Gas appliance with automatic gas shut-off device responsive to flame outage

A gas appliance for producing an open flame, comprising:

• a) an elongated gas tube having a proximal end and a distal end;
• b) a gas inlet near the proximal end of the elongated gas tube, for connection to a source of combustible gas;
• c) a nozzle located at the distal end of the elongated tube, for expelling the combustible gas to produce the open flame;
• d) a flame sensor arranged on the gas appliance at a position where the open flame is detectable by the flame sensor;
• e) a gas shut-off valve having;
• i) a valve inlet connected to the gas inlet,
• ii) a valve outlet connected to the proximal end of the elongated gas tube,
• iii) a control input responsive to absence of the open flame as detected by the flame sensor so that the gas shut-off valve automatically closes when the flame is absent to keep the combustible gas from flowing from the valve inlet through the valve outlet, and
• iv) an over-ride mechanism which is manually actuatable to over-ride the control input by opening the valve inlet to the valve outlet even if the flame is absent;
• and
• f) a protective members arranged around the flame sensor and the gas shut-off valve to protect said the flame sensor and the gas shut-off valve from damage.

A method of providing combustible gas to a nozzle of a gas appliance in a manner dependent upon whether there is an open flame at the nozzle, wherein the gas appliance includes several control-related components including a flame sensor and a gas shut-off valve, said method comprising the steps of:

• a) protecting control-related components of the gas appliance by housing said control-related components in protective members;
• b) supplying a combustible gas to the gas shut-off valve;
• c) over-riding the gas shut-off valve to supply an initial amount of combustible gas to a nozzle of the gas appliance;
• d) igniting the initial amount of combustible gas at the nozzle of the gas appliance to produce an open flame;
• e) detecting whether the open flame remains ignited at the nozzle;
• f) directing the combustible gas through the gas shut-off valve and through the nozzle if the open flame remains ignited;
• and
• g) if the open flame has been extinguished, blocking the combustible gas from the nozzle so that the combustible gas cannot flow through the nozzle.