ELECTRIC APPARATUS

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an electric apparatus with an effect of a fire or other image and it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of electric apparatus. The electric apparatus may be an electric fire.

A more specific object of the present invention is to provide an electric apparatus having an improved visual appearance.

In European Patent Specification No. 1 845 310, to which reference should be made, there is described an electric apparatus that includes a housing having an inlet at or adjacent its lower end for the entry of air into the housing, a translucent or transparent screen forming at least part of the front of the housing, a fan for causing air to be drawn into the housing, an outlet at or adjacent the top of the housing for the discharge of at least a proportion of the air drawn into the housing.

A light source is contained within the housing adjacent the base thereof, and the light source may be disposed behind a material having the appearance of wood or coal. A reflector is disposed at the rear of the housing and the reflector is in the form of a sheet of flexible

reflective material suspended from a position towards the top of the housing.

Such an electric apparatus is hereinafter referred to as "an electric apparatus as defined". The apparatus may be an electric fire.

The arrangement is such that, as air is caused to flow upwardly through the housing from the inlet towards the outlet, the sheet of flexible reflective material is caused to adopt a sinuous or undulating motion providing an enhanced visual effect.

The air that is caused to flow upwardly through the housing to produce movement of the sheet of flexible reflective material is thus the same air that is heated by contact with the electric heating element, i.e. the heated air discharged into the room in which the electric fire is located has previously caused the sheet of flexible reflective material to move with a "ripple" action to provide the enhanced visual effect.

The sheet of flexible reflective material can be coloured or decorated to provide an attractive appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved form of illumination apparatus, particularly an improved form of electric apparatus as defined.

In British Patent Specification No. 978364 there is described an electric apparatus that includes a plurality of flame-shaped, flame- coloured flexible strips that are tethered at each end and air is caused to flow upwardly past the flexible strips by means of an electric fan.

In Specification No. WO 2007/020455 there is described an electric apparatus that includes a simulation flame effect afforded by the use of a single unslitted reflective sheet onto which light is projected.

It is a specific object of the present invention to provide an electric apparatus having a visual impact, for example, a simulation flame effect, which is more realistic than those described in the above specifications.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is provided an illumination apparatus that includes a housing, a light source, a reflector disposed at the rear of the housing, the reflector being in the form of a movable sheet of flexible reflective material suspended from a position towards the top of the housing, characterised in that the sheet of flexible reflective material is formed at its upper edge with one or more cut-outs and/or rebates.

The upper edge of the sheet is preferably formed with at least one cut-out and at least one slit. More specifically, the upper edge of the sheet may be formed with a pair of cut-outs, with a slit extending downwardly from the base of each cut-out.

The housing preferably includes an inlet at or adjacent its lower end for the entry of air into the housing, a translucent or transparent screen forming at least part of the front of the housing, a fan for causing air to be drawn into the housing, and an outlet at or adjacent the top of the housing for the discharge of at least a proportion of the air drawn

into the housing. The light source is preferably mounted adjacent the base of the housing.

Accelerating means may be provided for increasing the rate of flow of air upwardly past the reflective sheet.

The accelerating means may comprise a transparent sheet disposed between the front of the housing and the reflective sheet, which transparent sheet is inclined at an acute angle to the front of the housing.

The accelerating means may alternatively comprise a bracket that extends across the outlet of the fan so as to reduce the area of the outlet of the fan and thus to increase the speed at which the air flows out of the fan outlet.

The upper edge of the sheet of reflective material may be suspended from a plurality of mounting points disposed within the housing, which mounting points are not in line with one another.

The upper edge of the sheet may thus be suspended from three mounting points, with one mounting point at each end of the upper edge of the sheet and a mounting point at or adjacent the mid-point of the upper edge of the sheet, with the mounting point at or adjacent the midpoint of the upper edge offset from the mounting points at the ends of the upper edge.

Each of the mounting points is preferably afforded by a bracket attached to the housing.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is provided an electric apparatus that includes a housing having an inlet at or adjacent its lower end for the entry of air into the housing, a translucent or transparent screen forming at least part of the front of the housing, a fan for causing air to be drawn into the housing, an outlet at or adjacent the top of the housing for the discharge of at least a proportion of the air drawn into the housing, and an electric heating element in or adjacent the outlet, a light source contained within the housing adjacent the base thereof, and a reflector disposed at the rear of the housing, the reflector being in the form of a sheet of flexible reflective material suspended from a position towards the top of the housing, and in which the sheet of flexible reflective material is formed at its upper edge with one or more cut-outs and/or rebates.

As mentioned above, the upper edge of the sheet is preferably formed with at least one cut-out and at least one slit. More specifically, the upper edge of the sheet may be formed with a pair of cut-outs, with a slit extending downwardly from the base of each cut-out.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is a perspective view of an electric fire,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the electric fire,

Figure 3 is a front view of one form of reflective sheet,

Figure 4 is a front view of another form of reflective sheet,

Figure 5 is a perspective view of an electric fan contained within the base of the electric fire, and

Figure 6 is a plan view of the fan.

Description of the Preferred Embodiment

As shown in the drawings, the electric fire of the present invention has a number of features in common with the electric fire of European Patent Specification No. 1 845 310, to which reference should be made. It thus includes a housing 4 that is generally rectangular in front view and has an inlet formed in its base for the entry of air into a chamber contained within the housing 4. The air is drawn into the chamber by means of a fan 5 driven by an electric motor and the fan 5 is located at the base of the housing 4, just below a shelf on which are supported a light source (in the form of an electric light bulb 6) and a simulation fire (not shown) comprising a material giving the appearance of a combustible matter such as wood or coal. For a relatively wide electric fire, two fans may be provided, one adjacent each side of the housing.

The majority of the front of the housing 4 is provided by a sheet of translucent or transparent material and the rear of the housing is solid. Just in front of the rear of the housing there is a sheet 3 of flexible reflective material and the sheet 3 is so positioned that, as the air drawn into the chamber flows upwardly, the airflow creates a ripple effect in the sheet. This undulating or sinuous motion of the sheet 3 of flexible reflective material produces varying patterns in the light reflected from

the sheet 3 and seen through the sheet of translucent or transparent material forming the majority of the front of the housing.

There is an outlet opening at the top of the housing and this outlet opening contains an electric heating element 1. The air issuing from the outlet opening is thus heated just before it is discharged into the room in which the electric fire is located. The positioning of the electric heating element at the upper end of the housing 4 ensures that it is spaced as far as possible from the fan 5, thereby avoiding any possible overheating of any of the electric control or operating elements located adjacent the base of the housing 4.

The particular design of the reflective sheet 3 shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises a rectangle that has a cut-out at one of the corners of its upper edge and a cut-out intermediate the ends of its upper edge so that the upper portion of the sheet 3 comprises two spaced strips that are secured by clips to brackets 2 located adjacent the top of the housing beneath the heating element 1. As can be seen from Figure 1 , there is a slit formed in the base of the cut-out located intermediate the ends of the upper edge of the sheet 3. The specific design of the sheet 3 shown in Figures 1 and 2 thus has two cut-outs formed in the upper edge thereof and a slit formed in the base of one of the cut-outs.

Between the flexible sheet 3 and the sheet of translucent or transparent material forming the majority of the front of the housing 4, there is a transparent sheet 7 that is fixed to the sides of the housing 4 and extends for the width of the housing 4. The transparent sheet 7 is inclined to the vertical, as can be seen particularly from Figure 2, so that the size of the space between the flexible sheet 3 and the transparent

sheet 7 steadily increases with height. As can be seen from Figure 2, the air discharged by the fan 5 flows upwardly to the rear of the transparent sheet 7 and, as the transparent sheet 7 acts to restrict the size of the gap into which the air can flow, the initial upward velocity of the air flowing in front of the flexible sheet 3 will be greater than would otherwise be the case. The transparent sheet 7 thus acts as an accelerator. The upward velocity of the air will decrease with height and, as a result, the upwardly flowing air will have a varying action on the flexible sheet 3 such that the realism of the flame effect will be enhanced.

The alternative design of flexible sheet 10 shown in Figure 3 comprises a generally rectangular format that is secured at its lower edge to the rear of the housing 4 adjacent the base thereof. The upper corners of the sheet 10 are cut away, as shown, and two cut-outs are formed in the upper edge of the sheet 10 so that the upper portion of the sheet 10 comprises three tongue formations 11 the ends of which are secured by clips to brackets adjacent the top of the housing 4.

The further alternative design of flexible sheet 12 shown in Figure 4 again comprises a generally rectangular format that is secured at its lower edge of the rear of the housing 4 adjacent the base thereof. Two rectangular cut-outs are formed in the upper edge of the sheet 12 so that the upper portion of the sheet 12 also comprises three tongue formations 13 the ends of which are secured by clips to brackets adjacent the top of the housing 4. Slits 14 are formed at the centres of the bases of the two cut-outs.

The flexible sheets 10 and 12 provide flame effects that differ slightly from that provided by the sheet 3, but they are again realistic.

The housing 4 of the electric fire includes a rear casing element 15 and, as can be seen from Figure 2, the rear casing element 15 supports the mounting brackets 2 to which the upper edge of the flexible sheet 3, 10 or 12 is attached.

For the flexible sheet 12 shown in Figure 4, there is one bracket 2 for supporting each end of the upper edge of the flexible sheet 12 and one bracket 2 for supporting the central portion of the upper edge of the flexible sheet 12. The bracket 2 to which the central portion of the upper edge of the sheet 12 is attached can be offset from the brackets 2 to which the end portions of the upper edge of the sheet 12 are attached.

If desired, the flexible sheet 12 may be crimped to provide, for example, five vertically extending crimps.

When the upper edge of the flexible sheet 12 is attached to the brackets 2, the offset arrangement of the brackets 2 and the provision of the cut-outs and the slits 14 in the sheet 12, enables the upper edge of the sheet 12 to partake of an undulating motion, providing an improved visual effect, without risk of tearing of the flexible sheet 12. The initial form of the upper edge of the sheet 12 further enhances the visual effect. In addition, the offset positioning of the central bracket 2 facilitates attachment of the upper edge of the sheet 12 to the brackets 2.

As can be seen from Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings, the electric fire has relatively low front-to-back dimensions, making it ideally suited for mounting on a wall at an appropriate height such as to ensure that the enhanced visual effect can be seen by all those in a room in which it is located.

The fan 5 shown in Figures 1 and 2 is arranged to deliver an upward flow of air through an opening in a part of the housing 4 above which the flexible sheet 3 is mounted and the transparent sheet 7 functions as an accelerator to increase the initial upward velocity of the stream of air issuing from the fan 5.

Figures 5 and 6 show an alternative method of obtaining an increase in the initial upward velocity of the air flow. This involves the use of a bracket 8 that is fixed in position above the fan 5 to reduce the size of the space through which the air from the fan 5 can flow upwardly. The bracket 8 has a thickened central portion and end fixings 9. It provides a means of increasing the velocity of the air projected upwardly by the fan 5 that can be used as an alternative to the transparent sheet 7 or even in addition to the transparent sheet 7.

As an alternative to providing an electric fire, the present invention may provide an electric apparatus that affords a "Blue Waves" effect.