Patent Application
20210063018
This invention pertains to the field of firepits, such as outdoor gas or propane firepits, and, more particularly, to techniques for reflecting and directing heat emanating from the firepit outwards towards persons surrounding the firepit.
Firepits, such as those using natural gas and propane as heat sources, are widely used in residential yards and other places for purposes of, e.g., providing heat to persons positioned around the firepit. In conventional firepits, much of the heat emanating from the firepit is dissipated upwards, where there is no benefit to the surrounding persons. Consequently, this heat is wasted, and the surrounding persons don't receive as much heat as they desire. It is an object of the present invention to assure that much of the heat emanating from the heat source is reflected and directed outwards from the heat source, i.e., horizontally.
The present patent application comprises a heat director (4) for directing heat from a firepit (1) outwards towards persons situated around the firepit (1). In a preferred embodiment, the firepit (1) comprises a heat source (5) optionally surrounded by a windscreen (2), which may be made of tempered glass. The heat director (4) is located above the heat source (5) in a spaced-apart relationship to the heat source (5), and is horizontal, or substantially horizontal, with respect to the surrounding ground. Preferably, the heat director (4) is made of tempered glass. Several generally vertical support brackets (3) for the heat director (4) are attached to the windscreen (2) when present and to the heat director (4), and serve to maintain the desired position of the heat director (4). In those embodiments where the windscreen (2) and/or the heat director (4) are made of tempered glass, the brackets (3) are preferably attached to the windscreen (2) and heat director (4) using set screws (23) that are tipped with nylon or Teflon, to prevent cracking or shattering the tempered glass (2, 4) when the screws (23) are overtightened.
These and other more detailed and specific objects and features of the present invention are more fully disclosed in the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Firepits (1) are sold by many manufacturers in many sizes, and are widely used. In the embodiment illustrated in
In the
In a preferred embodiment, the heat director (4) is made of a single piece of tempered glass, but in other embodiments, heat director (4) is made of metal.
A set of rigid generally vertical brackets (3) attaches the heat director (4) to the windscreen (2). In the embodiment of
Preferably, the windscreen (2), heat director (4), brackets (3), and screws (23) all have the same, or substantially the same, coefficients of thermal expansion, so that the position of the heat director (4) is not disrupted when heat is applied to the heat source (5) and thereby partially absorbed by the windscreen (2), heat director (4), brackets (3), and screws (23).
In an alternative embodiment of bracket (3) as shown in
In other alternative embodiments of the present invention (not illustrated), the heat source (5) has a shape in the horizontal plane that is other than rectangular. For example, the shape of the heat source (5) may be circular, oblong, elliptical, or square. In these embodiments, the heat director (4) typically has the same general shape in the horizontal plane as the heat source (5). A windscreen (2) may or not be present. When a windscreen (2) is present, the windscreen (2) typically has the same general shape in the horizontal plane as the heat source (5), and the cross-sectional area of the heat director (4) in this plane is at least as great as that of the windscreen (2). The heat director (4) is deployed as described above, e.g., it is horizontal with respect to the ground, and is situated in a spaced-apart location above the heat source (5). Brackets (3) are used as described above.
In any one of the above embodiments, the brackets (3) can have fixed lengths or variable lengths. When fixed length brackets (3) are used, the heat director (4) is positioned a fixed distance above the heat source (5). Variable lengths can be accomplished by, e.g., using nesting two-piece brackets (3), wherein a first piece nests inside a larger piece, and the two pieces are held in the desired position with set screws or other means. The brackets (3) have the same length, to maintain the heat director (4) horizontal. In these embodiments, heat director (4) is spaced apart from heat source (5) by a variable, rather than a fixed, distance, while still remaining horizontal. The variable spacing allows the user to modulate the amount of heat that is reflected and directed by the heat director (4).
The above description is included to illustrate the preferred embodiments and is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is limited only by the following claims. From the above discussion, many variations will be apparent to one skilled in the art that would yet be encompassed by the spirit and scope of the present invention.
