the fuel and air mixing tube 33 has an air inlet 31. The interior of the bottom end of the fuel ad air mixing tube 33 has a plate defining an orifice 32 below the air inlet 31 for introducing a fuel gas into the internal burner nozzle 29. The diameter of the orifice 32 is sufficiently smaller than the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 5. A passage resistance of the second fuel passage tube 14 thus is sufficiently higher than a passage resistance of the first fuel passage tube 15 so that almost all of liquefied fuel gas is delivered to the external burner nozzle 9 through the first fuel passage tube 15 when both the fuel passage tubes 14 and 15 are opened.

The bottom outer cylinder 8a is fixedly fitted in a hole in the lower bracket 7a of the holder 7. The top outer cylinder 8b is f ixed to an upper bracket 7b of the holder 7 defining a muzzle 42 of the flaming burner 6. The bottom outer cylinder 8a and the top outer cylinder 8b sandwich the insulating intermediate cylinder 28. The bottom outer cylinder 8a includes an internal annular shoulder supporting the insulating supporting inner cylinder 34 which supports the internal burner nozzle 29 and the first discharging electrode 30.

The electrical connecting terminal 36 having a loop 35 f its around the bottom end of the fuel and air mixing tube 33 so that the loop 35 is placed on the side of the igniter 3. An external flange 37 of the fuel and air mixing tube 33 and a screwed cap 39 which is screwed to the outer cylindrical surface of the bottom end of the fuel and air mixing tube 33 sandwich the electrical connecting terminal 36. A lowermost internal shoulder of the cap 39 f ixedly supports a bushing 38 for aligning the open end of the second fuel passage tube 14 with the orif ice 32. An internal shoulder of the busing 38 and the inner cylindrical surface of the bottom end of the cap 39 having a reduced diameter together fix the second fuel passage tube 14.

A hook at the front end of the wire lead 21 f rom the igniter 3 engages the loop 35 of the electrical connecting terminal 36, so that the internal burner nozzle 29 is electrically connected to the igniter 3 through the fuel and air mixing tube 33, the electrical connecting terminal 36 and the wire lead 21. As shown in FIG.4, an annular muzzle which has a catalytic wire 40 f its within the top inner cylinder 8c. As shown in FIG. 3, a windshield 41 which is formed integrally to the cover 18 surrounds the muzzles of the flaming and unflaming burners 6 and 5.

In operation, depressing the ignition actuator 26 depresses the rear end of the fuel valve operating bar 13 to open the fuel valve 10, so that liquefied gas is discharged out of the tank 2 to both the fuel passage tubes 14 and 15. Since the diameter of the orifice 32 communicating with the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5 is much 5 smaller than the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6, the passage resistance in the second fuel passage tube 14 is much higher than that in the first fuel passage tube 15 and almost all of liquefied gas passes through the first fuel passage tube 15 to jet from the external burner nozzle 9. Then, electric current from the igniter 3 operated by a further depression of the igniter actuator 26 generates an electric arc across a first discharging gap between a coiled discharging electrode 9a at the top end of the external burner nozzle 9 and the needle- shaped discharging electrode 24 to ignite liquefied gas jetting from the top end of the external burner nozzle 9 to stand up a flame from the muzzle 42.

On the other hand, horizontally sliding the selector actuator 19 forces the front end of the burner selector 17 rearward so that the burner selector 17 and the stay 16 together squeeze the first fuel passage tube 15 to be closed. Thereby, liquefied gas is discharged out of the tank 2 to the second fuel passage tube 14. A jet of liquefied gas from the orifice 32 produces a negative pressure in an area above the orifice 32 in the fuel and air mixing tube 33 to - 17 introduce air into the fuel and air mixing tube 33 through the air inlet 31. Thus, a fuel gas mixture jets from air outlets in the sidewall of the internal burner nozzle 29 into the insulating supporting cylinder 34.

Electricity from the igniter 3 is concurrently discharged in both the flaming burner 6 and the unflaming burner 5. Since the burner selector 17 is in a position of closing the first fuel passage tube 15 to stop feeding liquefied fuel gas to the flaming burner 6, electricity from the igniter 3 ignites the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5 so that an electric arc across the second discharging gap between the internal burner nozzle 29 and the discharging electrode 30 ignites gas mixture jetting through holes in the sidewall of the front end of the internal burner nozzle 29. Thus, gas mixture is burned in the wind-shielding cylinder assembly 8. Since this burning proceeds at a high temperature, the intermediate cylinder 28 subject to the heat of the burning reflect the red of the burning. This can be viewed through holes in a windshield 41. 20 Thus, selecting a use of the second fuel passage tube 14 or first fuel passage tube 15 prior to the operation of the igniter 3 enables only one of the f laming burner 6 and the unflaming burner 5 to operate at a time. FIGS. 5 to 9 show a gas lighter according to a - second embodiment of the present invention. Substantially the same elements of the gas lighter according to the second embodiment as those of the gas lighter according to thn f irst embodiment have the same labels and descriptions of these elements will not be repeated hereinafter. In summary, an external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6 is integrated to the f luid bifurcation 11 to form a burner selector valve 11 and the burner selector valve 11 can switch between the f irst fuel passage 15 to the f laming burner 6 and the second fuel passage 14 to the unf laming burner 5. In addition, the positions of the unf laming burner 5 and the flaming burner 6 of the gas lighter according to the second embodiment are reverse to those of the gas lighter according to the first embodiment.

The bottom end of a cylindrical valve casing of the 15 burner selector valve 11 has a fuel inlet lla. The sidewall of the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11 has a fuel outlet llb. The external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6 is cylindrical and has an external flange 9a thereintermediate. A portion of the external burner nozzle 9 below the flange 9a passes through a busing llc screwed to the inner cylindrical surface of the top end of the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11 into the valve casing. The external burner nozzle 9 is vertically movable. The sidewall of the bottom end of the external burner nozzle 9 has through holes 9b. A coiled spring 9d seated between the underside of the bushing llc and a spring retainer 9c at the bottom of the external burner nozzle 9 continuously urges the external burner nozzle 9 downwards so that the through holes 9b are exposed to the interior of the valve casing of the 5 burner selector valve 11 under the underside of the bushing llc. Thus, liquefied gas which passed through the first fuel passage 15 in turn passes through the interior of the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11, the through holes 9b and the interior of the external burner nozzle 9 out of the top end of the external burner nozzle 9.

The front end of a bent burner selector operating lever 43 is fixed to the underside of the flange 9a of the external burner nozzle 9. The burner selector operating lever 43 is pivotable about an axis at the corner of the burner selector operating lever 43 along the interior surface of the lighter case 20. The bottom end of the burner selector operating lever 43 engages an actuating block 19a of a selector actuator 19 horizontally slidably mounted on the lighter case 20. The actuating block 19a is horizontally elongated and fastened to the selector actuator 19 by a machine screw 19c passing through a horizontal slot 20a. The actuating block 19a has a camming surface 19b forcing the bottom end of the burner selector operating lever 43 rearward when the selector actuator 19 is horizontally moved to one end of the slot in the lighter case 20.

The burner selector valve 11 communicates with the fuel valve 10 through the fuel discharge tube 12, the first fuel passage tube 15 and the fuel inlet lla at the bottom end of the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11. The external burner nozzle 9 of the unflaming burner 5 communicates with the burner selector valve 11 through the fuel and air mixing tube 33, the second fuel passage tube 14, and the fuel outlet llb. Thus, liquefied fuel gas introduced into the burner selector valve 11 through the opened fuel valve 10 normally is introduced into both the external burner nozzle 9 and the hollow interior of the bottom end of the fuel and air mixing tube 33.

The igniter 3 held within the lighter body 1 is completely electrically insulated from the lighter case 20. The igniter 3 also has two wire leads 21 and 22 at the top and the bottom. The positive high-voltage wire lead 21 is electrically connected to the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5 in the same manner as in the f irst embodiment. The negative high-voltage wire lead 22 is electrically connected to the first discharging electrode 24 passing through the insulator 23 of the holder 7 and provided above the external burner nozzle 9 of the flaming burner 6 with the first discharging gap.

In operation, depressing the igniter actuator 26 depresses the rear end of the fuel valve operating bar 13 to 21 - f irst open the fuel valve 10. Then, liquef ied fuel gas is introduced out of the tank 2 into the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11 in an opened position through the opened fuel valve 10. Since the diameter of the orifice 32 within the fuel and air mixing tube 33 is much smaller than the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle 9 as seen in FIG.7, the passage resistance in the second fuel passage tube 14 is much higher than that in the hollow interior of the external burner nozzle 9. Thus, almost all of liquef ed fuel gas in the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11 is introduced into the external burner nozzle 9 and jets from the top end of the external burner nozzle 9.

Further depressing the igniter actuator 26 operates the igniter 3 to concurrently generate positive high-voltage electricity and negative high-voltage electricity. The positive high- voltage electricity sequentially passes through the wire lead 21, the electrical connecting terminal 36, the fuel and air mixing tube 33, the internal burner nozzle 29, the second discharging gap between the internal burner nozzle 29 and the second discharging electrode 30, the second discharging electrode 30, the bottom outer cylinder 8a, the lower bracket 7a of the holder 7, the cover 18 and the lighter case 20 so as to generate an electric arc across the second discharging gap. On the other hand, the negative high-voltage electricity sequentially passes through the wire A,c lead 22, the first discharging electrode 24, the first discharging gap between the f irst discharging electrode 24 and the coiled electrode 9a at the top end of the external burner nozzle 9, the coiled electrode 9a at the top end of the external burner nozzle 9, the valve casing of the burner selector valve 11, the lower bracket 7a of the holder 7, the cover 18 and the lighter case 20 so as to generate an electric arc across the first discharging gap. These positive and negative high-voltage electricities concurrently discharge. However, since the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5 receives no liquefied fuel gas, the electric arc generated across the second discharging gap in the unflaming burner 5 cannot cause a burning of liquefied fuel gas in the unf laming burner 5 and on the other hand, only the electric arc generated across the first discharging gap in the flaming burner 6 ignites liquefied fuel gas to burn so that a f lame stands up f rom the external burner nozzle 9. Since the ignitions by the electric discharges can be produced even if the electrical connection from the cover 18 to the lighter case 20 will be eliminated, this electrical connection may be eliminated.

On the other hand, first sliding the selector actuator 19 urges the bottom end of the burner selector operating lever 43 rearward by means of the camming surface 19b of the actuating block 19a so that the front end of the - 23 burner selector operating lever 43 rotates clockwise in FIG. 8 about the axis at the corner of the burner selector operating lever 43 to lift up the external burner nozzle 9 and close the through holes 9b of the external burner nozzle 9 against the force of the coiled spring 9d. The camming surface 19b may alternatively be formed so as to push up the bottom end of the burner selector operating lever 43 when the user horizontally slides the selector actuator 19. Subsequently depressing the igniter actuator 26 depresses the rear end of the fuel valve operating bar 13 to open the fuel valve 10. Thereby, liquefied fuel gas is introduced into the burner selector valve 11 and then delivered into the fuel and air mixing tube 33 through the second fuel passage tube 14. A jet of liquefied fuel gas from the orifice 32 produces a negative pressure in an area of the interior of the fuel and air mixing tube 33 above the orifice 32 to introduce air into this area. Thus, the resulting gas mixture of fuel gas and air jets into the wind-shielding cylinder assembly 8 through the through holes in the sidewall of the internal burner nozzle 29.

Further depressing the igniter actuator 26 operates the igniter 3 to generate an electric arc across the second discharging gap to ignite fuel gas mixture jetting from the holes in the sidewall of the internal burner nozzle 29. Thereby, the fuel gas mixture burns in the wind-shielding cylinder assembly 8. In this case, a user can barely view from outside the windshield 41 a very short f lame which stands up from the muzzle at the top end of the windshielding cylinder assembly 8.

FIGS.10 and 11 show an alternative selector very useful to a gas lighter enabling a one-touch concurrent operation of opening a lighter cap and igniting. This burner selector is disposed in a spacing in front of the front end of the fuel valve operating bar 13. The burner selector comprises an arm 44 movably mounted between the front end of the fuel valve operating lever 13 and the burner selector operating lever 43 mounted to the burner selector valve 11, an L-shaped link 45 linking the arm 44 so that one end of the L-shaped link 45 is pivoted to the front end of the arm 44, and a selector actuating bar 46 linking the L-shaped link 45.

The L-shaped link 45 comprises an upper arm and a lower arm 47. The corner of the L-shaped link 45 is pivotally supported by means of a pivot 48 on a bearing 49 f astened to the top wall of the tank 2. The upper end of the upper arm of the L-shaped link 45 is pivoted to the f ront end of the arm 44. The front end of the lower arm 47 is pivoted to the bottom end of the selector actuating bar 46 by means of a pivot 50. The rear surface of the selector actuating bar 46 is continuously in sliding contact with a fixed guide 51 and the front surface of the upper end of the selector actuating bar 46 is also continuously in vertically sliding contact with the interior surface of a sidewall of the lighter case 20. This sidewall of the lighter case 20 defines a vertical slot 52 for manually actuating the selector actuating bar 46. An intermediate part of the front surface of the selector actuating bar 46 has a knob 53 projecting through the slot 52. A vertical movement of the knob 53 vertically moves the selector actuating bar 46.

When as shown in FIG. 10 the arm 44 is in a position of disengaging f rom the fuel valve operating bar 13, the oblique upper surf ace of the front end of the fuel valve operating bar 13 and the arm 44 secure therebetween a sufficient spacing for the front end of the fuel valve operating bar 13 to rotate upwards about a pivot 13a. Therefore, depressing the igniter actuator 26 to depress the rear end of the fuel valve operating bar 13 closes only the fuel valve 10 but does not engage the fuel valve operating bar 13 with the burner selector operating lever 43. The burner selector valve 11 remains open, so that liquefied fuel gas flows from the fuel valve 10 to the flaming burner 6 in the same manner as in the first and second embodiments of the present invention.

When as shown in FIG. 11 the arm 44 is in a position 25 of engaging the fuel valve operating bar 13 so that the rear - 26 end of the arm 44 is disposed in a notch in an upper surface of the fuel valve operating bar 13 behind the oblique front upper surf ace of the fuel valve operating bar 13, the fuel valve operating bar 13 can elevate the burner selector operating lever 43 by means of the arm 44 when igniter actuator 26 depresses the rear end of the fuel valve operating bar 13. Thus, the fuel valve 10 is opened and the burner selector valve 11 is substantially concurrently closed and liquefied fuel gas flows from the fuel valve 10 into the internal burner nozzle 29 of the unflaming burner 5 as described above.

This switch to a burner to be used is easily done by simply vertically moving the knob 53 on the burner selector operating lever 43 by means of a forefinger of a hand of the user gripping the gas lighter. That is, elevating the knob 53 on the burner selector operating lever 43 by means of the front end of the forefinger lifts up the lower arm 47 of the L-shaped link 45 to rotate the L-shaped link 45 clockwise in FIG.11 and move the arm 44 to the fuel valve operating bar 13 to engage the rear end of the arm 44 with the notch in the upper surface of the fuel valve operating bar 13. On the other hand, depressing the knob 53 by means of the front end of the forefinger rotates the Lshaped link 45 counterclockwise in FIG.11 and moves the arm 44 forward to disengage the arm 44 from the fuel valve operating bar 13.

The present invention is not rigidly restricted to the embodiments described above. It is to be understood that a person skilled in the art can easily change and modify the present invention without departing from the spirit of the invention defined in the appended claims.

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Claims

CLAIMS 1. A gas lighter having two burners, comprising: a lighter body of

a synthetic resin, said lighter body including a tank for holding liquefied fuel gas, a receptacle for a piezoelectric igniter and a fuel valve mounted on the tank; two different burners sharing the fuel valve and mounted side by side to a holder of metal, the holder being mounted on said lighter body, one of said burners being a flaming burner, the other of said burners being an unflaming burner; said unflaming burner including a hollow cylinder assembly, the cylinder assembly including a hollow intermediate cylinder of a ceramic material, a hollow bottom cylinder of metal and an open top end, said unflaming burner including an internal burner nozzle of an electrically conductive material supported on the interior surface of the lower end of the cylinder assembly via an insulator surrounding said unflaming burner, said unflaming burner including a discharging electrode provided above the top end of the internal burner nozzle with a discharging gap, said unflaming burner including a fuel and air mixing tube connected to the lower end of the internal burner nozzle, the fuel and air mixing tube having an air hole and an orifice below the air hole, the orifice jetting liquefied fuel gas upward, a difference of the diameter of the orifice and the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle enabling almost all of liquefied fuel gas to be delivered to the external burner nozzle through the fuel passage to the external burner nozzle when both the fuel passages are opened, the bottom cylinder being electrically connected to the discharging electrode of the unflaming burner and fixed to the holder so that the bottom cylinder is electrically connected to the holder; said f laming burner including an external burner nozzle of an electrically conductive material f ixed to the holder and a discharging electrode provided above the top end of the external burner nozzle, the discharging electrode of flaming burner extending through an insulator arranged to a side of the external burner nozzle; said piezoelectric igniter being received in the receptacle and having two wire leads, one of the wire leads being electrically connected to the internal burner nozzle via the fuel and air mixing tube, the other of the wire leads being electrically connected to the discharging electrode of said flaming burner; and means for switching fuel passages to said unflaming burner and said flaming burner, said switching means including a shut-off valve mounted to a fuel passage to said flaming burner and an actuator mounted to a lighter case, the - 30 1 actuator operating the shut-of f valve to switch a f low of liquefied fuel gas between the fuel passages to said unflaming and flaming burners.
2. The gas lighter as recited in claim 1, wherein the discharging electrode of said unf laming burner is in the form of an annular thin metal sheet and electrically connected to the bottom cylinder and the intermediate cylinder and the insulator supporting the internal burner nozzle sandwich the discharging electrode of said unflaming burner.
3. The gas lighter as recited in claim 1, wherein a hook at the front end of the one wire lead engages a loop of an electrical connecting terminal, the electrical connecting terminal fitting on and electrically connected to the fuel and air mixing tube so that the one wire lead is electrically connected to the electrical connecting terminal.
4. The gas lighter as recited in claim 1, wherein the piezoelectric igniter has a positive high-voltage wire lead and a negative high-voltage wire lead as the wire leads and each of the positive and negative high-voltage wire leads is electrically connected to one of the discharging electrode and the burner nozzle of one of said unflaming burner and said flaming burner.

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5. The gas lighter as recited in claim 3, wherein the piezoelectric igniter has a positive high-voltage wire lead and a negative high-voltage wire lead as the wire leads and each of the positive and negative high-voltage wire leads is electrically connected to one of the discharging electrode and the burner nozzle of one of said unflaming burner and said flaming burner.
6. The gas lighter as recited in claim 1, wherein said switching means includes a burner selector valve operating lever mounted to a burner selector valve as the shut-off valve and the actuator is slidably mounted in the lighter case.
7. The gas lighter as recited in claim 1, wherein said switching means comprises a movable arm entering and leaving a spacing between a bar-shaped means for operating the fuel valve and a burner selector valve as the shut-off valve, an L-shaped link the corner of which is pivotally mounted to the tank, one end of the L-shaped link being pivoted to one end of the bar- shaped operating means, and an actuating bar as the actuator, the actuating bar being vertically slidably mounted to the interior surface of a sidewall of the lighter case, part of the actuating bar projecting out of an opening defined in the sidewall of the lighter case, the bottom end of the actuating bar being pivoted to the other end of the L- shaped link.
8. The gas lighter as recited in claim 6, wherein said switching means comprises a movable arm entering and leaving a spacing between a bar-shaped means for operating the fuel valve and a burner selector valve as the shut-off valve, an L-shaped link the corner of which is pivotally mounted to the tank, one end of the L-shaped link being pivoted to one end of the bar-shaped operating means, and an actuating bar as the actuator, the actuating bar being vertically slidably mounted to the interior surface of a sidewall of the lighter case, part of the actuating bar projecting out of an opening defined in the sidewall of the lighter case, the bottom end of the actuating bar being pivoted to the other end of the L shaped link.
9.

A gas lighter having two burners, comprising:

lighter body of an insulator; tank for holding liquefied fuel gas; fuel valve fluidly communicating with interior of said tank; two burners fluidly communicating with said fuel valve through fuel passages and mounted side by side to said 25 lighter body, one of said burners being a flaming burner, the other being an unflaming burner; said f laming burner including an external burner nozzle acting as a first discharging electrode, said flaming burner including a second discharging electrode opposed to the top end of the external burner nozzle with a f irst discharging gap; said unflaming burner including an internal burner nozzle acting as a third discharging electrode, said unf laming burner including a fourth discharging electrode opposed to the top end of the internal burner nozzle with a second discharging gap, said unf laming burner including a hollow wind-shielding cylinder surrounding the internal burner nozzle, said unf laming burner including a fuel and air mixing tube connected to the internal burner nozzle, the fuel and air mixing tube having an orifice therewithin and air inlet defined above the orifice, the orifice Jetting liquef ied fuel gas upward, a dif f erence of the diameter of the orif ice and the inner diameter of the external burner nozzle enabling almost all of liquefied fuel gas to be delivered to the external burner nozzle through the fuel passage to the external burner nozzle when both the fuel passages are opened; a piezoelectric igniter having two leads, one of the leads being electrically connected to one of the internal burner nozzle and the fourth discharging electrode, the other 34 - being electrically connected to one of the external burner nozzle and the second discharging electrode; and means for switching fuel passages to said flaming and unflaming burners.
10. The gas lighter as recited In claim 9, wherein the wind-shielding cylinder comprises a ceramic cylinder portion reflecting the opezation of the internal burner nozzle.
11. Any novel feature or combination of features described herein.