GB2198837A

GB2198837A - Simulated solid fuel gas fire

Info

Publication number: GB2198837A
Application number: GB08629586A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David James Izzard
Original assignee: GRATE GLOW FIRES
Current assignee: GRATE GLOW FIRES
Priority date: 1986-12-10
Filing date: 1986-12-10
Publication date: 1988-06-22
Anticipated expiration: 2006-12-10
Also published as: GB2198837B; GB8629586D0

Abstract

A simulated solid fuel gas tire 10 has a refractory layer 12 above which the simulated solid fuel 16 is located when the fire is in use, and gas fuel supply means 18 comprising in the region of one or more edges 20 of said layer 12 orifice means 22 arranged to allow the egress of substantially airless gas fuel to provide luminous flames. <IMAGE>

Description

TITLE "Simulated Solid Fuel Gas Fires BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION This invention relates to simulated solid fuel gas fires.

In fires of this kind, the substantive heat is produced by allowing air to mix with the gas before combustion. The more luminous (and hence more realistic) the flame, the cooler it is, while the hotter the flame (and moreefficient the fire) the more non-luminous is the flame and less realistic. Thus, realism is achieved at the expense of efficiency and vice versa.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a simulated solid fuel gas fire having a refractory layer above which the simulated solid fuel is located when the fire is in use, and gas fuel supply means comprising, in the region of one or more edges of said layer, orifice means arranged to allow the egress of substantially airless gas fuel to provide luminous flames.By the use of such an airless gas fuel supply at the edges, it is possible to have gas fuel supply means to provide substantive heating and arranged for substantially the whole of the gas from these means to burn with a substantially in an inner region, non-luminous flame/within the edge region provided with luminous flames, the substantive heat usually being able to provide a degree of radiance in the inner region, which effect can be substantially enhanced by use of reverberant cavity means such as disclosed in our earlier UK patent specification 2135767 of the present inventor.

A particularly convenient form for the airless gas fuel supply means comprises a tube provided with some or all of the orifice means. Some or all of the orifice means may be at the back of the fire, around the sides of the fire, at the front of the fire, above the refractory layer, below the refractory layer, level with the refractory layer, directed to have a vertical egress direction, directed to have a horizontal egress direction, directed to have an egress direction angled between the vertical and the horizontal, directed to have an egress direction angled below the horizontal, or any workable combination of these possibilities.

Besides the gas fuel supply means for airless gas fuel to provide luminous flames, there may be gas fuel supply means arranged to provide well-aerated gas to burn with a substantially non-luminous flame to give substantive heating.

The fire may comprise the simulated solid fuel mixed with or comprising one or more cavity means as claimed, described and/or illustrated in the aforementioned patent specification (as first officially published The present invention may be embodied in a fire having any one or more of the further features or combinations of features claimed, described and/or illustrated in co-pending application No.

(Serial No.

)

Reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig.l is a vertical section, taken along I-I of Fig.2, of one embodiment of the invention; Fig.2 is a plan view of the embodiment of Fig.l; and Figs. 3 and 4 are vertical sections of details of a gas fuel supply tube of the Fig.l embodiment.

Referring to the drawings and more particularly Fig.l, the simulated solid fuel gas fire 10 has a refractory layer 12 (mounted on a plenum chamber 14) above which the simulated solid fuel elements 16 are located when the fire is in use, and gas fuel supply means 18 comprising in the region of one or more edges 20 of said layer 12 orifice means 22 arranged to allow the egress of substantially airless gas fuel to provide luminous flames in the region of said edges 20. As shown in Figs.l and 4, gas fuel supply means 18 comprise a tube 24 provided with some or all of the orifice means 22.The orifice means 22 may be a single row of holes along the whole length of tube 24 where it runs round edge 20 or, depending on the particular design features required, some or all of the orifice means 22 may be located at the back of the fire in part or all of region A, or around the sides of the fire in part or all of regions B and/or at the front of the fire in part or all of region C, see Fig.2. Again, as seen in Fig.3, functional and/or aesthetic design considerations may dictate that some or all of the orifice means 22 provided by tube 24 are above the refractory layer 12 (position D), below the refractory layer 12 (position F) and/or level with the refractory layer 12 (position E), and for this purpose there may be a single tube 24 or there may be a plurality of parallel tubes such as any two or all three as shown in Fig.3.For similar reasons, as shown in Fig.4, some or all of the orifice means may be directed to have a vertical egress direction (as at G), a horizontal egress direction (as at H), an egress direction angled between the vertical and horizontal (as at I) and/or an egress direction angled below the horizontal (as at J), and for this purpose there may be a single tube 24 having orifices 22 at some or all of the various angles, either at one point along the tube 24 or at respective points along the tube 24 or in respective sections of tube 24 or in respective tubes 24, for example. Again, the orifices 22 may be arranged in one or more spirals around a tube 24 or mutually displaced around respective tubes 24, although usually orifices 22 will be directed vertically or inwards towards layer 12.Clearly, one or more tubes 24 having orifices 22 as seen in Fig.4 can be arranged in any one or more of the positions shown in Fig.3. Usually, the luminous flames from orifices 22 will be quite gentle and will be to some extent drawn inwardly towards the centre of the fire 10.

Besides the said gas fuel supply means 18 for airless gas fuel to provide these luminous flames, there are gas fuel supply means 26 arranged to provide well-aerated gas to burn with a substantially non-luminous flame to give substantive heating. Means 26 comprise a gas inlet 28 with a ventur 30 to draw in air at orifices 32 which with the gas mixes/in plenum chamber 14 to provide well-aerated gas that escapes through outlets 34 in refractory layer 12. The parts 28,30 and 32 of gas fuel supply means 26 are arranged to give sufficient aeration for the gas escaping from outlets 34 to burn with a substantially non-luminous flame. This gives the substantive heating of fire 10, while the gas escaping from orifices 22 in tube/s 24 gives a of a solid fuel fire simulation of realism/in the outer regions of fire 10.

One or more of the simulated solid fuel elements 16 at the heart of the fire may be replaced by cavity means elements substantially of any kind disclosed in the text and/or drawings of UK patent specification 2135767 (as first officially published) of the present inventor to produce reverberant heating with consequently much higher temperatures (and efficiency) than might otherwise be the case. The effect will usually be to draw in air from above layer 12 so that the gas mixture in chamber 14 can be allowed to be somewhat richer in gas and there will still be a substantially non-luminous flame above layer 12.

In a further embodiment illustrated in Fig.5, a tube 24 may be situated in a recess 38 let into the bottom of layer 12.

Orifices 22 at the top of this tube 24 may be 0.5 to 1.5mm. in diameter and the airless gas escapes through matching outlets 40 in layer 12 which are 1 to 5mm. in diameter.

Reference is made to the disclosure (including claims) of co-pending patent applications No.

and

(Serial No. and )

respectively, lodged on the same day as the present application, features of either or both of which can usefully be combined with the present invention and embodiments, in view of which the disclosure thereof is hereby imported into the present specification.

Claims

1. A simulated solid fuel gas fire having a refractory layer above which the simulated solid fuel is located when the fire is in use, and gas fuel supply means comprising in the region of one or more edges of said layer orifice means arranged to allow the egress of substantially airless gas fuel to provide luminous flames.

2. A fire as claimed in claim 1, in which the gas fuel supply means comprise a tube provided with some or all of the orifice means.

3. A fire as claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which some or all of the orifice means are at the back of the fire.

4. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are around the sides of the fire.

5. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are at the front of the fire.

6. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are above the refractory layer.

7e A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are below the refractory layer.

8. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are level with the refractory layer.

9. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are directed to have a vertical egress direction.

10. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are directed to have a horizontal egress direction.

11. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are directed to have an egress direction angled between the vertical and the horizontal.

12. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which some or all of the orifice means are directed to have an egress direction angled below the horizontal.

13. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, in which, besides said gas fuel supply means for airless gas fuel to provide luminous flames, there are gas fuel supply means arranged to provide wellaerated gas to burn with a substantially non-luminous flame to give substantive heating.

14. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, comprising simulated solid fuel elements and one or more cavity means elements substantially of any kind disclosed in the text and/or drawings of UK Patent specification 2135767 as first officially published.

15. A fire as claimed in any preceding claim, and substantially of any kind disclosed in the text and/or drawings of co-pending application No.

(Serial No. )

and/or application No.

(Serial No. )

lodged on the same date as the present application.

16. A fire substantially according to any example hereinbefore described.

17. A fire substantially according to any example hereinbefore described with reference to, and illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.