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Description  |
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to burning a combustible material to obtain heat and,
more particularly, to a method and apparatus for burning newspapers in a
fireplace or stove to generate radiant heat.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
The escalating scarcity and cost of conventional energy sources for
providing heat, such as oil, electricity and natural gas, have prompted a
search for more abundant, cost-effective alternatives. Predictions of
future shortages of natural resources and increasing dependence on foreign
producers of scarce resources has further intensified efforts to identify
alternative energy sources for heating and to implement conservation
measures. Fireplaces and wood burning stoves, therefore, have gained in
popularity as a source of heat to replace or supplement that supplied by
utilities. However, wood itself is rapidly becoming a scarce resource, and
the use of wood for burning in fireplaces and stoves depletes existing
forests at a rate that outpaces renewal and creates undesirable ecological
imbalances. Furthermore, wood is relatively expensive in relation to the
amount of heat delivered by a fireplace due to the flames being quite
small and supplying only limited radiant heat. Additionally, the
efficiency of fireplaces is generally low because air drawn into the
fireplace from the surrounding room escapes via the damper through the
chimney and, therefore, there is little heat convection into the room.
Various attempts have been made to improve the efficiency of fireplaces by
directing heated air into the room and by utilizing different fuels.
Although combustible wood substitutes are commercially available for
burning in fireplaces, these substitutes burn quickly, are very expensive
and cannot be relied upon as a source of radiant heat. It has also been
proposed to burn newspapers in a fireplace to obtain heat, since
newspapers are a plentiful waste material that must be disposed of after
use and such disposal presents a significant waste management burden.
Generally, conventional methods and apparatus for burning newspapers
involve rolling the newspapers to simulate logs and then burning the logs.
Such logs, however, do not burn efficiently for long periods and fail to
produce more than minimal radiant heat because ash produced by the logs
tends to smother the fire after only a short period of burning time.
Additionally, a further disadvantage of newspaper logs is that they
produce significant smoke and residue during burning that limits their
residential use. Devices for burning newspapers arranged in a stack have
also been proposed, and illustrative devices are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos.
4,771,760 to Whiteley and 4,519,378 to Mims, and Canadian patent
1,197,744 to Lawrence. Conventional devices for burning a stack of
newspapers typically inject a stream of air directly onto the newspaper
stack to facilitate burning, and these devices generally require the stack
of newspapers to be supported in an inclined position, such that air
directed on the front face of the stack separates the sheets of newspapers
to obtain page by page burning. Conventional devices share numerous
structural and functional disadvantages, such as the need for specialized
support mechanisms to orient the newspaper stack in an inclined position.
Additionally, the stack of newspapers tends to burn very rapidly due to
the air passing very quickly into the interior of the stack, and sustained
heat is not obtained. Furthermore, a large amount of ash is generated that
tends to smother the fire, and the air blowing directly on the newspaper
stack can itself extinguish the fire. Incomplete burning, therefore, is a
common occurrence in conventional devices and these devices demand
constant attention and frequent relighting.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obtain increased
radiant heat from burning newspapers.
It is also an object of the invention to burn a horizontally supported
stack of newspapers in a fireplace or stove.
A further object of the invention is to burn a stack of newspapers for a
relatively longer period of time.
Another object of the invention is to achieve complete burning of a stack
of newspapers.
Additionally, it is an object of the invention to burn a stack of
newspapers with relatively little ash or residue production.
A still further object of the invention is to burn a stack of newspapers
along the outer face of the stack.
Moreover, it is an object of the invention to burn a stack of newspapers
from the outside to the inside of the stack.
These and other objects, attributes and benefits are achieved with the
present invention as characterized by a firebox positionable in a
fireplace or stove and having upstanding spaced side walls and a rear wall
joined to a floor for horizontally supporting a stack of newspapers
centrally positioned in the firebox. The firebox includes an open front
end, and a discharge passage is disposed adjacent the front end to be
centrally positioned between the side walls for discharging into the
firebox air received from an air supply unit that draws in room or outside
air. A deflector mounted over the discharge opening directs the stream of
discharged air angularly onto the floor of the firebox to flow around the
stack and obtain burning of the outer surface, or face, of the stack and
to sweep ash and residue from the floor.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other objects, features and many of the attendant advantages of
the present invention will be appreciated more readily as they become
better understood from a reading of the following description considered
in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like parts in each of
the several figures are identified by the same reference characters, and
wherein:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the apparatus of the present invention; and
FIG. 3 is a side cross-sectional view of the apparatus of the present
invention taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, an apparatus 10 for burning stacked newspapers
according to the present invention includes a firebox 12 having opposed,
upstanding, parallel spaced side walls 14 joined at their bottom edges to
a horizontally oriented floor 16 and at their rear edges to an upstanding
rear wall 18 having its bottom edge joined to floor 16. An air supply unit
20 including a fan or blower 22 is mounted on a side wall 14 to be
positioned exteriorly of the firebox, and a discharge outlet of blower 22
communicates with an open end 24 of a manifold tube 26 disposed beneath
floor 16. Manifold tube 26 is secured to floor 16 to extend laterally
between side walls 14 adjacent the front edge of the floor 16, and a
channel 28 is similarly disposed beneath floor 16 to extend laterally
between side walls 14 adjacent the rear edge of the floor to allow the
firebox to be supported by tube 26 and channel 28 on a support surface in
spaced relation thereto.
A slot 30 is formed in tube 26 adjacent the front edge of floor 16 to be
centrally positioned between side walls 14, and an opening 32 is formed in
floor 16 in vertical alignment with slot 30
to define a passage 34 establishing communication between the interior of
tube 26 and the firebox 12. A deflector 36 is secured to the forwardmost
edge 36 of passage 34 and includes a curved body extending over passage 34
and defining an arc of a circle having a center disposed on floor 16 and a
radius contained in a vertical plane perpendicularly intersecting floor 16
parallel to sides 14, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. As shown in FIG. 2, a
baffle 38 is disposed in tube 26 adjacent slot 30, such that air flowing
through tube 26 is forced through slot 30 and, therefore, passage 34.
Firebox 12 is preferably made of steel and is sized and configured to be
positioned in conventional fireplaces, masonry or zero clearance, as well
as stoves. Preferably, side walls 14, floor 16 and rear wall 18 are
fabricated of eleven gauge steel panels, and the edges of the panels are
joined by welding. According to a specific embodiment, the firebox
preferably has a width of fourteen inches, a depth from front to rear of
fourteen inches and a uniform height of ten inches.
Air supply unit 20 can be disposed on either side of the firebox to draw in
room or outside air, as desired, and blower 22 is preferably a thirty
cubic feet per minute blower suitable for such purposes. Manifold tube 26
preferably is made from steel and has a rectangular cross-sectional
configuration measuring two inches by one inch. It is preferred that
channel 28 be made from steel and that the vertical dimension of the
channel equal the vertical dimension of tube 26 to enable the firebox to
be supported via tube 26 and channel 28 in a level, horizontally oriented
position upon the floor of a fireplace or stove. Deflector 36 and baffle
38 are also preferably fashioned from steel, and the deflector 36, baffle
38, tube 26 and channel 28 are joined to the firebox by welding.
In operation, the apparatus 10 is placed in a stove or fireplace with the
open top of the firebox 12 aligned with the flue or chimney, as shown in
FIG. 1. A stack of newspapers 42, three to six inches high, having their
free edges in general vertical alignment is centrally positioned directly
on floor 16 about one half inch from the rearwardmost end of deflector 36
to be supported horizontally on floor 16. Blower 22 is started, and
outside air is drawn into the blower for discharge through the blower
discharge outlet into manifold tube 26. Air flowing in tube 26 is forced
by baffle 38 through passage 34 for discharge into the firebox at a rate
of approximately twenty five to thirty cubic feet per minute, and the
newspapers can be easily lit. The continuous flow of air from passage 34
is directed by deflector 36 onto the floor 16 of the firebox, and the air
stream coming from deflector 36 forms an angle A of approximately twenty
five degrees with respect to the floor. Air directed onto floor 16 flows
around all of the sides of the newspaper stack, and this air rises around
the sides, or face, of the stack as air continues &:o enter the firebox.
This flow of air causes the outer surface, or face, of the stack to burn,
because air does not reach the inside of the stack and because burning
along the face of the stack produces a very hot, outer, semi-solid coating
further inhibiting burning in the interior of the stack. The stack,
therefore, burns slowly from the outside to the inside, and a stack of
newspapers three to six inches high can burn for up to three hours with
very little smoke and maximum radiant heat convection. The air stream
continuously directed toward floor 16 by deflector 36 sweeps ashes off the
floor and eliminates the accumulation of ash or residue that might
otherwise smother the fire, and the entire stack can be burned completely
without the need for relighting or further attention.
Having described a preferred embodiment of a new and improved method and
apparatus for burning stacked newspapers constructed in accordance with
the present invention, it is believed that other modifications, variations
and changes will be suggested to those skilled in the art in view of the
teachings set forth herein. It is therefore to be understood that all such
variations, modifications and changes are believed to fall within the
scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
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