BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
[0001] The invention relates to a children-resistant lighter, and more particularly, to
a children-resistant lighter that makes use of the exerting force on the slant pressing
part at an end of the lever of the lighter to make the effective force exerting on
the lever diminish for protecting the children from easily playing around the lighter
to cause fire accident for achieving the efficacy of safety usage.
2. Description of the Prior Art
[0002] The simple-type lighter provides consumers with conveniency and low cost, and claims
to be a great breakthrough in the contemporary era ever since the first use of fire
in material civilization of human history. However, the lighter brings forth concerns
on safety consideration. Particularly, the child playing with the lighter may result
in fire accident. According to an old saying, a tiny spark may spread to become a
prairie fire. Therefore, it cannot be too careful to use the lighter.
[0003] FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a simple-and-lever-type lighter structure of the prior
art and FIG. 1A is a half sectional-view at section A-A of FIG. 1 of the simple- and-lever-type
lighter structure of the prior art. The structure of a conventional lighter being
a lever-type lighter as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 1A includes a main body (1), a wheel
racket (2), a file wheel (3), a metal cap (4), and a lever (5). Among them, the main
body (1) being a hollow body is for filling the liquid-gas for providing fuel to ignite
the lighter. A sealing part (11) secured on top of the main body (1) furnishes a nozzle
seat (12) having a plurality of row teeth (121) provided at the periphery thereof
and a nozzle (14) having a neck part (141). The wheel racket (2) is slipped on the
top of the corresponding sealing part (11) of the main body (1). Moreover, the wheel
racket (2) having a securing seat (22) provided at the center thereof and having a
pair of file-wheel seats (21) provided by extending from both sides and standing upright
on opposite sides thereof is capable of containing a spring (34) and a flint (33).
A securing hole (211) is provided on each of the file-wheel seats (21) near the top
end thereof, and another securing hole (212) is also provided on each of the file-wheel
seats (21) near the bottom end thereof. Furthermore, the wheel racket (2) also provides
an adjusting ring (24) having a plurality of inner row teeth (241) on the inner surface
that are capable of meshing with the outer row teeth (121) on the outer surface of
the nozzle seat (12) of the nozzle (14). The adjusting ring (24) is used for adjusting
the quantity of liquid-gas output in the main body (1).
[0004] As shown in FIG. 1A, the lever (5) includes a pressing part (51), a base (53), and
a slipping hole (55) (see also FIG. 1). Each side of the base (53) furnishes a salient
part (532) used to be the pivot point C of the lever (5). The salient parts (532)
are fitted in the securing holes (212) near the bottom of the file-wheel seats (21),
and the securing holes (212) are used as pivot seat for bearing the salient parts
(532). The slipping hole (55) being used as the point B of resisting force R (see
Fig. 1A) passes through the nozzle (14) and slips on the neck part (141) of the nozzle
(14) of the sealing part (11). The pressing part (51) provided at an end of the lever
(5) is used to be the "point A" of the exerting force P. Finally, the metal cap (4)
is slipped on the top of the lighter to form the simple-type lighter that is popular
in the market nowadays.
[0005] FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing the lever action of a simple-and-lever-type
lighter structure of the prior art. As shown in FIG. 5, together with FIG. 1 and FIG.
1 A, the range of the slant angle α of the lever (5) is 10° ≦ α ≦ 20°. When it comes
to using the lighter, the user exert an exerting force P at the "point A" of exerting
force P by the use of his/her thumb to press the pressing part (51) of the lever (5)
making the "point B" of resisting force R generate reaction force Q through the pivot
point C and making nozzle (14) pump out the liquid-gas contained in the main body
(1). Since the user presses the pressing part (51) and rubs the flint (33) of the
file wheel (3) at the same time, the spark generated due to the rubbing friction is
capable of igniting the liquid-gas to generate flame.
[0006] As the conventional simple-and-lever-type lighter is easy to be ignited, it is also
easy to cause fire accident when the children play around the lighter. This is the
demerit of the prior art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0007] In light of the above-mentioned demerits of the prior art, the invention provides
a children-resistant lighter that aims to ameliorate at least some of the demerits
of the prior art or to provide a useful alternative.
[0008] The primary objective of the invention is to provide a children-resistant lighter
that makes use of the slant pressing part of the lever making the effective exerting
force of his/her thumb of the user acting on the lighter diminish, and in the meantime,
preventing the children from causing fire accident when they play around the lighter.
However, the exerting force is still within the force capability of an adult and the
upward slant angle α of the lever is 10° ≦ α ≦ 20°. If the upward slant angle of the
pressing part is θ, the downward slant angle will be θ-α. The range of θ is 27° ≦θ
≦ 60°, thus the effective exerting force P perpendicular to the slant surface is reduced
to Pcosθ making the range of the effective exerting force be between 0.5P and 0.9P
that is capable of protecting the children from causing fire accident to achieve the
efficacy of safety usage of the lighter. This will make the user harder to exert force
to ignite the lighter but the exerting force required is still within the capability
of the user while makes the children harder to cause fire accident.
[0009] In the first embodiment of the invention, the cross-section of the pressing part
is in rhombus shape.
[0010] In the second embodiment of the invention, the cross-section of the pressing part
is in rectangular shape with a chamfered vertex angle..
[0011] In the third embodiment of the invention, the cross-section of the pressing part
is in new-moon shape.
[0012] In order to achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the invention provides a child-resistant
lighter that includes a main body, a wheel racket, a file wheel, a metal cap, and
a lever. The lever having an upward inline angle of α with 10° ≦ α ≦ 20° further includes
a pressing part, a base, and a slipping hole. Both sides of the base furnish a salient
part for acting as the pivot point of the lever, and the salient part is fitted into
a securing hole provided at the bottom portion of the file wheel. The securing holes
are used as the pivotal bearing seat for bearing the salient part. The pressing part
having a slant surface forms an angle θ with respect to the lever and has a horizontal
downward slant angle( θ - α). When it comes to use, the user exerts a force P by pressing
on the slant surface of the pressing part and the file wheel with his/her thumb making
the lighter generate flames. The effective force acting on the lever is P cos θ where
the effective range of θ is 27° ≦ θ ≦ 60° , thereby the range of the effective force
is 0.5P ≦ Pcos θ ≦ 0.9P. Therefore, the child-resistant lighter of the invention is
capable of preventing the children from careless or accidental igniting, thereby improving
the safety efficacy of the child-resistant lighter. As a result, the lighter of the
invention is capable of protecting the children from causing fire accident to achieve
the efficacy of safety usage of the lighter. In this way, the lighter of the invention
is capable of improving the efficacy of safety usage. Nevertheless, the exerting force
P is still within the range of an adult user.
[0013] The accomplishment of this and other objectives of the invention will become apparent
from the following description and its accompanying drawings of which:
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0014]
- FIG. 1
- is an exploded view of a simple-and-lever-type lighter structure of the prior art;.
- FIG. 1A
- is a half sectional-view at section A-A of FIG. 1 of the simple-and-lever-type lighter
structure of the prior art;
- FIG. 2
- is an exploded view of the children-resistant lighter of the first embodiment of the
invention;
- FIG. 2A
- is a half sectional-view at section B-B of FIG. 2 of the children-resistant lighter
showing the force-exerting action at the slant pressing part of the first embodiment
of the lever of the invention;
- FIG. 3
- is an exploded view of the children-resistant lighter of the second embodiment of
the invention;
- FIG. 3A
- is a half sectional-view at section C-C of FIG. 3 of the children-resistant lighter
showing the force-exerting action at the slant pressing part of the second embodiment
of the lever of the invention;
- FIG. 4
- is an exploded view of the children-resistant lighter of the third embodiment of the
invention;
- FIG. 4A
- is a half sectional-view at section D-D of FIG. 4 of the children-resistant lighter
showing the force-exerting action at the slant pressing part of the third embodiment
of the lever of the invention;
- FIG. 5
- is a schematic diagram showing the lever action of a simple-and-lever-type lighter
structure of the prior art;
- FIG. 6
- is a schematic diagram showing the lever action of the children-resistant lighter
of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0015] FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG.4 are exploded views of the children -resistant lighter of
the first, second, and third embodiments respectively of the invention. As shown in
FIG. 2, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the children-resistant lighter of the first, second, and
third embodiments respectively of the invention includes a main body (1), a wheel
racket (2), a file wheel (3), a metal cap (4), and a lever (5). Among them, the main
body (1), wheel racket (2), the file wheel (3), and the metal cap (4) are all pretty
much similar to those of the simple-and-lever-type lighter structure of the prior
art, thereby it is not necessary to repeat here.
[0016] FIG. 2A is a half sectional-view at section B-B of FIG. 2 of the children-resistant
lighter showing the force-exerting action at the slant pressing part of the first
embodiment of the lever of the invention; FIG. 3A is a half sectional-view at section
C-C of FIG. 3 of the children-resistant lighter showing the force-exerting action
at the slant pressing part of the second embodiment of the lever of the invention;
FIG. 4A is a half sectional-view at section D-D of FIG. 4 of the children-resistant
lighter showing the force-exerting action at the slant pressing part of the third
embodiment of the lever of the invention. As shown in FIG. 2A, FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4A,
the lever (5) includes a pressing part (51), a base (53), and a slipping hole (55).
A salient part (532) is furnished on both sides of the base (53) to assume as the
pivot point C of the lever (5). The salient part (532) is fitted into the securing
holes (212) at the lower portion of the file-wheel-seat (21), and the securing holes
(212) are used for assuming as pivot bearing seat to bear the salient part (532).
Assuming as the point of resistance force B of the lever (5), the slipping hole (55)
is passed through the nozzle (14) and slipped on to the neck part (141) of the sealing
part (11). What is more, the point A of the exerting force P exerting at the pressing
part (51) at an end of the lever (5) is assumed as a "point A" of exerting force P.
[0017] As shown FIG. 2A, in the first embodiment of the invention, the cross-section of
the pressing part appears a rhombus shape.
[0018] As shown FIG. 3A, in the second embodiment of the invention, the cross-section of
the pressing part appears a rectangular shape with a chamfered vertex angle..
[0019] As shown FIG. 4A, in the third embodiment of the invention, the cross-section of
the pressing part appears a new-moon shape.
[0020] As shown again in FIG. 2A, FIG. 3A, and FIG. 4A, the angle α being the horizontal
upward slant angle is within a range of 10° ≦ α ≦ 20° and the slant surface of the
pressing part makes an angle θ with respect to the lever (5) which makes a downward
slant angle θ - α. If the exerting force of the user to exert force on the pressing
part by his/her thumb is P, then the effective exerting force acting on the lever
is P cos θ where the effective range of the angle θ is 27° ≦θ ≦ 60°, namely, the minimum
and maximum value of θ are 27° and 60° respectively, thereby the range of effective
exerting force is 0.5 P ≦P cos θ ≦ 0.9 P. In other words, the exerting force P of
the user to press the pressing part and the file wheel by his/her thumb is reduced
into 0.9P to 0.5P. As a result, the lighter of the invention is capable of protecting
the children from causing fire accident to achieve the efficacy of safety usage of
the lighter. In this way, the lighter of the invention is capable of improving the
efficacy of safety usage. Nevertheless, the exerting force P is still within the range
of the ability of an adult user. This is the advantage of the lighter of the invention.
[0021] It will become apparent to those people skilled in the art that various modifications
and variations can be made to the structure of the invention without departing from
the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing description, it is
intended that all the modifications and variation fall within the scope of the following
appended claims and their equivalents.
1 |
main body |
11 |
sealing part |
12 |
nozzle seat |
121 |
row teeth |
14 |
nozzle |
141 |
neck part |
2 |
wheel racket |
21 |
file-wheel seat |
211 |
securing hole |
212 |
securing hole |
22 |
securing seat |
24 |
adjusting ring |
241 |
row teeth |
|
|
3 |
file wheel |
33 |
flint |
34 |
spring |
4 |
metal cap |
5 |
lever |
51 |
pressing part |
53 |
base |
532 |
salient part |
55 |
slipping hole |
|
|
A |
point of exerting force P |
|
|
B |
point of resisting force |
|
|
C |
pivot point |
|
|
α |
upward slant angle |
|
|
θ |
angle between the slant surface of the pressing part and the lever |
1. A children-resistant lighter that includes a main body, a wheel racket, a file wheel,
a metal cap, and a lever; the lever further includes a pressing part, a base, and
a slipping hole, each side of the base furnishes a salient part used to be the pivot
point C of the lever, and the salient parts are fitted in the securing holes near
the bottom of the file-wheel seats, and the securing holes are used as pivot seat
for bearing the salient parts; the lighter is
characterized by that:
the angle α being the horizontal upward slant angle is within a range of 10° ≦ α ≦
20° and the slant surface of the pressing part makes an angle θ with respect to the
lever which makes a downward slant angle θ - α. if the exerting force of the user
to exert force on the pressing part by his/her thumb is P, then the effective exerting
force acting on the lever is P cos θ where the effective range of the angle θ is 27°
≦θ ≦ 60°, thereby the range of effective exerting force is 0.5 P ≦P cos θ ≦ 0.9 P,
thereby the lighter of the invention is capable of protecting the children from causing
fire accident to achieve the efficacy of safety usage of the lighter, nevertheless,
the exerting force P is still within the range of the ability of an adult user.
2. The children-resistant lighter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross-section of
the pressing part is in rhombus shape.
3. The children-resistant lighter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cross-section of
the pressing part is in rectangular shape with a chamfered vertex angle.
4. The children-resistant lighter as claimed in claim 1, wherein cross-section of the
pressing part is in new-moon shape.