Abstract:
A front face attachment for a fireplace allows a single fireplace construction to be converted from a first arrangement having front facing top outlet and bottom inlet with covering louver panels for air flow around the combustion chamber to a second arrangement in which there are no front facing outlets and the top and bottom outlets are behind front cover flanges for receiving cladding materials.

Description:
[0001]     This invention relates to a fireplace with a front face attachment kit which allows the conversion of the fireplace from a type having front louvers for inlet and discharge openings for circulating air which are visible in front elevation to a type where the inlet and discharge openings are not visible in front elevation.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     Conventional gas fires of the zero-clearance type include an internal combustion chamber where the gas is burned in a combustion assembly which includes elements simulating burning materials to provide an attractive appearance. The combustion chamber includes side walls, top wall, bottom wall and a rear wall.  
         [0003]     The combustion chamber is mounted within a housing which separates the combustion chamber from exterior building components so that the housing defines a top wall, a rear wall, a bottom and sides which support the combustion chamber and define heat exchange spaces for the passage of air to maintain the exterior housing cool while the combustion chamber is heated. In most cases this is achieved without the use of insulation materials by providing the required spacing and the required air flow to extract sufficient heat to maintain the exterior housing at the required low temperature.  
         [0004]     The combustion chamber may be of the type which draws in combustion air through a duct exterior to the building to be heated and expels the combustion products through another duct also exterior to the building. In some cases these ducts are arranged one inside the other to provide a convenient communication of the airflow and flue gas flow while also acting to transfer heat therebetween. In other cases the combustion air is drawn in from the interior of the building and only the combustion products pass to the exterior of the building for discharge. In yet further cases the arrangement is vent free so that the air for combustion is drawn from the room and the combustion products are returned to the room without any external vents. Where combustion air is drawn from the room, this may enter through a front opening or it may be drawn upwardly through the base of the combustion chamber from the underlying housing portion. The arrangement of the present invention can be utilized with any of these types of construction.  
         [0005]     In order to heat the interior of the building, it is common that an air circulating path is arranged around the combustion chamber with air entering at the bottom of the combustion chamber between the bottom of the combustion chamber and the bottom of the housing, and passes along the rear of the combustion chamber and over the top of the combustion chamber to a discharge between the top of the combustion chamber and the top of the housing. In addition some air may be returned along the sides through suitable vent openings. This arrangement is particularly effective in extracting the heat from the combustion chamber and transferring it into the interior of the building.  
         [0006]     Commonly the opening at the bottom of the housing underneath the combustion chamber is covered by a vertical panel defining a series of louver openings allowing the air to enter into the opening while providing an attractive appearance. Similarly the top opening above the combustion chamber is also covered by a panel defining louver openings for the passage of the discharge air.  
         [0007]     The front of the combustion chamber is closed by a transparent panel in the direct vent type where combustion air is drawn from the exterior through a suitable exterior vent into a closed combustion chamber. However the front may be open in the vent-free type where air is drawn into and discharged from the combustion chamber into the room. In the vented type where combustion air is drawn from the room but vented to the exterior, the front is generally closed by a transparent cover panel but it does not have to be.  
         [0008]     These arrangements are commonly used and the air exchange path which passes from the bottom up the rear and over the top has been very successful since it optimizes the airflow system and provides the best transfer of heat from the combustion chamber to the room to be heated.  
         [0009]     There is however a desire to provide an arrangement of fire place which omits the louver openings and thus allows only the open front face of the combustion chamber to be visible at the front of the fireplace. This is considered in some cases to be more attractive since there are no visible louver panels and only the combustion chamber with the attractive burning combustion system is visible at the front face.  
         [0010]     In U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,127 there is disclosed an arrangement of this type. This provides on the front face of the housing a surrounding panel defining a top panel portion above the combustion chamber and a bottom panel portion below the combustion chamber. These can be covered by decorative materials so that the only part of the fire place visible is the combustion chamber itself.  
         [0011]     In this arrangement the recirculating airflow which acts to extract heat from the combustion chamber and transfer it into the room to be heated acts only at the bottom of the combustion chamber so that air is drawn over the top edge of the bottom panel underneath the combustion chamber through central horizontal openings and is discharged through side ones of the horizontal openings. Thus the air enters the area underneath the combustion chamber, turns through a  1800  and passes back out from underneath the combustion chamber.  
         [0012]     The present inventor has realized that this arrangement has a number of disadvantages. Firstly the heat exchange system is relatively inefficient since it extracts heat from only underneath the combustion chamber. Secondly this construction is entirely different from the conventional fireplace in that it constitutes an alternative model of fireplace different from the conventional louver type construction. The manufacturer therefore must manufacture this arrangement as a separate model from the conventional louver arrangement and thus the distributor must carry a series of further models thus significantly increasing inventory bearing in mind that each model whether it be of the louver type or the non-louver type comes in a number of different sizes and capacities.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0013]     It is one object of the invention to provide a fireplace which allows a single construction to be used for both louver and non-louver constructions.  
         [0014]     According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a combination of a fireplace and a front face attachment therefor comprising:  
         [0015]     the fireplace comprising:  
         [0016]     a combustion chamber having a bottom wall, a top wall, two side walls and a rear wall;  
         [0017]     a gas fuel supply and combustion assembly within the combustion chamber for combustion of a gas fuel to generate heat;  
         [0018]     an inlet into the combustion chamber for combustion air;  
         [0019]     an outlet from the combustion chamber for combustion products;  
         [0020]     a housing for containing the combustion chamber including a bottom wall, a top wall, two side walls and a rear wall with an open front;  
         [0021]     the open front defining a bottom opening extending across the housing underneath the combustion chamber for entry into the housing of circulating air;  
         [0022]     the open front defining a top opening extending across the housing above the combustion chamber for discharge from the housing of circulating air;  
         [0023]     a fan within the housing for driving the circulating air from the bottom inlet opening around the combustion chamber to the top discharge opening for transferring heat from the combustion chamber to the circulating air for expelling heat from the fireplace;  
         [0024]     the front face attachment for the fireplace comprising:  
         [0025]     a body shaped and arranged to mount on the fireplace in front of the open front of the housing  
         [0026]     the body having top, bottom and side edges arranged to lie in front of the top wall, bottom wall and side walls of the housing;  
         [0027]     the body having a front opening exposing the open front of the combustion chamber;  
         [0028]     the body having a first front panel extending in front of the bottom opening in the housing;  
         [0029]     the body defining a first opening between a top edge of the first front panel and the open front of the housing to allow air to enter the bottom opening in the housing;  
         [0030]     the body having a second front panel extending in front of the top opening in the housing; and  
         [0031]     the body defining a second opening between a bottom edge of the second front panel and the open front of the housing to allow air to exit from top opening in the housing.  
         [0032]     The arrangement defined above may be used with any of the three types of fire place defined above that is the direct vent, vented and vent free. In respect of the direct vent type, the combustion chamber is closed with a transparent cover over a front opening. In the other types it may not be.  
         [0033]     Preferably each of the first and second front panels of the attachment is arranged to receive and mount a decorative covering thereon such that in a front elevation the decorative covering covers all parts of the open front apart from the open front of the combustion chamber.  
         [0034]     Preferably the attachment includes an inclined baffle extending forwardly and downward from a top of the top opening at the front face of the housing to a bottom edge of the second front panel.  
         [0035]     Preferably the attachment includes a horizontal top flange extending rearwardly from a top edge of the second panel to the front face of the housing and wherein the top flange includes a depending attachment portion for mounting the attachment on the front face of the housing.  
         [0036]     Preferably the attachment includes a cover plate extending rearwardly of the top edge of the first cover panel for partly covering the first opening to allow passage of air while reducing direct vision therethrough.  
         [0037]     Preferably the cover plate has a slot therein extending across its full width.  
         [0038]     Preferably the slot is located adjacent the front edge of the cover plate.  
         [0039]     Preferably the attachment includes side walls extending between the front opening of the attachment and the open front of the combustion chamber. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0040]     One embodiment of the invention will now be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:  
         [0041]      FIG. 1  is an isometric view of a fireplace and attachment according to the present invention wherein the attachment is mounted on the fireplace providing the non-louver appearance.  
         [0042]      FIG. 2  is a similar isometric view of the fireplace of  FIG. 1  with the attachment removed and the louver panels inserted into place to provide the louver arrangement of the fireplace.  
         [0043]      FIG. 3  is a side elevational view of the fireplace of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0044]      FIG. 4  is a side elevational view of the attachment.  
         [0045]      FIG. 5  is a cross sectional view of the fireplace of  FIG. 1  including the attachment. 
     
    
       [0046]     In the drawings like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0047]     The basic fireplace assembly generally indicated at  10  includes an interior combustion chamber  11  and an exterior housing  12 . These are generally of conventional construction well known to one skilled in the art and further details of fireplaces of this general type are shown in prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,398,669 issued Mar. 21, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,084 issued Mar. 21, 1995; U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,375 issued Jun. 29, 1999 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,375 issued Apr. 18, 2000 all of the present inventor, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.  
         [0048]     The combustion chamber  11  includes a top wall  12 , a bottom wall  13 , a rear wall  14  and two side walls  15 . These define an open front  16  at which is located a transparent front cover which allows the occupants of the room in which the fireplace is located to view the combustion chamber and the burning materials mounted on a combustion assembly  17  again of conventional type. In the arrangement shown the glass or transparent panel  16  at the open front is flat but other shapes and arrangements can be provided including doors.  
         [0049]     The housing  12  includes a top wall  18 , a bottom wall  19 , a rear wall  20  and two side walls  21 . These form an open front  22  with a decorative rib  23  surrounding a central opening  24  which exposes the open front  16  of the combustion chamber.  
         [0050]     Above the decorative rib  23  is provided a louver panel  25  covering an opening  26 . Below the decorative rib  23  is provided a second louver panel  27  covering an opening  28 . A fan  29  draws air through the opening  28  underneath the combustion chamber and drives the air around the back wall of the combustion and over the top wall of the combustion chamber to discharge through the opening  26 .  
         [0051]     Combustion air enters the combustion chamber through a depth  32  from a coaxial supply duct  33  surrounding a flue duct  34  through which combustion products exit from the combustion chamber through a top opening  35 .  
         [0052]     All of the above arrangements are conventional and well known to one skilled in the art and may vary in accordance with well known principles.  
         [0053]     The attachment for the fireplace is indicated generally at  40  which is arranged to be mounted on the front of the front face of the existing housing  12 . This attachment defines a front face  41  which is spaced forwardly from the front face of the existing housing to provide a spacing therebetween. The spacing is filled at the sides by side walls  42  which extend from the front face  41  rearwardly to a rear edge  43  which is located at the front face of the existing housing.  
         [0054]     The front face  41  includes side panels  44  and  45  which are relatively narrow so that the edge  43  lies alongside the side edge of the open face  16  of the combustion chamber and the edge side panel  44  projects outwardly therefrom only to the thickness of the conventional housing.  
         [0055]     The front face  41  includes a top panel  46  which extends across the top of the side panels  44  and  45  so as to bridge those panels. A bottom edge  47  of the top panel  46  is coincident with the top edge of the combustion chamber so that in front elevation the top panel  46  extends upwardly from the top edge of the combustion chamber and no part of the existing housing is visible below the bottom edge  47 .  
         [0056]     The bottom of the front face is defined by a bottom panel  48  which extends across the full width of the front face between the side walls  44  and  45  and defines a bottom edge  49  at the bottom of the fireplace and a top edge  50  substantially coincident with the bottom edge of the opening  16  of the combustion chamber. Thus again a front elevation of the fireplace with the attachment provides full view of the combustion chamber but below the combustion chamber is only visible the bottom panel  48 .  
         [0057]     Sides edges of the front face include mounting tabs  52  by which the front face can be attached to a surround of the building structure.  
         [0058]     The top panel  46  includes a horizontal cover panel  53  which extends rearwardly from the front face to a rear edge  54  at which is located a mounting assembly which attaches to a top edge of the existing housing  12  of the conventional fireplace. The mounting assembly can be provided by a simple flange depending from the rear edge  54  onto a receptacle of the fireplace which holds the top edge against front to rear movement together with side tabs which screw onto a suitable receptacle of the fireplace. These are not shown since the specific mounting arrangement can vary within the knowledge of one skilled in this art depending upon the specific construction of fire place with which the attachment is used.  
         [0059]     The attachment carries a baffle  56  which has a front edge  57  at the bottom edge of the top panel  46  and extends therefrom upwardly and rearwardly so as to have a rear edge  58  closely adjacent or touching the housing  12  at t he top of the opening  26 . Thus the baffle  56  is inclined downwardly and forwardly in front of the opening  26  so that air passing out from the opening discharged from the fan  29  impacts on the baffle and is directed downwardly and forwardly to the interior of the room. This baffle therefore acts to guide the air and prevent it from hitting the back of the front panel  46  so that the air is properly directed forwardly rather than merely downwardly in turbulent flow.  
         [0060]     The attachment further includes a bottom plate  60  which extends from the top of the bottom panel  48  rearwardly toward the bottom edge of the combustion chamber. The panel  60  is horizontal and extends substantially across the full width of the attachment so as to prevent a person standing in front of the fireplace from viewing downwardly into the area underneath the combustion chamber where the operating components for the fan and for the combustion system are located. The top plate  60  thus forms a baffle but includes one or more slots  61  which allow air to move downwardly through the slot into the area underneath the plate  60  to enter the location underneath the combustion chamber. Thus the plate  60  provides an attractive visual effect which does not detract from the visual appearance of the combustion chamber behind the panel  48  but the plate  60  does not interfere with the entry of air into the system for the recirculating effect. Optional additional air vents  65  can be provided at the sides allow air escape from the recirculation system.  
         [0061]     The panels  46  and  48  are arranged to receive attractive covering material such as brick, tile or stone so that the finished fireplace is apparently finished up to the edges of the combustion chamber so that the only material properly visible within the finished edges is the combustion chamber itself.  
         [0062]     The fireplace construction thus provided allows a single fireplace construction to be used either for the conventional louver arrangement in which the louvers are visible as shown in  FIG. 2  above and below the combustion chamber or it can be used with the attachment of  FIGS. 1, 4  and  5  in which the finishing of the fireplace surrounding the combustion chamber is brought up to the edges of the combustion chamber so that no louvers are visible.  
         [0063]     The fact that the single fireplace can be used either with or without the attachment thus significantly reduces inventory since the attachment itself is relatively small item of limited value in comparison with the relatively high cost of the complete fireplace and its operating components.  
         [0064]     Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein above described, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claims without department from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.