GB2301880A - Portable screen - Google Patents

Abstract

A screen (10) that can be set up to improve the comfort of a person in a room, by directing heat toward the person, protecting them from draught and reflecting sound thereby making it easier to communicate with other persons present, comprises a reflective coating which may be of a metallised polyester. Joints (14) enable the screen to be folded into different configurations. The screen may be cut from a single blank of material. The screen may be made from a laminar combination of two-ply chipboard sandwiched between folding box board, with the reflective coating provided on the box board on one side of the screen.

Description

PORTABLE SCREEN This invention relates to a portable screen, particularly, but not exclusively, for reflecting heat and/or sound into a desired area.

People often sit on a chair in a room with a fire and television set for example. People who are not very physically active may sit for long periods of time. This particularly applies to elderly people in their home or resident in a nursing home. The person may become uncomfortable if the room they are sitting in is draughty or if they do not feel warm enough. If the person is hard of hearing they may also find it difficult to hear the television or somebody else in the room talking.

An object of the invention is to provide a portable screen that can be set up to improve the comfort of a person in a room by addressing the above problems.

According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a method of confining heat in the vicinity of a person in front of a heat source comprising a screen, at least a part of which is erected in a region outward of said person from said heat source.

The surface of the screen facing said heat source preferably comprises a reflective coating to reflect heat. The reflective coating may be metallised polyester or any other suitable material. The surface of the screen not facing the heat source is preferably provided with a finish appropriate to the surroundings of the screen. When erected the screen preferably extends to floor level.

The person in front of the heat source may be seated on a chair facing the heat source. The screen is preferably erected behind said chair to define a partial enclosure around the chair. With this arrangement the screen reflects heat from the heat source towards the seated person, confining heat in the vicinity of the chair to help keep the person warm.

The screen is preferably a good reflector of sound. This enables the screen to be erected to direct sound waves from a sound source towards the person to aid hearing. The sound source may be a television set or the voice of another person, for example. The screen can also be erected to shield the person from draughts.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the invention the screen comprises a plurality of panels connected together. The connections allow the screen to fold to form different erected configurations. For example, the screen can be erected in different semi-circular type configurations.

Preferably the screen is of one-piece construction, enabling the screen to be manufactured from a single blank of material. The material may be a laminar combination of two-ply chipboard sandwiched between folding box board. The reflective coating is provided on the box board on one side of the screen. Preferably the box board on the other side has a printed mahogany finish. The laminar material is bent to enable folding of the screen. Panels are formed between the bend lines.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a screen suitable for use in performing the above method comprising a plurality of panels of box board material, adjacent panels being connected by a hinge joint and one surface of the screen having a reflective coating.

The invention will now be described further by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a perspective view showing a screen according to one embodiment of the invention standing behind a chair; Fig. 2 is a die cutting plan for the screen shown in Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the composition of a screen in accordance with the invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, the screen 10 comprises panels 12 which are connected together at joints 14. One surface 16 of each panel 12 has a reflecting coating to reflect heat and/or sound. The joints 14 enable the screen to fold into different configurations which may be required in use.

In most configurations, such as the semi-circular type shown in Fig. 1, the screen is stable enough to stand freely.

The screen 10 may be cut out from a single blank of material during manufacture. Fig. 2 shows a die cutting plan for this purpose. The screen can be of any suitable foldable material including corrugated fibre board.

The broken lines of Fig. 2 indicate the joints 14 between the panels 12. The material of the screen is bent along these lines to aid the folding of the screen along the joints 14. The screen may have any number of joints as appropriate.

Alternatively, the screen 10 may comprise separate panels 12 which are connected together at the joints 14 by hinges, for example. In this case the material of the screen would not need to be foldable.

A foldable screen material of laminar section is shown in Fig. 3. The material comprises two-ply chipboard 24 sandwiched between folding box board 26. The reflective coating of the screen is provided by metallised polyester 28 on one of the layers of folding box board. Alternatively any other type of suitable heat reflective material may be used. The other folding box board layer, on the other surface of the screen is provided with an attractive finish 30 which may be a printed mahogany finish, for example.

For safety reasons the screen material has fire retardant properties.

The total thickness of the screen material is of the order of 2000 micron, being made up of 1400 micron two-ply chipboard, two layers of 290 micron folding box board and 12 micron metallised polyester.

This laminar material is suitable for a screen formed from a single blank. The chipboard layer provides rigidity to the screen and folding between panels is made possible by forming bends in the screen.

Appropriate bend types are used to enable the screen to fold for storage and erection.

The screen 10 typically has a height of approximately 1.2 metres and an unfolded length of approximately 2 metres.

Consider a person sitting on a chair in a room containing a fire or other form of heating appliance. In use, the screen 10 is positioned in the room with the reflective surfaces 16 of the panels facing the heat source and in such a way that the screen reflects heat from the heat source towards the person in the chair. This would be shown by Fig. 1 with the addition of a heat source in front of the chair 19. With this arrangement the screen provides reflected heat for the warmth and comfort of the person in addition to the direct heat of the heat source. In effect, the screen produces a local heat trap in the room around the chair. Therefore the use of the screen reduces the area of the room to be heated by the heat source. This can introduce savings in fuel, benefitting both the user and the environment.

When not in use the screen can be folded up to reduce storage space.

In addition to reflecting heat the reflective surfaces 16 of the screen will reflect incident sound waves. The screen 10 can therefore be positioned to focus sound waves in an analogous way to reflecting heat. The screen can be used to aid the hearing of a person listening to a television or other sound source.

The screen 10 can also be positioned to shield a person from draughts in a draughty room. For this purpose the panels 1 2 of the screen extend to the floor of the room when the screen is standing.

In a room with a heat source and a sound source in different parts of the room the screen can be set up in a compromising position so that it reflects heat and sound towards the sitting person. To achieve this, the screen may be folded to stand in a concertina-type arrangement, for example. Similarly, in a draughty room with a heat and/or sound source the screen can be set up in a compromising position to provide a draught shield and to reflect the heat and/or sound.

The screen may also be used to provide privacy from other people sitting nearby. In certain situations, more than one screen may be used.

The attractive finish 30, on the other surface of the screen to the reflective coating, can be chosen to compliment the decor of the room in which the screen is used.

It is of course to be understood that the invention is not intended to be restricted to the details of the above embodiment and many variations and modifications are possible.

For example, the screen may be provided with detachable feet for added stability as shown in the drawings by reference numeral 18. Fig. 2 shows that these feet can be cut from the same blank as the screen with slots 20 to engage with complementary slots 22 at the base of the screen.

If necessary, the screen may be scored to aid bending.

Claims (15)

1. A method of confining heat in the vicinity of a person in front of a heat source comprising erecting a screen, at least a part of which is erected in a region outward of said person from said heat source.

2. A screen as used in the method of claim 1 in which the surface of the screen facing said heat source comprises a reflective coating.

3. A screen as claimed as claimed in claim 2, wherein the reflective coating is metallised polyester.

4. A screen as claimed in claims 2 and 3 which extends to floor level.

5. A screen as claimed in claim 4, wherein said screen is erected behind said chair to define a partial enclosure around the chair.

6. A screen as claimed in claim 5, wherein the screen is a good reflector of sound.

7. A screen as claimed in claim 6, wherein said screen can be erected to shield a person from draughts.

8. A screen as claimed in claim 7, wherein said screen comprises a plurality of panels connected together.

9. A screen as claimed in claim 8, wherein the connections allow the screen to fold to form different erected configurations.

10. A screen as claimed in claim 9, wherein the screen is of one-piece construction, enabling the screen to be manufactured from a single blank of material.

11. A screen as claimed in claim 10, wherein the material is a laminar combination of two-ply chipboard sandwiched between folding box board.

1 2. A screen as defined in claim 11, wherein the reflective coating is provided on the box board on one side of the screen.

13. A screen as claimed in claim 12, wherein the laminar material is bent to enable folding of the screen.

1 4. A screen as used in the method of claim 1 comprising a plurality of panels of box board material, adjacent panels being connected by a hinge joint and one surface of the screen being a reflective coating.

15. A screen substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.