EP2518409A1

EP2518409A1 - Multi-function service furniture for burner, in particular for stoves or boilers of household use

Info

Publication number: EP2518409A1
Application number: EP12002860A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Giovanni Matteo Berta
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-04-27
Filing date: 2012-04-24
Publication date: 2012-10-31
Also published as: ITTO20110367A1

Abstract

A multi-function service furniture (1) for at least one burner is described, in particular the burner being preferably a stove or a boiler of household use supplied with partitioned or pellet-type wood, composed of at least one container (3) divided into at least one first compartment (5) adapted to contain at least one burning material (6) for supplying such burner and at least one second compartment (7) adapted to contain suction means (9) for residuals and/or burnt ashes of such burner. The furniture comprises a foldable ladder (13) having also a protection function.

Description

The present invention refers to a multi-function service furniture for burner, in particular for stoves or boilers of household use.
It is known to use stoves or boilers, above all of the household type, supplied with woody fuel, typically as pellets.
It is also known that the use of such stoves or boilers can be particularly uncomfortable, above all when loading the fuel and when cleaning. In fact, it is common practice, especially in case of stoves or boilers installed in household environments where people usually live, to supply such stove or boiler with pellets packaged into bags, baskets or boxes normally stocked outside such environments for obvious hygienic reasons. However, during the step of filling the stove or boiler, it is common experience that the chance of fouling, especially the floor, during transport and unloading, are very high, consequently making such operation extremely impractical.
A similar situation occurs when it is necessary to take care of internally cleaning the stove or boiler and, consequently, of removing the burnt ashes contained inside suitable collecting containers and the combustion room. In these cases, usually, the operations are performed manually or through the use of a suitable suction device. Also in this case, however, one runs the risk of fouling the floor, with the addition of a further work for its following, necessary cleaning. The art in such cases proposes numerous service tools that however require the user to have available or use suitable spaces, usually unfortunately not very near the stove or boiler, aimed to store them.
Moreover, many stoves or boilers currently available on the market and commonly used, provide for a fuel loading into the combustion room usually from the top, through an opening arranged at a relatively high height, and therefore accessed with difficulty by small people and/or people with a reduced motion force, such as for example elderly people. Also in this case, such inconvenience can be solved by using known ladders or small ladders, which, however, must every time being taken, opened, closed again and arranged in the suitable storage spaces dedicated thereto.
Therefore, object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems by providing a multi-function service furniture for burner, in particular for stoves or boilers of household use, that allows storing, immediately next to such burner, the burning material and the suction means necessary for removing the residuals and the burnt ashes during the cleaning operations of the burner itself.
Another object of the present invention is providing a multi-function service furniture for burner, in particular for stoves or boilers of household use, that allows storing, immediately next to such burner, at least one tray for collecting residuals and burnt ashes.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is providing a multi-function service furniture for burner, in particular for stoves or boilers of household use, equipped with at least one foldable ladder with a reduced encumbrance and always available immediately next to such burner for facilitating the operations of filling such burner with fuel.
The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with a multi-function service furniture for burner, in particular for stoves or boilers of household use, as claimed in claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trivial variations of the present invention are the subject matter of the dependent claims.
It will be immediately obvious that numerous variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) can be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the enclosed claims.
The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a front perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the multi-function furniture according to the present invention;
Figure 2 shows a top plan view of the multi-function furniture according to the present invention;
Figure 3 shows a rear view of the multi-function furniture according to the present invention in a use configuration thereof;

Figure 4 shows a rear perspective view of the multi-function furniture according to the present invention in another use configuration thereof; and
Figure 5 shows a side view of the multi-function furniture according to the present invention in a further use configuration thereof.

With reference to the Figures, it is possible to note that the multi-function service furniture 1 according to the present invention for at least one burner (not shown), in particular such burner being preferably a stove or a boiler of household use, for example supplied with partitioned or pellet-type wood, is composed of at least one container 3 divided into at least one first compartment 5 suitable to contain at least one burning material 6 for supplying such burner and at least one second compartment 7 suitable to contain suction means 9 for residuals and/or burnt ashes during the cleaning operations of the burner itself.
Obviously, the first compartment 5 and the second compartment 7 can be arranged inside the container 3 according to any space placement suitable for such purpose: preferably, such compartments 5, 7 are arranged side by side and mutually separated by at least one partitioning wall 8.
Obviously, the container 3 can be equipped with at least one cover 10 that can be opened and closed, for example removable or hinged along at least one edge 12, in order to insulate the compartments 5, 7 from the external environment when it is not required to use what is contained therein. Obviously, each compartment 5, 7 can be equipped with an autonomous cover that can be opened and closed in such a way as to allow accessing, in case of need, only to the desired compartment. In addition, it is possible to provide that at least one of such compartments 5, 7 is equipped with at least one side opening (not shown) equipped with a related cover adapted to allow accessing the related compartment 5, 7 even laterally.
Advantageously, the burning material 6 contained inside the first compartment 5 can be of any type at solid state, such as for example wood, pellet or coal, both arranged randomly and loose, and pre-organised in further containing means, such as bags or boxes.
Moreover, the suction means 9 can be composed of at least one suction device, known per se, suitable for such purpose. In particular, at least one of the walls of the container 3 defining the second compartment 7 can be equipped with at least one opening (not shown) passing through such wall and adapted to allow at least one suction pipe (not shown) of such suction device to pass towards the outside, though keeping the rest of the body composing the suction device inside the compartment 7. In addition, at least one of the walls of the container 3 defining the second compartment 7, preferably the rear wall, could be equipped with a further opening (not shown) adapted to allow the electric supply cable of the suction device to pass towards the outside.
Moreover, the base of the container 3 can be equipped with a plurality of wheels or castor wheels 11, suitably arranged and adapted to facilitate the displacement of the multi-function furniture 1 according to the present invention.
In addition, advantageously, the multi-function furniture 1 according to the present invention can be equipped with at least one foldable ladder 13 adapted to facilitate the filling operations of the burner with the fuel 6.
In particular, the foldable ladder 13 can be at least one part of a wall of the container 3, for example and preferably the rear wall, such foldable ladder 13 being composed of at least one first spline 13a and at least one second spline 13b, an horizontal edge of such first spline 13a being connected to a corresponding first horizontal edge of such second spline 13b by interposing first articulating means 15a, a second horizontal edge of such second spline 13b being connected to a corresponding edge of such wall del container 3 by interposing second articulating means 15b, such articulating means 15a, 15b being preferably composed of one or more hinge-type kinematisms.
The foldable ladder 13 composed as described above can be taken, due to the articulating means 15a, 15b, from a first rest position in which it is folded as an accordion by mutually overlapping the splines 13a, 13b, to a use position (such as for example shown in Figure 5), in which the second spline 13b is taken to a substantially orthogonal position to the wall of the container 3 and the first spline 13a is taken to a substantially orthogonal position to the second spline 13b in order to abut onto the ground and form the steps of the foldable ladder 13 itself, and vice versa.
Alternatively, it is possible to provide that the foldable ladder 13 is composed of a further third spline connected to the second spline 13b by interposing the second articulating means 15b, such third spline remaining fixed to the container 3 to form a partial wall of this latter one.
With particular reference to Figures 3 and 4, it is possible to note that at least the first spline 13a only can be taken in a substantially vertical position projecting from the container 3 in order to assume a further protecting position from heat possibly emitted next to the burner.
Advantageously, each one of the wheels or castor wheels 11 can be equipped with a suitable mechanism, known per se, that makes them retractable under pressure, so that they can be taken, upon request, to project from the base of the container 3 when it is necessary to move the furniture 1 or inside the outline of the base itself, in order to increase the adherence between furniture 1 and bearing surface, above all when using the foldable ladder 13 to increase its use safety.
In addition, the multi-function furniture 1 according to the present invention can be equipped with at least one sliding drawer 17, preferably arranged immediately next to the base of the container 3 to facilitate its use, such drawer 17 being possibly equipped with a suitable handle 18 and being adapted to contain or integrate therein at least one tray 19 suitable to be placed onto the ground for collecting possible ashes or combustion residuals during the cleaning operations of the burner. Obviously, the drawer 17 can be equipped with any type of mechanism, known per se, such as for example, a "push-and-pull" mechanism, that makes its use easier.
Obviously, since the multi-function furniture 1 according to the present invention is adapted to be arranged immediately next or adjacent to a burner, each of the component parts thereof is composed of a material, for example of the fireproof type, suitable for this purpose.
Therefore, through the furniture 1 according to the present invention arranged immediately next or adjacent to a burner, such as a stove or a boiler, it is possible to obtain the following advantages:

it is possible to proceed with the supply of such burner with fuel by directly taking the fuel from the first compartment 5 of the furniture 1 without fouling and substantially without having to move weights;
it is possible to proceed with cleaning the brazier through the suction device arranged inside the second compartment 7 of the furniture 1, without having to take such suction device from another environment and then having to place it back there at the end of its use: possibly, in order to reduce to a minimum the chances of fouling the floor, it is possible to take care of extracting the drawer 17 and suitably place the tray 19 contained therein;
in case of loading the fuel into the combustion room of the burner from the top, such operation is facilitated by the use of the foldable ladder 13;
the first spline 13a of the foldable ladder 13 can be taken to a vertically projecting position in order to make a protection barrier against burns deriving from accidental contacts with the burner;
at the end of one or more of the above operations, the furniture 1 according to the present invention allows putting back all instruments and materials necessary for efficiently using a burner in a clean, practical and adequate way, though keeping a small encumbrance.

Claims

Multi-function service furniture (1) for at least one burner, in particular said burner being preferably a stove or a boiler of household use supplied with partitioned or pellet-type wood, said multi-function furniture (1) being composed of at least one container (3) divided into at least one first compartment (5) adapted to contain at least one burning material (6) for supplying said burner and at least one second compartment (7) adapted to contain suction means (9) for residuals and/or burnt ashes of said burner, characterised in that it is further equipped with at least one foldable ladder (13) also having a protection function, said foldable ladder (13) being composed of at least one first spline (13a) and at least one second spline (13b), a horizontal edge of said first spline (13a) being connected to a corresponding first horizontal edge of said second spline (13b) by interposing first articulating means (15a), a second horizontal edge of said second spline (13b) being connected to a corresponding horizontal edge of a wall of said container (3) by interposing second articulating means (15b), at least the first spline (13a) only being able to be taken to a substantially vertical position projecting from said container (3) in order to assume a further protecting position from heat possibly emitted next to said burner.
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said compartments (5, 7) are arranged side by side and mutually separated by at least one partitioning wall (8) and in that said container (3) is equipped with at least one cover (10).
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that at least one of said compartments (5, 7) is equipped with at least one side opening equipped with related cover.
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said burning material (6) contained inside said first compartment (5) is wood, pellets or coal, both arranged randomly and loosen, and pre-organised in further containing means, such as bags or boxes.
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that said suction means (9) are composed of at least one suction device.
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 5, characterised in that at least one of the walls of said container (3) defining said second compartment (7) is equipped with at least one opening passing through said wall, adapted to allow at least one suction pipe of said suction device to pass towards the outside and/or at least one of the walls of said container (3) defining said second compartment (7) is equipped with a further opening adapted to allow un electric supply cable of said suction device to pass towards the outside.
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that a base of said container (3) is equipped with a plurality of wheels or castor wheels (11).
Multi-function furniture (1) according to claim 1, characterised in that it is equipped with at least one sliding drawer (17) containing or integrating therein at least one tray (19).