Cooking stove

Abstract

This invention relates to cooking stoves, in particular, to lightweight, efficient, and portable outdoor cooking stoves for use primarily by those undertaking general camping or other outdoor leisure pursuits, or by larger groups of people for entertaining or humanitarian purposes. The cooking stoves are designed to make efficient use of solid fuel blocks and to minimise the soot deposited on the cooking vessel.

1 . A cooking stove, the cooking stove comprising walls which define a base at one end and a top at the other end, wherein the walls of the cooking stove additionally define:
 a fuel zone which is defined by the section of the walls which extends up from the base to about one third of the height of the stove;   an exhaust zone which is defined by the section of the walls which extends down from the top by about one third of the height of the stove; and   a combustion zone which is defined by the section of the walls which extends from the fuel zone to the exhaust zone; wherein the cooking stove is characterised in that   the fuel zone has at least one air inlet, wherein the total surface area of this air inlet or air inlets is 0.5% to 2.5% of the total surface area of the fuel zone;   the exhaust zone has at least two exhaust outlets, wherein the total surface area of these exhaust outlets is 20% to 35% of the total surface area of the exhaust zone; and   the combustion zone has at least three air inlets, wherein the total surface area of these air inlets is 2.5% to 4.0% of the total surface area of the combustion zone.   
     
     
         2 . The cooking stove according to  claim 1 , wherein the walls are cylindrical, conical, or wherein the walls comprise 3, 4, 5 or 6 sides wherein each side defines a substantially square, rectangular or trapezium shape so that the cooking stove defines a substantially cuboid, prism or pyramidal frustum shape. 
     
     
         3 . The cooking stove according to  claim 1 , wherein the walls comprise 3, 4, 5 or 6 sides which are sheet-like members, wherein each sheet-like member has two faces, a top edge, a bottom edge and two side edges, and wherein the sheet-like members are coupled together at their side edges. 
     
     
         4 . The cooking stove according to  claim 3 , wherein the walls comprise 4 sides which are sheet-like members. 
     
     
         5 . The cooking stove according to  claim 3 , wherein the coupling between the side edges of sheet-like members is not fixed, so the cooking stove can be assembled and disassembled during normal use, preferably wherein when the cooking stove is disassembled, the sheet-like members can be arranged to lie flat on top of one another. 
     
     
         6 . The cooking stove according to  claim 5 , wherein the sheet-like members are coupled by hinges. 
     
     
         7 . The cooking stove according to  claim 5 , wherein the sheet-like members have a slit substantially parallel to and within 50 mm of the side edges, wherein the sheet-like members are coupled at their side edges through the interlocking of complementary slits. 
     
     
         8 . The cooking stove according to  claim 1 , wherein the height of the stove is greater than the width of the stove at the widest point. 
     
     
         9 . The cooking stove according to  claim 8 , wherein the height of the stove is at least 20% greater than the width of the stove at the widest point. 
     
     
         10 . The cooking stove according to  claim 1 , wherein the walls comprise four sides, and wherein there is one air inlet in the fuel zone, twelve air inlets in the combustion zone, and two exhaust outlets in the exhaust zone. 
     
     
         11 . The cooking stove according to  claim 10 , wherein the air inlet in the fuel zone comprises about 1% of the total surface area of the fuel zone, the air inlets in the combustion zone comprise about 3.5% of the total surface area of the combustion zone, and the exhaust outlets comprise about 23% of the total surface area of the exhaust zone. 
     
     
         12 . The cooking stove according to  claim 1 , wherein the walls comprise four sides, and wherein there are eight air inlets in the fuel zone, sixteen air inlets in the combustion zone, and four exhaust outlets in the exhaust zone. 
     
     
         13 . The cooking stove according to  claim 12 , wherein the air inlets in the fuel zone comprise about 2.1% of the total surface area of the fuel zone, the air inlets in the combustion zone comprise about 3.5% of the total surface area of the combustion zone, and the exhaust outlets comprise about 23% of the total surface area of the exhaust zone. 
     
     
         14 . The cooking stove according to  claim 1 , wherein the air inlet or at least one of the air inlets in the fuel zone has a diameter of at least 8 mm, preferably about 10 mm. 
     
     
         15 . A kit comprising a cooking stove according to  claim 1 , and one or more solid fuel blocks, wherein the one or more solid fuel blocks comprise methyl, ethyl, propyl, or butyl esters of a C6 to C14 carboxylic acid or mixtures thereof. 
     
     
         16 . A kit according to  claim 15 , wherein the solid fuel block comprises methyl decanoate. 
     
     
         17 . A kit according to  claim 15 , wherein the solid fuel block fits inside the fuel zone of the cooking stove. 
     
     
         18 . A method of heating a cooking vessel, the method comprising the steps of:
 providing a cooking stove according to  claim 1 ;   providing a solid fuel block, wherein the solid fuel block comprises methyl, ethyl, propyl, or butyl esters of a C6 to C14 carboxylic acid or mixtures thereof;   placing the solid fuel block in the fuel zone of the cooking stove and setting light to the solid fuel block; and   placing the cooking vessel on top of the cooking stove.   
     
     
         19 . A method according to  claim 18 , wherein the solid fuel block comprises methyl decanoate. 
     
     
         20 . A method according to  claim 18  or  19 , wherein the height of the fuel zone is equal to or greater than the height of the fuel block. 
     
     
         21 . (canceled)