WO2008151951A2

WO2008151951A2 - Electric fire

Info

Publication number: WO2008151951A2
Application number: PCT/EP2008/056728
Authority: WO
Inventors: Arthur Purton
Original assignee: Basic Holdings
Current assignee: Basic Holdings
Priority date: 2007-06-11
Filing date: 2008-05-30
Publication date: 2008-12-18
Anticipated expiration: 2009-12-11
Also published as: GB2450084B; GB2450084A; WO2008151951A3; GB0711080D0

Abstract

An electric fire is described. The fire includes a screen and provides on that screen an image representative of a fire sequence. The fire also includes an artificial fuel bed and provides for characteristics of the fuel bed to be matched to the displayed image of the fire.

Description

Title

Electric fire Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to electric fires and particularly to electric fires which include a screen and provide on that screen an image representative of a fire sequence. The invention more particularly relates to such fires which are used with an artificial fuel bed and wherein the geometrical arrangement of the fuel bed is matched to the displayed image of the fire.

Background

Electric fires are well known and are used to simulate fire effects without requiring an actual combustion of fuel. Such fires have been developed over many years and it is known to use mechanical and/or optical effects to generate a simulated fire effects. Recent developments such as those described in our earlier application,

EP1729067, use pre-recorded images of a fire and display those on electronic displays within the fire. As the images are of an actual fire burning the user of such a fire is presented with a very realistic effect of a fire burning.

Such fires may be wall mounted or provided as a floor mounted unit which may be inserted into an opening (insert fires). It would also be desirable to include within such fires an artificial fuel bed, located to the front of the electronic display and used to simulate the fuel bed that is present in a real fire. There is a problem however in providing such fuel beds in that the artificial character of the fuel bed contrasts with the very real fire effects that are provided on the electronic display.

There is therefore a need to provide an improved electric fire.

Summary

These and other problems are addressed by an electric fire in accordance with the teaching of the invention. In one embodiment such a fire includes a pre- recorded image sequence of a burning fire which may be subsequently displayed on a screen within the fire. The fire includes a fuel bed which is locatable to the front of the screen and which includes a number of fuel elements. The invention provides for a matching of at least a portion of the fuel elements with the displayed image such that the fuel bed provides a three dimensional representation of the two dimensional image of the fuel bed being displayed on the screen.

The fuel bed may be moveable such that individual elements of the fuel bed may move in a predetermined sequence. Such movement may be provided to correspond with the burning of the fire being displayed on the screen. In this way the configuration of the three dimensional fuel bed may be considered compatible with the displayed two dimensional image of the burning fire.

To provide such a movement, the fuel bed as a whole, or individual fuel elements thereof, may be configured to move relative to the display panel. Such movement may be effected by providing the bed on a moveable stage and controlling that moveable stage through a control circuit. The movement may be effected in response to expiration of a predetermined time period, or by associating the geometrical configuration of the fuel bed with a specific sequence in the pre-recorded image sequence. It is also possible to provide individual elements of the fuel bed on a moveable arm such that different portions of the fuel bed may be configured to move independently of other portions. By having individually moveable elements it is possible to provide for a collapse of the individual elements upon one another to resemble the movement of a fuel bed as it goes through a burning sequence.

The invention also provides an electric fire including a screen and a fuel bed, the fire being configured to an image representative of a fire sequence on the screen and wherein characteristics of the fuel bed are changeable, the fire being configured to provide for a changing of those characteristics in response to changes in the displayed image on the screen.

Accordingly the invention provides an electric fire in accordance with the independent apparatus or method claims. Advantageous embodiments are provided in the dependent claims thereto.

These and other features will be better understood with reference to the following drawings.

Brief Description Of The Drawings

The present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is an example of an electric fire including a display panel and a fuel bed according to the teaching of the invention.

Figure 2 is an example of a process flow that could be used in fabricating a fuel bed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention.

Figure 3 is an example of a controller that could be used to control attributes of the fuel bed. Figure 4 is a perspective view of a fuel bed including moveable components according to an aspect of the present invention.

Figure 5 shows how a moveable element may be elevated and/or rotated relative to a base portion of the fuel bed.

Figure 6 shows how the moveable element of Figure 5 may be received within the base portion of the fuel bed.

Figure 7 shows how two individual moveable fuel bed elements may be mounted relative to one another to achieve a stacking of fuel pieces.

Figure 8 shows how the elements of Figure 7 may be moved to separate from one another. Figure 9 is an example of a process flow that could be used in programming the controller of Figure 3 for effecting changes in the fuel bed in accordance with the teaching of the present invention.

Detailed Description Of The Drawings

Figure 1 shows an example of an electric fire 100 in accordance with the teaching of the invention. Such a fire includes a housing 105 within which is located a display screen 110. A pre-recorded image sequence of a burning fire 115 may be displayed on the screen 110. Such an image sequence 115 includes a flame component 120 and a fuel bed component 125. The image sequence may be recorded using conventional visual recording equipment, edited, stored and then provided on a storage medium within the fire. Activation of the fire effects a retrieval from the storage medium of the appropriate image sequence and display on the screen 110. The screen 110 is desirably an active screen, in that the image sequence displayed on the screen changes in response to changes in an electrical stimulation of the screen. Examples of such screens include flat screen displays such as those incorporating LCD or plasma technologies. Alternatively, the screen could be a static screen wherein a representation of a fire image sequence is projected onto the screen and is then viewed by a viewer to the front of the fire.

The fire includes a fuel bed 130 which is locatable to the front of the screen and which includes a number of identifiable fuel elements 135. The fuel elements 135 may be formed separately to one another or could be integrally moulded as part of the fuel bed. It will be understood that the elements are intended to resemble fuel such as individual coals or logs that are conventionally burnt to form a fire.

When the fuel bed is correctly positioned in front of the display panel it will be understood that the three dimensional fuel bed 130 is located at a lower region of the display panel 110, i.e. that portion where the two dimensional images of the fuel bed are located. In accordance with the teaching of the invention, the shape and configuration of the three dimensional fuel bed is at least partially matched at this overlapping location to the two dimensional aspects of the fuel bed that is being displayed. In this way when a viewer to the front of the fire is viewing the burning image on the display screen they are under the perception that the three dimensional fuel bed to the front of the fire is part of the two dimensional displayed image. By having portions of the three dimensional fuel bed overlapping with corresponding portions of the two dimensional displayed image it is difficult to ascertain where the three dimensional fuel bed terminates and the image display begins. In this way the viewer perceives that the flame effect 120 originates from the fuel bed 130.

In accordance with this aspect of the invention there is provided a matching of at least a portion of the fuel elements with the displayed image such that the fuel bed provides a three dimensional representation of the two dimensional image of the fuel bed being displayed on the screen.

Figure 2 shows an example of how such a matching of the three dimensional 130 and two dimensional 120 fuel beds may be effected. Initially an image sequence of a burning fire is recorded (Step 200). This fire sequence is then analysed to ascertain and characterise the fuel elements of the recorded image (Step 205). This may be achieved through a simple review and noting of the shape and configuration of the fuel elements that have been recorded or an image analysis could be provided through an appropriate computational image processing application. Once a characterisation of the fuel elements has been conducted the three dimensional fuel bed may then be fabricated (Step 210). Such a fabrication will desirably result in formation of a three dimensional fuel bed whose shape and configuration match the shape and configuration of the fuel bed in the recorded image sequence. In this way, if there is a dominant fuel element that is prominent in the image sequence, a corresponding fuel element may be fabricated and provided in the fuel bed such that when the fuel bed is located in front of the display screen the two overlap.

Desirably the level of similarity and overlap between the fabricated fuel bed and the image sequence fuel bed is such that when the fuel bed is located in the fire, the fuel elements provided as part of the displayed image sequence are not visible by a user to the front of the fire.

Such an arrangement is useful where the recorded image of the fire burning is of a relatively short period, such that the fuel bed that is recorded remains substantially in the same configuration for the time of the display. However, in instances where the recorded image sequence is for an extended time period it is not unusual for the characteristics of the recorded fuel bed to change over time. When a fire is initially lit, the fuel bed is normally quite large and dominant relative to the height of the display panel. As the fire burns, the bed becomes shallower and shallower, gradually disintegrating with the burning of the fuel. In accordance with the teaching of the invention, the characteristics of the three dimensional fuel bed may be altered correspondingly to mimic the changes in the recorded image.

Figure 3 shows an example of a controller that may be used to modify attributes of the fuel bed over time. As shown in Figure 3, such a controller may include an image module 305 for controlling the image display on the screen and a fuel bed controller for changing the attributes of the fuel bed. The fuel bed controller may be synchronised with the image display such that the changes effected by the fuel bed controller are co-ordinated with changes in the image display. Such co-ordination or synchronisation may be effected using timing information extracted from the image display at the time of recordal of the burning fire. In an alternative arrangement, the fuel bed controller may be configured to effect changes in the orientation of the fuel bed based on expiry of predefined time periods. The fuel bed controller may additionally or alternatively be configured to modify the lighting that is provided to the fuel bed. As was explained with reference to Figure 1 , it is known within the art for fuel beds to be internally illuminated using one or more light sources. In this aspect of the invention there is provided a selective control of these light sources such that specific ones of the light sources may be activated or indeed that the output luminosity of the light sources may be changed over time. Such modification of the lighting of the fuel bed is particularly effective if one or more multicoloured light sources, such as multicoloured LEDs, are used with the fuel bed. By providing selective control signals to the light sources the colouring of the fuel bed may be modified. In this way the lighting of the fuel bed may be matched to that expected for the level of fire being displayed on the display screen. For example if the fire is a young fire with vibrant flames it is expected that the fuel bed should have a bright yellow colour, whereas as the fire gets older, the fuel bed should adopt a darker redder colour. This variation may be achieved using a selective control of lighting of the fuel bed.

In another aspect, individual elements of the fuel bed may be moveable. Desirably the movement is provided to enable this movement in a predetermined sequence. Such movement may be provided to correspond with the burning of the fire being displayed on the screen. In this way the configuration of the three dimensional fuel bed may be considered compatible with the displayed two dimensional image of the burning fire. To provide such movement, the fuel bed as a whole, or individual fuel elements thereof, may be configured to move relative to the display panel. Such movement may be effected by providing the bed on a moveable stage and controlling that moveable stage through the fuel bed controller 310. The movement may be effected in response to expiration of a predetermined time period, or by associating the geometrical configuration of the fuel bed with a specific sequence in the pre-recorded image sequence. As shown in Figure 4, it is also possible to provide individual elements 400a, b of the fuel bed as moveable elements whereas other elements 410a, b of the fuel bed may be provided as static, non moveable elements. In this way it will be understood that within the meaning of a moveable is intended an arrangement where at least one element that makes up the fuel bed is moveable relative to the other elements.

In the arrangement of Figures 5 and 6, a fuel bed element 500 is provided on a moveable arm 505. The arm is controllable to enable an orientation of the element upwardly and downwardly relative to a base portion 510 of the fuel bed. Figure 5 shows the element 500 orientated above the base portion whereas in Figure 6 it is lowered such that it is closer to the base portion. The element may also be orientation left and right of the base portion, the ultimate final location of the element being defined by application of a suitable control signal which acts upon the arm on which the element is mounted. While the arm 505 of Figure 5 is shown as being centrally mounted relative to the element, it will be understood that such an arrangement is exemplary of the type of mounting arrangement that may be implemented in accordance with the teaching of the invention. For example, the arm could also be received within an end portion of the fuel bed element and be mounted on a gyro or ball and socket mount such that a number of pre-configurable locations can be achieved.

Using an arrangement such as that described in Figures 4 to 6 it is possible to arrange the fuel bed such that different portions of the fuel bed may be configured to move independently of other portions. As shown in Figures 7 and 8, by having individually moveable elements 700, 705 it is possible to provide for a relative movement of two or more elements from an initial state (Figure 7) where the two elements are mounted on top of one another and projecting above the fuel bed 710 to a collapsed state (Figure 8) where the individual elements are shown as retreated within the fuel bed 710 and have separated from one another to resemble the movement of a fuel bed as it goes through a burning sequence. Having moveable fuel elements it is possible to then effect changes in the geometry of the fuel bed representative of the progression of a burning fuel bed through the life of a fire. This can be done in tandem with or independently of lighting used to illuminate the fuel bed. Figure 9 shows a process flow useful in effecting a programming of the fuel bed controller to effect change relative to the displayed image. In a first step, (Step 900) the fire display is divided into a number of identifiable frames. Within each frame the fire is examined and characterised (Step 905). This could be a simple examination of the colouring of the fuel bed, or indeed the height and orientation of the fuel bed elements relative to one another or indeed both aspects. The controller could then be suitably programmed such that the fuel bed will provide a corresponding colouring and/or geometric configuration for the specified time frame (Step 910). This programmed controller could then be used during operation of the fire to ensure that the appropriate matching of the characteristics of the fuel bed to the displayed fire is achieved.

It will be appreciated that what has been described herein are exemplary embodiments of an electric fire. By providing a fuel bed whose attributes are matched to the displayed image representations of a burning fire it is possible to effectively mimic the images shown in an effort to create a three dimensional illusion. By further providing a fuel bed with changeable characters be those in orientation or colouring, it is possible to change the characteristics of the fuel be to replicate changes that would be expected through a burning of a fire. While the invention has been described with reference to preferred aspects and embodiments thereof it will be appreciated that modifications can be made to that described herein without departing from the scope of the invention which is to be limited only insofar as is deemed necessary in the light of the appended claims. The words comprises/comprising when used in this specification are to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers , steps, components or groups thereof.

Claims

1. An electric fire including a pre-recorded image sequence of a burning fire which may be subsequently displayed on a screen within the fire, the fire additionally including a fuel bed locatable to the front of the screen and which includes fuel elements and wherein at least some of the fuel elements are matched to the location of displayed images of a corresponding fuel bed on the screen, such that the fuel bed provides a three dimensional representation of the two dimensional image of the fuel bed being displayed on the screen.

2. The fire of claim 1 wherein the fuel bed is moveable such that individual elements of the fuel bed may be configured to move in a predetermined sequence.

3. The fire of claim 2 wherein the movement corresponds with the burning of the fire being displayed on the screen.

4. The fire of claim 3 wherein the fuel bed as a whole or individual fuel elements thereof are configured to move relative to the display panel.

5. The fire of claim 4 wherein the movement is effected by providing the bed on a moveable stage and controlling that moveable stage through a control circuit.

6. The fire of claim 5 wherein the control circuit is configured to effete movement in response to expiration of a predetermined time period, or by associating the geometrical configuration of the fuel bed with a specific sequence in the pre-recorded image sequence.

7. The fire of any one of claims 2 to 6 wherein at least two individual elements of the fuel bed are provided on respective moveable arms such that different portions of the fuel bed may be configured to move independently of other portions.

8. The fire of claim 7 wherein a movement of the individually moveable elements provides for a collapse of the individual elements upon one another to resemble the movement of a fuel bed as it goes through a burning sequence.

9. The fire of any preceding claim wherein characteristics of the fuel bed are changeable, the fire being configured to provide for a changing of those characteristics in response to changes in the displayed image on the screen.

10.An electric fire including a screen and a fuel bed, the fire being configured to display an image representative of a fire sequence on the screen and wherein characteristics of the fuel bed are changeable, the fire being configured to provide for a changing of those characteristics in response to changes in the displayed image on the screen.

11.A method of manufacturing an electric fire of the type having a display for displaying a pre-recorded image of a burning fire, the method including: a. Recording the image of the burning fire, b. Analysing the recorded image, c. Using the analysis of the recorded image to fabricate a fuel bed having fuel bed characteristics corresponding to the recorded image, and d. Providing the fuel bed within the fire in a location adjacent to and in front of the display.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the fuel bed characteristics include the shape and configuration of elements forming the fuel bed, such that when the image is provided on the display the fuel bed elements overlay corresponding features of the displayed image.

13. The method of claim 11 or 12 wherein the fuel bed characteristics include variations in the lighting of the fuel bed, the fuel bed including a controllable lighting arrangement, variations in the lighting being effected based on corresponding variations in the displayed image.

14.An electric fire having a display configured to display images of a burning fire and a fuel bed with a controllable lighting arrangement, control of the lighting arrangement effecting changes in the perceived lighting of the fuel bed and wherein the changes in the lighting arrangement are related to changes in the displayed images.

15. The fire of claim 14 wherein the changes are synchronised with changes in the displayed images.

16. The fire of claim 14 wherein the changes are based on expiration of a pre-defined time period.

17.An electric fire having a housing including a simulated fuel bed, at least a portion of the fuel bed being moveable under application of a control signal to effect a change in the relative positioning of the moveable portion to the housing.

18. The fire of claim 17 wherein the fuel bed includes at least one moveable fuel element, the moveable element being mountable on a moveable arm whose movement is controlled by application of a control signal.

19. The fire of claim 17 or 18 wherein the fire includes a display configured to display images representative of a burning fire and wherein the application of the control signal is related to the specific image being displayed.

20. The fire of any one of claims 17 to 19 wherein the moveable portion is moveable in a direction upwardly relative to a base portion of the fuel bed.

21.The fire of any one of claim 17 to 20 wherein the moveable portion is rotatable relative to a base portion of the fuel bed.

22.An electric fire including a fuel bed whose characteristics are changeable in at least one of orientation and colouring.

23. The fire of claim 22 wherein the changeable characteristics are reflective of changes images of a displayed fire sequence as displayed on a display within the fire.

24. A fire substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to any one of Figures 1 to 9.