Backpacking stove

Abstract

A burning appliance having a burner assembly including a burner for providing combustion is disclosed. The appliance includes a fuel tip for supplying fuel to the burner assembly and a fuel control and cleaning assembly cooperating with the fuel tip to permit control of fuel supplied to the burner and cleaning of the fuel tip while the appliance is in operation. The cleaning assembly may be formed on the appliance itself and may incorporate a cleaning element, a cleaning element control mechanism and a heat dissipating interface positioned with respect to the cleaning element and the cleaning element control mechanism such that a user may control the cleaning element with the cleaning element control mechanism without the use of gloves or other protective equipment while the appliance is in operation.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The present invention relates to fuel burning appliances, and more specifically to backpacking and camping stoves.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]Fuel burning camp stoves and lanterns for camping and outdoor use are well known and are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,364, which is owned by The Coleman Company, Inc., assignee of the present invention. Liquid fuel, which is often used in such camp stoves and lanterns, may be, for example, COLEMAN branded fuel, white gas, unleaded gasoline, or other liquid fuels.[0003]In some conventional liquid fuel camp stoves such as the ones which The Coleman Company, Inc. has offered for many years, fuel is contained in a pressure vessel or fuel tank into which air is pumped under pressure. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,364, the fuel tank is equipped with a dip tube which extends to nearly the bottom of the tank. The dip tube is closed at the bottom with the exception of a small diameter o...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015]In yet another aspect of the invention, the present invention is directed to a method of controlling the fuel supply through the fuel tip of a multi-fuel burning appliance while facilitating at least partial cleaning of the fuel tip while the burning appliance is in operation.

Problems solved by technology

This partial blockage during the lighting cycle causes air to be drawn down the space between the internal and outer conduits of the dip tube from an opening at the upper part of the pressure vessel.

Unfortunately, the available fuel supply will depend upon what is available in the given locality.

Existing multi-fuel stoves do, however, have limitations.

Because of, among other things, their design and ability to run on multiple fuel sources, the ability to have precise control of the flame and thus the heat output of the stove is limited.

In addition, complex fuel tip cleaning systems are generally employed with such multi-fuel stoves.

Because of the nature and design of the cleaning systems, adequate cleaning of the fuel tip cannot be achieved unless the stove is turned off, and depending upon the situation, allowed to cool.

What is needed therefore, but presently unavailable in the art is a multi-fuel fuel burning appliance, such as, but not limited to, a camping and backpacking stove, lantern, torch or other device having a fuel tip that can be cleaned while the device is still running.

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