Sheet Metal Fireplace

Abstract

A sheet metal fireplace comprises an outer jacket and a firebox mounted in and spaced from the jacket. The jacket and firebox have open fronts. The firebox has a flue opening at the top. A grate is mounted near the bottom of the firebox. A draft passageway is located beneath the grate and communicates with the space between the back walls of the jacket and firebox. A vertical baffle is present in this space. The baffle provides two vertical passageways. The inner passageway adjacent the firebox back wall circulates cool air behind the same and discharges it through the flue. The outer passageway behind the baffle circulates heated air into the room through appropriately located louvers.

Description

This invention relates to sheet metal fireplaces.

Whereas in former times the fireplace was valued principally as a heat-producing unit, in modern times there are many situations in which it is valued principally for its ornamental and psychological effect. The production of a large amount of heat not only is undesired, but even detrimental in that it renders the surrounding areas oppressively hot. It also makes necessary a massive masonry fireplace construction.

Thus in modern homes, hotel rooms, offices, resort lounges, and like situations, there is a need for a fuel-burning fireplace which is ornamental in appearance, cheerful in providing the comfort of an open fire, efficient in the emission of a controlled amount of heat only, and easily installed in an existing room without the necessity of building an elaborate and massive masonry structure.

It is the purpose of the present invention to provide such a fireplace.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in perspective of the herein described fireplace, illustrating its exterior appearance;

FIG. 2 is a view in front elevation of the fireplace, with parts broken away to show the interior construction; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view of the fireplace taken along line 3--3 of FIG. 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the fireplace of my invention includes a fireplace unit indicated generally at 10, which is adapted to be hung on a wall or supported on a stand. A vertical heat shield or hood 12 is supported on the fireplace unit and extends a substantial distance vertically, preferably to the ceiling of the room in which the fireplace is contained. The hood serves the dual functions of concealing the fireplace flue, and of providing an extensive heat radiating and dispensing surface.

Unit 10 and hood 12 may be styled in attractive, modern contours and decorated in any desired manner. The fireplace thus not only serves a heating function but adds materially to the decor of the room in which it is contained. Unit 10 is provided with a removable grate 14, a built-in firescreen 16, and an ash drawer 18.

Unit 10 is housed in an outer jacket comprising a back wall 20, opposite side walls 22, a bottom 24, front panels 26 defining a fireplace opening, and a top 28 having a central flue opening 30 and an inwardly extending structural plate 32.

All of these parts are fabricated from sheet metal of appropriate gauge and strength, contoured in the desired exterior design. They are secured to each other in any suitable manner, as by being welded or bolted together.

Top 28 of the jacket is provided with a pair of horizontal clips 33 at the front and a pair of upwardly extending studs 34 at the rear. These are used to support hood 12.

The hood comprises a sheet metal member of substantial size extending, as heretofore noted, from the top of the fireplace unit to the ceiling. It preferably is generally rectangular in cross section open at the back, and upwardly tapered to give a pleasing effect. Its lower margins are bent inwardly to form a flange 35, which is engaged by clips 33. Flange 35 also is provided with angular slots 37 which releasably engage studs 34. This construction permits mounting and demounting a hood which desirably extends upwardly to the ceiling, i.e. without leaving an unsightly clearance gap adjacent the ceiling.

The hood houses an insulated stovepipe or flue 36. It also provides a heat radiating surface of substantial extent. It renders still a third service by delivering hot air through side louvers 38 provided for that purpose in a manner to be described hereinafter.

Back wall 20 of the jacket supports on its upper margin a stout, angularly bent flange 40 extending substantially the length of the back wall. The flange engages a cooperating metal bracket 42 of equal length. The bracket is securely mounted on a structural wall 44 by means of bolts 46. The strength of the mounting thus provided is such that 10 or 12 stories of insulated stovepipe 36 may be stacked on top of the unit with no other support whatsoever.

The lower margin of jacket back 20 mounts a pair of spaced adjustment screws 48. The heads of the screws bear against the surface of wall 44 and hence provides a means of bevelling or squaring the fireplace.

When thus hung, the fireplace provides a space on the floor immediately below which may be used to store wood. In the alternative, a combination ornamental wood box and table support may be interposed between the floor and the fireplace unit. The table support may be used to support the fireplace in the event it is not desired to hang it on the wall.

A sheet metal firebox is mounted within the jacket above described. It includes a firewall back 50 of substantial gauge. The back has an inwardly angled upper segment 52 and a horizontally extending foot 54.

The firebox further is defined by a pair of opposite side walls 56 and a frusto conical top 58. Walls 56 are bolted to an inner component of the jacket structure. Top 58 serves as a flue adapter. It communicates at its upper end with flue 36, which may comprise lengths of ordinary or, preferably, insulated stovepipe.

The top of the firebox is suitably supported, as by being bolted at the front of the fireplace to plate 32 of the jacket and at the back to a vertical baffle 60, the function of which is to be described in greater detail hereinafter. This baffle also supports a heat shield 61 which assists materially in deflecting the heat present at the "hot spot" back of the fireplace.

The weight of stovepipe 36 is borne by a stirrup-shaped support 62. This comprises an angularly bent sheet of metal which is outline and provided with openings for engagement with studs 34 which also mount hood 12. An opening through the central portion of the support accommodates the flue-engaging upper end of firebox top 58.

A sheet of insulating material 64 overlies support 62. It has a central opening registering with that in support 62.

Insulation 64 functions to prevent an excessive amount of heat from being transmitted to hood 12. It is to be noted that it comprises the only insulation which need be used in the entire structure, even though the fireplace is hung closely adjacent a wall comprised of inflammable material. Its presence insures that the heat which otherwise would be transmitted through support 62 to hood 12 is channeled up through flue 36 and thus exhausted from the room area.

Side walls 56 of the firebox mount along their inner vertical margins a plurality of staggered, inwardly projecting studs 66, 68, 70. These serve to support firewall 50, which may be inserted between them during the assembly of the fireplace.

Side walls 56 of the firebox also support the grate means used to support the fuel consumed in the unit.

To this end there extend inwardly from the lower margins of the side walls appropriately contoured front and rear brackets 72, 74 which support a grate 14. This is dimensioned and contoured as required to hold whatever solid fuel is to be used in the fireplace.

The front of the firebox is open and substantially registers with the open front of the jacket. It is closed off by means of screen 16. The screen in turn is supported on a rod 78 which is mounted in a channel-shaped member 80 bolted to and supported by partition plates 32 of the jacket.

The firebox is floored by means of an ash receiving drawer 18. This is a box-shaped member which underlies the entire firebox. It is open at its top and provided with a face plate 84 and operating handle 86. Face plate 84 is of sufficient height to serve as a retainer for the lower margin of screen 16.

The drawer is slidably supported in spaced relation from floor plate 24 of the jacket by means of a pair of brackets 88. The brackets support a plate 90 bolted to the latter. This not only serves slidably to support the drawer, but also prevents ashes and coals from dropping down from the grate into the space below. It further provides an air passageway extending beneath the drawer and communicating with the vertical space at the rear of the fireplace.

It is a particular feature of the invention that in spite of the large amount of heat generated by an open fire, the fireplace may be installed directly adjacent a structural wall without providing a massive masonry shield, or any insulation whatsoever other than that afforded by appropriately directed currents of cool air. The manner in which this result is achieved is shown particularly in FIG. 3.

Baffle 60, previously noted as the support for the rear portion of firebox top 58, is supported in its desired position by being provided with side flanges by means of which it is bolted to the side walls of the firebox. It divides the space behind the fire wall 50 into two vertical passageways.

An inner passageway 92 conducts cool air entering the fireplace beneath support plate 90 upwardly along the back of fire wall 50 and vents it up through fire box top 58 into flue 36. The resulting jet effect materially augments the draft produced by the flue, correspondingly promotes combustion, and inhibits smoking of the fireplace. The cool air also cools firewall 50.

A second vertical passageway 94 is present between the back of baffle 60 and the back of the jacket. It communicates through opening 30 in the jacket top with the space within hood 12. Air conducted beneath horizontal plate 90 and upwardly through passageway 94 is heated to a limited extent by conduction through baffle plate 60. Upon entering hood 12 it is discharged through louvres 38. It thus introduces a controlled amount of heat into the room.

A third or outer passageway 96 is present for introducing cool air to the area immediately adjacent back wall 20 of the jacket. Such a passageway is provided by means of channel-shaped baffle 98 secured to the inner surface of jacket back wall 20.

Cool air introduced into the fireplace beneath horizontal plate 90 thus in part passes upwardly through passageway 96 and cools the back wall so that even though the latter is closely adjacent a structural wall 44 of combustible material the wall is not heated to a dangerous temperature at which it might become ignited.

These various current flows are illustrated by the arrows of FIG. 3. In aggregate, they direct the major portion of the heat up the flue, provided a controlled introduction of warm air into the space to be heated, and cool the back of the fireplace so that it will not damage the structural wall upon which the fireplace is hung. All of this is accomplished by a simple installation requiring neither the use of masonry nor the application of expensive thermal insulation.

Claims

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A sheet metal fireplace comprising:

a. an outer jacket including a back, two sides, a bottom, an open front and a top having an opening therethrough,

b. a sheet metal firebox mounted in and spaced from the jacket and including a back, two sides and a bottom spaced inwardly from the corresponding components of the jacket, the firebox also having an open front substantially registering with the open front of the jacket and a top extending through the opening in the jacket top and having therethrough a flue opening,

c. a horizontal draft passageway between the bottoms of the jacket and firebox communicating with the space between the backs of the jacket and firebox, and

d. vertical baffle means interposed between the backs of the jacket and firebox and providing two vertical air passageways both communicating at their lower ends with the draft passageway, the first passageway providing a current of air between the firebox back and baffle means upward from the draft passageway into the flue opening, and the second passageway providing a current of air between the baffle means and jacket back upward from the draft passageway and outward through the jacket into the space in which the fireplace is located, thereby heating the same.

2. The fireplace of claim 1 including second vertical baffle means interposed between the jacket back and first named baffle means providing a third air passageway communicating at its lower end with the draft passageway and at its upper end with the second passageway.

3. The fireplace of claim 1 wherein

a. the firebox top extends freely through the jacket top opening, providing a space therebetween,

b. the back side of the firebox top terminates at its lower end between the backs of the firebox and jacket, and

c. the baffle means extends downward from the back side of the firebox top.

4. The fireplace of claim 3 including a hollow hood above the jacket communicating with the space between the firebox top and jacket top opening.

5. The fireplace of claim 1 including grate means in the firebox above the bottom thereof.

6. The fireplace of claim 5 including an ash drawer mounted removably in the firebox above the bottom thereof and below the grate means.

7. The fireplace of claim 1 including a channel member mounted across the opposite sides of the jacket adjacent the open front, a rod supported on the channel member, and a fire screen slidably mounted on the rod for removably closing said open front.

8. The fireplace of claim 1 wherein the top of the jacket is provided with outwardly projecting studs and clips, and including a hood for the fireplace flue having a flange engaging the studs and clips and extending upwardly from the top of the jacket.

9. The fireplace of claim 1 including bracket means attached to the back of the jacket and adapted to hang the fireplace on a structural wall.