GB2480449A - Outdoor fire enclosure with fuel sacks on shelves - Google Patents

Abstract

A unit for outdoor fires has walls 101 forming an enclosed structure; internal shelves 201 above each other; fuel sacks 202 positioned on each shelf; and a tray 203 underneath for catching ash and debris. The user lights the lowest fuel sack 202 which in turn ignites the sack above, and their burning is controlled by the walls. The unit can be a triangular pyramid, with the shelves 201 attached by tabs 102, with heat-insulated legs 103 lifting the tray 203 off the ground. The entire unit can be quickly folded down and thrown away or disposed of by recycling; and the ground below is protected. The walls 101 and shelves 201 can be perforated or mesh steel while the tray 203 can be aluminium.

Description

Disposable unit for a controlled outdoor fire

Background of the Invention

[1] The present invention relates to controlled outdoor fires, more specifically, to a disposable unit to create a controlled outdoor fire.

[2] Outdoor fires are very popular and are used for a number of purposes. When camping outdoors, many people use fires for warmth, light and as a means of cooking food.

Bonfires are often lit for specific occasions across the world, including Guy Fawkes Night in the United Kingdom, St. John's Eve across much of Europe and Canada, and college or high school Homecoming across North America.

[3] Naturally, when lighting fires, it is important to consider relevant aspects of health and safety. Fires can easily become uncontrollable, potentially causing wildfires, damage to the surrounding area and buildings, injuries or even loss of life where many people are gathered.

[4] One popular method of controlling outdoor fires is to construct a fire ring. This is a circle constructed of stones, metal or concrete to keep the fire contained in a specific area, ensuring that it cannot spread along the ground. However, as outdoor fires are normally constructed by individuals, there is a distinct possibility that too much fuel, or a fuel of the wrong sort, may be used to construct the fire. It is widely recognized that petrol, paraffin and foams to name just a few should not be used to build a fire, but unskilled individuals often use them. This can lead to much larger fires than anticipated and, whilst a fire ring can stop the fire spreading across the ground, it cannot stop it becoming taller. This in turn can lead to the fire burning tree branches, creating uncontrolled wildfires.

[5] A further problem with fire rings is that, as they have no base on which to light the fire, the ground beneath is often irreparably damaged by the fire and significant mess is left behind, composed of ashes and so on.

[6] Methods of reducing these problems are known in the art. Heat resistant base plates for outdoor fires, such as JP9112812 to Yamada and JP7327840 to Taniwaki, can prevent the ground beneath the fire becoming burnt and damaged, but cannot control the height of the fire.

[7] Fire pits, such as CA2211967 to Dube and Loponen and DK200100312 to Jensen, are containers that hold outdoor fires.

They may either be isolated units constructed of metal, or pits dug into the ground and lined with stones or concrete.

Again, these prevent the ground becoming burnt. Furthermore, they can provide a greater level of protection at the sides of the fire: theoretically, the height of the fire should be contained within the pit.

[8] However, neither the base plates nor the fire pits can determine whether the user constructs the fire with a manageable level of fuel, or the correct fuels. As such, both are still vulnerable to these problems and fires could still grow too tall, becoming uncontrollable.

[9] Furthermore, both require significant cleaning after use, to remove the ashes and debris left behind.

Brief Swmnary of the Invention [10] It can be seen by the forgoing that a need has arisen for a means of lighting an outdoor fire that can be easily controlled, does not damage the ground below and can be quickly cleared away after use. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide such a device.

[11] To this end, disclosed is a disposable unit for a controlled outdoor fire, comprising: a plurality of walls forming an enclosed structure; a plurality of internal shelves; fuel sacks positioned on each internal shelf; a base tray for catching ash and debris.

[12] The fuel sacks are positioned on each internal shelf and are therefore contained within the enclosed structure formed by the plurality of walls. The user lights the fuel sacks, and their ability to burn is controlled by the plurality of walls. Any ash or debris contained by the fire is then collected by the base tray underneath. The entire disposable unit may then be folded down and thrown away or recycled.

[13] An advantage of the present invention is that it allows a fire to be lit outdoors, that can easily be controlled by the plurality of walls.

[14] A further advantage is that the user need not gather their own fuel as it is provided within the disposable unit.

This will reduce the likelihood of too much, or incorrect fuels being used and, in turn, the fire growing too tall and becoming uncontrollable. It is also an advantage when it is desirable to light an outdoor fire where fuels are not readily available.

[15] A yet further advantage is that the base tray collects ash and debris created by the fire, preventing damage to the ground below and ensuring that an unsightly mess is not left behind.

[16] Another advantage is that the disposable unit may be folded away after use, for easy disposal and recycling.

Brief Description of the Several Views of the Drawing [17] The invention can be better understood with reference to the following drawings, in which: [18] Figure one shows a preferred embodiment of the invention.

[19] Figure two shows the internal components of a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description of an Embodiment

[20] In a preferred embodiment of the invention, shown in Figure 1, a disposable unit for a controlled outdoor fire is disclosed comprising: a plurality of walls forming an enclosed structure 101; a plurality of internal shelves 201; fuel sacks positioned on each internal shelf 202; a base tray for catching ash and debris 203.

[21] The walls 101 forming an enclosed structure are ideally arranged into a triangular pyramid shape. As such, there are ideally three such walls. One central wall should have another wall connected to it on each side, so when laid flat the three walls would form a connected row of walls. The unconnected sides of both the left and right-hand walls in the row are then brought together to create the triangular pyramid shape.

[22] The walls 101 should be made of an air-permeable material to allow for the passage of oxygen, hence keeping the fire alight whilst still controlling its growth. The material should also be suitably strong and rigid to hold the triangular pyramidal structure. It should be non-flammable.

Preferably, the walls 101 are made of perforated sheet steel, as this holds all of these properties. However, the walls 101 may alternatively be made of any other suitable material known in the art.

[23] The internal shelves 201 are held at different heights within the enclosed structure formed by the plurality of walls 101. The shelves should be arranged at heights sufficient to position a fuel sack 202 between them as outlined below, such that the flame created by the lower fuel sack 202 will be close enough to touch the fuel sack 202 above. The preferred embodiment of the invention displayed in Figure 1 shows three such shelves 201, though in practice there may be any number of shelves.

[24] The shelves 201 are preferably held in place by attached tabs 102 that are positioned within perforations within the perforated sheet steel walls 101, and then folded downwards to secure the tabs in place. Alternatively, they may be held in place by any other means known in the art. The positioning of these shelves using the tabs 102 also acts as a means of holding the walls 101 in their triangular pyramidal arrangement, by keeping the left and right-hand walls held in place when their unconnected sides are brought together.

[25] Due to the preferred triangular pyramidal arrangement of the walls 101, the internal shelves 201 would ideally be triangular in shape to fit easily into the enclosed triangular structure created.

[26] The internal shelves 201 should also be made of an air-permeable, rigid, non-flammable material, to allow the passage of oxygen whilst retaining its strength. Ideally, the shelves 201 are air-permeable due to a series of apertures in the material. The shelves 201 could be formed of perforated sheet steel, a metallic mesh or any other suitable material known in the art.

[27] The fuel sacks 202 positioned on each internal shelf 201 comprise of a flammable outer sack and an inner fuel element. The flammable sack may be paper, card, a flammable fabric or any other suitable material known in the art. The inner fuel element may comprise coal, charcoal, woodchips, kindling wood, tinder, firelighters in block, fluid or gel form, any other suitable fuel known in the art, or any combination of the above. It is important that the fuel sacks 202 contain enough fuel to sustain a fire for at least thirty minutes, but preferably one hour, but not too much fuel that the fire may become too tall and thus uncontrollable.

[28] The base tray 203 for catching ash and debris forms the base of the triangular pyramid formed by the plurality of walls 101. As such, the base tray 203 is ideally triangular in shape and of a sufficient size to cover the entire base of the triangular pyramid.

[29] The base tray 203 may be connected to the walls 01 using a tab system 102 similar to that described above for connected the internal shelves 201 to the walls 101.

Alternatively, it may be connected by any other suitable means known in the art.

[30] The base tray 203 is preferably made of aluminium, due to its thermal insulation properties. The use of aluminium would reduce heat transfer from the base tray 203 to the ground, thus preventing damage to the ground beneath the fire.

Alternatively, any other suitable heat insulating material known in the art may be used.

[31] The support legs 103 may be connected to either the walls 101 or the base tray 203. They should be formed of a suitably strong, rigid material to ensure they retain their structure and bear the weight of the disposable unit, lifting the base tray 203 away from the ground to further prevent heat damage to the ground below the fire. Preferably, the support legs 103 are made of a heat insulating material, though they may be made of any suitably strong and rigid material known in the art.

Best Mode for Carrying out the Invention

[32] In order to light an outdoor fire, the user should light the fuel sack 202 positioned on the lowest internal shelf 201. With this fuel sack 202 lit, the fire will grow.

Once the lowest fuel sack 202 is burning, it will set light to the fuel sack 202 positioned on the internal shelf 201 above it with no intervention required by the user. Once this fuel sack 202 is burning, it will in turn set light to the fuel sack 202 on the shelf 201 above it, again with no intervention necessary. This will continue with any further fuel sacks 202 contained within the disposable unit.

[33] Whilst the fire is burning, and once it has finished burning, any ash or debris created will fall through the air-permeable internal shelves 201 into the base tray 203 below.

[34] Once the fire has burnt out, the user may easily dispose of the disposable unit. The user should open the tabs 102 connecting the internal shelves 201 and base tray 203 to the walls 101, and remove the internal shelves 201 and base tray 203. With these removed the walls 101 may be folded down on to one another, ready for easy disposal.

Claims (10)

1. Claims 1. A disposable unit for a controlled outdoor fire comprising: a plurality of walls forming an enclosed structure; a plurality of internal shelves; fuel sacks positioned on each internal shelf; a base tray for catching ash and debris.
2. 2. The disposable unit of the above claim with three walls forming an enclosed structure.
3. 3. The disposable unit of the above claim where said three walls are arranged in a triangular pyramid.
4. 4. The disposable unit of the any preceding claim where said plurality of walls are made of an air-permeable, rigid, non-flammable material.
5. 5. The disposable unit of the any preceding claim where said plurality of walls are made of perforated sheet steel.
6. 6. The disposable unit of any preceding claim where said plurality of internal shelves are made of an air-permeable material with a series of apertures.
7. 7. The disposable unit of any preceding claim where said plurality of internal shelves are made of perforated sheet steel.
8. 8. The disposable unit of any preceding claim where said plurality of internal shelves are connected to said plurality of walls using a tab mechanism.
9. 9. The disposable unit of any preceding claim where said fuel sacks comprise any of the following fire fuels in any combination: coal, charcoal, woodchips, kindling wood, tinder, firelighters in block, fluid or gel form.
10. 10. The disposable unit of any preceding claim where said base tray is made of aluminium.