WO2011092633A2

WO2011092633A2 - A fuel burning apparatus

Info

Publication number: WO2011092633A2
Application number: PCT/IB2011/050339
Authority: WO
Inventors: Mogomotsi Simon Mphahlele; Petrus Charl Jacobus Kruger
Original assignee: Kganyisitse Industries (Proprietary) Limited
Priority date: 2010-01-26
Filing date: 2011-01-26
Publication date: 2011-08-04
Also published as: ZA201103086B; ZA201206436B; WO2011092633A3

Abstract

The invention provides a fuel burning apparatus (10) including an upright first tubular wall (14) and an upright second tubular wall (16) around the first. The walls define between them a peripheral combustion chamber (42). The apparatus includes also a fuel tray (44) underneath the combustion chamber for receiving liquid fuel and a fuel reservoir (46) for storing such fuel. At least one of the walls defines there through a plurality of apertures. In use, liquid fuel is fed from the reservoir via feed means into the fuel tray, upon which it is combusted in the combustion chamber. The feed means includes a manually adjustable valve (50) providing for manual adjustment of the flow rate of the fuel. The fuel burning apparatus can be configured as any of a space heater, a water heater, a cooking stove, a lighting apparatus, and so forth.

Description

A FUEL BURNING APPARATUS

THIS INVENTION relates to a fuel burning apparatus.

According to the invention there is provided a fuel burning apparatus including:

an upright first tubular wall and an upright second tubular wall disposed around the first, the walls defining between them a peripheral combustion chamber; and

a fuel tray underneath the combustion chamber for receiving fuel, in which at least one of the walls defines therethrough a plurality of apertures. For use of the fuel burning apparatus, the fuel is introduced into the fuel tray and ignited, upon which it is combusted in the combustion chamber.

The apparatus may include a fuel reservoir for storing liquid fuel. The reservoir may be located at a position laterally offset from the second tubular wall.

The apparatus may include feed means for feeding the fuel into the fuel tray. The feed means may be gravity feed means. The feed means may include a manually adjustable valve providing for manual adjustment of the flow rate of the fuel.

The at least one of the walls defining therethrough a plurality of apertures may include the first wall, the first wall being perforated. Alternatively or additionally, the at least one of the walls defining therethrough a plurality of apertures may include the second wall, the second wall being perforated.

In a possible particular embodiment of the apparatus of the invention, the first and second walls are round tubular, coaxial, and upright so that the peripheral chamber is annular in plan section of the apparatus. The fuel tray may be annular.

The apparatus may include a wall closing off a top end of the first tubular wall. The former wall may be defined by a removable cap.

The apparatus may include at least one heat shield around the second tubular wall. In the abovementioned possible particular embodiment, the heat shield may be a third tubular wall. The third tubular wall may be round tubular and coaxial with the first and second tubular walls.

The apparatus may be configurable for use as at least one of a cooking stove, a lighting apparatus, a water heater, and a space heater. The apparatus may particularly be configured for use as a cooking stove, the apparatus including a cooking vessel support formation.

The apparatus may be configured to operate on at least one fuel selected from a group consisting of paraffin, diesel, kerosene, coal tar oil, crude oil, hydrocarbon fractions, and organic material oils.

The applicant believes that the fuel burning apparatus of the invention, due to its features as defined above, may provide an efficient means for burning fuel for heating purposes. Further features of the invention will become apparent from the description below of an example embodiment of a fuel burning apparatus, in accordance with the invention, in the form of a fuel burning stove. The description refers to the accompanying diagrammatic figures, which illustrate the invention and in which:

Figure 1 shows a top view of a fuel burning apparatus, in accordance with the invention, in the form of a fuel burning stove;

Figure 2 shows a section of the stove of Figure 1 , as indicated by arrows ll-ll of Figure 1 ; and Figure 3 shows a side elevation of the stove of Figure 1 , as indicated by arrows Ill-Ill of Figure 1 ;

In Figures 1 to 3, an example embodiment of a fuel burning apparatus, in accordance with the invention, in the form of a cooking stove, is designated generally by the reference numeral 10.

The stove 10 is predominantly made of stainless steel plate. It includes a base and tank assembly 1 1 .1 and a burner assembly 1 1 .2.

The burner assembly 1 1 .2 includes a number of round tubular walls that are coaxial about a vertical axis 12 and that include, from the inside out:

a perforated first tubular wall 14, having a length of about 165mm and a diameter of about 72mm;

a perforated second tubular wall 16, having a length of about 165mm and a diameter of about 100mm;

a third tubular wall 18, which is a depending skirt having a length of about 105mm and a diameter of about 130mm;

a fourth tubular wall 20, having a length of about 165mm and a diameter of about 172mm; and

a fifth tubular wall 22, having a length of about 165mm and a diameter of about 232mm.

The burner assembly 1 1 .2 includes an inner sub-assembly 24.1 and an outer sub-assembly 24.2.

The inner sub-assembly 24.1 includes:

the walls 14, 16, and 18;

an annular base wall 26 interconnecting respective peripheral bottom edges of the walls 14 and 16;

a cap 28 which is snugly and removably fitted over a top peripheral edge of the wall 14, the cap 28 including a round horizontal wall closing off a top of the wall 14; and an annular top wall 30 extending between and interconnecting respective top edges of the walls 16 and 18.

The outer sub-assembly 24.2 includes:

a base wall 34;

the fourth and fifth tubular walls 20 and 22, mounted on the base wall 34; a perforated annular top wall 36 on top of respective top edges of the walls 20 and 22, the wall 36 having an inner peripheral, downwardly projecting lip 38 within which the wall 30 is snugly received; and

a generally cylindrical plinth wall 40, of which a top part defines a seat 41 within which the base wall 26 is removably seated.

Between the first and second tubular walls 14 and 16 is defined a peripheral combustion chamber 42, which is annular in plan section of the stove 10. Within the chamber 42 and above the base wall 26 is defined an annular fuel tray 44 for receiving a liquid fuel. The fuel tray 44 can hold liquid up to the level of the bottom of the perforations of the walls 14 and 16, i.e. up to a depth of about 10mm. The chamber 42 is upwardly open via an annular aperture 58. The walls 20, 22, and 40 each defines therethrough a plurality of circumferentially spaced vent holes 43.

The base and tank assembly 1 1 .1 includes:

a base wall 53 having legs 55;

an arrangement of three side walls 54;

a 900ml fuel reservoir 46, including a cap 45 and a shut off valve 47 defining an air vent of the reservoir; and

gravity fuel feed means 48, including a manually operable fuel flow control and shut off valve 50, a shut off valve 51 , and a feed pipe 52 feeding into the chamber 42 and into the fuel tray 44.

The valves 47, 50, and 51 may be conventional and, accordingly, are not described or illustrated in detail herein. The outer sub-assembly 24.2 includes also an arrangement of angle profiles, secured on top of the wall 36, defining a cooking vessel support formation 49.

For servicing or repair, the inner sub-assembly 24.1 is removable from the outer sub-assembly 24.2 via an aperture defined within the lip 38, after removal of the cooking vessel support formation 49.

The inner sub-assembly 24.1 includes also ignition means in the form of a metal element including a short length of pipe 61 and a depending, outwardly open channel 63. The ignition means is secured to an outside of the wall 14 and extends along the height of the wall 14, with the length of pipe 61 being at the top and the channel 63 extending down to the fuel tray 44.

The fuel flow control and shut off valve 50 is manually controlled to feed fuel into the fuel tray 44 at a desired rate.

A heat indicator wire 64, made of mild steel, depends into the chamber 42.

In order to use the stove 10, the reservoir 46 is charged with fuel, e.g. liquid paraffin. A small amount of primer fuel, e.g. methylated spirits, is dripped into the length of pipe 61 and runs down in the channel 63. Through adhesion of the primer fuel to the pipe 61 and the channel 63, a line of primer fuel is thus defined from the length of pipe 61 down to the fuel tray 44. The line of primer fuel is ignited by means of a match or other lighting means at the pipe 61 and ignites the primer fuel in the fuel tray 44. The primer fuel burns and causes the heat indicator wire 64 to glow orange. When this glow starts to subside, it is time to manually open the valve 50 to supply fuel into the fuel tray 44.

Combustion of a gaseous mixture of the fuel and oxygen occurs in the chamber 42 and, to a lesser extent, also in a chamber 56 defined within the tubular wall 14. The amount of heat generated is controlled by controlling fuel flow by means of the valve 50. The walls 18, 20, and 22 serve as gas and heat shields and regulate flow of air and other gases through the stove 10. Gases escape through the annular aperture 58 at the top of the chamber 42 and through the perforated wall 36. A cooking vessel can be supported on the formation 49 to be heated by the stove 10.

The shut off valves 47 and 51 respectively shut off air supply into the reservoir 46 and fuel feed from the reservoir in the event of the stove 10 being tilted in any direction beyond a critical safe tilt limit. As such, combustion in the burner assembly 1 1 .2 is terminated within a short and safe period of time.

The stove 10 may serve as both a cooking stove and a space heater. A fuel burning apparatus similar to the stove 10, and still in accordance with the invention, may be configured as any of:

a water heater for heating water in a reservoir; and

a lighting apparatus. Such configuration may be achieved by means of essentially conventional design and experimentation and is therefore not described or illustrated herein.

Claims

1 . A fuel burning apparatus including:

a fuel tray underneath the combustion chamber for receiving fuel, in which at least one of the walls defines therethrough a plurality of apertures.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 , which includes a fuel reservoir for storing liquid fuel.

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the reservoir is located at a position laterally offset from the second tubular wall.

4. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which includes feed means for feeding the fuel into the fuel tray.

5. The apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the feed means is gravity feed means.

6. The apparatus as claimed in any of claims 4 to 5, wherein the feed means includes a manually adjustable valve providing for manual adjustment of the flow rate of the fuel.

7. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein in the at least one of the walls defining therethrough a plurality of apertures includes the first wall, the first wall being perforated.

8. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein in at least one of the walls defining therethrough a plurality of apertures includes the second wall, the second wall being perforated.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the first and second walls are round tubular, coaxial, and upright so that the peripheral chamber is annular in plan section of the apparatus.

10. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the fuel tray is annular.

1 1 . The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which includes a wall closing off a top end of the first tubular wall.

12. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 1 , in which the wall closing off the top end of the first tubular wall is defined by a removable cap.

13. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which includes at least one heat shield around the second tubular wall.

14. The apparatus as claimed in claim 9, wherein the heat shield is a third tubular wall.

15. The apparatus as claimed in claim 14, wherein the third tubular wall is round tubular and coaxial with the first and second tubular walls.

16. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which is configurable for use as at least one of a cooking stove, a lighting apparatus, a water heater, and a space heater.

17. The apparatus as claimed in claim 16, which is configured for use as a cooking stove, the apparatus including a cooking vessel support formation.

18. The apparatus as claimed in any of the preceding claims, which is configured to operate on at least one fuel selected from a group consisting of paraffin, diesel, kerosene, coal tar oil, crude oil, hydrocarbon fractions, and organic material oils.