Stoves and furnaces – Fireplaces or accessories – Circular viewability of flame
Reexamination Certificate
2000-01-31
2001-04-24
Lazarus, Ira S. (Department: 3743)
Stoves and furnaces
Fireplaces or accessories
Circular viewability of flame
C126S500000, C126S276000, C016S429000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06220240
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to portable fireplaces and, more particularly, to a portable outdoor fireplace with a fire screen assembly and a handle that permits easy and ergonomically efficient transport of the fireplace.
Fixed outdoor fireplaces such as those made of brick and stone have been known and have been popular for years. Despite the popularity of these fixed fireplaces, portable fireplaces intended for outdoor use have entered the market in the past few years. Their size is small as compared to fixed fireplaces and their structures are such that they permit them to be easily moved from one location to the other. These fireplaces are found in the literature in U.S. Design Pat. No. Des. 293,191 issued to Weber-Stephen Products and describes a portable outdoor fireplace. Handles are positioned on the sides of this outdoor fireplace to assist a user in moving it. They are located in an awkward location, generally along the edge of the top or bottom members of the fireplace, where they require a user to get close to the fireplace to grasp them for moving purposes.
Another outdoor fireplace is sold under the trade name “FIREPIT” by Whalen Manufacturing of Macomb, Ill., and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,980, issued in 1997. The fireplace described in this patent has a pair of wheels mounted to a pair of legs so as to render it easily movable, but it has a handle fixed to its bottom fire bowl. Like the aforementioned Weber fireplace, this handle is fixed at an awkward level where a user must bend over uncomfortably to grab hold of it to move the fireplace. The user also has to get close to the fireplace to move it.
Applicant's own fireplaces that are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,298, issued November 1998 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,960,788, issued October 1999, both include similar handles that are affixed to the bottom fire bowl of the fireplace. These handles are spaced close to the edge of the bottom fire bowl where the user may become exposed to the heat given off by the fireplace. The location of these and other handles in the prior art is not ergonomically efficient in that it forces a user to bend over uncomfortably in order to grab hold and move the fireplace.
The prior art therefore lacks a fireplace with a handle that is spaced apart from the fire bowl of the fireplace and which is ergonomically designed to alleviate awkward bending when utilizing the handles.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is therefor directed to a portable fireplace having a fire chamber defined between top and bottom cover members and an extendible handle assembly that facilitates the transport of the fireplace without interfering with its operation.
It is therefore a general object of the present invention to provide a portable fireplace having a handle disposed on the fireplace in a location that facilitates transport of the fireplace and which is ergonomically disposed to alleviate back stress of a user.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a wheeled fireplace having opposing base and cover portions that maintain a fire screen assembly in place, the base portion having a handle assembly associated therewith, the handle assembly extending upwardly from the base portion at an angle and being extendible between a transport position and an operation position, the handle being oriented at a preselected angle with respect to the ground so as to alleviate the need of a user to excessively bend over in order to grasp the handle and move the fireplace.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a portable outdoor fireplace having a handle associated therewith that is movable between two positions, the first of these positions being a transport position wherein the handle of the handle assembly is extendible from the fireplace at a preselected angle with respect to the ground and extends upwardly from the grill for a distance past the base portion of at least one half a diameter of the grill, the second of these positions being an operating position wherein the handle is collapsed upon itself to a position proximate to the base portion, but not extending past the base portion a sufficient extent to present an impediment to movement of people around the fireplace.
Yet a further object of the invention is to provide a telescoping handle assembly for use with a portable fireplace, the handle assembly having a pair of hollow tubes forming attachment members for attachment to the base portion of the fireplace and a C-shaped member that telescopingly engages the attachment members so that it is extendible between at least two operative positions.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a handle assembly for converting an outdoor fireplace having a “static” handle to one having a “dynamic” handle that is extendible between at least two operative positions.
The present invention accomplishes these objects by way of its novel and unique structure and in accordance with one principal aspect thereof and as exemplified by the preferred embodiment, an elongated handle assembly is provided for attachment to the fireplace. The handle assembly is attached to the fireplace at two different locations and relative heights so that the handle extends at an angle from the fireplace. The handle assembly includes at least two co-acting members that engage each other in a sliding engagement.
In the preferred embodiment, this sliding engagement is a telescoping engagement where one member slides within the other member between two positions. In one position, the handle members are collapsed together and the handle merely protrudes a short distance from the fireplace bottom fire bowl member. In the other, extended position, one of the handle members extends out of the other member and projects a sufficient distance from the fire bowl to facilitate the moving and transport of the fireplace.
The handle members may include means for maintaining them in engagement, such as inwardly pressed, or punched tabs, that slide over each other when assembled, but which interfere with each other to prevent disassembly of them from their combined position. The engagement means are also preferably selectively operable so that they may be actuated by a user to engage the two handle members in their extended position, or to permit the two handle members to be collapsed upon each other.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be clearly understood through consideration of the following detailed description.
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Bach Kent
Grady Jeffrey
Grady John
Henke Dave
Cocks Josiah C.
Fleming Sales Company
Lazarus Ira S.
Vedder Price Kaufman & Kammholz
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