WO2013038219A1

WO2013038219A1 - Heating-furnishing device fed by electric energy

Info

Publication number: WO2013038219A1
Application number: PCT/IB2011/002154
Authority: WO
Inventors: Alessandro Sonego; Gianni CORTOLEZZIS
Original assignee: Technobright Srl
Priority date: 2011-09-15
Filing date: 2011-09-15
Publication date: 2013-03-21

Abstract

Heating-furnishing device fed by electric energy, which comprises a structure (11) having one or more walls (20, 21, 22) which delimit an internal compartment (25). At least one of the walls (20, 21, 22) comprises at least a first glass plate (30) provided with heating means (31) suitable to generate heat when they are activated by an electric current.

Description

"HEATING-FURNISHING DEVICE FED BY ELECTRIC ENERGY"

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention concerns a heating-furnishing device, such as for example a fireplace, fed with electric energy, which as well as radiating heat toward the outside is possibly provided with elements able to create an optical illusion that there is a flame produced by the burning of wood that is burning inside.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Among the various heating-furnishing devices, the so-called classic fireplaces are known, which comprise a firebox, or combustion chamber, inside which a flame is generated by burning wood or gas.

One disadvantage of so-called classic fires is that the real flame produces both toxic fumes, which must be discharged to the outside through a chimney and a flue, and ash which must be periodically removed from the combustion chamber or from a zone below this. Moreover, these classic fireplaces, are often protected by a door or a hatch at the front for safety reasons, and are provided with transparent glass to prevent the embers, or hot or incandescent parts of the burning material from exiting dangerously from the combustion chamber and involuntarily starting a fire outside the fireplace.

So-called simulated fireplaces are also known, which have an exclusively aesthetic-emotional function and create the illusion that there is a flame inside, using the effects of colored lights in combination with strips of paper which move, waving and rotating, sometimes associated to fake logs of fire-wood, for example made of ceramic.

It is obvious that these simulated fireplaces, which are usually installed in places where it is forbidden or dangerous to light fires, such as urban apartments, have the drawback that they do not deliver any type of actual heat and only have the function of pretense and illusion, for the user and/or his/her guests, of producing a pretend flame.

Heating fireplaces are also known, fed by electric energy, in which there is no combustion inside, and the heat is generated by one or more electric resistances which heat the surrounding air when a determinate electric current passes through them. The electric resistances are, in their turn, associated with a fan which forces heated air to the outside of the fireplace. These fireplaces too, like the simulated ones described above, can be provided with means which simulate the presence of a flame within, for the benefit of those people who are happy to have one even though it is artificial.

One disadvantage of such fireplaces fed by electric energy is that the heat which is developed from the electric resistances is not usually distributed and radiated uniformly to the outside.

Purpose of the present invention is to obtain a heating-furnishing device, for example in the form of a heating fireplace, fed by electric energy, in which the heat is diffused uniformly toward the outside, both in radiating terms and possibly also in convective terms, and in which a simulated flame is possibly present.

The Applicant has devised, tested and embodied the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the state of the art and to obtain these and other purposes and advantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is set forth and characterized in the independent claim, while the dependent claims describe other characteristics of the invention or variants to the main inventive idea.

According to the present invention, a heating-furnishing device fed by electric energy comprises a structure having one or more walls, which can be frontal, lateral or inclined, which delimit an internal compartment, with which optionally, but not necessarily, means to simulate a flame are associated.

In accordance with a main characteristic of the present invention, at least one of the walls comprises at least a glass plate provided with heating means able to generate heat when activated by an electric current. When the flame simulator means are present in the internal compartment, the glass plate is advantageously transparent, otherwise it can be transparent or opaque.

According to a secondary feature of the present invention, the glass plate is disposed in the front part of the fireplace structure, in order to define at least a front wall.

According to a variant, one or more additional glass plates can be put adjacent to said glass plate which defines the front wall, either coplanar with it or inclined with respect thereto, in order to possibly define also one or more lateral and/or inclined walls.

According to another secondary feature of the present invention, at least one of the additional glass plates is also provided with heating means.

The heating means advantageously comprise a layer or a distribution of material made of any conductive or semi-conductive material known to a person of skill in the art, or which will be developed in the future, for example in the form of a thin film deposited on at least one face or edge of, or inside, each glass plate, or a doping of the glass plate with conductive or semi-conductive material, to generate heat by the Joule effect, when electric current passes through it, increasing the temperature of its own mass and emitting infrared rays which radiate the heat which develops on the mass of the glass plate, if activated electrically, possibly by means of an electromagnetic field.

With the present invention, therefore, it is possible to obtain, in a new and original way, a heating-furnishing device, even of the type with an artificial flame, which, however, actually emits heat, in a safe and clean way, without emitting dust or fumes into the air. Moreover, each glass plate of the heating type generates a heat which is diffused uniformly and from the front of the entire front surface of the glass plate and, at the same time, possibly inducing in the user a feeling that the heat emanating from the fireplace is generated by a flame.

According to another variant, instead of the glass plate as described above, it is possible to dispose a pair of plates, at least one of which is made of glass, parallel and identical to each other, which are distanced so as to form a hollow space, inside which air can circulate, which is heated on contact with each glass plate provided with the heating means as above. The hollow space can advantageously be connected to the outside of the fireplace, both by an air inlet pipe and by an outlet pipe which emits hot air. The circulation of the air inside the hollow space, between the inlet pipe and the outlet pipe, can possibly be forced by a fan of the known type.

In a variant application, traditional glass, for example worked by hand, can be positioned or associated at least at the front of the glass plate provided with heating means. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS These and other characteristics of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferential form of embodiment, given as a non-restrictive example with reference to the attached drawings wherein:

- fig. 1 is a front schematic view of a heating- furnishing device according to the present invention;

- fig. 2 is a schematized section of a variant of the heating-furnishing device in fig. 1.

To facilitate comprehension, the same reference numbers have been used, where possible, to identify identical common elements in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERENTIAL FORM OF

EMBODIMENT

With reference to fig. 1, a heating-furnishing device 10 according to the present invention, in this case in the form of a fireplace, comprises a structure 1 1 , for example made of refractory material, which can also be of the prefabricated type.

The structure 1 1 is shaped so as to define at the lower part a base 12 and a support plane 14, disposed above the base 12, at the upper part an upper ledge 16, and at the rear a rear wall 18. Between the support plane 14 and the upper ledge 16 a front wall 20 and at least two side walls 21 are disposed. Moreover, one or more inclined walls 22 can be provided between the front wall 20 and each of the two side walls 21.

The walls 18, 20, 21 and 22 define an internal compartment 25, in which, in this case, elements 26 are disposed, for example made of plastic or ceramic material and in the shape of wood logs, which simulate that the heating- furnishing device 10 is of the combustion type.

In the internal compartment 25 there are also disposed means to simulate a fire 27, which can be of any known type, and comprise, for example, suitable colored lights and strips of paper, suitably shaped and moving, which create the optical illusion that the elements 26 are really burning and producing a flame, similar to an actual flame. Alternatively, the artificial logs 26 and the artificial flames can be projected by projection means, or represented on any type of display mean. Each front wall 20, lateral wall 21 and inclined wall 22, or possibly only one or more of these, as chosen by the user, advantageously comprise at least a first glass plate 30 (fig. 2), facing toward the outside of the heating-furnishing device 10, and provided with heating means 31 , suitable to generate heat when activated by an electric current. The latter can be of any known type and can easily be found on the market. The choice of which walls should be equipped with the glass plate 30 depends on the maximum amount of heat which the heating- furnishing device 10 is expected to deliver over a period of time. For example, with one or more glass plates 30 having a surface of a square meter, up to 2.5 KW can be delivered outside the heating- furnishing device 10.

The glass plate 30 can be transparent, above all when the fire simulator means 27 are in the internal compartment 25, or opaque when there are no fire simulator means 27.

According to a variant, schematically shown in fig. 2, at least the front wall 20, but this can also be extended to the lateral walls 21 and the inclined walls 22, also comprises at least a second glass plate 32. The latter can be of the traditional type, that is, without heating means 31 associated with it, or the same as the first glass plate 30. The second glass plate 32 is disposed parallel to the first 30, at a distance of a few centimeters. In this way the two plates 30 and 32 define a hollow space 35 between them, inside which air can circulate, which is heated at least by the first glass panel 30, in its turn heated by the heating means 31 , and possibly also by the second glass panel 32, also when heating means 31 are associated with it.

The hollow space 35 is connected with the outside of the heating- furnishing device 10, at the lower part through an air inlet pipe 36 disposed in correspondence to the support plane 14, and at the upper part through one or more openings 37 to deliver the hot air, disposed in correspondence to the upper ledge 16. A connection chamber 38 is provided between the upper part of the hollow space 35 and the delivery openings 37.

The circulation of the air inside the hollow space 35, between the inlet pipe 36 and the delivery openings 37, can possibly be forced by a fan of the known type and not shown in the drawings.

According to a variant, not shown in the drawings, but easily understandable for a person of skill in the art, air circulation means can be provided in association with the internal compartment 25, in order to convey to the outside of the heating-furnishing element 10 the heat which is inside it, generated by the first glass plate 30 and/or possibly by the second glass plate 32.

The heating-furnishing device 10 can also optionally be provided with a central control unit 40 to control and manage the electric current, which can be of any known type, to adjust the amount of electric current sent to the heating means 31 and therefore the amount of heat emitted by each of the glass plates 30 and 32.

It is clear that modifications and/or additions of parts may be made to the heating-furnishing device 10 as described heretofore, without departing from the field and scope of the present invention.

It is also clear that, although the present invention has been described with reference to some specific examples, a person of skill in the art shall certainly be able to achieve many other equivalent forms of heating-furnishing devices fed by electric energy, having the characteristics as set forth in the claims and hence all coming within the field of protection defined thereby.

Claims

1. Heating-furnishing device fed by electric energy, comprising a structure (1 1) having one or more walls (20, 21, 22) which delimit an internal compartment (25), characterized in that at least one of said walls (20, 21, 22) comprises at least a first glass plate (30) provided with heating means (31) suitable to generate heat when they are activated by an electric current.

2. Device as in claim 1, characterized in that said first glass plate (30) is transparent and in that fire simulator means (26) are associated with said internal compartment (25).

3. Device as in claim 1 , characterized in that said first glass plate (30) is opaque.

4. Device as in claim 1 , 2 or 3, characterized in that said first glass plate (30) is disposed in the front part of said structure (1 1), in order to thus define at least a front wall (20).

5. Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that one or more additional glass plates are disposed adjacent to said first glass plate (30), to complete said front wall (20), and/or define at least a lateral wall (21) and/or an inclined wall (22).

6. Device as in claim 5, characterized in that at least one of said additional glass plates is provided with said heating means (31).

7. Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that said heating means (31) comprise one layer made of an electrically conductive or semi-conductive material associated with at least one face or edge of, or inserted inside, each of said glass plates (30), and able to generate heat, by the Joule effect, when electric current passes through it.

8. Device as in any claim from 1 to 6, characterized in that said heating means (31) comprise a material able to emit infrared rays which develop heat, if activated electrically, possibly by means of an electromagnetic field.

9. Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it also comprises a second glass plate (32), identical to said first glass plate (30) and disposed parallel to the latter, at a predetermined distance, so that said first and said second plate (30 and 32) define a hollow space (35) between them, inside which air can circulate, which is suitable to be heated by at least one of said glass plates (30 and 32), in its turn heated by said heating means (31).

10. Device as in claim 9, characterized in that said hollow space (35) is connected to the outside through an air inlet pipe (36) and through an outlet pipe (37) to emit the hot air produced therein.

1 1. Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that it also comprises air circulation means suitable to make air circulate in said internal compartment (25), in a natural or forced manner.

12. Device as in any claim hereinbefore, characterized in that control and management means (40) of the electric current are provided, to adjust the amount of electric current delivered to said heating means (31), and therefore the amount of heat emitted by said glass plates (30, 32).