Chafing dish skirt

A chafing dish skirt made of fabric having fire-retardant qualities and a method of making a particular fabric fire retardant. The chafing dish skirt is sized and configured to shield the heating device for the chafing dish while permitting air circulation to the heating device if such device is an open-flame type device. The chafing dish skirt is weighted to counter the effects of wind. The device is flexible, easily washable, and economical to produce. The skirt device helps retain heat within the chafing dish. The fire-retardant chafing dish skirt is attached to the chafing dish or the chafing dish frame.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional application Ser. 
No. 60/026,790 filed Sep. 27, 1996. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
The present invention relates to a shield for a chafing dish burner, and 
more particularly to a flexible, easily washable, and economical chafing 
dish skirt, that will prevent wind from affecting the heat source of the 
chafing dish, and help retain heat around the chafing dish. The chafing 
dish skirt is made of fire retardant material, and is attached to the 
chafing dish or the chafing dish frame. The skirt is weighted to help 
counteract the effects of wind. 
2. Description of the Related Art 
Prior art chafing dish burner wind shields are generally solid shields. 
Such shields can effectively shield open flame heat sources for the 
chafing dish from the wind. However, such shields are heavy, expensive to 
manufacture, difficult to store, and clean. 
Accordingly, there is a need for a chafing dish burner wind shield that is 
lightweight, compact and/or compressible for easy storage, inexpensive to 
manufacture, and easy to clean. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,446 issued to Ali on Jun. 13, 1989 describes a wind 
shield for a chafing dish burner. The device may include one or two 
L-shaped walled structures to deflect wind that may blow out the open 
flame of the burner. This device is not lightweight, it is not compact nor 
compressible for easy storage, it is not easy to manufacture and it is not 
easy to clean. 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,970 issued to Schmitz et al. on Jun. 25, 1974 describes 
a weighing band for curtains, drapes and the like. Similar devices may be 
used to weigh down the lower sections of the present invention to help 
counter the forces of wind. 
U.S. Pat. No. 5,335,383 issued to Schwind on Aug. 9, 1994 describes a 
"removably attachable flat sheet-skirting combination." The device teaches 
the attachment of a pleated sheeting around the bed springs of a 
conventional bed. The sheeting is not weighted and the device is not made 
to be fire retardant. 
None of the above noted inventions and patents, taken either singly or in 
combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
A chafing dish skirt made of fabric with fire-retardant qualities is 
disclosed. A method of making a particular fabric fire retardant is also 
disclosed. The chafing dish skirt is sized and configured to shield the 
heating devices for the chafing dish while permitting air circulation to 
the heating device if such device is an open-flame type device. The 
chafing dish skirt is weighted to counter the movement of the skirt that 
maybe caused by wind. The chafing dish skirt is flexible, easily washable, 
and economical to produce. The skirt device helps retain heat within the 
chafing dish to save energy. The chafing dish skirt is fire retardant and 
it is securely attached to the chafing dish or the chafing dish frame. 
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a 
chafing dish skirt which effectively shields the chafing dish burner(s) or 
heat source from the wind. 
Another of the objects of the present invention is to provide a chafing 
dish skirt that effectively helps reflect some of the heat generated by 
the chafing dish burner toward the chafing dish. 
Yet another of the objects of the present invention is to provide a chafing 
dish skirt that is fire-retardant. 
Still another of the objects of the present invention is to provide a 
chafing dish skirt that is weighted to keep most wind from away from the 
chafing dish heat source. 
A further object of the present invention is to provide a chafing dish 
skirt that is lightweight. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a chafing dish 
skirt that is made primarily of fabric so that it can be easily washed and 
stored. 
A final object of the present invention is to provide a chafing dish skirt 
that is economical to produce.

Similar reference characters denote corresponding features consistently 
throughout the attached drawings. 
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The preferred embodiment of a skirt for shielding wind away from the heat 
source of a chafing dish and for reflecting some of the heat generated by 
the heat source to the chafing dish is disclosed. The skirt is made of 
fabric having fire-retardant qualities. A method of fire-retarding a 
particular fabric that is used to make the skirt is also disclosed. The 
chafing dish skirt is sized and configured to shield the heating devices 
for the chafing dish while permitting air circulation to the heating 
device if such device is an open-flame type device. The chafing dish skirt 
is weighted to counter the movement of the skirt that maybe caused by 
wind. The device is flexible, easily washable, and economical to produce. 
The chafing dish skirt is attached to the chafing dish or the chafing dish 
frame. 
Embodiments of the various aspects of the present invention will now be 
explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. By way of 
illustration and not limitation, FIGS. 1 and 2 are presented to show the 
preferred embodiment of the applicant's invention. FIG. 1 shows a chafing 
dish skirt 2 attached to the upper section 26 of a chafing dish frame 20. 
A chafing dish 50 is shown suspended above the chafing dish frame 20. The 
legs 52 of the chafing dish 50 will rest on the lower frame 32 (shown in 
FIG. 2) of the chafing dish frame 20. The burners 30 are placed underneath 
the chafing dish 50 to heat the contents of the chafing dish 50. 
In the preferred embodiment, the chafing dish skirt 2 is detachably 
attached to the upper section 26 of a chafing dish frame 20 to shield the 
burners 30 from wind and to help retain heat within the chafing dish 50 to 
save energy. 
To make the chafing dish skirt 2, a fire retardant fabric is sized and 
configured to detachably attach to the upper section 26 of the chafing 
dish frame 20. The skirt 2 has elastic band sections 10 that wrap around 
the upper section 26 of the chafing dish frame 20. The skirt 2 extends 
downward from the elastic band sections 10 to form a vertical wall that 
encloses the chafing dish frame 20 and help keep wind from blowing out the 
open flames of the burners 30 and help insulate the chafing dish 50. The 
skirt 2 is detachably secured to the chafing dish frame 20 by various 
structures, such as adhesive strips, hooks and loop (e.g., VELCRO) 
fasteners, snaps, clips and the like. Preferably, upper loop 12A and lower 
loop 12B fasteners (e.g., VELCRO) are attached to the skirt 2 such that 
the upper loop 12A and the lower loop 12B are detachably locked together 
to securely grasp the upper section 26 of the chafing dish frame 20, 
thereby fastening the skirt 2 around the frame 20 to effectively shield 
the burners 30 from the wind and help reflect heat back to the chafing 
dish 50. 
Preferably, the fabric for the chafing dish skirt 2 is a cotton and 
polyester blend. Specifically, a 20% cotton and 80% polyester blend of 
fabric is used to make the skirt 2. Such a fabric, under the label 
"TRIGGER".TM. was used to make the skirt 2. Such a fabric was proven to be 
durable for this purpose. However, it is believed that other fabrics that 
are substantially cotton or substantially polyester may also be suitable 
materials for the skirt 2. The skirt 2 may be pleated vertically to permit 
some expansion to more easily fit around the chafing dish frame 20. 
To make the skirt 2 fire-retardant, to withstand the heat of the burners 
30, a fire-retardant chemical such as "FLAME-KOTE".TM. is applied to the 
skirt 2. Preferably, the fire-retardant is sprayed onto the skirt 2; the 
fabric that is used to make the skirt 2, however, may be treated with the 
fire-retardant chemical prior to the manufacture (cutting and stitching of 
the fabric) of the skirt 2. It is preferred that the skirt 2 is dry 
cleaned by standard dry-cleaning methods, after the skirt 2 becomes soiled 
or stained, although the skirt 2 may be hand washed or machine washed. It 
is preferred that the skirt 2 is re-sprayed with a fire-retardant chemical 
after going through five dry-cleaning cycles. Similarly, the skirt 
fire-retardant chemical should be reapplied after several hand or machine 
washings. 
The chafing dish skirt 2 includes a plurality of elastic bands 10 at the 
upper section of the skirt to frictionally fit the skirt 2 around the 
upper section 26 of the chafing dish frame 20. Preferably, the chafing 
dish skirt 2 has openings that enable the handles 22 of the chafing dish 
frame 20 to extend out of the skirt 2 to further secure the skirt 2 around 
the chafing dish frame 20. 
The chafing dish skirt 2 includes weighted lower sections 8 to help counter 
the effects of wind on the burners 30 of the chafing dish 50. 
It is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to the 
embodiments described above, but encompasses any and all embodiments 
within the scope of the following claims.