AU747519B1

AU747519B1 - Patio heater

Info

Publication number: AU747519B1
Application number: AU13572/02A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Tony John Archbold
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-03-09
Filing date: 2002-01-24
Publication date: 2002-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 2022-01-24
Also published as: WO2002073092A1

Description

I

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): TONY JOHN ARCHBOLD Invention Title: PATIO HEATER The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 2 PATIO HEATER This invention relates to a patio heater and especially a patio heater that operates on gas.

In recent years patio heaters have become a popular industrial and domestic accessory. In essence a patio heater comprises a gas burner that it positioned above a stand on a column. The gas burner has a dished cover and is arranged to radiate heat to the surroundings. Patio heaters have proved extremely popular in outdoor restaurants and cafeterias, and patios where there is a need for some form of heating on a cool day. Domestic patio heaters are currently available powered by bottled gas. However, domestic patio heaters of the kind described above are designed generally to accommodate only one size of gas bottle which can then limit the flexibility of use of the heater. It is this limitation of conventional domestic patio heaters that has brought about the present invention.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a patio gas heater comprising a gas burner head supported on a stand by a column, the stand being adapted to support a gas bottle characterised in that the column is split into at least one straight section and an elbow section, the sections being interchangeable whereby reversal of the elbow section with the straight section facilitates the use of different sized gas bottles.

Preferably the sections fit end to end telescopically.

The sections are preferably hollow and a gas line is located in the interior of the sections. In a preferred embodiment the stand is positioned below the burner head with the elbow section of the column providing space for the gas bottle to sit on the stand.

\\melb-file\home$\ooper\eep\Speei \PATIO HEATER.doc 22/01/02 3 An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawing which is a side elevational view of a gas patio heater.

The patio heater 10 illustrated in the accompanying drawing essentially comprises a metal base 11 of circular configuration that supports a burner head 12 on a vertically extending column 13. The burner head 12 includes a radiant gas ring 23 supported on a gas inlet 22 with a inverted convex shaped hood 21 that causes the heat generated by the gas burner to radiate outwardly and downwardly so that the heater can effectively direct heat to people sitting around and in the proximity of the heater. The base of the burner head also includes a control on-off valve The column 13 is composed of three interconnected sections 14, 15 and 20. A lower straight section 14 extends from the base 11 and this is in turn, as shown in one configuration in full line in the drawing is coupled to an elbow section 20 which is in turn coupled to another straight upper section 15. The column is made of cylindrical steel rod, the ends of which telescopically fit one within the other. Small grub screws 30, 31 and 32 can be located within small holes within the tube sections to lock the sections together. The tube sections are hollow and can contain the gas pipe 24 which can escape through an aperture 28 positioned near the base of the elbow section The drawing shows the column sections in two configurations that allow the gas burner to accommodate gas cylinders of different sizes. In the configuration shown in full line, the gas burner is adapted to accommodate a smaller gas cylinder. In this position the lower section is coupled to the base 11 and is then \\melbi es \home$\MCooper\Keep\Speci\PATIO HEATER.dOc 22/01/02 4 attached to the elbow section 20 which extends towards the centre of a line drawn between the centre of the base and the centre of the burner head. The elbow section then extends upwardly to terminate in an end piece 29 that extends substantially vertically to fit into the end of the upper straight section 15 which is in turn coupled to the underside of the burner head. In this position the patio burner can accommodate a 9kg butane or propane gas cylinder. The gas pipe 24 extends through the aperture 28 in the elbow section to be coupled to the top of the cylinder. The cylinder sits on the base 11 which for further ballast has a circular holder 30 and lid 31. The circular holder can be filled with sand to increase the weight of the base of the unit and thus improve the freestanding equilibrium of the unit.

If it is desired to use the unit with a larger gas cylinder such as a 45kg cylinder, the column 13 is dismantled or more precisely the elbow 20 and upper section are reversed so that the column as shown in the dotted profile comprises the lower section 14 that is coupled to the stand, the upper section 15 that is then coupled to the lower section 14 with the elbow section being the uppermost component attached directly to the underside of the burner head. In this configuration the burner head is still supported centrally above the base but there is a much larger space between the curved portion of the elbow section and the base to accommodate the gas cylinder. As can be shown in the dotted configuration, the gas pipe 24 again extends out of the aperture 28 in the elbow section but in a much higher position than the lower position shown in full line.

Thus the patio heater is considerably more versatile and the user can select whether or not to use a small or large gas cylinder.

\\melbfilea \home$\MCoper\Keep\Speci \PATIO HEATER.doc 22/01/02 5 Although the column sections are preferably designed to fit telescopically one into the other, it is understood that many other means may be incorporated to couple the sections together while still falling within the scope of this invention.

Dated this 22nd day of January 2002 TONY JOHN ARCHBOLD By their Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK Fellows Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia fl\HCooper\Keep\Speci\PATIO HEATER.doc 23/01/02

Claims

2. The patio gas heater according to claim 1 wherein the column is split into two straight sections and an elbow section.
3. The patio gas heater according to either claim 1 or 2 wherein the sections fit end to end telescopically.
4. The patio gas heater according to anyone of claims 1 to 3 wherein the sections are hollow and a gas line is located in the interior of the sections. The patio gas heater according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the stand is positioned directly below the burner head with the elbow section of the column providing space for the gas bottle to sit on the stand.
6. The patio gas heater according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the elbow section has a hole at one end to facilitate passage of a gas pipe.
7. A patio gas heater substantially described herein with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. \\melb_files\home$\Mooper\Keep\Speci\PATIO HEATER.doc 22/01/02