LIQUID FUEL LAMPS

This invention relates to liquid fuel lamps and more particularly oil lamps that may be

used for illumination or decorative purposes both indoor and outdoor. It may be mounted on a

post to serve as a torch for outdoor purposes.

Liquid fuel lamps employ a combustible oil such as kerosene, olive oil, and mineral

oil provided within a container and a wick having one end dipped into the oil may be lighted at its upper end to provide an open flame for illumination or decorative purposes. Commonly,

the wick is carried on a cap mounted at the top of the oil container. The cap merely rests or is press-fitted on the container and it can be easily removed for filling the container with the

liquid fuel oil.

Liquid fuel lamps have been problematic, particularly due to the existing of the open

flame which presents a potential fire hazard if the flame comes in contact with other combustible material or due to spillage of the oil from the container particularly if the latter is

accidentally tipped over or due to leakage of the oil from the container. The open flame may also cause severe burn hazard if it is contacted accidentally. The combustible oil can cause serious health hazard with lethal consequences if ingested particularly by children. Moreover,

the wick is mounted on a metal cap such that the cap may be heated to a high temperature

which may cause spontaneous combustion of any liquid fuel coming into contact with such

heated surface. Heretofore, such unfortunate mishaps have occurred frequently. The often occurrence of such instances of mishaps induces the establishment of the stringent safety standards such as the European Standard EN14059 stipulating the basic safety construction of such lamps in order to alleviate the above safety hazards. However, to-day no liquid fuel lamps meet the requirements of such safety standards.

It is a principal object of the present invention to provide liquid fuel lamps which

complies with all the safety requirements of safety standards.

It is another object of the present invention to provide liquid fuel lamps in which the fuel is prevented from leakage from the container.

It is another object of the present invention to provide liquid fuel lamps having a

child-proof cap mounting for preventing the fuel oil from accidentally being ingested by

children.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide liquid fuel lamps in which

the wick is insulated from the mounting cap.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide liquid fuel lamps which has a leakage-proof cap to prevent leakage of the liquid fuel oil even when the container is

accidentally overturned.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the

following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof in connection with the

accompanying drawings in which

Figure 1 is an exploded front elevation view of the liquid fuel lamp having a relatively tall liquid fuel container and one embodiment of a child-proof cap.

Figure 2 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the casing of the safety cap.

Figure 3 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the latching plate and the shell of the safety cap.

Figure 4 is a partial sectional front elevation view of the liquid fuel lamp according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is an exploded front elevation view of the liquid fuel lamp having a semi- spherical fuel container provided with a second embodiment of the safety cap according to the present invention.

Figure 6 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the latch plate of the second embodiment shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the locking collar of the second embodiment.

Figure 8 is a perspective bottom elevation view of the short cylinder of the second embodiment.

Figure 9 is a partial sectional front elevation view of the liquid fuel lamp with the

safety cap of the second embodiment.

With reference to the drawings in which like reference numerals designate corresponding parts in the several views, the liquid fuel lamp 10 of the present invention has a container 11 preferably made of a transparent or translucent plastic material such that the

amount of fuel 12 in the container 11 is visible so as to provide a readily available indication to the user of whether addition or replenishment of the fuel would be required. The container 11 has an upper neck 13 with mounting threads 14 formed thereon. A composite safety cap 15

is threadingly mountable on the neck 13. The threaded mounting is shown as an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that other forms of mounting means such as a bayonet mounting may be employed to provide a

similar function. The safety cap 15 has a circular adapter 16 made of a high temperature plastic or phenolic material such as Bakelite (a trade mark) and it has a circular casing 17 having mounting threads 18 formed on its inner surface such that the circular casing 17 may engage with the mounting threads or similar complementary mounting means 14 on the neck 13 of the fuel container 11 for securing to the latter. A cylindrical upper sleeve portion 19 is integrally formed on the circular casing 17 and it extends upwardly therefrom. An extended circular rim 20 having a larger diameter than the circular casing 17 is also integrally formed at

the lower edge of the circular casing 17 such that it extends outwards from the circumference of the lower edge of the circular casing 17. At least two open slots 21 are formed at diametrically opposite positions in the circular rim 20 and preferably a plurality of such open

slots 21 are formed in evenly spaced diametrically opposite positions in the circular rim 20 as shown in Figure 2. A generally T-shaped metal sleeve carrier 22 is mounted or integrally molded at the top portion of the upper sleeve portionl9. The metal sleeve carrier 22 may be made of copper or brass. The main body 16 has an inner through opening 23 extending through the circular casing 17, the upper sleeve portion 19 and the metal sleeve carrier 22. The wick 24 for the lamp is slidably mounted in the main body 16 through the opening 23.

The safety cap 15 has a generally frusto-conical or bell-shaped top shell 25 which preferably has a lower diameter larger then the diameter of the container 11 so as to prevent

any kindling material from the burning wick from dropping onto the container 11. The shell 25 has a short cylindrical top portion 26 extending upwards from its center and it has an opening 27 which has a diameter equal to the outside diameter of the upper sleeve portion 19

of the adapter 16. A circular latching plate 28 is mounted at the bottom opening 29 of the

shell 25. The latching plate 28 has a central opening 30 which has a diameter slightly larger than the outside diameter of the casing 17 but smaller than the outside diameter of the circular

rim 20. Two vertical tabs 31 and 32 formed at diametrically opposite locations of the edge of the central opening 30. The width of the tabs 31 and 32 is smaller than the open slots 21 formed in the circular rim 20 of the circular casing 17. A spiral compression spring 33 is disposed around the upper sleeve portion 19 of the main body 16. The spring 33 has an inside diameter larger than the outside diameter of the upper sleeve portion 19 and an outside diameter larger than the opening 27 at the top of the cylindrical top portion 26 so that its bottom rests on the circular casing 17 and its top is in abutment with the inner surface of the

rim of the opening 27. The main body 16 extends upwards through the opening 27 of the shell 25 and is secured in place by a spring lock washer 34 engages with a circular slot 35 formed around the upper sleeve portion 19. The shell 25 may be pressed downwards against

the spring force of the compressing spring 33 while turning to engage the tabs 31 and 32 with

the open slots 21 of the circular rim 20 for turning the casing 16 for either securing or removing the safety cap 15 from the neck 13 of the container 11. This double action requirement safeguard that safety cap 15 may not be operated by children to remove it from the container 11. An oil seal 36 is provided between the casing 16 and the top edge of the neck 13 of the container 11 so as to prevent leakage of the liquid fuel 12 from the container

11 when the safety cap 15 is tightly mounted to the neck 13.

A spiral spring 37 having an inside diameter equal to that of the cylindrical top

portion 26 of the shell 25 may be mounted to the cylindrical top portion 26 to provide a safety guard for the wick 24 and the flame. The spacing between the spiral of the spring 37 is preferably less than 1/4 inch so as to prevent children from accidentally touching the flame with their fingers.

A second embodiment of a composite safety cap 38 according to the present invention

is shown in Figures 5 through 9. The safety cap 38 is particularly suitable for use with a metal fuel container 39 which has a metal top cover 40 with a central threaded opening 41. The

safety cap 38 has a metal tubular sleeve carrier 42 having a threaded lower end portion 43

which is engageable with the central threaded opening 41 of the fuel container top cover 40 for mounting thereto. The wick 24 is slidably mounted within the tubular sleeve carrier 42. An oil seal 26 is located between the tubular sleeve carrier 42 and the container top cover 40, and a threaded ring 44 is also mounted on the threaded lower end portion 43 of the tubular sleeve carrier 42 such that it may be adjusted to secure the oil seal 26 tightly over the opening

41 so as to prevent any leakage of liquid fuel from the container 38, A circular latch plate 45 is fixedly mounted on the tubular sleeve carrier 42 and located above the threaded lower end portion 43. The latch plate 45 has four evenly spaced extension tabs 46, 47, 48 and 49 formed in its periphery, in which the tabs 46 and 48 are located diametrically directly opposite to one another and the tabs 47 and 49 are similarly located directly opposite to one another diametrically. The latch plate 45 is slidably located within the lower portion of a short

cylinder 50 and rotatable relative thereto. A locking collar 51 having a cross-sectional

inverted U shape is fixedly mounted within the upper portion of the cylinder 50. The locking collar 51 has a central opening 52 which has a slightly larger diameter than the outside diameter of the tubular sleeve carrier 42. Four open slots 53, 54, 55 and 56 are formed at the lower edge of the circular side wall 57 of the locking collar 51. The open slots 53 and 55 are located diametrically directly opposite to one another and the open slots 54 and 56 are

similarly located diametrically directly opposite to one another. The width of the open slots

53, 54, 55 and 56 is slightly wider the width of the tabs 46, 47, 48 and 49 of the latch plate 45. A spiral compression spring 58 surrounds the upper portion of the tubular sleeve carrier

42 and rests on the latch plate 45. The upper portion of tubular sleeve carrier 42 extends through the central opening 52 of the locking collar 51 and a lock washer 59 is secured to tubular sleeve 42 by engaging with a circular slot 60 formed on the upper portion of the tubular sleeve 42. Thus, the lock washer 59 maintains the tubular sleeve carrier 42 slidably

mounted to the locking collar 51, and the locking collar 51 is movable vertically to engage the tabs 46, 47, 48 and 49 with the open slots 53, 54, 55 and 56 by a depressing action against the spring force of the compression spring 58. The compression spring 58 maintains the tabs normally disengaged from the open slots. Accordingly, in order to secure or to remove the safety cap 38 from the fuel container 39, it would require both the pushing downward action

and the turning action to be executed simultaneously similar to that in the embodiment described previously. A cylindrical foam tube 61 may be provided between the short cylinder

50 and the compression spring 58 to insulate the tubular sleeve 42 from the short cylinder 50.

A spiral spring 37 similar to that of the above first embodiment, may also be secured to the short cylinder 50 to provide a guard for the wick as well as against accidental touching of the flame by children.

While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been described above. It will

be recognized and understood that various modifications may be made therein and the

appended claims are intended to cover all such modifications which may fall within the spirit and scope of the invention.