Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.

Masayuki Fujimoto

Muneo Tao

Kuniaki Uchida

Hiromi Ohta

Tadashi Takashima

A kerosene heater having a vertically oriented wick (4) which is movable to an upper position to be ignited, to a lowered position to be extinguished, and to any of a range of intermediate positions for continuous combustion, incorporates an apparatus (6A) operable by actuating a lever (6) to raise the wick to the upper position and initiate ignition and to lower the wick from that position, and an apparatus coupled thereto for automatically lowering the wick to a predetermined position within the combustion range after a predetermined time interval has elapsed following the start of igniting the wick. The danger of excessive flare-up of the wick flame after ignition is thereby eliminated, without the need for observation and control of the heater by the user.

Kerosene heater providing automatic wick repositioning after ignition

In a kerosene heater in which combustion is effected by means of a wick (3), a wick raising and lowering mechanism (5) for raising and lowering the wick (3) and a fine-regulatable wick raising and lowering mechanism (20) for finely controlling the combustion rate of the wick (3) are provided. The fine-regulatable wick raising and lowering mechanism (20) generally includes a rack (23), a wick-raising pinion (32), a wick-lowering pinion (34), a first manually operable member (27) for driving the wick-raising pinion (32), and a second manually operable member (28) for driving the wick-lowering pinion (34). The combustion rate can be finely, easily, and safely regulated by means of an operation between the rack (23) and the wick-raising and lowering pinions (32, 34).

Apparatus for finely raising and lowering a wick of a kerosene heater

A combustion apparatus including a housing formed with an opening, a combustion tube provided in the opening, a reflector disposed rearwardly of the combustion tube, and at least one heat shielding plate disposed between the combustion tube and a top plate of the housing such that at least one gap for allowing convected air to flow therethrough is defined between the heat shielding plate and the top plate. Furthermore, a front end of the heat shielding plate is projected forwardly of the top plate.

Combustion apparatus

An oil heater having a wick fed radiant burner which comprises a wick adjusting shaft rotatable in first and second directions about the longitudinal axis thereof; a wick holder for moving together therewith a wick between an extinguishing position and a maximum combustion position past a minimum combustion position in response to the rotation of the shaft; a ratchet wheel mounted on the shaft for displacement axially of the shaft; an actuating pin mounted on the shaft and angularly movable together with the shaft; an abutment bank provided on the wheel for defining the angular distance over which the pin moves, which angular distance corresponds to the distance of movement of the wick holder between the maximum combustion position and the extinguishing position; and a one-way stopper provided on the wheel and operable to permit the pin to pass thereover during the rotation of the shaft in the second direction, but to restrain the pin from passing thereover during the rotation of the shaft in the first direction thereby defining the minimum combustion position. The pin once restrained can be released from the stopper when the shaft is rotated in the first direction by the application of an external rotary force sufficient to cause the pin to displace the wheel against the biasing spring while permitting the pin to pass over the stopper.

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Yamatokoriyama, Japan

Masayuki Fujimoto