US2600753A - Andiron - Google Patents

Description

Patented June 17, 1952 UNITED STEATESE eaten- 1 N QN; amid. H- be t e Honda Ca if Application J uneZS, 195QSiiflLNnz 1 1i0,905i

6 Cl m (Cl. JET- .3)

1-: his-i y ionr a a van i Andirons las presently designed for use. in

me tic.i renl pesa er i m de p r for one or more logs. to, raise them (above, the hearth of a fireplace. While serving this limited purpose adequatelyl.conventional andirons are inei c t rom the. stan point of utilizing radiant eathen; urn n ss- A montentjs reflection willindicate that the major source pf, useful heat given off by burning, logs a fireplace is radiant heatiemittedby the binning or incandescent logs. Convection can.- no play an important partQin transfer ofheat figgrn a iir eplace to aroorn or other space which is being heated because the draftnecessaryfor eera iq ep t e firep ace i t m t mm n the fireplace, thence upwardly through the flue It. isa readily observable fact that the hottest, incandescent part of burning, logs supported upon andi ons is the under-:surfacaoithe logs, It is precisely this area, however, which is shielded tron direct radiation to, a room. or other. space Whicnisbeingheated."

It has been, proposed heretofore, in Low,- United; States patent No. 890,669, granted in 1908, to provide andirons in which the logs are supported upon rods which are pitched at an angle and which extend, upwardly, and outwardly from the main standards or posts of the ,andirons. In principle this construction is superior. However, from a practical standpoint it fails in that continged combustion otf th e radiating logs is ai mltrtandlgiec ive- Iti s,' therefjore, an object of the present inventionto p'rovide andirons which will support burnin g lpli inoandescent logs so as to radiate heat efi iciently into a room or other space which it is desired to heat, such andirons being also provided with means for maintaining combustion ii ex diatin l s- Itjs' a' further biectof, the invention to provide andirons pi a character which wwill support a second or auxiliary log in a position to maintain cornhustion oi the main O12 radiating logs.

It is a further andparticular object Otthe yelitiqn igp ovide ansiirons :Which satisfy theobjgcts as set forth hereinabove, and which; are iel ai lr.an scqn mically c n t ed. med d sa sembled and, man pul d- It sa further particular object of the invention int yidsanandir n s isf eo i ct n catgdhereinabove and which can be constructed i ii nfi vel tf s mls d d ape -la ith a i mg iv'elcliea nsilbr o he manufacturing,

i ure 51 a pe i ec ive y w' fit e removable cross har emplo e .with an -iro s.

EllI isa imam-lante n' QtiQnaLview-or the;-

m sh n a Figure 7 1's a perspective yiew oLa-modified o m o t-c ss bar, which i it lesnopia ei r i etn w. to theidraw n sia d more par:- ticularly to Figures 1 and 2 thereof, a pair-poi andirons, each. generally designated as l theare lust at d: E wi 0i e a d ro J 0: icQmDIiseS an upright post or standard] L, The;post;-l l;, as; well as the .othe r elements of; the v anclironsl may be constructed of standard shapes such-as square.

fv r und r s, s-i m natine he. vheed L for pe ll i b iicat d s pes h re; we ded to: e rbqttqml-pt ch OfltheapO S l a 10a su porting cantilev rm er orv J li hich extends. upwardly and outwardly iron; the; post;

at approximately a angle. Preferabl izrthd bar I2 terminates'atits outer-end in a ro nded n I a ,w iisih as a o ativ e e I nd: a so;

voi sa l fixpnsedfi n e ge- 1 Als rt roundes tips; I21; as ist in loadinglogs," as. will be ex lained hereinafter, It will beseen that thebar,-I2-,:

togethQR-with the. .postnllt, forms a V-shaped cradle 13 which isintended-toreceive and; support one endyofa supply, of logs. [4' whose main radia ing suriaoes: are, at. MIL,

An auxiliary, rod 1'5. is; also provided for eachandironandis welded at. itsinnerend to approx imately-themideportionof the post Ila It Vextends forwardly and downwardly there-from at l6 and upward and. outwardly at 11 thereby forming a knee at l8. Legs. l 9.and 20/ are pro-.= vided, as illustrated, the outer leg ,20 being, roundedat 20.11. for decorativevefiect, toi prevent XPQ'SlAIfiQt a sharp edge andtofacilitate-loading of logsg H Thenauxiliary bar, 15, together with the main, bar l2 thus providesiagenerally U-shaped, in? w ird y, t nerine-pwfle 25. which is intendedito;

receive what I call an auxiliary log shown at 26. The log 26 is preferably considerably smaller than the main logs I4 for reasons which will be explained hereinafter.

Referring now to Figures 1, 5 and 6, for the purpose of providing lateral support for the andirons In, a cross-bar 21 is provided. The cross,

bar 21 may, as illustrated in Figures 1 and 5, be constructed as a single piece of fixed length. Alternatively, as illustrated in Figure 7, a telescopic cross bar 28 may be provided, comprising telescopic male and female sections 29 and 30. respectively. The special advantage of a telescopic cross bar is, that it can be adjusted for logs of varying lengths.

In either case, there is welded to each end of the bar 21 or 28, a coupling member 35 which is formed with a square socket 36 to fit over the square upper end of the post II. If the posts II are round, their upper ends are preferably squared. Relative turning of the andirons and cross bar is thereby prevented.

Referring now more particularly to Figure 2, the andirons ID are placed on a hearth 30 and on opposite sides thereof. They are fitted with the cross bar 2! (or 28) to provide lateral support. In the event that the telescopic cross-bar 28 is employed, the spacing of the andirons can readily be adjusted to the width of the hearth or the length of the logs. A fire may be kindled in any suitable manner, as by placing kindling material in the cradle l3, igniting it, and allowing it to burn until hot coals drop into the ash pit 40. When the kindling is burning properly, or after it has dropped into the ash pit in the form of hot coals and has thoroughly heated the andirons and the fireplace, one or more logs M will be placed in the cradle l3 by rolling them down the main bars l2. The rounded ends lZa assist in rolling and guiding the logs. Similarly, an auxiliary log 26 will be rolled onto the auxiliary rods I5.

The path of the draft is indicated by the broken line 31 and the direction of radiation by the arrows 38. It will be apparent that, as

the main logs l4 burn and incandesce, their hot, radiant under surfaces Ma are free to radiate heat outwardly into the room or other space which is being heated. The auxiliary log 26 will create and maintain a draft as indicated by the line 31. It will be apparent that this draft envelopes the main logs l4 and will keep them burning.

As a matter of actual experience, andirons of the character illustrated in the drawings and described hereinabove have been constructed and employed in a fireplace. A very marked improvement in the heating efficiency is readily noticed, and difficulties in maintaining the main logs I4 in a burning, incandescent state are obviated by providing and supporting an auxiliary log in the manner illustrated. It will also be apparent that the andirons of my invention provide a main ash pit, 40 for the main logs l4 and an auxiliary ash pit M for the auxiliary log 26.

It will thus be apparent that a novel type of readily adjusted to fireplaces of different widths.

The andirons operate very efficiently, both from the standpoint of radiating the heat outwardly into a room or space which is being heated, and maintaining combustion of the radiating logs.

Other particular operating advantages of my andirons are as follows: The logs I 4 automatically roll downwardly toward the hottest part of the fire, i. e., toward the bottom of the cradle I3, as the lowermost log I4 is consumed. The andirons may be, and preferably are placed at the rear of a hearth; therefore, smoking of the fireplace is very unlikely to occur. The fire provided by my andirons is a brighter, more cheerful fire than is provided by conventional andirons. Also, a single set or pair of andirons will fit a large fireplace as well as a small fireplace, and by supplying two different lengths of cross bar 21, or by using the telescopic bar 28, a single set of andirons can be used with short and long logs. In operation, all that is necessary after a fire has been kindled and the logs are burning, is to replenish the logs I4 and 26 occasionally, and this is facilitated by the downward slope and rounded ends of the bars or rods I2 and I5.

I claim:

1. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, an upper bar extending outwardly therefrom for holding one end of a supply of main logs in an elevated position relative to the hearth of a fireplace and to allow heat from the under surface of the logs to radiate outwardly from the fireplace, and an auxiliary rod located beneath said upper bar and also extending outwardly from said main upright member, said auxiliary rod being located to support one end of an auxiliary log in a position to support combustion of said main logs.

2. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, a main log supporting member fixed .to said upright member and extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom to provide a V-shaped cradle for supporting one end of a supply of logs in an elevated position relatively to the hearth of a fireplace, and for access of radiation from the undersurface of said logs outwardly to a room, and an auxiliary log supporting member disposed beneath said main log supporting member and extending outwardly from said upright member for supporting one end of an auxiliary log beneath said main logs to support combustion thereof.

3. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, a main log supporting member fixed to said upright member and extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom, and an auxiliary log supporting member located beneath said main supporting member and extending outwardly from said main upright member, said auxiliary member being formed ,with a knee concave toward said main supporting member for cradling and supporting one end of an auxiliary log beneath the main logs to support combustion thereof.

4. An andiron comprising a main upright frame member, a main log supporting member fixed to said upright member and extending upwardly and outwardly therefrom, and an auxiliary log supporting member located beneath said main supporting member and extending outwardly from said main upright member, said auxiliary member being formed with a knee concave to said main supporting member for'cradling and supporting one end of an auxiliary log beneath the main logs to support combustion thereof, said auxiliary supporting member being formed with a. rounded leg at its outer end and with a leg adjacent said knee for resting upon a hearth and supporting the auxiliary member and log.

5. An andiron assembly comprising a pair of andirons each including an upright frame member and a log supporting member extending outwardly therefrom, and a removable cross-piece for extending between and engaging said upright members, said cross bar being provided with square sockets at its ends and said frame members being formed with square upper ends to receive said sockets.

6. A collapsible andiron assembly comprising a pair of andirons each comprising an upright frame member, a forwardly and upwardly projecting main log supporting member fixed thereto, an auxiliary log supporting member projecting forwardly from and fixed to said frame member beneath said main log supporting member to support an auxiliary log for maintaining combustion of the main log, and a detachable cross bar for extending between said frame members and engageable with and detachable from the upper ends thereof to provide lateral support for the andirons.

HAROLD H. GILBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the

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