BACKGROUND OF THE DISCLOSURE

1. Technical Field

The disclosure generally relates to devices used to contain fires and cook over fires. More particularly, the disclosure relates to an outdoor fire containment device commonly known as a fire pit and to a holder for an accessory post that allows accessories such as grills and kettles to be used over a fire. Specifically, the disclosure relates to the air inlet configurations for the fire pit, the configuration of the grill support post, the configuration of the grill carried by the grill support post, a holder for the grill support post, and the configuration of the legs for the fire pit.

2. Background Information

People enjoy burning small camp fires in their backyards. These fires are used for general enjoyment and for cooking. One drawback with a backyard campfire—especially one made from a soft wood or a wood containing water—is the smoke generated from the fire. The smoke can infiltrate the owner's house and neighbors' houses. This problem has led some cities and communities to completely ban backyard campfires. Another issue is positioning a grill or container at the proper location above the flames for cooking a particular food. Some people use fire pits to control and contain their camp fires. In some communities, the use of a fire ring or fire pit is mandatory. A popular fire pit configuration has an airflow chamber between the exterior walls of the main body wherein air is heated before being introduced at the top of the burn box. This helps to reduce smoke produced by the fire. Although various versions of the reduced smoke fire pit are known, there remains room for improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure provides a fire pit device for containing a camp fire. The fire pit includes a main body having a double outer wall that defines an air inlet. An accessory support post is received by the main body within the double outer wall. A locking projection and locking flange cooperate to lock the vertical and rotational position of the support post with respect to the main body of the fire pit. The disclosure also provides a method for locking an accessory post to the body of a fire pit.

The disclosure provides a fire pit having a body having a bottom wall and a sidewall that define a fire box; the fire box adapted to receive fuel that will be burned when the fire pit is used; the sidewall defining an air supply duct for the fire box; the sidewall having an inner sidewall spaced inwardly from an outer sidewall with the air supply duct defined between the inner and outer sidewalls; an accessory post having an upper portion and a lower portion; the lower portion being selectively connected to the body; and a locking assembly having locked and unlocked conditions; in the locked condition, the locking assembly preventing the accessory post from rotating with respect to the body and preventing the accessory post from being removed from the body.

The disclosure provide a fire pit having a body having a bottom wall and a sidewall that define a fire box; the fire box adapted to receive fuel that will be burned when the fire pit is used; the sidewall defining an air supply duct for the fire box; the sidewall having an inner sidewall spaced inwardly from an outer sidewall with the air supply duct defined between the inner and outer sidewalls; and an accessory post having an upper portion and a lower portion; the lower portion being disposed between the inner and outer sidewalls; the upper portion disposed above the sidewall.

The disclosure provides a post holder and method for securing the accessory post in the ground next to another fire source. The device and method also include the use of the locking projection and locking flange to secure the accessory post with respect to the holder. The post holder and method allows the owner of the accessory post and grill to use these with other camp fires without the need to bring the entire fire pit device along.

The disclosure provides a method for supporting a cooking device such as a grill or kettle hanger above a fire site. The method includes the steps of embedding a holder into the ground next to the fire site; sliding a lower portion of an accessory post into the holder; and locking the accessory post to the holder against rotation and removal. The method also the step of repeatedly impacting the holder with an upper portion of the accessory post by sliding it within the holder tube. This method allows the device to be installed without the need to carry additional tools to embed the holder into the ground.

The disclosure also provides a fire pit device wherein air inlets are provided in the bottom of the main body where the fuel for the fire is supported and the ashes produced by the fire collect. The fire pit includes air inlet channels that define raised air inlets that limit clogging by the ash while evenly distributing the inlet air under the fire.

The disclosure further provides a main body having a double outer wall that defines an air inlet for the fire pit. The main body is supported above the ground by a plurality of legs. The legs extend up along the entire height of the double outer wall to abut the underside of an overhanging flange to stiffen the main body of the fire pit.

The disclosure further provides an interior fire box portion of the main body that is provided in a floating configuration suspended from the upper flange of the device. The floating configuration allows the interior fire box to move down when the device is in use causing the upper flange to tilt inwardly. This is beneficial when the upper surface of the flange is used as a grilling surface because cooking juices flow back into the firebox inside of onto the surface supporting the fire pit.

The disclosure further provides the configuration for a grill that can be carried by a post above a fire. The grill includes an outer body member that encloses the outer edge of the grill to provide safety, to increase the strength of the grill, and to provide a retention lip to the grill. In the exemplary configuration, the outer body member is circular in cross section and receives the outer edge of the expanded metal grill at its centerline.

The individual features may be combined in different combinations than specifically described below to form different configurations of the device of the disclosure. The preceding non-limiting aspects of the disclosure, as well as others, are more particularly described below. A more complete understanding of the devices, assemblies, and methods can be obtained by reference to the accompanying drawings, which are not intended to indicate relative size and dimensions of the assemblies. In those drawings and the description below, like numeric designations refer to components of like function. Specific terms used in that description are intended to refer only to the particular structure of the embodiments selected for illustration in the drawings, and are not intended to define or limit the scope of the disclosure.

