Fire Barriers with Linked Covers for Campfires

This application claims priority to copending U.S. Application, Ser. No. 63/682,645, filed on Aug. 13, 2024, which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.

The present disclosure relates generally to fire barriers used to contain campfires. In particular, fire barriers with linked covers for campfires are described.

A popular type of fire barrier for campfires is a fire ring. Fire rings are heavy metal rings sized to surround a campfire. Often fire rings are circular. This disclosure will focus on fire rings as one type of fire barrier, and the reader should understand that the details described pertain to fire barriers configured differently than fire rings as well.

Surrounding a campfire with a fire ring helps avoid forest fires by isolating the fire and hot embers from surrounding combustible material. Fire rings also protect people and pets from burns by providing a barrier between them and a campfire.

Conventional fire rings are not entirely satisfactory. For example, most conventional fire rings do not have means to selectively lock covers over them. Selectively locking a cover over a fire ring helps protect and maintain a combustion region within a fire ring. Locking a cover over a fire ring is also a security and safety measure.

For example, locking a cover over a fire ring ensures that the cover will remain in place to keep rain and other elements from saturating a combustion region with water, which can make later starting fires within the fire ring difficult. Locking a cover over a fire ring also helps avoid animals from getting into a combustion region, which can degrade the combustion region and create a mess in a camp site. Another benefit to locking a cover over a fire ring is ensuring that a cover will contain any hot embers from a recent fire to avoid them being carried out of the fire ring by the wind, which can spread fires.

Selectively locking a cover over a fire ring provides multiple security benefits. For example, locking a cover on a fire ring can prevent someone from starting a fire within the fire ring, such as when a camp site is closed or fire risk conditions indicate that camp fires should be prohibited for safety. Locking a cover on a fire ring can also deter unauthorized people from using campsites.

Another limitation of conventional fire rings is that covers for them can be separated from the fire ring. Whether by inadvertence or theft, covers for conventional fire rings can be removed or misplaced with the result that they are not available to be used when needed. It would be desirable to have a fire ring system with a cover that was linked to a fire ring to keep the cover close to the fire ring at all times.

A further disadvantage of conventional fire rings is that covers for them can be in the way when not in use. For example, some covers are designed to pivot away from a fire ring and end up sticking out at shin height when the fire ring is open. Such covers create trip hazards and limit freedom of movement around a fire ring. It would be beneficial if a cover for a fire ring was configured to lie flat on the ground when not covering the fire ring.

Cleaning out combustion regions inside fire rings is another drawback of conventional fire rings. Conventional fire rings typically lack means to support them above the ground. As a result, cleaning out combustion regions surrounded by conventional fire rings generally requires lifting and moving the fire ring aside or attempting to clear debris with the fire ring in place. It would be desirable to have a solution to easily support a fire ring above a combustion region to enable conveniently clearing debris while the fire ring was supported above it.

Grill grates present another limitation of conventional fire rings. Conventional fire rings typically have grates resting on top of the fire ring. A grate lying on top of a fire ring undesirably prevents a cover from lying flat over the fire ring. In some instances, grates are welded to the fire ring, which prevents the grate from being fully removed from the fire ring and accordingly limits use of the fire ring. It would be desirable to have a fire barrier with a removable grate that could be secured via a locking cover and that enabled a cover to lie flat over a fire ring.

With conventional fire ring systems that include a fixed cover and grate, the cover and grate are typically manufactured from the same grade of steel as the fire ring. Heavy gauge steel necessary for a fire ring is generally overkill for a cover and a grate. Accordingly, covers and grates manufactured from the same grade of steel as a fire ring represents an unnecessary material expense. It would be desirable to have a fire barrier with an integrated cover and grate that used more cost-effective material for the cover and grate.

Thus, there exists a need for fire barriers that improve upon and advance the design of known fire rings and covers. Examples of new and useful fire barriers relevant to the needs existing in the field are discussed below.

Disclosure relevant to fire barriers is included in the following U.S. Patent References: U.S. Pat. No. 3,526,217, US20120064215, US20140208961, US20230120943, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,839,320 B2, 9,038,620 B2, 7,383,836 B2, US20210404663A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,668,949 B2, and 8,469,018 B1. The complete disclosures of the above patents and patent applications are incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

The present disclosure is directed to fire barriers including a sidewall, an anchor, and a cover. In some examples, the fire barrier includes a grate supported on the sidewall.

The sidewall defines a combustion region and a top opening. The sidewall is configured to surround and laterally isolate the combustion region inside the sidewall from the environment outside the sidewall.

The anchor has a first end and a second end opposite the first end. The first end is configured to be anchored into the ground. The anchor is linked to the sidewall proximate the second end.

The cover is moveably mounted to the anchor between the first end and the second end. The cover is complementarily configured with the sidewall to cover the top opening when the cover is selectively moved along the anchor to a cover position overlying the top opening and resting on the sidewall.

The disclosed fire barriers will become better understood through review of the following detailed description in conjunction with the figures. The detailed description and figures provide merely examples of the various inventions described herein. Those skilled in the art will understand that the disclosed examples may be varied, modified, and altered without departing from the scope of the inventions described herein. Many variations are contemplated for different applications and design considerations; however, for the sake of brevity, each and every contemplated variation is not individually described in the following detailed description.

Throughout the following detailed description, examples of various fire barriers are provided. Related features in the examples may be identical, similar, or dissimilar in different examples. For the sake of brevity, related features will not be redundantly explained in each example. Instead, the use of related feature names will cue the reader that the feature with a related feature name may be similar to the related feature in an example explained previously. Features specific to a given example will be described in that particular example. The reader should understand that a given feature need not be the same or similar to the specific portrayal of a related feature in any given figure or example.

The following definitions apply herein, unless otherwise indicated.

“Substantially” means to be more-or-less conforming to the particular dimension, range,

shape, concept, or other aspect modified by the term, such that a feature or component need not conform exactly. For example, a “substantially cylindrical” object means that the object resembles a cylinder, but may have one or more deviations from a true cylinder.

“Comprising,” “including,” and “having” (and conjugations thereof) are used interchangeably to mean including but not necessarily limited to, and are open-ended terms not intended to exclude additional elements or method steps not expressly recited.

Terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” are used to distinguish or identify various members of a group, or the like, and are not intended to denote a serial, chronological, or numerical limitation.

“Coupled” means connected, either permanently or releasably, whether directly or indirectly through intervening components.

With reference to the figures, fire barriers with linked covers for campfires will now be described. The fire barriers discussed herein function to isolate fires and combustion regions from the environment outside the fire barrier. Further, the fire barriers are configured to selectively lock a cover over a combustion region when one intends to restrict use of the fire barrier and/or to protect a combustion region inside the fire barrier.

The reader will appreciate from the figures and description below that the presently disclosed fire barriers address many of the shortcomings of conventional fire rings. For example, the novel fire barriers have means to selectively lock covers over sidewalls that can define a fire ring. The lockable cover of the novel fire barriers helps maintain a combustion region within a sidewall. The lockable cover is also a security and safety measure.

For example, the lockable cover of the novel fire barriers helps ensure that the cover will remain in place to keep rain and other elements from saturating a combustion region with water. As a result, the novel fire barriers help avoid wet conditions inside the fire barrier making it difficult to start a fire within the fire barrier. The novel fire barriers also help avoid animals getting into the combustion region, which can degrade the combustion region and create a mess in a camp site.

Another benefit to the lockable cover of the novel fire barriers is more effectively ensuring that potential hot embers from a recent fire are contained within the fire barriers. Locking the cover over the sidewall after a fire helps avoid remaining hot embers from being carried out of the fire barrier by the wind and potentially starting an unintended fire.

The novel fire barriers provide multiple security benefits as well. For example, the lockable cover of the novel fire barriers can prevent someone from starting a fire within the fire barrier. Effective means to restrict access to the fire barrier is helpful when a camp site is closed or fire risk conditions indicate that camp fires should be prohibited for safety. Locking the cover on the novel fire barriers can also deter unauthorized people from using campsites.

Improving over conventional fire rings, the cover of the novel fire barriers are not welded to the sidewall. The cover of the novel fire barriers can be moved away from the sidewall yet remain linked to the sidewall by a common anchor. Because the cover is not welded to the sidewall, the cover can be moved more freely relative to the sidewall. However, because the cover remains linked to the sidewall by an anchor, the cover remains close at hand when needed. Further, it is difficult to steal the cover because it is linked to an anchor secured in the ground and linked to the sidewall.

An advantage of the novel fire barriers is that they enable their covers to be moved out of the way when not in use. The novel fire barriers avoid creating trip hazards and maintain good freedom of movement around the sidewall when the cover is not used to cover the sidewall. Beneficially, the cover of the novel fire barriers is configured to lie flat on the ground when not covering the sidewall.

Cleaning out combustion regions surrounded by the sidewall is convenient with the novel fire barriers. The novel fire barriers include means to support the sidewall above the ground to facilitate cleaning out remnants of a fire contained within the sidewall. With the novel fire barriers, it is not necessary to move the fire barrier aside or to attempt clearing out debris with the fire barrier in place. Desirably, the novel fire barriers are easily supported above a combustion region to enable conveniently clearing debris that the sidewall surrounds when on the ground.

A grill grate included in some examples of the novel fire barriers is another improvement over conventional fire rings. The grates of the novel fire barriers are supported below the rim of the sidewall to avoid interfering with the cover lying flat over the sidewall. Advantageously, the grate of the novel fire barriers can be fully removed to facilitate unfettered use of the combustion region surrounded by the sidewall. Desirably, the removable grate of the novel fire barriers can be secured via a lockable cover.

Another benefit of the novel fire barriers is that they enable a cover and grate to be easily integrated into the fire barrier without the cover and grate being manufactured with the same grade of steel as the sidewall. As a result, the novel fire barriers are more cost effective than conventional fire rings with integrated cover and grates, which are typically manufactured with high-grade steel used for the fire ring.

With reference to, a first example of a fire barrier, fire barrier, will now be described.depicts a second embodiment of a fire barrier, fire barrier, and is described in a separate section below.

Fire barrierincludes a sidewall, an anchor, a cover, and a grate. In some examples, the fire barrier does not include one or more features included in fire barrier. For example, some fire barrier examples do not include a grate. In other examples, the fire barriers include additional or alternative features, such as a lock. The components of fire barrierare described in the sections below.

The size and shape characteristics of the fire barrier may vary from fire barrierdepicted inin different examples. The proportion of components of the fire barrier may be different while still enabling the interoperability characteristics described below.

Sidewalldefines a fire ring and a combustion region. Sidewallfunctions to laterally surround a fire burning on the ground in combustion region. Sidewallalso functions to support grate. Another function of sidewallis to cooperate with coverto selectively lock coverin a position covering a top openingof sidewall.

In the present example, sidewallis formed from heavy gauge, heat resistant steel. However, the sidewall may be formed from any material suitable for containing a fire and withstanding the heat of a fire. Suitable alternative materials include metals other than steel, ceramics, brick, stone, and composite materials.

In, sidewallis depicted resting on the ground with anchordriven partially below ground level (the ground level corresponds with the bottom of sidewallin, which is spaced above the bottom of anchor). In, sidewallis depicted raised off the ground. When sidewallrests on the ground, it surrounds combustion regionand a fire burning in combustion region. When sidewallis raised off the ground, combustion regioncan be conveniently cleaned.

As shown in, sidewallextends vertically and in a circle to form a cylinder with a top opening. Combustion regionis defined by sidewallbetween opposing, inner faces of sidewall. Sidewalldefines sidewall openingsthrough which anchorextends.

While a cylindrical shape is most common for fire rings, the sidewall could define other shapes. For example, the sidewall could form a square or rectangle with a rectilinear top opening instead of a circular top opening. Alternatively, the shape of the sidewall could be another regular polygon, an oval, or an irregular shape.

As shown in, sidewallis moveably linked to anchor. Sidewalldefines sidewall openingsthat receive anchor. Sidewall openingsfunction as bearing surfaces for sidewallto move over anchor. For example, as shown in, sidewallmay move along anchorto raise sidewalloff the ground. In, sidewallis tilted off the ground in addition to sliding over anchor.

As apparent in, sidewalldefines notches. Notchesare configured to removably receive and support grate. Notchesare defined on opposite sides of sidewallproximate top openingdefined by sidewall.

As shown in, gratespans top openingwhen resting in notches. Gratespanning top openingplaces grateabove a fire in combustion regionsurrounded by sidewall. Notchessupporting grateover the fire facilitates cooking food on grate. Notchesalso enable grateto be secured inside sidewallwhen sidewallis covered by coverand coveris locked to sidewall.

As shown in, sidewallincludes a sidewall tabprojecting radially from sidewall, and coverincludes a cover tabprojecting from a cover body. With reference to, the reader can see that sidewall tabdefines a sidewall tab opening, and cover tabdefines a cover tab opening. When coveroverlies sidewalland top opening, cover taboverlies sidewall tabwith cover tab openingaligned with sidewall tab openingto cooperatively define a lock mount.

With reference to, sidewall tabcooperates with a cover tabto define a lock mountwhen cover taboverlies sidewall tab. As shown in, lock mountfacilitates locking coverover sidewallby receiving a shackle of a lockthrough the aligned openings of lock mount; namely, cover tab openingand sidewall tab opening. When a shackle of lockextends through the aligned openings, coveris restricted from moving away from sidewall, which restricts access into sidewalland use of combustion region.

Anchorfunctions to link sidewalland covertogether. Anchorenables coverto move relative to sidewallto selectively cover top openingof sidewall. Anchorfurther facilitates lifting sidewalloff the ground to clean fire debris in combustion region. Anchoralso functions to secure fire barrierto the ground in a selected location.