Title

Electric Fire Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to electric fires configured to simulate fire effects.

Background

Electric fires are well known and have been used for many years to simulate fire effects without requiring actual burning of a fuel. Such fires include a fuel bed which may be illuminated to generate the effect of a burning fuel bed and one or more flame generating means which are configured to generate flame effects onto a screen provided within a housing of the fire. Examples of such fires include those described in our earlier patent applications WO2007088158 and GB2230335. These disclosures are exemplary of the known simulated fires, that may be used to replace a traditional fire. It will be understood that the flame and/or fuel effects (collectively referred to as fire effects) are generated either using one or more light sources which interact with mechanical arrangements to simulate the fire effects of a real fire or result from electrical activation of a light source such as that provided in an LCD screen to replicate a fire effect. Irrespective of whether the fire effects are mechanically or electrically generated, it will be understood that they result from use of one or more light sources internally located within the housing of the fire.

However problems arise with such prior art arrangements in that the fire effects are quite focused within the housing. As the fire effects are generated using one or more light sources located within the housing, the viewer of the fire is visually drawn to the interior portion of the fire, be that the screen on which the flame effects are generated or the fuel bed which is configured to resemble the burning fuel bed of a real fire. Therefore while the visual effect generated to simulate the fuel and flame bed effects may be quite effective, there is still a need to provide improved simulated fires.

Summary

These and other problems are addressed by an electric fire in accordance with the teaching of the invention. Such a fire includes a housing having a front facade defining an interior portion of the fire, the fire including a light source configured to generate lighting effects for at least one of flame and/or fuel effects which are visible within the housing, the fire being additionally configured to provide for a generation of light which is emitted sidewardly of the facade to generate a lighting effect around at least a portion of the perimeter of the fire housing so as to cast a glow around the housing.

Such perimeter lighting may be effected by including a perimeter light source behind the facade or front panel of the housing. Desirably, the perimeter light source is mounted to the housing such that the light generated by the perimeter light source is directed to the rear and side of the housing. The perimeter light source may include one or more individual lighting elements such as those provided in the form of light bulbs, LEDs or the like. The perimeter light source may also include a light guide that carries light from an interior portion of the fire to the perimeter of the fire where it is emitted.

The fire effects be those flame and/or fuel effects are desirably generated using one or more light sources which are desirably located within an interior portion of the fire housing whereas the perimeter light source is desirably located on an exterior portion of the fire housing.

Desirably the perimeter light source generates a lighting effect about at least three sides of the housing.

Each of the light sources may be formed from a plurality of individual lighting elements.

One or both of the fire effect light source and perimeter light sources may be configured to generate a multicoloured lighting output. If each of the light sources are thus configured, the fire may include a controller which is actable on each of the light sources so as to coordinate their colour outputs.

Accordingly there is a provided a fire in accordance with claim 1. Advantageous embodiments are provided in the dependent claims thereto. A fire according to either of claims 19 or 20 is also provided.

These and other features of the invention will now be understood with reference to the following Figures which are provided to assist in an understanding of the teaching of the invention and are not to be construed as limiting in any fashion.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a section through an exemplary fire provided in accordance with the teaching of the invention and provided as an insert fire. Figure 2 is a perspective view from the front of an insert fire.

Figure 3 is a section through an alternative fire, configured to be mounted within an opening provided in a wall, again provided in accordance with the teaching of the invention.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a wall mounted fire provided in accordance with the teaching of the invention.

Figure 5 is a perspective view from the rear of a wall mounted fire showing the location of perimeter lighting in accordance with the teaching of the invention.

Detailed Description Of The Drawings

Exemplary embodiments of fires provided in accordance with the teaching of the invention will now be described with reference to Figures 1 to 5.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2, the invention provides an electric fire 100 which is configured to simulate the effects of a real burning fire. Such a fire provides for the generation of one or both of flame and fuel effects which when viewed from the front of the fire resemble the burning of a real fuel. The fire of Figures 1 and 2 is exemplary of the type of fire known as an insert fire, which is configured to be received within a traditional fireplace opening provided within a home. Once installed the fire projects into an opening defined within a wall 101 of the house. A hearth 102 is provided to project forwardly of the wall. Such a hearth may be provided as part of the fire, or the fire could be seated upon an existing hearth.

Such a fire includes a housing 105 having a front facade 110 defining an interior portion 115 of the fire. The fire of Figure 1 includes a fuel bed 120 and a flame generating means 125. In this exemplary arrangement the flame generating means include one or more flexible ribbons which move to resemble flame effects which are visible on a screen 130 provided in front of the ribbons. In this exemplary embodiment a front screen 131 is provided forwardly of the flame generating screen and the fuel bed 120 is located between the two screens 130,131. It will be understood that provision of such a screen is not essential within the context of the present invention.

A light source 135 is provided within the housing and is configured to generate lighting effects for at least one of flame 125 and/or fuel effects 120 which are then visible within the housing. It will be understood that the flame and fuel effects which are exemplified here are representative of the type of arrangement that may be used to simulate such effects and that fires provided in accordance with the teaching of the invention are not to be limited to any one specific arrangement. The person skilled in the art will be well aware of different

arrangements that could be used to simulate fire effects and any one of these could be used within the context of the teaching of the present invention. For example the flame effects could be generated in accordance with the teaching of GB2230335, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.

One of the benefits of such fires is that they provide a focal point within the room where they are located. Often the fire effects generated will be the brightest feature in the room. As such it will be appreciated that it is normal that the viewer's attention is directed to the specifics of the fire- the attention of the eye being attracted to the brightest feature in the room. While these fires are very successful in generating artificial fire effects, i.e. in simulating the effects of a real burning fire, it will be understood that they are artificial fires which use a variety of different mechanisms to mimic the effects that one would expect from a real burning fire. The effects generated serve their purpose, especially when viewed from afar. However careful examination can result in the viewer identifying features or aspects of the generated fire effect that are not to be expected from a real burning fire. This can affect their enjoyment of the fire. There is therefore a problem with such fires.

The present inventors have realised that this problem can be addressed and solved by providing a secondary lighting effect. In addition to the internal lighting provided to generate one or more of flame and fuel effects, a fire provided in accordance with the teaching of the present invention is additionally configured to provide for a generation of light which is emitted sidewardly of the facade 110 to generate a lighting effect 140 around at least a portion of the perimeter 145 of the housing so as to cast a glow around the housing. By providing this secondary or perimeter lighting the viewer's attention is drawn away from the primary lighting which is used to generate the fire effects. As they are not specifically focusing on the lighting that is used to generate the fire effects, the specifics of how that achieves its purpose is not as carefully examined as it would be in the case of the only lighting being that for the fire

effects. In this way they benefit from the effect of the artificial simulated fire, in that it serves as a focal point within the room and generates fire effects which are enjoyed, but the distribution of light around the perimeter of the fire housing extends the focus point. In this way no one feature or aspect of the fire suffers from undue examination.

In the arrangement shown in Figure 1 , such perimeter lighting is effected using a light guide 150 to transport light from a light source 135 located within the interior portion of the fire to the perimeter of the fire. Light guides are known in the art and any suitable means of transporting light using for example optical fibres or indeed a piece of plastic which is configured using the phenomena of total internal reflection to trap light within the region defined by the side walls may be usefully employed within the context of the teaching of the present invention. What is important is that the light is emitted around at least a portion of the perimeter of the fire to cast a glow around the perimeter portion of the fire. In the arrangement of Figure 1 the front facade 110 is mounted forwardly of the wall 101 such that a gap is defined between the wall and the front facade and the light projects out through this gap.

In the arrangement of Figure 2 it is evident that the perimeter lighting is provided about three sides of the fire. It will be understood that this is not essential and at least partial lighting of at least one side of a fire is sufficient within the context of the teaching of the invention.

As was shown in Figure 1 , the perimeter lighting may be effected by sharing a light source 135 which is used to generate internal illumination for the fire effects, and guiding light generated by that light source to the perimeter of the fire. Alternatively, and not shown in the context of Figure 1 , the fire effect illumination could be provided using a primary light source which is located coincident with the fire effects and a secondary light source located at the

perimeter of the fire could be used for the perimeter lighting. Such a secondary light source could be in the form of one or more lighting elements.

It will be understood from a review of Figure 2 that the perimeter lighting effects the generation of a lighting to the side of the fire housing and along the wall. In this exemplary arrangement, the front facade baffles the light such that it does not project forwardly of the fire to any great extent. The effect achieved is a glow effect around the side of the fire.

Figure 3 shows an example of an alternative fire 300, but again including perimeter lighting in accordance with the teaching of the invention. Where elements or integers are the same or similar to those of Figures 1 or 2 the same reference numerals will be used. Whereas in Figure 1 two internal light sources were used, one 135a for the fuel bed 120 and a second 135b for the flame effect and perimeter lighting; in the arrangement of Figure 3 a single lighting source is used for each of the flame effect, fuel bed and perimeter lighting. The fire of Figure 3 is configured to be received within an opening defined in a wall, but differently to that of Figure 1 does not rest on the floor, instead is entirely wall hanging. In this way there is a region of wall 101 b below a lower region 305 of the fire onto which perimeter lighting may be directed. In this way it will be understood that the fire of Figure 3 enables a projection of light above and below the fire using the perimeter lighting arrangement.

Figure 4 shows a further modification where again a wall mounted fire 400 is provided, but differently to that of Figure 3, this fire does not require an opening within the wall. Instead it is locatable on the wall. Such a wall mounted fire is similar in many ways to that described in our earlier application WO2006128917, the content of which is incorporated herein by way of reference. The fire of WO2006128917 uses an electrically stimulated screen to generate flame effects and such a screen 405 is provided within the fire 400 of Figure 4. Fuel 420 and flame 425 effects are generated on the electrically

stimulated screen. The fire 400 of Figure 4 shares the feature of the perimeter lighting with the fires described previously in the context of Figures 1 to 3. In the arrangement of Figure 4, the perimeter lighting is configured to project lighting to all four sides of the fire.

Figure 5 is a rear view of the fire of Figure 4 from which the mounting brackets 500 with which the fire 400 is mounted to the wall are clearly visible. The perimeter lighting in this arrangement is provided by a light source 505 located at the perimeter 510 of the fire. In this exemplary arrangement the light source 505 is divided into four distinct light elements (505a, 505b, 505c, 505d) which are provided in the form of fluorescent tubes, but it will be understood that any number of light elements of any form could be provided. If fluorescent tubes are used, it is necessary to mount the tubes within a recess 515 provided on the rear 520 of the housing, such that the tubes do not project beyond the frame 525 defined by the facade of the housing. In this way, the light generated is visible to the side of the fire but the specifics of the elements are hidden from view. If smaller light elements such as that provided using LEDs or the like are used it will be understood that the dimensions of the recess could be reduced as appropriate.

It will be understood that in the arrangement of Figure 5 that the perimeter light source is located behind the facade or front panel of the housing. Desirably, the perimeter light source is mounted to the housing such that the light generated by the perimeter light source is directed to the rear and side of the housing. As was mentioned above the perimeter light source may include one or more individual lighting elements such as those provided in the form of light bulbs, LEDs or the like. In this way, the fire effects be those flame and/or fuel effects are desirably generated using one or more light sources which are desirably located within an interior portion of the fire housing whereas the perimeter light source is desirably located on an exterior portion of the fire housing. However, in a similar fashion to that described with reference to Figure

1 , the perimeter lighting may also include a light guide that carries light from an interior portion of the fire to the perimeter of the fire where it is emitted.

The lighting effect generated by the perimeter lighting may be coloured by use of appropriate light sources or filters. If one or more differently coloured light source are used then selective activation of appropriate ones of those light sources could be used to change the colour of the glow that is generated around the perimeter of the fire. If light sources of the type known as multicoloured LEDs are used then activation of an appropriate control signal to those light sources may be used to change the colour output. The fire may include a controller which may be used with the light sources to control the intensity or colour or frequency of activation of the perimeter lighting effect. Such control could be effected in combination with or independently of changes in the fire effects generated by the lighting within the housing. For example if an intense fire is being simulated a high intensity output could be provided at the perimeter. In contrast, if a low intensity fire is being generated using at least one of the flame or fuel effects then such a fire requires a less intense output at the perimeter. It will be understood that where the colour of the perimeter lighting may be changed that such changes could also be synchronised with changes in the generated fire effects. In this way it will be understood that a fire where at least one of the intensity or colour or frequency of activation of the perimeter lighting may be varied should be considered as desirable within the context of the teaching of the invention. The increase or decrease of frequency of activation could be used to selectively provide a flicker effect around the perimeter of fire.

It will be understood that what has been described herein are exemplary embodiments of an electrical fire that includes perimeter lighting. Such perimeter lighting serves to extend the focal point generated by the fire, such that a viewer of the fire is not unduly attracted to the specifics of the fire

generating means. While such a fire has been described with reference to specific embodiments it will be understood that such embodiments are provided to assist in an understanding of the teaching of the invention and it is not intended to limit the invention in any way except as may be deemed necessary in the light of the appended claims. Furthermore where integers or elements are described with reference to any one figure or embodiment it will be understood that such integers or elements could be used in other figures or embodiments without departing from the teaching of the invention. Furthermore, no one element described with reference to any specific embodiment should be considered essential as such elements could be replaced or substituted by other elements without departing from the teaching of the invention.

The words comprises/comprising when used in this specification are to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers , steps, components or groups thereof.