GB2233083A - Igniting fuel for a barbecue - Google Patents

Abstract

A container 11 for igniting charcoal for a barbecue, comprises a perforated base 12 which is maintained off the ground. The container allows air to enter the volume between the base and the ground, for example by means of a skirt which is perforated at 14. It has a handle 21 which can be gripped by the fingers of one hand curved about an axis which has a component at right angles to the base. A heat shield 23 is provided. <IMAGE>

Description

CONTAINER This invention relates to a container for combustible material. Known incinerators comprise a cylindrical container with a vertical axis and a perforated base and means to allow a flow of air into the volume below the base. With this arrangement, air can flow through the perforations into the volume above the base to provide oxygen to feed a fire lit in that volume. Some such containers are provided with handles on the sides to assist in lifting the container, but the containers are usually so large that they are only practically portable when empty, and the handles are arranged for gripping by the fingers of a hand curved about an axis parallel to the plane of the base, and they are only intended for use when the incinerator is cool.

The present invention is concerned with a container which is portable when full and hot and suitable for lifting by one hand. It comprises a container having a perforated base, means to maintain the base off the ground, means to allow air to flow into the volume below the base and a handle for gripping by the fingers of one hand curved about an axis having a component at right angles to the base. There is preferably only one handle.

The handle is preferably of thermally insulating material; a shield of thermally insulating and/or reflecting mater ial is preferably provided between the handle and the body of the container.

The container thus resembles a Jug with a false bottom which is pferforated and the part of the jug below the base allows air to flow into the volume below the base and hence through the perforations of the base into the Jug contents. When these contents are the ignited coals of a barbecue, the jug allows air to assist the combustion of the coals. The handle may resemble a conventional jug handle. Its axis is not parallel to the plane of the base.

An example of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a container, and Figure 2 is an underplan of the container of Figure 1.

The container of Figure 1 is formed with a frustoconical side wall 11, with an angle of taper of about 10 degrees, being wider at the bottom than at the top, for stability. A perforated plate 12 is fixed across the conical wall at about one third of the height of the container. Below the plate, the skirt 13 of the container is formed with a series of holes 14 of about 2cm diameter, to allow ingress of air into the volume'below the plate. The plate 12 itself is formed with a pattern of similar holes 15, to allow ingress of air from the volume below the plate to the volume above the plate, while retaining materials such as pellets of charcoal on top of the plate without falling through.

The side wall 11 of the container is formed out a sheet of zinc alloy or other metal which will withstand combustion temperatures without losing its resistance to rusting. It is shaped as a part annul us, so that when the straight edges 16 are brought together, the sheet forms a frustum of a cone.

A handle 21 of thermally insulating material is fixed by end supports 22 on the outside of the container, suitably shaped for gripping by one hand. The shape will be generally cylindrical and the axis of this cylinder will be generally vertical. It may be exactly vertical, or as shown parallel to the generator of the frustum; in either case, it has its axis with a vertical component, perpendicular to the plane of the plate 12. A heat shield 23 of thermally reflecting and/or insulating material is mounted across the end supports 22 between and spaced from the handle and the container wall.

A pouring lip (shown dotted at 24) may be formed in the top edge of the container opposite the position of the handle 21.

The container is used to ignite fuel such as briquettes of charcoal and then transfer the ignited fuel to a fire grate such as a barbecue. The fuel is placed in the top portion 31 of the container, resting on the plate 12, and a fire is lit in the bottom portion 32 below the plate, for example by applying a lit match to crumpled paper. The flames from the fire below the plate 12 pass through the holes in the plate to ignite the fuel briquettes above the plate. Oxygen to feed the fire is drawn into the container through the holes 14 in the skirt and through the holes 15 in the plate. When the fuel is properly alight, the container is lifted by means of the handle and carried to the fireplace where it is to be used, and is poured onto that fireplace by tipping the container. The shield 23 and the material of the handle 21 should prevent too much heat from the fuel reaching the hand of the operator.

Claims (7)

1. A container having a perforated base, means to maintain the base off the ground, means to allow air to flow into the volume below the base and a handle for gripping by the fingers of one hand curved about an axis having a component at right angles to the base.

2. A container as claimed in claim 1 where in there is only one handle.

3. A container as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 wher-ein the handle is of thermally insulating material.

4. A container as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3 comprising a shield between the handle and the body ct the container.

5. A container as claimed in claim 4 wherein the chielr' comprises thermally insulating material.

6. A container as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 wherein the shield comprises thermally reflecting material.

7. A container substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.