Electric fire assembly
View Patent ↗An electric fire assembly with a flame effect arrangement. The arrangement includes a bulb located in a hollow cylindrical member of opaque material with a plurality of flame shape cutouts. Light passes through the cutouts onto the rear surface of a screen to provide a flame effect as the member rotates.
1. An electric fire assembly comprising:
an electric heater; and
a flame effect arrangement, the arrangement including a light source, a rotatable pattern provider including a hollow member having a partial opaque pattern defined by cutouts formed through the hollow member, and at least a translucent screen, the arrangement being configured such that light from the light source is provided in an interior of the pattern provider and shines through the cutouts directly onto a rear surface of the screen, such that as the pattern provider is rotated, a changing pattern of the light can be seen on the screen whereby to provide a flame effect, in which at least part of the light source is located within the pattern provider, and in which a partially opaque filter member is provided through which the light passes between the pattern provider and the screen to break up the light into discrete portions on the screen.
2. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which all of the light source is located within the pattern provider.
3. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which the light source is a substantially point light source.
4. An assembly according to claim 3 , in which the light from the light source is substantially focused onto the rear surface of the screen.
5. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which the pattern provider comprises a cylindrical member.
6. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which the pattern provider comprises an opaque member with a plurality of flamed-shaped cutouts formed on and adjacent a mid-span of the opaque member through which the light can pass.
7. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which openings are provided towards lateral extremes of the pattern provider, at least one of said openings is inclined and bent outwardly in direction of rotation to cause the light to be urged laterally outwards at the lateral extremes of the pattern on the screen.
8. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which the filter member is configured such that the light is broken up into flame shape portions.
9. An electric fire assembly comprising:
an electric heater; and
a flame effect arrangement, the arrangement including a light source, a rotatable pattern provider including a hollow member having a partial opaque pattern defined by cutouts formed through the hollow member, and at least a translucent screen, the arrangement being configured such that light from the light source is provided in an interior of the pattern provider and shines through the cutouts directly onto a rear surface of the screen, such that as the pattern provider is rotated, a changing pattern of the light can be seen on the screen whereby to provide a flame effect, in which the assembly is arranged such that the light source and the pattern provider are provided in an upper part of the assembly, and the light therefrom shines downwardly and forwards onto the rear surface of the screen.
10. An assembly according to claim 9 , in which the electric heater is provided at a top of the upper part of the assembly, with the light source and the pattern provider located immediately therebelow.
11. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which one or both of the screen and the filter members are inclined downwardly and rearwardly.
12. An electric fire assembly comprising:
an electric heater; and
a flame effect arrangement, the arrangement including a light source, a rotatable pattern provider including a hollow member having a partial opaque pattern defined by cutouts formed through the hollow member, and at least a translucent screen, the arrangement being configured such that light from the light source is provided in an interior of the pattern provider and shines through the cutouts directly onto a rear surface of the screen, such that as the pattern provider is rotated, a changing pattern of the light can be seen on the screen whereby to provide a flame effect, in which the assembly is arranged such that at least some air entering the electric heater passes across the light source on the way to the heater, thereby providing cooling of the light source.
13. An assembly according to claim 1 , in which the assembly also comprises an imitation coal, log or ember bed that can be illuminated.
14. An assembly according to claim 13 , in which said bed is located at or adjacent a lower end of the screen.
15. An electric fire assembly comprising:
an electric heater; and
a flame effect arrangement, the arrangement including a light source, a rotatable pattern provider including a hollow member having a partial opaque pattern defined by cutouts formed through the hollow member, and at least a translucent screen, the arrangement being configured such that light from the light source is provided in an interior of the pattern provider and shines through the cutouts directly onto a rear surface of the screen, such that as the pattern provider is rotated, a changing pattern of the light can be seen on the screen whereby to provide a flame effect, in which two flame effect arrangements are provided, and in which the rotatable pattern provider in each of the two arrangements are arranged to rotate asynchronously relative to each other.