JPH11270848A - Alcohol lighter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To mass produce the wick of alcohol lighter by composing the wick having a burning part including the upper end projecting to the outside of a fuel tank of a substantially linear uniform porous material having uniform cross-section in the longitudinal direction. SOLUTION: A wick 6 is arranged while being fixed by a tubular metallic wick holder 7 with the upper wall part 4 penetrating a fuel tank 2 vertically. The wick 6 has lower end part touching a fibrous material (middle cotton) 3 in the fuel tank 2 and composed of a substantially linear uniform porous material having uniform cross-section in the longitudinal direction. For example, it is composed of sintered porous glass and projected from the wick holder 7 by a length corresponding to a specified flame length. Glass fibers bundled into a rod or sintered porous ceramic may be used as the material of the wick 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a structure of an alcohol burning appliance such as a lighter having a combustion wick for sucking and burning a liquid fuel such as an alcohol fuel (hereinafter simply referred to as an alcohol lighter).

In particular, the present invention relates to an alcohol, a benzene-based hydrocarbon, a petroleum-based hydrocarbon in a igniter such as a lighter for a smoking device, a torch, a lantern, and the like, and a burning device such as a lighting device. The present invention relates to a structure of a combustion wick of an alcohol lighter that uses a liquid fuel (hereinafter, simply referred to as an alcohol fuel or alcohol).

[0003]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, alcohol fuels such as ethyl alcohol, petroleum benzene-based benzene fuels, and liquefied gas fuels such as butane gas and propane gas are used as lighter fuels.

[0004] The performance, usability, and design structure of each lighter differ depending on the type of fuel used, and each lighter has its own characteristics. For example, in the case of liquefied gas fuel, the gas pressure is high in the operating temperature range of the lighter, and the container for storing the fuel needs to have a pressure-resistant structure. Further, the flame length changes in accordance with the fluctuation of the gas pressure. In particular, there is a characteristic that the gas pressure greatly varies logarithmically with respect to the temperature, and there is a problem that the flame length greatly changes with the temperature. In order to reduce the change in flame length, special measures such as performing temperature correction on the fuel supply mechanism of the lighter must be taken, which complicates the structure and is disadvantageous in cost.

On the other hand, liquid fuels such as alcohol fuels are liquid at room temperature, have relatively low vapor pressure, and do not require a pressure-resistant container for a fuel storage unit. Therefore, the structure of the lighter can be simplified, and cost is reduced. Is advantageous.

In this alcohol lighter, as means for supplying alcohol from the fuel storage unit to the combustion unit, generally, continuous pores or narrow spaces in which fine fibers are bundled are sucked up by capillary action utilizing the surface tension of alcohol. Uses a wick that burns at the tip. Specifically, the above-mentioned combustion wick is made of a twisted fiber string, a bundle of glass fibers, or a combination of both, and wraps the glass fiber with a cotton yarn to suck up the fuel, and uses a metal so that it is not unraveled. Utilizing a thin wire or the like, the lower wicking portion functions as fuel wicking, and the upper combustion portion burns.

[0007]

Alcohol lighters have the potential to be widely used at low cost because they do not require a pressure vessel and can be simplified in structure. Alcohol lighters using wicks have the disadvantage that, because of the low rigidity of the wick, the efficiency of assembling the wick at the time of manufacture is poor and it is not suitable for mass production. In order to spread such an alcohol lighter, the wick must be improved to be suitable for mass production.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has as its object to provide an alcohol lighter having a combustion wick suitable for mass production.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an alcohol lighter comprising: a fuel tank containing an alcohol fuel, an upper portion provided with a ventilation path to the outside air; a batting impregnated with the alcohol fuel contained in the fuel tank; The alcohol fuel impregnated into the tank is sucked up by capillary action, the suction part including the lower end is fitted into the fuel tank, and the combustion part including the upper end is protruded out of the fuel tank and the combustion core including the upper end. An ignition mechanism arranged in the vicinity of the combustion part, igniting the combustion part, and at least a cap for hermetically sealing the combustion part protruding out of the fuel tank together with the ventilation path, the combustion wick as a whole being substantially It is characterized by being made of a porous uniform material having a linear, uniform cross-section in the length direction. For example, it is possible to use, for example, a bundle of glass fibers bundled in a rod shape, a porous glass sintered body, a porous ceramic sintered body, or the like.

The cross section of the combustion wick is preferably circular or rectangular in terms of manufacturing.

The liquid fuel is mainly composed of an alcohol fuel, for example, a lower monohydric alcohol such as methyl alcohol, ethyl alcohol or propyl alcohol, and mixed with a saturated hydrocarbon such as hexane or heptane for coloring the flame. Benzene, petroleum hydrocarbon and the like are used. (As described above, in the present specification, these liquid fuels are collectively referred to as alcohol for convenience.)

[0012]

According to the alcohol lighter of the present invention,
Since the combustion wick is made of a uniform material having a substantially linear, uniform cross-section in the length direction as a whole, the combustion wick can be made by simply cutting a long material into a desired length. It is easy to incorporate, even when combining the batting with the lower suction part, suitable for mass production, and can produce a large amount of alcohol lighter at low cost.

[0013] Further, by constituting the combustion wick from a porous uniform material having a uniform cross section in the length direction, the wicking performance of alcohol can be stabilized.

Further, by forming the combustion wick from a uniform material, it is not necessary to twist thin fibers or strings or join them with a binder, so that they can be manufactured at low cost.

[0015]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Embodiments of an alcohol lighter will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a first example of the alcohol lighter of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a schematic sectional structure of a disposable smoking lighter as an embodiment of the present invention, with a cap removed.

The lighter 1 has a bottomed cylindrical fuel tank 2 into which a fibrous material 3 (filling) is inserted. 4 is fixed and configured in a sealed structure so as to store the alcohol so that it cannot be re-injected.

For example, the fuel tank 2 is a molded product made of polypropylene and has an inner volume of 5 cm ³ . The fibrous material 3 is obtained by pushing a polypropylene fiber having a thickness of 1 to 2 denier into the fuel tank 2 at a density of 0.1 g / cm ^3.
4 g of alcohol mixed with 5% by weight of n-hexane and 5% by weight of n-hexane is impregnated and stored.

Further, a porous combustion wick 6 fixed vertically by a metal cylindrical wick holder 7 is provided so as to penetrate the upper wall portion 4 vertically into the fuel tank 2. The lower end of the combustion wick 6 comes into contact with the fiber material (filling) 3 in the fuel tank 2 and sucks up the alcohol impregnated in the fiber material 3 by capillary action. The tip of the core projecting above the holder 7 becomes the core of the flame of the alcohol that is ignited and burned.

The combustion wick 6 is made of a porous uniform material having a substantially linear, uniform cross section in the longitudinal direction as a whole, and is made of, for example, a porous glass sintered body.
The tip of the wick projects from the wick holder 7 by a length corresponding to a predetermined flame length. Further, as a material of the combustion core 6, it is also possible to use a material obtained by bundling glass fibers into a rod shape and hardening the same or a porous ceramic sintered body.

A joining screw is provided on the outer peripheral portion of the core holder 7, and is screwed and fixed to a screw hole of the upper wall portion 4 of the fuel tank 2 via a seal ring 8 at a bottom portion.

An ignition mechanism 10 is disposed on the upper wall portion 4 so as to face the tip of the combustion wick 6, and the ignition mechanism 10 moves vertically in a bracket 11 fixed to the upper wall portion 4. The igniter 12 is inserted as much as possible, and a rotating file 13 is provided at the upper end of the bracket 11, and the tip of the igniter 12 is provided on the peripheral surface of the rotating file 13 by a biasing force of the shingle spring 14. The spark is provided toward the combustion wick 6 by rotating the rotating file 13.

The upper wall 4 of the fuel tank 2 from which the combustion core 6 and the ignition mechanism 10 protrude is removably sealed with a cap 16 for preventing volatilization. This cap 1
6 is fitted to the outer periphery of the upper wall portion 4 linearly from above in the direction in which the combustion wick 6 protrudes, that is, from the attachment / detachment direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of the fuel tank 2 and the center axis direction of the combustion wick 6. It is covered and closed.

The cap 16 has a cylindrical shape, and the inner periphery of the open lower end is fitted to the outer periphery of the upper end of the upper wall 4 via a sealing member 18 by an O-ring mounted on the upper wall 4. Are combined. The inner peripheral surface of the lower end of the cap 16 is formed in a tapered surface so that the cap 16 can be easily fitted.

Further, an air passage 20 is formed through the upper wall portion 4 of the fuel tank 2 in a vertical direction, and is formed by a perforation for communicating the inside of the fuel tank 2 with the outside air. The opening on the outside air side of the ventilation path 20 is provided so as to communicate with a sealed space inside the closing cap 16 in a closed state.

The closed state of the cap 16 with respect to the fuel tank 2 is maintained by the sealing member 1 attached to the upper wall 4.
This is performed by the sliding contact resistance between the inner surface 8 and the cap 16. In addition to the above, the design of the holding structure can be changed as appropriate with the adoption of a different sealing member. For example, a ring-shaped packing is used as a seal member, and this is arranged at an axial contact portion of the outer peripheral portion of the fuel tank 2 with the cap 16 so that the outer peripheral portion of the upper wall portion 4 and the inner peripheral portion of the cap 16 are fitted. The portion may be provided with a concave / convex engagement structure as shown in FIG. 5 or the like, which will be described later, and may be provided so as to be pressed against a sealing member (packing) at the tip portion of the cap 16 and held in a sealed state.

When the lighter 1 is used, the cap 16
Is pulled out in the direction of attachment and detachment and removed from the fuel tank 2, the combustion core 6 and the ignition mechanism 10 are exposed.
By the operation of 0, a spark is generated and the tip of the combustion wick 6 is ignited to start combustion. When the fire is extinguished, after the flame is blown out (or as it is), the cap 16 is fitted in the fuel tank 2 in the axial direction to keep the combustion wick 6 in a sealed state, thereby suppressing the volatilization of alcohol.

In the above combustion, as the alcohol in the fuel tank 2 is sucked up, the fuel tank 2
Although the internal pressure decreases due to the reduction in the volume of alcohol in the inside, the pressure difference does not occur and the supply of fuel to the combustion wick 6 is performed promptly without interruption due to the opening of the ventilation path 20. The flame length of the combustion flame stabilizes.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

In the lighter 1 of this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the combustion wick 6 has the same form as that of the previous example, and the sealing structure of the combustion wick 6 with the cap 25 is different.

In the cap 25 of this example, a cylindrical inner cap 26 for sealing only the combustion wick 6 is provided inside the main body of the cylindrical cap 25. Also,
At the center position of the upper wall 4 of the fuel tank 2, a combustion wick 6 held by a wick holder 7 is installed by being vertically inserted as in the previous example. A seal member 28 made of an O-ring is mounted on the outer periphery of the leading end of the lead holder 7.

The inner cap 26 is a cap 2
The cap 25 is disposed concentrically with the outer cylindrical portion at the center portion of the fuel tank 5, and the cap 25 is fitted to the upper wall portion 4 of the fuel tank 2 from above in a straight line from the mounting and dismounting direction along the projecting direction of the combustion core 6. Then, the inner cap 26 can be fitted to the outer periphery of the core holder 7 via the seal member 28. The inner peripheral surface at the lower end of the inner cap 26 is formed in a tapered surface so that the fitting can be easily performed.

The air passage 20 is formed in a groove shape on the inner peripheral surface of the wick holder 7 so as to communicate the inside of the fuel tank 2 with the outside air along the outer peripheral portion of the combustion wick 6. Have been. The opening on the outside air side of the ventilation path 20 communicates with the closed space inside the inner cap 26 in the closed state.

Further, the ignition mechanism 10 is mechanically the same as the previous example, but has a size and a position such that it can be inserted between the outer peripheral wall of the cap 25 and the inner cap 26 when the cap 25 is mounted. It is arranged. Along with this,
A space in which the inner cap 26 can be inserted is formed between the wick holder 7 of the combustion wick 6 and the ignition mechanism.

When the cap 25 is mounted, before the inner cap 26 is fitted to the core holder 7, the outer peripheral wall of the cap 25 is fitted to the outer peripheral portion of the outer wall of the upper wall 4. And the fitting position is determined so that the fitting can be performed easily and securely. In addition,
Although the seal member 18 in FIG. 1 is not interposed in the outer peripheral side fitting portion, it may be provided if necessary.

The other components are provided in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof is omitted.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an example of an assembly of the batting 3 and the fuel core 6 in the alcohol lighter of the present invention.
In the assembly 5 of the batting 3 and the fuel core 6, the batting 3 holding the alcohol impregnated therein is housed in the outer coating 30 at a predetermined fiber packing density, and as a whole, for example, the aforementioned FIG. 1 or FIG.
In accordance with the shape of the fuel tank 2 of the lighter as shown in FIG. Further, in the batting 3, the suction portion 62 of the combustion wick 6 is inserted and integrated at the same time as the batting 3 is filled into the outer coating 30, and the burning portion 61 is disposed upwardly.

As the batting 3, natural fibers such as softwood pulp and hardwood pulp, and synthetic fibers such as polypropylene fibers can be used alone or in combination. Further, when examining the fiber packing density of each batting 3, it is preferable that the impregnation holding amount of the liquid fuel is large and the holding amount after the consumption of the liquid fuel is low, for example, polypropylene fiber is used. Is preferably 0.05 to 0.15 g / cm ³ , and the fiber thickness is preferably 6 to 18 denier, and fibers having different thicknesses may be mixed. The fiber packing density of natural pulp, especially softwood pulp, is 0.02.
０．０0.08 g / cm ³ is preferred. Furthermore, you may mix natural pulp and the heat-fusible fiber whose fiber diameter is 35-60 micrometers.

As the outer coating 30, a thin sheet of paper, cloth, plastic, or a non-woven fabric or woven fabric made of synthetic fiber yarn is provided in a tubular or bag-like shape. Fill with fiber filling density, fuel tank 2
It has a shape that can be inserted into.

Thus, the fuel tank 2 of the assembly 5
, And uniformity of fiber density of batting 3,
In addition, the assembly of the combustion wick 6 is simplified, and the contact state with the batting 3 is optimized.

If the lower end of the combustion core 6 is formed sharp and the tip is inserted into the batting 3 to be incorporated, the batting 3 is filled into the outer coating 30 and then the combustion core 6 is incorporated therein. A method can also be adopted.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic sectional view of a lighter as an example of an alcohol lighter according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the lighter of FIG. 1 with a cap removed.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view of a lighter according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the lighter of FIG. 3 with a cap removed.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing one embodiment of a batting and wick assembly used in an alcohol lighter according to each embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lighter (alcohol lighter) 2 Fuel tank 4 Upper wall part 6 Burning core 61 Burning part 62 Suction part 7 Core holder 8 Seal ring 10 Ignition mechanism 16,25 Cap 18,28 Seal member 20 Ventilation passage 26 Inner cap

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A fuel tank containing an alcohol fuel and having a ventilation path with the outside air at an upper portion thereof, a batting impregnated with the alcohol fuel housed in the fuel tank, and a capillarization of the alcohol fuel impregnated in the batting. A suction portion including a lower end is fitted into the fuel tank, and a combustion portion including an upper end is disposed near a combustion core protruding out of the fuel tank, near the combustion portion protruding out of the fuel tank. And an ignition mechanism for igniting the combustion section, and at least:
The combustion portion protruding out of the fuel tank is formed of a cap that hermetically seals with the ventilation path, and the combustion wick has a substantially linear overall shape, a uniform cross-section in the length direction, and a porous shape. An alcohol lighter characterized by being made of a uniform material.