Background Art Nowadays, various commodities are produced from resources, in order to pursue more convenience in our daily lives. On the other hand, there are caused various problems such as environmental pollution according to the waste of used commodities, expense incurred in treating the used commodities, and exhaustion of resources. Therefore, there have been lots of efforts and trials to develop various reuse technologies, in order to solve these problems. However, under the current circumstances, reuse technologies have not been diversely developed up to now, so that resources, and time and expense for treating the used commodities are excessively consumed.

For example, when butane gas contained in a portable gas container and usually utilized as fuel of a portable gas burner, which can be easily handled and thereby can be easily used indoors and outdoors by everyone, has been used up, the portable gas container is generally not reused but is directly deserted nowadays.

However, the deserted portable gas container causes environmental pollution, and requires wasteful expense for manufacturing and retrieving gas containers.

In order to solve these problems, several refillable portable butane gas containers have been recently known to the public. One of the conventional refillable portable butane gas containers includes two separate valves respectively for discharging and refilling gas, which are respectively disposed at an upper portion and a lower portion of a body of the gas container. Another conventional refillable portable butane gas container has a gas valve, by which gas can be refilled into the gas container as well as can be discharged out of the gas container.

However, the former gas container has a complicated construction and its manufacturing cost is increased relatively expensive. In contrast, in the latter gas container, since the gas is discharged out of and refilled into the gas container through the single gas valve in the same route, the gas valve, especially an 0-ring, which is so disposed as to block an orifice formed at a lower outside portion of an injection nozzle, is rapidly worn out. In result, there may be caused a leakage of gas or the 0-ring has to be frequently replaced.

Disclosure of the Invention Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a refillable gas container, in which gas can be discharged and refilled respectively through different channels even while the gas container has a single valve for discharging and refilling the gas, so that the abrasion

of the 0-ring, which is a component of consumption, is minimized, leakage of gas is prevented, and the life span of the gas container is prolonged.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a refillable gas container comprising a container body and a gas valve, the gas valve being assembled with an upper portion of the container body, the gas valve comprising : a valve body fixedly fitted in the upper portion of the container body ; an injection nozzle fixedly fitted in the valve body, the injection nozzle having an 0-ring fitted around the injection nozzle; a nozzle holder holding the injection nozzle in such a manner as that the injection nozzle can be detachably assembled with the valve body ; a nozzle cap assembled with a lower portion of the injection nozzle inserted in the valve body; and a needle valve contained in the nozzle cap and supported by a first spring in such a manner as to open and close a lower end of a nozzle hole formed through the injection nozzle. In the gas container having the construction as described above according to the present invention, when the injection nozzle is pressed and thereby the orifice having been blocked by the 0-ring is opened, the gas contained in the container body is discharged to the exterior. In contrast, when the gas is filled again into the gas container, the pressure of the gas applied through the nozzle hole of the injection nozzle from a gas filling apparatus moves the needle valve, which has been in a state of blocking the nozzle hole of the injection nozzle, against the spring force of the first spring, so as to open the nozzle hole. In result, the gas is filled into the gas container through the filling hole formed through a side wall of the nozzle cap. Therefore, the abrasion of the 0-ring is minimized.

Brief Description of the Drawings The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a refillable gas container according to the present invention; FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a gas valve employed in a refillable gas container according to the present invention; FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a gas valve employed in a refillable gas container according to the present invention, which is in a state where gas is discharged out of the refillable gas container; and FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a gas valve employed in a refillable gas container according to the present invention, which is in a state where gas is filled into the refillable gas container.

Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention.

Referring to FIGs. 1 and 2, a refillable gas container according to the present invention includes a container body 1 and a gas valve 10. The gas valve 10 is assembled with a central portion of an upper cap 2, which is integrated with an upper end of the container body 1. The gas valve 10 includes a valve body 20, an injection nozzle 30, a nozzle holder 40, a nozzle cap 50, and a needle valve 60. The valve body 20 is fixedly fitted in the upper cap 2. An 0-ring 39 is fitted around the injection nozzle 30, which is inserted in an upper

end of the valve body 20 and is detachably assembled with the upper end of the valve body 20 by the nozzle holder 40. That is, the injection nozzle 30 is fitted through the nozzle holder 40, which is screw-jointed with an inner upper portion of the valve body 20. The nozzle cap 50 is screw-jointed with a lower portion of the injection nozzle 30 inserted in the valve body 20.

The needle valve 60 is contained in the nozzle cap 50 and is supported by a first spring 70 in such a manner as to open and close a lower end of a nozzle hole 32 of the injection nozzle 30.

At an inner upper portion of the valve body 20 is formed a first female screw 22, which is screw-jointed with the nozzle holder 40. In the valve body 20 is s formed a nozzle seating chamber 24, in which the injection nozzle 30 and the nozzle cap 50 are slidably inserted. To a lower portion of the nozzle seating chamber 24 is connected a pipe 26, which communicates with the interior of the gas container.

The nozzle hole 32 extends through the injection nozzle 30, and an orifice 34 is perforated through a middle portion of the injection nozzle 30 so as to enable the nozzle hole 32 to communicate with the exterior of the injection nozzle 30. The orifice 34 has a relatively small diameter. The nozzle hole 32 also has a neck 36 formed around a portion of the nozzle hole 32, through which the orifice 34 is perforated. The 0-ring 39 is fitted around the neck 36 and between the valve body 20 and the nozzle holder 40, so as to maintain the orifice 34 closed. When the injection nozzle 30 is pressed, the neck 36 moves downward to escape out of the 0-ring 39. In result, the orifice 34 is opened, so that gas contained in the container body 1 is discharged through the orifice 34 and the nozzle hole 32 to the

exterior.

Further, at an outer lower portion of the injection nozzle 30 is formed a second male screw 38, which is assembled with the nozzle cap 50.

The nozzle holder 40 has a first male screw 42 formed at an outer portion of the nozzle holder 40. The first male screw 42 is engaged with the first female screw 22 formed at the inner upper portion of the valve body 20. A packing 44 is fitted around a portion of the nozzle holder 40 above the first male screw 42. The nozzle holder 40 further includes a cover head 46 provided at an upper end of the nozzle holder 40. The cover head 46 has a circular shape or a polygonal shape, so that it can be assembled with and disassembled from the valve body 20 by means of an assembling tool. The injection nozzle 30 is slidably fitted in a through hole 48 formed through the nozzle holder 40.

A lower end of the nozzle cap 50 is supported by a second spring 80, which is seated on the bottom of the nozzle seating chamber 24 of the valve body 20. At an inner upper portion of the nozzle cap 50 is formed a second female screw 52, which is screw-jointed with the second male screw 38 formed at the lower portion of the injection nozzle 30. A valve seating chamber 54 is formed inside of an upper portion of the nozzle cap 50.

The first spring 70 and the needle valve 60 are disposed in the valve seating chamber 54, so as to block the lower end of the nozzle hole 32 of the injection nozzle 30.

Further, a filling hole 56 is formed through a portion of the nozzle cap 50, which is disposed outside of the valve seating chamber 54. When the needle valve 60 is opened, gas having been introduced from the exterior is introduced into the gas container through

the filling hole 56.

In the gas container having the construction as described above according to the present invention, when the injection nozzle 30 is pressed and thereby the orifice 34 having been blocked by the 0-ring 39 is opened as shown in FIG. 3, the gas contained in the container body 1 is discharged to the exterior. In contrast, when the gas is filled again into the gas container, the pressure of the gas applied through the nozzle hole 32 of the injection nozzle 30 from a gas filling apparatus moves the needle valve 60, which has been in a state of blocking the nozzle hole 32 of the injection nozzle 30, against the spring force of the first spring 70, so as to open the nozzle hole 32. In result, the gas is filled into the gas container through the filling hole 56 formed through a side wall of the nozzle cap 50.

Industrial Applicability In the refillable gas container according to the present invention, gas can be discharged and refilled respectively through different channels and the injection nozzle is opened only when the gas is discharged. That is, the 0-ring, which has been blocking the orifice of the injection nozzle, comes into sliding contact with the injection nozzle only when the gas is discharged, and the 0-ring is not worn out when the gas is refilled, so that the abrasion of the 0-ring is minimized even in spite of repetitive discharging and refilling the gas. Therefore, the life span of the refillable gas container can be prolonged.

While this invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is to be

understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment and the drawings, but, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and variations within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.