Candle art

Abstract

The invention teaches a decorative candle attachment that includes a needle of preferably no more than 0.05 inches in diameter and of no less than a centimeter in length, and having a first pointed end and a second end, a loop affixed to the needle, a decorative attachment coupled to the loop, and an ornamental element having a loop-attachable member coupled to the loop. It is emphasized that this abstract is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract that will allow a searcher or other reader to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. 37 CFR 1.72(b).

Description

RELATED APPLICATION

The invention is related to and claims priority from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/659,173 entitled Adjustable Candle Art Pin Mechanism to McDaniel, et al, filed on 8 Mar. 2005.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to candles.

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Interpretation Considerations

This section describes the technical field in more detail, and discusses problems encountered in the technical field. This section does not describe prior art as defined for purposes of anticipation or obviousness under 35 U.S.C. section 102 or 35 U.S.C. section 103. Thus, nothing stated in the Problem Statement is to be construed as prior art.

Discussion

Whether candles were developed by the Egyptians, as some say, or the Romans, as others claim, the ambiance, scent, and nearly living light they provide quickly made them centerpieces of religious ceremonies, as well as valued companions for those who had to travel in the dark. At first, most candle makers around the Mediterranean use tallow, gathered from animal suet, to make candles (while Egyptians preferred beeswax) in a time-consuming process whereby molten wax was dripped over a single string and allowed to cool. The process was repeated one layer at a time until the desired thickness was achieved. Beeswax was not widely adopted in the West until well into the Middle Ages. Predictably, beeswax candles burn more cleanly and emit sweeter odor than tallow, and, candle makers found that they could enhance the odor with the addition of oils. However, these candles were very expensive. Since that time, candle making material has progressed through bayberry oil, whale oil, and petroleum wax, and, similarly, candle manufacturing become more complex and became mechanized in the mid 1800s. These new materials and methods of manufacturing brought the ambience of candles to the broader population such that today, very fancy candles may be purchased for just a few dollars. And, today candles are used in all kinds of celebrations, ceremonies, and decorations.

Candle decorations have similarly been an important part of the “candle experience.” Decorated with black, white and red scenes and geometries, early Greek candle holders date back to the 4^th century BC. Over time, gilded candle stick holders and wreathes, sconces, chandeliers, candelabras and even Christmas trees have taken their place among favorite candle displays. Similarly, it is common to find ribbons adorning candles, and hard items from sea shells to marbles mixed with the candle wax to create unique decorative effects. And, glass, crystal, wood, and metal candle stick holders are not only popular, they are even associated with turning points in epics, such as the silver candelabras stolen by Jean Val Jean in Les Miserables, and the focal point of murder mysteries, such as in the game “Clue®” by Milton-Bradley®.

However, for these items candles are often their adornment. There have been few items that genuinely decorate the candle itself. Accordingly, there is a need for decorative devices for candles. The disclosed invention meets this need by providing novel decorative candle adornments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various aspects of the invention, as well as an embodiment, are better understood by reference to the following detailed description. To better understand the invention, the detailed description should be read in conjunction with the drawings, in which like numerals represent like elements unless otherwise stated.

FIG. 1 is a front view of a candle attachment coupled to a candle.

FIG. 2 shows a side view of a candle attachment coupled to a candle.

FIG. 3 is a side view of a candle attachment.

FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternative candle attachment.

EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF A BEST MODE

Interpretation Considerations

When reading this section (An Exemplary Embodiment of a Best Mode, which describes an exemplary embodiment of the best mode of the invention, hereinafter “exemplary embodiment”), one should keep in mind several points. First, the following exemplary embodiment is what the inventor believes to be the best mode for practicing the invention at the time this patent was filed. Thus, since one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize from the following exemplary embodiment that substantially equivalent structures or substantially equivalent acts may be used to achieve the same results in exactly the same way, or to achieve the same results in a not dissimilar way, the following exemplary embodiment should not be interpreted as limiting the invention to one embodiment.

Likewise, individual aspects (sometimes called species) of the invention are provided as examples, and, accordingly, one of ordinary skill in the art may recognize from a following exemplary structure (or a following exemplary act) that a substantially equivalent structure or substantially equivalent act may be used to either achieve the same results in substantially the same way, or to achieve the same results in a not dissimilar way.

Accordingly, the discussion of a species (or a specific item) invokes the genus (the class of items) to which that species belongs as well as related species in that genus. Likewise, the recitation of a genus invokes the species known in the art. Furthermore, it is recognized that as technology develops, a number of additional alternatives to achieve an aspect of the invention may arise. Such advances are hereby incorporated within their respective genus, and should be recognized as being functionally equivalent or structurally equivalent to the aspect shown or described.

Second, the only essential aspects of the invention are identified by the claims. Thus, aspects of the invention, including elements, acts, functions, and relationships (shown or described) should not be interpreted as being essential unless they are explicitly described and identified as being essential. Third, a function or an act should be interpreted as incorporating all modes of doing that function or act, unless otherwise explicitly stated (for example, one recognizes that “tacking” may be done by nailing, stapling, gluing, hot gunning, riveting, etc., and so a use of the word tacking invokes stapling, gluing, etc., and all other modes of that word and similar words, such as “attaching”).

Fourth, unless explicitly stated otherwise, conjunctive words (such as “or”, “and”, “including”, or “comprising” for example) should be interpreted in the inclusive, not the exclusive, sense. Fifth, the words “means” and “step” are provided to facilitate the reader's understanding of the invention and do not mean “means” or “step” as defined in §112, paragraph 6 of 35 U.S.C., unless used as “means for -functioning-” or “step for -functioning-” in the Claims section. Sixth, the invention is also described in view of the Festo decisions, and, in that regard, the claims and the invention incorporate equivalents known, unknown, foreseeable, and unforeseeable. Seventh, the language and each word used in the invention should be given the ordinary interpretation of the language and the word, unless indicated otherwise.

Of course, the foregoing discussions and definitions are provided for clarification purposes and are not limiting. Words and phrases are to be given their ordinary plain meaning unless indicated otherwise.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the invention 100 shown as a candle 105 having a candle attachment comprising a decorative element 110, such as a fixed decorative head, and an ornamental element 120 coupled thereto. The candle 105 is preferably any wax or paraffin based candle, and may be scented, or unscented, and of any color. However, it should be understood that the invention is not limited to any particular candle type or shape.

FIGS. 2 shows a side view of the candle 105 having a candle attachment coupled thereto. From this view, one can see that the decorative element 110 is coupled to an adjustable candle art support member here embodied as a needle 112, and that the needle penetrates the candle 105. The needle 112 has a loop 130, or holding clasp, coupled thereto. The loop 130 is preferably a metal wire that is formed into a complete, unbroken loop. However, it is understood that the loop may be made of plastic, fabric, or other materials and is definable by functionality. A loop-attachable member 122 couples the ornamental element 120 to the loop 130. The loop-attachable member 122, like the loop 130, is definable by functionality, and may be made of plastic, fabric, wire, or other material.

Accordingly, the invention 100 may be defined as a decorative candle that comprises a needle 112 of no more than 0.05 inches in diameter and of no less than a centimeter in length, a loop 130 coupled to the needle 112, and a decorative attachment 110 coupled to the needle 112. The invention also provides an ornamental element 120 having a loop-attachable member 122 that is maintained within the loop 130.

Simultaneous reference is now made to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. 3 is a side view of a candle attachment 300, while FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternative candle attachment 400. The candle attachment 300 includes a decorative attachment 310 coupled to a needle 320. The decorative attachment 310 is preferably a solid front-facing emblem or lettering, and could comprise a jewelry-mount. The decorative attachment 310 could also comprise a picture frame, gilded metal design, ribbons, LEDs, or other ornamental elements, for example.

The needle 320 is preferably stiff wire, polished metal, or plated metal of no more than 0.05 inches in diameter and having a length of ¾ of an inch. Preferably, the needle 320 is approximately 0.025 inches in diameter (approximately 22 gauge). However, the length may vary from a centimeter in length to over an inch in length. The needle 320 is preferably made of a material of sufficient strength to penetrate wax, such as nickel having a Mohs harness of 4.0, or steel, and the like, while sterling silver and more malleable materials are less desirable. The needle 320 has a first end 326 that is pointed and a second end that may couple to the decorative attachment 310. A notch 324 is provided to so that a pin clip 350 may couple the candle attachment 300 to packaging or other surfaces.

Likewise, the needle 320 may also comprise a stop 322 coupled to the pin 320 between the first end and the second end. As shown in FIG. 3, the stop may be an approximately perpendicular protrusion from the needle 320. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the stop may also be embodied as a washer 328. However, it should be understood that a great many alternative and equivalent stops known, unknown, foreseeable and unforeseeable are encompassed within the scope of the claims.

The needle 320 may also be coupled to a loop 330, such as through rigid attachment. Thus, alternatively, the decorative attachment 310 may couple to the loop 330 proximate to the second end of the needle 320, or comprise a portion of a loop 430 as shown in FIG. 4 (in other words, the decorative attachment 310 is integral with the loop 330). In one embodiment, the loop 330 provides a passage 332 through which a loop-attachable may pass, however, a clasp 432 or other structure may provide equivalent functionality, and these are incorporated within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, it is seen that the loop(s) 130, 330, 430 may alternatively be rectangular as shown in FIG. 4, circular as shown in FIG. 3, or oval as shown in FIG. 2. Alternatively, the candle attachment 300 may further comprising a clasp for securely coupling the attachment to the circumference of a candle, as will be readily understood by those of skill in the art upon reading the present disclosure.

The candle attachment 300 also comprises a brace 340 extending from the needle 320 toward the first end 326 such that an acute angle “alpha” exists between the needle 320 and the brace 340. Preferably, the brace 340 is no more than 1/2 inch in length, however, the length of the brace 340 is ultimately a function of the location of the stop 322, the length of the needle 320, and the weight of the candle attachment 300. In one embodiment, the brace 340 comprises a needle end that is coupled to the needle 320 proximate to the first end 326, and also comprises a brace stop 342 coupled to a stop-end 342 of the brace 340 (here, the brace stop 342 is shown as a ball).

The candle attachment 300 comprises an ornamental element 370 having a loop-attachable member 360 that is locatable within the loop 330. In one embodiment, the loop-attachable member 360 is a wire. However, the loop-attachable member 360 may also be a second metallic loop of any shape. In FIG. 3, the ornamental element 370 also comprises an ornamental extension 362 that may comprise ribbon, chain, jewels, wire, and the like.

Accordingly, the invention provides decorative art for candles that allows a user to insert and remove a candle attachment as needed to “dress” the candle for the appropriate holiday or season. Furthermore, the art may be moved down a candle as the candle burns down to provide the appearance the user desires.

Though the invention has been described with respect to a specific preferred embodiment, many variations and modifications (including equivalents) will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the present application. It is therefore the intention that the appended claims and their equivalents be interpreted as broadly as possible in view of the prior art to include all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A decorative candle, comprising:

a needle of no more than 0.05 inches in diameter and of no less than a centimeter in length, and having a first end that is pointed and a second end;

a loop coupled to the needle;

a decorative attachment coupled to the second end of the needle;

an ornamental element having a loop-attachable member, the loop-attachable member maintained within the loop; and

the first end embedded into a candle.

2. A candle attachment, comprising:

a needle of no more than 0.05 inches in diameter and of no less than a centimeter in length, and having a first end that is pointed and a second end;

a loop coupled to the needle;

the loop coupled to a decorative attachment, the decorative attachment located proximate to the second end of the needle; and

an ornamental element having a loop-attachable member, the loop-attachable member being maintained within the loop.

3. A candle attachment, comprising:

a needle of no more than 0.05 inches in diameter and of no less than a centimeter in length, and having a first pointed end and a second end;

a loop affixed to the needle;

the loop providing a passage through which a loop-attachable member may pass;

the loop having a decorative attachment opposite the first end of needle; and

an ornamental element having a loop-attachable member that is maintained within the loop.

4. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the needle is polished.

5. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the needle is plated.

6. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the needle is notched for coupling to a pin-clip.

7. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the loop-attachable member is a wire.

8. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the loop-attachable member is a second metallic loop.

9. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the loop further comprises a clasp.

10. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the loop is rectangular.

11. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the loop is oval.

12. The attachment of claim 3 further comprising a stop coupled to the pin, and between the first end and the second end.

13. The attachment of claim 12 wherein the stop is a washer.

14. The attachment of claim 12 wherein the stop protrudes approximately perpendicular from the needle.

15. The attachment of claim 12 further comprising a clasp for securely coupling the attachment to the circumference of a candle.

16. The attachment of claim 3 wherein the decorative attachment member is integral with the loop.

17. The attachment of claim 3 further comprising a brace extending from the needle toward the first end such that an acute angle exist between the first end of the needle and the brace, the brace being no more than one inch in length.

18. The attachment of claim 17 wherein the brace comprises a needle end coupled to the needle proximate to the first end, and comprises a stop coupled to a stop-end of the brace.

19. The attachment of claim 18 wherein the stop is a ball.