US20150125798A1

US20150125798A1 - Adapter to Use Heat Gun to Start Pellet Burner

Info

Publication number: US20150125798A1
Application number: US14/526,240
Authority: US
Inventors: Michael S. Swanick
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2013-11-06
Filing date: 2014-10-28
Publication date: 2015-05-07

Abstract

A heat gun adapter is an apparatus that allows the use of a heat gun in order to ignite the fuel pellets within the combustion chamber of a pellet burner, specifically manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner. The heat gun adapter features a base plate that is placed over the combustion chamber access port after the combustion chamber end plate is removed. A nozzle port is present in order to allow a heat gun to be inserted through the base plate. The heat gun is guided through an annular guide that is positioned concentrically with the nozzle port. The annular guide additionally serves to hold the heat gun in place without user assistance after the heat gun is inserted. The heat gun adapter is held in place between a first track and a second track on the combustion chamber by a lip.

Description

The current application claims a priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 61/900,600 filed on Nov. 6, 2013.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an adapter for a heat gun. More specifically, the present invention is a heat gun adapter that allows a heat gun to be utilized in starting a pellet burner.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A pellet burner, otherwise known as a pellet stove, is a device that provides a heating source through the burning of compressed wood or biomass pellets. Pellet burners are often utilized to provide indoor heating and provide a number of benefits. The burners are capable of utilizing a wide variety of fuel sources and burn very cleanly, producing little to no byproducts from the combustion of fuel. Pellet burners are additionally advantageous due to the fact that the flames are constantly and automatically resupplied fuel from a hopper once the pellets have been ignited. Many pellet burners are self-igniting and automatically controlled through a thermostat. However, manual units must be ignited manually through the use of a lighter or similar device. Most, but not all pellet burners generally require an electricity source. The WiseWay pellet stove is an example of a non-electric, gravity-fed pellet burner that is manually ignited due to the lack of electricity. This particular type of pellet burner is typically started by manually igniting fuel pellets within the combustion chamber utilizing a propane torch. The present invention seeks to provide the user with an alternative means of starting a pellet burner such as the WiseWay pellet stove in lieu of a propane torch.
The present invention is a heat gun adapter for a manually-ignited, gravity-fed pellet burner such as, but not limited to, the WiseWay pellet stove. The present invention allows the user to utilize a heat gun in order to heat up and ignite the fuel of a pellet burner, most often wood or biomass pellets. The present invention holds a heat gun in place during the process of igniting the fuel pellets and is placed onto the pellet burner over the pellet burner combustion chamber after removing the combustion chamber end plate. The heat gun is then activated and hot air is directed toward the fuel pellets within the combustion chamber. Once the pellet burner fuel has been ignited, fuel is continuously supplied to the pellet burner combustion chamber from a hopper and the pellet burner is able to provide heat to the surrounding environment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an alternative perspective view of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a section view of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a side view of the present invention with a heat gun.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an example combustion chamber and end plate.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the present invention attached to the access port of an example combustion chamber in between a first track and a second track.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a heat gun inserted into an example combustion chamber through the present invention.

DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION

All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.
The present invention is a heat gun adapter that is utilized when starting a pellet burner. The present invention is shown in FIGS. 1-5 as well as in conjunction with a heat gun 13 in FIG. 6. The present invention allows a heat gun to be properly situated into the pellet burner so that the heat gun is able to provide the initial heat required to ignite the pellet burner.
More specifically, the present invention is designed to be used with a manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner 16, which is diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 7. The manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner 16 is described hereinafter so that the components of the present invention can be explained in relation to its components. Thus, the manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner 16 comprises a combustion chamber 17, an access port 18, an end plate 19, a first track 20, and a second track 21. Fuel pellets are burned within the combustion chamber 17 in order to generate heat. The access port 18 provides access to the interior of the combustion chamber 17 while the end plate 19 covers the access port 18. The end plate 19 is slidably attached to the combustion chamber 17 by the first track 20 and the second track 21. The first track 20 and the second track 21 are positioned offset and parallel to each other in order to facilitate attachment and detachment of the end plate 19. The present invention allows a heat gun 13 comprising a nozzle 14 and a trigger 15 to be utilized to ignite a fuel source 22 within the combustion chamber 17. The fuel source 22 generally comprises, but is not limited to, a source such as wood or biomass pellets.
With reference to FIGS. 1-5, the present invention comprises a base plate 1, a lip 8, a nozzle port 9, and an annular guide 10. The base plate 1 is placed onto the combustion chamber 17, replacing the end plate 19 as shown in FIG. 8. The lip 8 is utilized to hold the present invention in place over the combustion chamber 17, allowing the user to insert a heat gun 13 into the nozzle port 9. The annular guide 10 ensures that the heat gun 13 may be held in place once inserted. As such, the user is not required to continuously grasp the heat gun 13 while the heat gun 13 is inserted into the nozzle port 9.
The base plate 1 comprises an outer surface 2 and an inner surface 3. When the present invention is placed onto the combustion chamber 17, the inner surface 3 is oriented toward the combustion chamber 17 while the outer surface 2 is oriented outward toward the user. The nozzle port 9 traverses through the base plate 1 in order to allow the heat gun 13 to extend through the base plate 1 when the heat gun 13 is inserted into the nozzle port 9. The lip 8 is connected perpendicular to the inner surface 3, allowing the lip 8 to rest on the surface of the combustion chamber 17 when the present invention is placed onto the combustion chamber 17 after the end plate 19 is removed. This allows the lip 8 to hold the present invention in place on the combustion chamber 17 without any assistance from the user. The lip 8 is tangentially and adjacently positioned to the nozzle port 9 in order to prevent any portion of the lip 8 from overlapping with the nozzle port 9. This ensures that the nozzle port 9 remains unobstructed, allowing the heat gun 13 to extend through the nozzle port 9 unimpeded. The annular guide 10 is connected adjacently to the outer surface 2. The annular guide 10 serves to both guide the heat gun 13 through the nozzle port 9 and to hold the heat gun 13 in place once the heat gun 13 is inserted without any assistance from the user. Because the annular guide 10 serves to guide the heat gun 13 through the nozzle port 9, the annular guide 10 is positioned concentrically with the nozzle port 9 as shown in FIGS. 3-5.
In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the annular guide 10 is perpendicularly positioned to the outer surface 2. The perpendicular positioning of the annular guide 10 allows the heat gun 13 to be easily inserted into the annular guide 10 as shown in FIG. 6. The heat gun 13 may then be extended through the base plate 1 and into the combustion chamber 17.
With reference to FIGS. 2-4, the base plate 1 further comprises a first rounded corner 4 and a second rounded corner 5. When the present invention is placed onto the combustion chamber 17, the present invention is inserted into a first track 20 and a second track 21. The first track 20 and the second track 21 are parallel and offset from each other. The first rounded corner 4 and the second rounded corner 5 facilitate entry of the present invention into the space between the first track 20 and the second track 21 as shown in FIG. 8. In order to facilitate entry between the first track 20 and the second track 21, the first rounded corner 4 and the second rounded corner 5 are positioned opposite to each other, across the base plate 1. Additionally, the first rounded corner 4 and the second rounded corner 5 are positioned opposite to the lip 8, across the base plate 1. This allows the present invention to be inserted in between the first track 20 and the second track 21 by sliding the first rounded corner 4 into the first track 20 and the second rounded corner 5 into the second track 21. The present invention is slidably inserted in between the first track 20 and the second track 21 until the lip 8 comes into contact with the combustion chamber 17, holding the present invention in place. As such, the lip 8 is able to seal off the combustion chamber 17 to direct air flow and reduce any blowback of flame through the top edge of the combustion chamber 17.
The base plate 1 further comprises a first lateral edge 6 and a second lateral edge 7. The lip 8 is adjacently positioned to the first lateral edge 6, allowing the lip 8 to hold the present invention in place on the combustion chamber 17. The first lateral edge 6 and the second lateral edge 7 are positioned opposite to each other across the base plate 1 with the nozzle port 9 positioned in between the first lateral edge 6 and the second lateral edge 7. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, a first distance 11 between the nozzle port 9 and the first lateral edge 6 is greater than a second distance 12 between the nozzle port 9 and the second lateral edge 7.
During use, heat is transferred from the present invention to a manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner 16. Prior to utilizing the present invention, the end plate 19 is detached from the combustion chamber 17 by sliding the end plate 19 out of the first track 20 and the second track 21 as shown in the example of FIG. 7. As the access port 18 is covered by the end plate 19 prior to utilizing the present invention, removing the end plate 19 uncovers the access port 18. The base plate is slidably attached into the first track 20 and the second track 21 in order to cover the access port 18. The present invention is held in place by resting the lip 8 upon the combustion chamber 17 as shown in FIG. 8. The nozzle 14 is inserted into the annular guide 10 in order to position the nozzle 14 within the combustion chamber 17 as shown in FIG. 9. Finally, the fuel source 22 within the combustion chamber 17 is ignited by actuating the trigger 15.
Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A heat gun adapter comprises:

a base plate;

a lip;

a nozzle port;

an annular guide;

the base plate comprises an outer surface and an inner surface;

the nozzle port traversing through the base plate;

the lip being connected perpendicular to the inner surface;

the lip being tangentially and adjacently positioned to the nozzle port;

the annular guide being connected adjacently to the outer surface;

the annular guide being positioned concentrically with the nozzle port;

2. The heat gun adapter as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:

the annular guide being perpendicularly positioned to the outer surface;

3. The heat gun adapter as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:

the base plate further comprises a first rounded corner and a second rounded corner;

the first rounded corner and the second rounded corner being positioned opposite to each other, across the base plate;

the first rounded corner and the second rounded corner being positioned opposite to the lip, across the base plate;

4. The heat gun adapter as claimed in claim 1 further comprises:

the base plate further comprises a first lateral edge;

the lip being adjacently positioned to the first lateral edge;

5. The heat gun adapter as claimed in claim 4 further comprises:

the base plate further comprises a second lateral edge;

the first lateral edge and the second lateral edge being positioned opposite to each other across the base plate;

a first distance between the nozzle port and the first lateral edge being greater than a second distance being a distance between the nozzle port and the second lateral edge;

6. A method of transferring heat to a manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner from the heat gun adapter as claimed in claim 1, the method comprises the steps of:

providing the manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner, wherein the manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner comprises a combustion chamber, an access port, an end plate, a first track, and a second track;

providing a heat gun;

detaching the end plate from the combustion chamber by sliding the end plate out of the first track and the second track;

slidably attaching the base plate into the first track and the second track in order to cover the access port;

resting the lip upon the combustion chamber;

inserting a nozzle of the heat gun into the annular guide;

igniting a fuel source within the combustion chamber by actuating a trigger of the heat gun;

7. The method of transferring heat to a manually-ignited gravity-fed pellet burner from the heat gun adapter, wherein:

an access port of the combustion chamber being covered by the end plate;

the end plate being slidably attached to the combustion chamber by the first track and the second track;

the first track and the second track being positioned offset and parallel to each other;

8. A heat gun adapter comprises: