Patent Publication Number: US-7581947-B2

Title: Child resistant utility lighter

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The invention relates to a child resistant utility lighter, more particularly, to a child resistant electronic gas utility lighter which is liable to be thought by a child to be out of work or out of gas, thus giving up keeping trying to ignite. 
   2. Description of the Prior Art 
   Conventional utility lighters often have a safe means or mechanism which, when locked or set to a safe mode, is able to block or increase an active force needed to pull over a trigger of the utility lighter. As to such utility lighters, a child who is not able to ignite may be interested in operating and finally find the right way to ignite. So it is thought to provide a new utility lighter a trigger thereof is able to be pulled over as conventional utility lighters without safe means but only ignited until a safe means is activated. 
   BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The main object of the invention is to provide a child resistant utility lighter which is liable to be thought by a child to be out of work or out of gas, thus giving up keeping trying to ignite. 
   In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides a child resistant utility lighter having a handle, a barrel mounted in the handle and extending outward, a fuel tank within the handle and for containing liquefied gaseous fuel, a gas valve mounted on the fuel tank, a trigger, and, a lever rotatably mounted on the handle by a lever pin. The utility lighter further has a safe button slidably mounted on the handle and pushed by a first elastic element to an undepressed position; and, a piezoelectric unit contained in the handle and having a starting button, the piezoelectric unit constantly stays at a departure, or safe, position in which the trigger, when pulled over, is not able to meet the piezoelectric unit, and being able to be pushed to an aligning position by depressing the safe button for ignition by pulling over the trigger. 
   These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the utility lighter of the invention. 
       FIG. 2   a  to  FIG. 2   c  are partially exploded view of the utility lighter shown in  FIG. 1 . And, 
       FIG. 3   a  to  FIG. 3   c  are partially exploded view of another embodiment of the utility lighter of the invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   As shown in  FIGS. 1 , and  2   a , a preferred embodiment of a child resistant utility lighter of the invention is shown. The utility lighter has a handle  1 , a barrel  2  mounted in the handle  1  and extending outward, a fuel tank  10  within the handle  1  and for containing liquefied gaseous fuel, a gas valve  20  mounted on the fuel tank  10 , a piezoelectric unit  30  contained in the handle  1  and has a starting button  31 , a trigger  40  which when pressed downward, is able to startup the piezoelectric unit  30  to generate sparks for ignition, a lever  50  rotatably mounted on the handle  1  by a lever pin  51 , and safe button  60  slidably mounted on the handle  1 . The gas valve  20  is connected to a flame nozzle (not shown) contained in the barrel  2  by a fuel conveying hose  21 . The gaseous fuel is able to be released from the flame nozzle and then be ignited by the sparks generated by the piezoelectric unit  30 . 
   With reference to  FIG. 2   a , it shows a constant status of the utility lighter of the invention. The safe button  60  is pushed by a first elastic element  61  to an undepressed position. A finger  62  of the safe button  60  extends towards the piezoelectric unit  30 . 
   The trigger  40  may has an inner protrusion  41 . In the constant status, the piezoelectric unit  30  stays at a departure, or safe, position in which the inner protrusion  41  is not able to meet the piezoelectric unit  30  when the trigger  40  is pulled over along direction A. In this preferred embodiment, the piezoelectric unit  30  has a pair of opposite slits  32  respectively containing a pin  33  formed in the handle  1 . The piezoelectric unit  30  is able to move along the handle  1  and rotate with respect to the pin  33 . The piezoelectric unit  30  is pushed by a second elastic element  34  onto the finger  62  of the safe button  60 . 
   In use, when a user holds the handle  1  of the utility lighter of the invention with his hand and pull over the trigger with his forefinger, the inner protrusion  41  of the trigger  40  will not meet the piezoelectric unit  30  and the utility lighter cannot be ignited. As shown in  FIG. 2   b , if the user meanwhile depress the safe button  60  along the direction B with his thumb, the first elastic element  61  is depressed and the finger  62  moves towards the piezoelectric unit  30 . Then the piezoelectric unit  30  rotates around the pin  33  and depress the second elastic element  34  to an aligning position, in which, when the safe button  60  is depressed to an utmost position, the inner protrusion  41  is able to meet the piezoelectric unit  30  when the trigger  40  is pulled over along direction A. 
   As shown in  FIG. 2   c , if the user pull the trigger  40  along direction A when the piezoelectric unit  30  is at the aligning position thereof, the protrusion  41  pushes the piezoelectric unit  30  to move along direction, too. The starting button  31  then meets a stop  35  formed in the handle  1 . As the user keep pulling the trigger  40 , the starting button  31  is pressed down by the stop  35 , generating sparks for ignition. Meanwhile, the lever  50  is pressed by the piezoelectric unit  30  to open the gas valve  20 . The utility lighter of the invention is thus ignited. When the user releases the trigger  40  and the safe button  60 , the piezoelectric unit  30  and the safe button  60  resume their constant status as shown in  FIG. 2   a  under an urging force from the second and the first elastic elements  34 ,  61 , respectively. 
   Shown in  FIGS. 3   a  to  3   c  is another embodiment of the utility lighter of the invention. In this embodiment, the piezoelectric unit  30 ′ has a horizontal through hole covering a pole  36 ′ formed in the handle  1 ′. The piezoelectric unit  30 ′ is able to levelly move along the pole  36 ′. The piezoelectric unit  30 ′ is pushed by a second elastic element  34 ′ onto a finger  62 ′ of a safe button  60 ′. 
   The elastic elements as shown in above embodiments are springs. As known by a person in the art, they are also be able to be a piece of an elastic metal or a rubber bar that is able to resume an original position after depressed. Alternatively, the piezoelectric unit  30  or  30 ′ is able to be installed in a seat first. Preferably, there may be provided ultimate limits forming on the handle  1  for the trigger  40  and the safe button  60  so that the trigger  40  and safe button  60  will not be able to be pulled into the handle  1  by overly depression. 
   It could be seen from above description, before the safe button  60  is depressed, the trigger  40  is able to be pulled over as a conventional utility lighter without any safe means. If the invention is used by a child, it is liable to be thought by him that the utility lighter is out of work or out of gas, thus giving up keeping trying to ignite. 
   One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. 
   It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. Its embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.