Filler valves for gas lighters
Uilited States Patent 1 1 1111 3,880,213  
 Schindler Apr. 29, 1975 FILLER VALVES FOR GAS LIGHTERS 3.192.971 7/1965 Kanamaru 141/291 X 3.575.221 4/1971 Mochizuki ct a1. 141/295 [75] Inventor: Hans Schindler, Egelsbach. Germany Prbizury E.\&#39;ami11or-Richard E. Aegerter [73] Asslgnecz Braun Aktlengesellschaft. Frankturt. Ass/8mm K Schmidt Germany Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman. Darby &amp; [22] Filed: May 18. 1973 Cushmim [21] Appl. No.: 361.514  
 [57] ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data For a gas lighter to be replenished with liquefied gas May 30. I972 German 12226224 from a filler bottle with a nozzle, a filler valve has within a housing a valve stem spring loaded to close a 52 us. c1 141/295; 251/323 a with the housing- The clearance between the m [51} Int. Cl. ,4 Flfik 15/02; F23 2/52 and the housing provides a filler channel and the end [58] Field of Sear h 137/323; 141/2 [8, 193 face of the valve stem facing the nozzle has at least 141/291-296. 31 l. 329. 34635l. 353. 367. one depression or elevation providing a path opening 392; ZZZ/402,16; 251/322, 323 320 into that channel, the valve housing having a sloping internal sholder around the outer end of the valve [56] References Cited stern to seal off the nozzle.  
  UNlTED STATES PATENTS 3 Claims. 3 Drawing Figures 3.174.519 3/1965 Pizzurro ct a1 141/295 A 2 eeleeleaa FATENTEUAPMQ 1975 SHEET 1 BF 2 PATENTEDAPRZQIQYS sum 2 OF 2 gs V.  
 s ssqz g FILLER vVALVES FOIgGAfiQ LIGHTERS BACKGROUND OF TI-IE INVENTION Thissinvention relates tofillervalvesfor-lighters to-&#34;be replenished itwith liquefied gas from a; filler! bottle wherein a. movable valve element vincluding a stern within a valve housing is spring loaded-f seal against the valve housing. I;  
  Known valves of such kind-function&#39;according to simple mechanical principles and forrthemost part meet the requirements made of them. They tendho&#39;wever to require costly manufacturing stepsbecause they are desi&#39;gnedto provideseparate-channels for the influx of the liquefied gas from &#34;the &#39;nozzle&#39;of a filler bottle and for the &#39;withdrawal ofairi v Constructions for such purpose have been adopted because anair lock in -the lighter reservoir could prevent rapid filling of the lighter and a great deal of effort has been expended with intent torem ove this air lock. However, tests carried outto check the &#39;functional process show, firstly, that airlock most frequently arises &#34;withftl&#39;ie very first fillihg -dfthelighter, secondly, that this air lock disappears immediately to become of negligible effect during the second filling process, i.e., when the valve is opened, and, thirdly, the small blow off at the beginning of the filling process, when the nozzle has opened the valve, reduces the gas pressure so much that in short time gas is vapourised from the liquid phase. The consequent reduction in temperature then lowers the vapour pressure in the lighter reservoir and thus gravitational force together with the slight excess of pressure in the filler bottle leads to the rapid filling of the lighter, which is held upright during filling.  
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention exploits these findings in that the clearance around the valve stem provides a filler channel, the end surface of the valve stem facing the nozzle has one or more depressions or elevations providing a path opening to the inner wall of the valve housing and the valve housing is provided with a sloping internal shoulder somewhat beneath the upper edge to seal off the nozzle.  
 The advantages of the arrangement are that:  
  a. the valve consists of only two parts movable against one another under spring pressure, i.e., the smallest possible number of parts,  
  b. a high degree of accuracy in the fit of these parts is not required and a clearance is made use of to provide a sufficiently wide filler channel,  
  0. none of the narrow bores previously necessary are required,  
 d. the total volume of the valve is very small,  
  e. there is a very small susceptibility to contamination as only a small gap forms as far as the sloping shoulder which, moreover, is blown free when the valve opens, and  
  f. even when the tiller bottle is held obliquely, the sloping shoulder. conveniently integral with the housing, provides a seal, the shoulder acting like a ball seal in cooperation with the nozzle of the filler bottle, conventionally of a plastics material.  
 According to a further feature of the invention, the  
  2 has the, ai&#39;dw larl tage. that no coverffor the valve,is required, because &#39;ther&#39;e areg ndholes to be. covered and the dirt-&#34;collecting annular ,spa&#39;c&#39;e between the valve 0 i g-,QD %l rah detain is blowni free every filling.  
  According itoa further featureiof the invention, the  
  seal consistsof an O-ring lying against a flange or shoulder of the valve stem to; encircle .the latter and to be fpr essed against the valvjeghousing. The advantageis, that the supporting flange or {shoulder does not need to IQ make a gas-tightv joint with the valve stem,  
 . ,6 end surface of the valve stem facing the nozzle IS approximately aligned, that is, flush, with the upper surface of the valve housing when the valve is closed. This BRIEFZDESCRIPTION or THE DRAWINGS? Embodiments.of the invention will now be described {.by way of exampleand with reference to the accompa- 5 &#39;nying drawingsgin whichfl I l v FIG. 1 is a sectional view through a-filler valve in the rest position and in the position during filling,  
  FIG. la illustrates a variant construction of the upper &#34;part of a fillerv valve, and  
  FIG. 2 illustrates a variant constructio part.  
 n ofthe lower DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to. FIG. 1, the filler valvecomprises a mov- -able valve element&#39;l havinga &#39;springloaded stem 14 which slides loosely in a valve: housing2 and carries at its inner end a sealing ring 3 on a flange or shoulder 12. In the normal or rest condition of the filler valve, the sealing ring 3 is pressed against an end face 26 of the housing to close the valve. The pressure results from the spring loading provided by a helical spring 4 encircling the valve stem 14 within the housing 2, which spring is seated on a shoulder 11 of the valve stem and on an internal end face 22 of the housing. The outer end face 13 of the valve stem 14, that is, the exposed and uppermost end face when the lighter is held in position for filling, has a depression extending across it to the face edges to provide paths opening to the inner wall of the housing.  
  The valve housing 2 is screwed into a lighter case 20 by means of a thread 24 and sealed gas-tight by a seal 21.  
  If a bottle of gas with a nozzle 5 is placed on the upper end face 13 of the valve stem and pressed downwards as far as a sloping shoulder 23 of the valve housing, the shoulder presenting a frusto-conical surface,  
 . there first ensues a blow off of the gas in the reservoir through the clearance space existing between the valve stem 14 and the valve housing 2. When the nozzle 5 reaches the shoulder 23, a seal forms there, which seal has the character of a bail seating and which has sufficient tightness even with a slight inclination of the bottle. If the filler bottle is now pressed down further, the valve (not shown) of the filler bottle opens and liquetied gas streams in the direction of the arrow 25 through the path provided by the depression and lJI LII  
 through the filler channel formed by the clearance space around the valve stem into the interior of the reservoir. The wewight of the liquefied gas, together with the slight cooling and pressure reduction resulting from the gas blow off during the introduction of the nozzle into the valve housing, leads to rapid filling.  
  The depression 130 in the upper end of the valve stem is shown in FIG. 1 and to the right of FIG. 10 as a wide shallow trough extending diametrally across the face 13, so that the face presents, along the sides of the trough, two rising lands to be engaged by the nozzle of the filler bottle. The face may be shaped in other ways for the free flow of liquefied gas to the inner wall of the housing. The face 13 may for example have sides 13! sloping to a diametral elevation or peak providing a rising land to be engaged by the nozzle of the filler bottle.  
  In the arrangement of FIG. 2, the flat seal 3 of FIG. I is replaced by an O-ring 33. A flange or shoulder I21 has an annular rim 122 which lies against the O-ring 33 tightly surrounding the valve stem 14. The O-ring is pressed by spring 4 against the end face 26 of the valve housing and a face 140 of the flange or shoulder 12] of the valve stem and thus forms a gas seal 27 between the valve element comprising stem 14 and valve housing 2. In this way, a gas-tight connection of the flange or shoulder 12] with the valve stem 14 is no longer necessary. The flange or shoulder 121 may be a ring affixed by riveting.  
 I claim:  
  I. A filler valve for a lighter to be replenished with liquefied gas from a filler bottle having a nozzle. the valve comprising a valve housing providing a throughway with an inner end presenting a valve seating face and an outer end stepped to receive and then to seal with the nozzle of an applied filler bottle, a depressible valve stem with clearance in the throughway, a sealing ring on said stem. and spring loading means for urging the stem to press the sealing ring against said valve seating face to close the valve, said stem having for engagement by the applied nozzle an end face which is substantially flush with the outer end of the throughway when the valve is closed and has at least one depression providing a flow path across said end face to the edge thereof, so that. when the nozzle of a filler bottle is applied to depress the valve stem and so open the valve, a path is first formed around the valve stem and nozzle for blow off and then the nozzle seals with the outer end of the throughway to close the blow off path and leave a filling path for liquefied gas to flow from the nozzle across the end face of the depressed stem to the clearance space around said stem and thence through the open valve, the stem being returned by thespring loading means, when the nozzle is withdrawn, to a position in which the valve is closed and said end face is substantially flush with the outer end of the throughway.  
  2 A filler valve according to claim 1, wherein said end face having at least one depression is a face with a trough extending across from edge to edge.  
  3; A filler valve according to claim 1, wherein said end face having at least one depression is a face with a peak extending across from edge to edge.