GB2459687A - Barbeque shelter - Google Patents

Abstract

A barbeque shelter 10 includes a dished metal cover 12 dimensioned to extend over a barbeque. The cover includes a smoke outlet 14, which may be formed as a tubular chimney at an apex of the cover. The shelter also has support legs 16 tall enough to accommodate a standing person under the shelter. Each leg may comprise a number of sections and a removable foot. The shelter may be easily erected and dismantled for storage. The cover is metal due to the heat radiated by an in use barbeque.

Description

Barbeque Shelter The present invention relates to a barbeque shelter.

Barbeques are presently extremely popular, allowing people to enjoy the outdoor environment whilst still allowing the convenience of freshly-prepared hot food. The problem associated with all barbeques is, inherently, the weather. Some climates are more prone to inclement and quickly changing weather conditions, and in particular, with global weather patterns becoming increasingly extreme, people wishing to enjoy outdoor activities are subject to both stronger radiation from the sun and more sudden downp ours of rain.

The present invention seeks to provide a shelter which is simple and quick to erect, and which can be easily dismantled and stored when not needed.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a barbeque shelter comprising a dished metal cover dimensioned to extend over a barbeque, a smoke outlet provided in the dished metal cover, and a plurality of support leg elements having a longitudinal extent sufficient to space the dished metal cover away from the ground by a distance which can accommodate a standing person.

Preferable and/or optional features of the first aspect of the invention are set forth in claims 2 to 10, inclusive.

The present invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of an in use barbeque shelter, in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a perspective exploded view of the barbeque shelter; and Figures 3a to 3c are enlarged views of parts of the barbeque shelter shown in Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a barbeque shelter 10 which comprises a dished metal cover 12, a smoke outlet 14, and a plurality of support leg elements 16.

Although the dished metal cover 12 can be any shape, in this embodiment, the cover 12 is oval, having a smoothly concave inner surface 18 and a smoothly convex outer surface 20. Preferably, the cover 12 is formed from a plurality of arcuate metal segments 22, which are welded or riveted together. However, any suitable means of manufacture of the cover 12 can be considered.

The cover 12 is metal, typically being an alloy, such as aluminium, or stainless steel. An alloy is perhaps preferred, since it is extremely light weight and cost-effective.

On the inner surface 18 of the cover 12, a plurality of engagement elements 24, typically being brackets or ports, are provided in spaced relationship thereon to accept ends of respective support leg elements 16 in releasable engagement.

The smoke outlet 14 is preferably provided at an apex of the dished metal cover 12, and to aid in directing the smoke away from the cover 12, a tubular hollow guide element 26, typically being a chimney, is provided at the outlet 14. More than one smoke outlet in the cover may be provided.

Each support leg element 16 is of selectively variable length, being formed of a plurality of, preferably tubular, sections 28. Ends of adjacent sections 28 are interconnected via a plastics or metal connector 30 which is push-fit insertable into adjacent ends of the sections 28.

An end of a section 28 of each leg element 16, which is remote from the dished metal cover 12, can either be forced into the ground, if in a grass or turf environment, or located in a foot element 32 which itself can be securable fastened to the ground, either by screw-threaded fasteners or pegs not shown. Each foot element 32 includes a, preferably circular, base plate 34 and a boss 36 which upstands centrally from one major surface of the base plate 34. An end of the respective section 28 is located as a sliding fit in or over the boss 36. The fit may be an interference fit to prevent easy extraction by, for example, wind or accidental knocking.

In use, the support leg elements 16, being four in this present embodiment, are assembled with a suitable number of sections 28 to ensure that the dished metal cover 12 is spaced sufficiently from the ground so as to accommodate a standing user therebeneath. In the presently described case, each support leg element 16 includes two separate sections 28 interconnected by a connector 30. However, three or more sections 28 may be utilised.

Ends of the support leg elements 16 are then located in the ground or on their foot elements 32, and the dished metal cover 12 is engaged with the other ends of the support leg elements 16 via the engagement elements 24 provided on the inner surface 18 thereof.

A stable and resilient barbeque shelter is thus formed which provides shade from the sun and protection from the rain. The barbeque shelter is typically temporary in nature, being quick to assemble and dismantle, and having a small footprint, thus efficiently utilising available space.

The connector is optional, since adjacent sections of the support leg elements may be directly and releasably engagable with each other.

Preferably, the sections of the support leg elements are also metal, similar to the dished meta' cover, due to the potentia' heat radiated by an in use barheque.

Although four support leg elements are suggest, three support leg elements are feasible, or more than four support leg elements can be utilised.

The embodiments described above are provided by way of examples only, and various other modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (11)

1. Claims 1. A barbeque shelter comprising a dished metal cover dimensioned to extend over a barbeque, a smoke outlet provided in the dished metal cover, and a plurality of support leg elements having a longitudinal extent sufficient to space the dished metal cover away from the ground by a distance which can accommodate a standing person.
2. 2. A barbeque shelter as claimed in claim 1, wherein the dished metal cover is oval shape, having a concave inner surface and a convex outer surface.
3. 3. A barbeque shelter as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the dished metal cover is formed from a plurality of metal segments.
4. 4. A barbeque shelter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein an inner surface of the dished metal cover has a plurality of spaced engagement elements thereon for engaging an end of a respective support leg element.
5. 5. A barbeque shelter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the smoke outlet includes a tubular guide element for guiding smoke away from the dished metal cover.
6. 6. A barbeque shelter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the smoke outlet is formed at an apex of the dished metal cover.
7. 7. A barbeque shelter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein each support leg element includes a plurality of elongate support leg sections which are releasably interengagable with each other.
8. 8. A barbeque shelter as claimed in claim 7, wherein each support leg element further comprises a connector for interconnecting ends of adjacent support leg sections.
9. 9. A barbeque shelter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a plurality of ground-engagable foot elements for releasably engaging a respective said support leg.
10. 10. A barbeque shelter as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shelter is in the form of a kit of parts.
11. 11. A barbeque shelter substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.