Oil burner

An oil burner is of the type which enables controlling a degree of burning and performing fire extinguishing by vertically moving a wick. The invention is directed to restricting the control of burning within a range of normal combustion, removing the restriction to manually perform fire extinguishing, and automatically performing fire extinguishing when vibrations are sensed by a vibration sensor. The oil burner includes a slide shaft mounted on a wick shaft and a rotary member mounted on the wick shaft and enabling moving when axially pushed by the slide shaft. The rotary member is interlocked with the wick shaft by an actuation member provided on the wick shaft, and is provided with a stop member which stops the wick shaft at a predetermined position in rotating in a wick lowering direction. The rotary member is biased in the wick lowering direction by a spring which conserves resilience when the wick is elevated by operating the wick shaft, and is locked by a lock member in rotating in the wick lowering direction. The locking of the rotary member by the lock member can be released when vibrations are sensed by a vibration sensor.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to an oil burner which controls combustion and fire 
extinguishing by means of vertical movements of a wick. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
An oil burner which controls combustion and fire extinguishing by means of 
vertical movements of a wick is generally provided with a burner portion 2 
on a tank 1, as shown in FIGS. 7 to 10. A wick 3 which is constantly urged 
downwardly is provided in the burner portion 2 to be vertically movable 
through a rack 5 and a pinion 6 by a wick shaft 4. A ratchet 9 is mounted 
on the wick shaft 4 through friction members 10, 11, and a retainer 8 is 
secured to the wick shaft 4. A rotary plate 13 with a pin 14 is attached 
to the retainer 8 and a through hole 15 is formed in the ratchet 9 at a 
position corresponding with the pin 14. 
The pin 14 is passed through the through hole 15 to enable vertical 
movements of the wick 13 within the range of the through hole 15 or 
controlling the extent of combustion as well as preventing incomplete 
combustion due to excessive descent of the wick 13. A vibration sensor 16 
is attached to the tank 1. The vibration sensor 16 comprises a weight 17, 
an extinguishing knob 18 and a lever 19 which is operated by the weight 17 
and the extinguishing knob 18. A latch portion 20 at the end of the lever 
19 is adapted to engage with a tooth 9' of the ratchet 9 so as to prevent 
the ratchet 9 from rotating in the wick lowering direction. The ratchet 9 
is able to rotate until the protrusion 9" provided on the ratchet 9 abuts 
against the latch portion 20; in other words, the maximum angle of 
rotation of the ratchet 9 is determined to be one rotation and the wick 3 
moves vertically within this range. A knob 21 is fixed to the wick shaft 
4. 
In an oil stove as described above, when the knob 21 is rotated in the wick 
elevating direction, the wick 3 is elevated while accumulating force 
through the rack 5 and the pinion 6. At this time, the ratchet 9 is caused 
by means of the frictional force of the friction members 10, 11 to rotate 
together with the wick shaft 4. When the operating force applied on the 
ratchet 9, and thus the operating force applied on the knob 21 is 
released, the tooth 9' is retained by the latch portion 20 and the wick 3 
is maintained at a predetermined level. In controlling the level of the 
wick 3, the knob 21 is rotated in the wick lowering direction (opposite to 
the wick elevating direction), whereby the wick shaft 4 can rotate 
together with the friction members 10, 11 in against the frictional force 
thereof, while the ratchet 9 can not be rotated due to its engagement with 
the latch portion 20 of the lever 19. In this way, the level of the wick 
is controlled within the range of the through hole 15 within which the pin 
14 is movable. 
In lowering the wick for extinguishment in the normal state, the engagement 
of the tooth 9' with the latch portion 20 is released by the operation of 
the lever 19 at a touch to the extinguishing knob lever 18, whereby the 
stored force of the wick 3 is released and the wick 3 rapidly descends to 
the lowermost position to immediately extinguish a flame in a very simple 
and convenient operation. On the other hand, in unusual circumstances, for 
example, when an earthquake happens during use, the weight 17 detects this 
and operates the lever 19. Accordingly, the wick 3 rapidly descends to the 
lowermost position in a similar manner to the extinguishing operation of 
the extinguishing knob 18, whereby immediate extinguishment is effected. 
The conventional oil stove described above is very suitable for countries 
having regulations according to which the level of a wick must be 
positively stopped at a predetermined position, and must not be lower than 
a predetermined position by the same operation (hereinunder referred to as 
"one-touch extinguishment system") in order to safely maintain the 
charactaristics of exhaust gases, temperatures and the like. On the other 
hand, the knob 21 for vertically moving the wick permits the wick 3 to 
descend within the range of the through hole 15 formed in the ratchet 9, 
and further descent of the wick can not be performed except for the case 
where fire extinguishing is performed in rapid descent of the wick by the 
operation of the extinguishing knob 18. For this reason, in oil-limited 
countries where a mixture of different kinds of fuels such as fuel 
containing much heavy gravity constituent or light oil is used, tar or the 
like is produced at the end of the wick 3 such that accumulation of tar or 
the like cancels or overcomes the reserving descent force of the wick to 
prevent descent of the wick. Moreover, when the wick 3 is caught at a 
position where fire extinguishing is impossible, burning continues to be 
very dangerous even if the user tries to extinguish the fire by the 
onetouch operation of the extinguishing knob 18. In order to extinguish 
the fire in this case, it is necessary to manually turn the knob 21 with 
the extinguishing knob 18 operated, namely the engagement of the latch 
portion 20 by the tooth 9' is released. This operation is very difficult 
to understand and perform particularly when attempted in an emergency when 
the fire has not been successfully extinguished. 
In these countries, greater importance is attached to durability of a wick 
and safe fire extinguishing than to such convenience as is offered by the 
one-touch fire extinguishing system. So, a structure in which fire 
extinguishing is ensured by rotating the knob 21 by hand, (hereinunder 
referred to as "manual fire extinguishing system") has been in demand 
since a user can put forth his strength. 
An example of an oil burner which affords the above-described manual fire 
extinguishing is shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, and is put to practical use. In 
FIGS. 11 and 12, the reference numeral 23 denotes a vertically movable 
wick, 23a a wick holder integrally attached to the wick 23, 24 a rack 
member integrally secured to the wick holder 23a, and 24a a rack which is 
formed in the circumferential direction of the oil burner and is inclined 
relative to the horizontal, as shown in FIG. 12. The reference numeral 25 
represents a wick shaft for vertically moving the wick 23, and 26 a pinion 
which is provided on the forward end of the wick shaft 25 and is 
intermeshed with the rack 24a of the rack member 24. Thus rotation of the 
wick shaft 25 elevates the wick 23 while rotating it through the pinion 26 
and the rack 24a. The wick shaft 25 is slidable in the axial direction and 
is urged toward the wick holder 23a by a spring 27. The wick holder 23a is 
formed with a resilient cutaway protrusion 28 which is disposed on the 
path of contacting movement of the forward end 25a of the wick shaft 25. 
In the state where the wick 23 is lowered, one end 24a' of the rack 24a is 
meshed with the pinion 26 of the wick shaft 25, as shown by an imaginary 
line in FIG. 11. 
When the wick shaft 25 is rotated in this state, engagement of the rack 24a 
with the pinion 26 causes, the rack member 24 to be rotated and elevated. 
As the wick shaft 25 is rotated even after the cutaway protrusion 28 of 
the wick holder 23a comes into contact with the forward end 25a of the 
wick shaft 25, the cutaway protrusion 28 is deformed toward the wick and 
passes the forward end 25a of the wick shaft 25, until the other end 24a" 
of the rack 24a abuts against the pinion 26, and is stopped. Thus, the 
wick 23 is elevated to the uppermost position. When the wick shaft 25 is 
rotated in the revese direction from this position in order to control 
combustion, the cutaway protrusion 28 of the wick holder 23a abuts against 
the forward end 25a of the wick shaft 25, as shown by the solid line in 
FIG. 11, and further rotation of the wick shaft 25 is restrained. In other 
words, the wick 23 is restrained from lowering further. In order to 
further lower the wick 23 for the purpose of fire extinguishing, the wick 
shaft 24 is rotated while being pulled toward the user against the bias of 
the spring 27 so that the cutaway protrusion 28 disengages from the 
forward end 25a of the wick shaft 25. 
As described above, this oil burner can stop the wick at a predetermined 
level without fail as well as enabling a manual extinguishment by 
releasing the stopping. 
However, this oil burner is disadvantageous in that it can not be applied 
to an anti-earthquake extinguishment device which is adapted to lower the 
wick upon detection of vibration by a vibration sensor used in combination 
with the device. More specifically, when actuation of the vibration sensor 
permits the spring 27 to apply its bias on the wick shaft 25 for rotation 
in the wick descending direction, the cutaway protrusion 28 of the wick 
holder 23a abuts against the forward end 25a of the wick shaft 25 and is 
stopped at the lower end of the range in which the level of the wick is 
controlled, whereby the wick shaft 25 can not be lowered to the level of 
extinguishment. 
As described above, in the prior art, there has not been proposed any 
structure, in which a range for use is definitely limited to prevent 
further rotation of a wick shaft beyond the lower limit, and in which such 
limitations are made ineffective by a simple operation to afford fire 
extinguishing by manual rotation of the wick and lowering the wick to a 
level for fire extinguishing by operation of an anti-earthquake 
extinguishment device. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to solve the above-described 
problems and to provide an oil burner with high safety in which the level 
of a wick can be definitely restricted for normal burning, which affords 
manual extinguishment by removing the restriction by a simple operation, 
and which incorporates an anti-earthquake extinguishment device which is 
actuated normally. 
To achieve this aim, the invention provides an oil burner having a wick 
elevating and lowering structure which holds the descent of a wick at a 
predetermined level, and affords usual extinguishment by pushing and 
turning a knob for releasing the holding condition, and in which the wick 
can be rapidly lowered down to the extinguishment level by a spring force 
when vibration or burnover of the burner is detected.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Hereinunder an embodiment will be with reference to the accompanying 
drawings. Referring first to FIGS. 1 to 6D, the reference numeral 30 
denotes a tank provided with a burner portion 31, 32 a wick mounted on the 
burner portion 31 through a wick holder 33, and vertically movable between 
the wick holder 33 and a wick guide cylinder 31a. A wick shaft 34 has a 
pinion 34a at its forward end, which pinion 34a is engaged with a rack 35 
provided on the wick holder 33 for the purpose of vertically moving the 
wick 32. The reference numeral 36 represents a bearing for supporting the 
wick shaft 34, and 37 a bearing fitting secured to the tank 30 for 
supporting a wick shaft packing 38 and the like. A rotary member 39 formed 
of a polyacetal resin or the like and provided with a plurality of 
saw-toothed engaging portions 39a on the peripheral edge thereof is 
rotatably fitted over the wick shaft 34 and is integrally formed with a 
latch member 39b having bent portions 39c and 39d, and a stop piece 39e. 
The Reference numeral 40 denotes an extinguishment spring for lowering the 
wick, which spring 40 is prestressed by winding and fitted around the 
rotary member 39 with one end thereof anchored at on one portion of the 
bearing fitment 37 and the other end thereof at the rotary member 39. An 
actuation pin 41 is implanted in the wick shaft 34 at such a position as 
to move between the bent portions 39c and 39d provided on the rotary 
member 39, and the rotary member 39 is biased against the actuation pin 41 
by the axial bias of a spring 42. One end of the spring 42 is supported 
against a member 38' such as a washer stop ring which is fitted in a 
groove 34b formed on the wick shaft 34. In this way, both the rotary 
member 39 and the actuation pin 41 are closely contacted to each other to 
slide by predetermined force. Since the rotary member 39 is biased by the 
force conserving extinguishment spring 40 to rotate in the wick lowering 
direction (in the direction indicated by the arrow y in FIGS. 2 and 6), 
the bent portion 39c of the latch member 39b provided on the rotary member 
39 abuts against the actuation pin 41 to rotate the wick shaft 34 in the 
wick lowering direction (the direction indicated by the arrow Y). The stop 
piece 39e provided on the rotary member 39 is disposed on the path of 
rotation of the actuation pin 41, and includes a high stop surface 39e' 
for temporarily stopping the actuation pin 41 during the rotation of the 
wick shaft in the wick lowering direction, and a tapered surface 39e" 
which the actuation pin 41 biasingly rides over during the rotation of the 
wick shaft in the wick elevating direction. 
A slide shaft 43 is slidably fitted on the outer peripheral surface of the 
wick shaft 34, and receives the actuation pin 41 in its slot 43a which 
makes the slide shaft 43 freely movable relative to the pin 41 in the 
axial direction and restrains the slide shaft 41 in the circumferential 
direction. The slide shaft 43 is formed with a step 43b which is adapted 
to abut against the rotary member 39. The reference numeral 44 designates 
a knob mounted on the end of the slide shaft 43 for vertical movement of 
the wick. 
A vibration sensor 45 attached to the bearing fitting 37 is operated by a 
weight 46 for detecting vibration and includes a lever 47 which is 
constantly biased against and into engagement with the rotary member 39. 
The lever 47 is provided with a lock member 48 which engages with the 
engaging portions 39a of the rotary member 39, and engagement of the lock 
member 48 with the rotary member 39 prevents the rotary member 39 from 
rotating in the wick lowering direction due to the conserved forced of the 
extinguishment spring 40. 
The reference numeral 49 represents a manual extinguishment member which is 
rototably supported by a vibration sensor base plate 45a on the lever 47. 
The member 49 serves to actuate lever 47 through pins 49b, 49b implanted 
on the arm portion 49a. 
In the above-described construction, the manual extinguishment system will 
first be described. When the knob 44 is rotated in the wick elevating 
direction, the rotary member 39 is rotated through the slide shaft 43, the 
actuation pin 41 and the wick shaft 34 to conserve resilience in 
extinguishment spring 40. The rack 35 is driven by the pinion 34a to 
elevate the wick holder 33 and the wick 32 which are integral with the 
rack 35. 
When the wick 32 reaches the top level, elevation of the wick 32 is stopped 
where the engaging portions 39a of the rotary member 39 intermesh with the 
lock member 48 of the vibration sensor 45 to prevent lowering of the wick. 
The level of the wick at this time is at the uppermost point A in FIG. 1. 
The positional relationship in the circumferential direction between the 
actuation pin 41 and the rotary member 39 is as shown in FIG. 6A; the 
actuation pin 41 abuts against the bent portion 39c of the rotary member 
39. 
When the wick is to be lowered for controlling the condition of burning, 
the knob 44 is rotated in the wick lowering direction (in the direction of 
the arrow Y) until the actuation pin 41 abuts against the stop member 39e 
provided on the rotary member 39, as shown in FIG. 6B. The wick at this 
time is positioned at the level B in FIG. 1. Thus the wick is controllable 
between the levels A and B. This range of control is set in a manner to 
provide normal burning, so that there is no incomplete burning caused by 
excessive lowering of the wick. 
In order to further lower the wick 32 for extinguishment, the knob 44 is 
pushed in the axial direction and subjected to turning force in the wick 
lowering direction, so that the slide shaft 43 is axially moved to cause 
its step 43b to retreat the rotary member 39 against the bias of the 
spring 42. Thus the stop piece 39e comes to a position behind the 
actuation pin 41 to be out of engagement therewith, so that the wick shaft 
34 can be rotated in the direction for extinguishment. 
It suffices to push the slide shaft 43 only when the actuation pin 41 is to 
be disengaged from the stop piece 39e, and then to rotate the wick shaft 
34 in the wick lowering direction. As shown in FIG. 6C, the wick shaft 34 
is rotated until the actuation pin 41 abuts against the bent portion 39d 
of the latch member 39b. The wick at this time is positioned at the level 
C shown in FIG. 1. The level C is set at a position where extinguishment 
is completed within a predetermined period of time (about 300 seconds) 
which is generally considered to be the maximum time for safely 
extinguishing an oil burner. (Hereinunder this level is referred to as a 
"first extinguishment level"). In ordinary use, the wick is positioned 
within the range from A to C. By rotating the knob 44 in the wick 
elevating direction, the wick 32 is elevated up to the uppermost level A, 
ignited at the position A, and burned in a combustion cylinder (not shown) 
mounted on the burner portion 31. In order to obtain the optimum burning 
condition, the level of the wick 32 is controlled within the range from A 
to B. In order to perform extinguishment, the knob 44 is axially pushed 
and manually rotated in the wick lowering direction, whereby the wick 32 
is lowered down to the level C (first extinguishment position) and fire 
extinguishing is performed. 
When the knob 42 is rotated in the wick elevating direction for another 
use, the actuation pin 41 rotates along the tapered surface 39e" of the 
stop piece 39e to a position such that the wick reaches the uppermost 
level A (the actuation pin returns to the position shown in FIG. 6A). 
On the other hand, when the oil burner is subjected to vibration as in an 
earthquake or the like, or falls down to be shocked (under certain 
extraordinary circumstances), the vibration sensor 45 operates to 
disengage the lock member 48 from the engaging portions 39a of the rotary 
member 39, as shown in FIG. 6D, whereby the rotary member 39 is caused by 
the bias of the extinguishment spring 40 to rotate in the wick lowering 
direction (in the direction indicated by the arrow Y), which movement is 
transmitted to the actuation pin 41 and the wick shaft 34 to permit the 
bias of the spring to instantaneously lower the wick. The amount of this 
rotation is greater than that of the manual rotation of the knob 44 by an 
amount corresponding to the length l of the latch member 39b, and the wick 
32 is lowered down to the level D beyond the first extinguishment position 
or level C. Thus fire extinguishing is instantaneously completed to 
prevent a fire from being caused. (Hereinunder, this level D is referred 
to as a "second extinguishment position".) 
In this embodiment, when the vibration sensor is subject to vibrations such 
as an earthquake to operate, the lever 47 is actuated to disengage the 
lock member 48 from the engaging portions 39a of the rotary member 39. In 
addition, since there is provided the manual extinguishment member 49 for 
manually operation of the lever 47, the engagement of the rotary member 39 
with the lock member 48 can be removed by operating the member 49. In 
other words, if an extraordinary degree of burning occurs during use, 
operation of the manual extinguishment member 49 enables rapidly lowering 
the wick to the second extinguishment position to instantaneously complete 
fire extinguishing. 
As apparent from the above description of the embodiment, the oil burner of 
the present invention is constructed such that, in order to ensure normal 
burning, the wick shaft is restricted so as not to be rotated beyond the 
range of normal rotation. Accordingly, burning is not caused when the 
level of the wick is inadvertently too low, and the restriction on the 
rotation of the wick shaft can be released to enable manual fire 
extinguishing by pushing and turning the knob, which action is ready in 
handling in terms of human engineering. 
In addition, even when the present oil burner is subject to vibrations or 
falls down by accident, it is possible to lower the wick to the level of 
fire extinguishing independently of the restriction on the range of 
rotation for the wick shaft. Moreover, any additional operation for 
another use is unnecessary to give rise to a condition for burning only by 
turning the knob in the wick elevating direction, thus making the present 
oil burner satisfactory in safety and operation. 
Hence, while preferred embodiments of the invention have been described and 
illustrated, it is to be understood that they are capable of variation and 
modification.