An automatic gas locking device has been successfully invented by a Vietnamese engineer.

 

The device can sniff a small volume of leaking gas, the thing that people cannot do, and automatically lock off gas cooker, while giving warning signal.

The device invented by Le TIen Thang comprises of two parts, a valve and a control unit. One end of the valve is connected with the gas tank, while the other end is tied to the pipe that links gas to the cooker.

Thang attaches a sensor unit to the valve. When the unit sniffs the gas, smoke, metal gas, petrol or alcohol, it will automatically lock the gas tank, even though the cooker is in use at that time, while giving the warning signal “bip bip.”

The control unit is designed as an electric switch, which has three buttons on, off and a button which allows to adjust the time of using the cooker.

According to Thang, housewives have the habit of using many other things during the cooking; therefore, they usually forget to turn off cookers, which may cause accidents. With the timer device, users can set up the cooking time with gas cookers, like they can do with electric cookers.

The control unit has been integrated with the heat sensor unit. If the temperature in the kitchen increases to 65oC or higher, the control unit will automatically lock the gas and give warning signal.

The valve and the control unit are connected with a LAN cable. When users press “on”, the valve will automatically open, which will allow gas to flow to the cooker and get ready for use.

Both the units run on electricity with the modest electricity consumption of 5W per hour, or 3.6 KWH a month. The units also have chargeable battery which allows to run continuously for 20 hours. When the electricity is provided, the battery will automatically charge until it gets full.

The device is believed to have the life expectancy of five years at least.

Not only working as an automatic gas locking device, it can also serve as a clock which shows the time and the environment temperature.

The product introduced by Thang is the third version, called Dr. Care. This one can satisfy his requirement on the design, while it can be made at a lower cost.

At first, Thang just made the device to serve the family demand. However, he later decided to put it into commercial development.

Thang has joined forces with a friend to manufacture the devices in large quantities. Thang is in charge of the manufacturing, while the friend takes care of the distribution.

Thang has registered the invention for the intellectual property protection and has begun the large scale production since April 2013. It is expected that the products have the retail price of VND1.2 million.

“When we sell 20,000-30,000 products, we will be able to recover our investment capital,” he said.

However, Thang still works out on the product, hoping to make the products at a lower production cost.

Thang’s invention has been highly appreciated by scientists, who noted that 30 percent of the gas products in the market have low quality, while 90 percent of housewives regularly forget to lock gas cookers after using.