Patent Application
20210269729
The invention relates to the manufacture of a fire starter from naturally occurring, nonpetroleum, components that when ignited will ignite other combustible materials in wood stoves, fireplaces, fire pits, camp fires, or barbecue pits.
Almost all commercially available fire starters utilize petroleum-based liquids or solid fuels. Liquid fire starters are highly flammable, dangerous to use, and create noxious fumes. Solid fuel fire starters typically use paraffin, a petroleum-based product, combined with sawdust, straw, or wood chips. Although less flammable than liquid fuel starters, solid fire starters produce fumes recognized as harmful to human health and the environment.
Those few fire starters comprised of natural components and cited by U.S. patents utilize cotton, hemp, muslin, pine straw, or paper as the combustible component of the device.
The fire starter described in this application utilizes non-homogeneous pine cones shreds as combustible material. The pine cone shreds are principally derived from pine cone scales and made heterogeneous in size and shape by a course grinding process. These non-homogeneous pine cones shreds collectively create a composite of combustible fragments with a spectrum of flammability and heat release. Thus, this fire starter burns with a relatively uniform rate of heat production and an extended duration of burn. This device is constituted of between 60 and 75 percent by weight of a natural wax and, therefore, produces considerably more heat during combustion than devices primarily composed of wood or paper products. A wick coated with beeswax provides a method for ignition that consumers can readily identify and are comfortable with using.
The ideal fire starter would be manufactured from organic components, be easily ignited, have a high heat of combustion, have a uniform burn rate, not pop or crackle during the burn, produce little smoke, continue burning under adverse environmental conditions, emit no noxious fumes, and leave little or no residue following burning. The fire starter described in this application satisfies all of these criteria.
The fire starter described in this invention is formed by solidifying a slurry of pulverized pine cones and beeswax, soy wax, or a blend of beeswax and soy wax. During the solidification process a waxed cotton wick is added to serve as an initial ignition site. The wick is inserted into the top surface of the device and is surrounded by heavily textured projections of wax coated, pine cone shreds that can serve as either initial ignition sites or secondary ignition fronts. Upon ignition, burning of the pine cone shreds and the wax(es) produces an intense heat capable of igniting other combustible materials. The size of the flame and the duration of burn are, in part, controlled by the overall size and shape of the device.
The fire starter is fabricated using a specific composition and produced in a particular shape. The ingredients in the device are pulverized pine cones and either beeswax, soy wax, or a blend of beeswax and soy wax.
The manufacture of the fire starter is as follows:
Step 1—oven drying pine cones to reduce the moisture content to below 15% and to kill any insects in the pine cones.
Step 2—chipping the dried pine cones to reduce the size of the material.
Step 3—grinding the material created in Step 2 to create heterogeneous pine cone shreds.
Step 5—liquifying beeswax, soy wax, or a blend of beeswax and soy wax by heating to approximately 170 degrees Fahrenheit.
Step 6—adding on a weight basis 25 to 40 percent pine cone shreds to a 60 to 75 per cent beeswax, soy wax, or a blend of these waxes.
Step 7—mixing the components in Step 6 to create a slurry.
Step 8—pouring the slurry from Step 7 into to a pre-cooled, mold and rapidly solidifying the mixture to prevent differential settling of the components.
Step 9—before solidification of the slurry, inserting a cotton wick, coated with beeswax, into the upper surface of the fire starter.
Step 10—extracting the solidified device from the mold.
The size and shape of the fire starter will affect the duration of the burn and intensity of the heat produced during the burn. A fire starter as described with a truncated cone, rectangular solid, or cylindrical form and a volume between 30 and 60 mL will be sufficient for most fire starter applications.
The purpose of using pre-cooled molds to rapidly solidify the suspension is to prevent differential settling of the waxes from the less dense pine cone shreds.
In application, a fire source such as a match or lighter is used to light the waxed, cotton wick. After the wick is ignited the surrounding heavily textured pine cone shreds will ignite and serve as secondary flame fronts. The fire starter will burn for 10 to 25 minutes depending upon the size of the device and environmental conditions. The device produces little smoke, minimal soot, emits no noxious fumes, and burns down to minimal residue. The amount of ash residue is dependent upon the intensity of the fire created in the process.
