Oil candle apparatus

Abstract

The present invention involves a combustion apparatus for utilizing as an oil candle. The apparatus is a material suitable for forming a heat sink, having a ring or cylinder for enclosing a wick which wick extends into oil suitable for oil candles, and a heat sink extending from the wick holder or forming the wick holder and connecting to or forming a base for distributing heat evenly along the heat sink within the oil.

Description

PRIORITY

This application claims priority from U.S. Provisional Applications filed on Apr. 6, 2006, number unknown and Oct. 21, 2006, number unknown. The specifications and drawings of these applications are herein incorporated by reference into the present application.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention involves a combustion apparatus for utilizing as an oil candle. The apparatus is a material suitable for forming a heat sink, having essentially a ring or cylinder for enclosing a wick which wick extends into oil suitable for oil candles, and a heat sink extending from the wick and connecting to or forming a base for distributing heat evenly along the heat sink within the oil.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is an oil candle apparatus for use in closed or open containers having candle or lamp oil disposed therein, comprising a metal heat sink; a wick holder; and a wick. The heat sink and the wick holder may both be comprised of metal. The metal may be selected from the group consisting of copper, aluminum, gold, silver, steel, and mixtures thereof. At least two different types of metal may be used and do not need to be an alloy. The wick holder may be comprised of a non-metal, such as a ceramic, thermostable plastics, glass, rock, cement, composites, or other non-flammable materials known in the art.

The heat sink may be comprised of at least one wire disposed to secure the wick holder, or at least two wires wherein the at least one wire is disposed to secure the wick holder. The heat sink may be comprised of at least one sheet of metal, particularly wherein the wick holder is disposed within the surface of the at least one sheet of metal. However, the wick holder may be disposed adjacent to the surface of said at least one sheet of metal. Further, the heat sink may comprise a combination of wires, sheets, or thickened metal.

Alternatively, the heat sink may form the wick holder itself.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a side view of an embodiment of the invention with a disc-shaped heat sink and a tubular wick holder extending above;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the apparatus showing a tubular wick holder and three wall heat sink;

FIG. 3 depicts a perspective view of the invention having two walls as a heat sink and a tubular wick holder;

FIG. 4 depicts a downward perspective view of the invention having four walls as a heat sink and a tubular wick holder;

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of the device having six intersecting walls, three perpendicular to three, and a tubular wick holder;

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of the device having two intersecting “wire” walls disposed in a rectangular pattern;

FIG. 6a depicts the assembly of the device shown from an upper side view in FIG. 6, beginning with wires disposed around the tube;

FIG. 6b depicts further assembly as described in FIG. 6a, showing the twisting of a wire around the wick holder tube;

FIG. 6c depicts a central wick holder tube disposed in central relation to four vertical heat sink wire walls;

FIG. 7 depicts a view from above the assembly described in FIGS. 6-6c; and

FIG. 8 depicts a sheet of metal bent at approximately a 45″ angle, serving as the heat sink with a wick holder tube disposed within the topmost surface.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past, decorative oil candles have most commonly employed bottles with a neck portion with a wick extending through the neck portion of a glass container wherein the glass container was a closed container and the bottle closure through which the wick passed was a porcelain plug.

In other instances, the wick was contained in a slender glass cylinder which had an enlarged head which prevented it from dropping through the bottle neck. Where the bottle opening was larger than the enlarged head, a grommet with an external diameter large enough to span the opening and an interior diameter less than that of the enlarged head was placed over the opening.

These “closed system” candles made it difficult on a user to refill the device, requiring the device be dismantled to either refill the oil or replace a wick. Further, some oil candles were assembled in such a manner as to prevent a user from replacing oil or the wick at all. And, perhaps most frustrating was the limitation of container. A user could not modify the container utilized by transferring the wick apparatus to another container. Finally, the “closed system” candles were limited to “closed containers”, thereby limiting the look of the candle. There is a need in the art for a oil candle apparatus that allows for use of different containers, particularly open containers, and that is easily refilled with respect to oil and new wicks.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The present invention comprises a novel oil candle apparatus. More particularly, it involves a specialized wick/heat sink apparatus that allows differing and open containers to be utilized as an oil candle.

The preferred embodiment of the invention comprises a unitary wick holder/heat sink combination device as shown in FIGS. 1 & 2. The wick holder/heat sink combination device 10 comprises wick holder area 12 and heat sink area 14. The device is preferably comprised of metal such as copper, aluminum, gold, silver, steel, mixtures thereof or other suitable heat sink materials known in the art. In the embodiment depicted in FIG. 1, a tube comprised of heat sink materials, as known in the art, typically a metal or metal alloy, including but not limited to copper, aluminum, gold, silver, brass, or steel and mixtures thereof, forms wick holder 16 which is disposed centrally through heat sink 18 which forms a disk shape and is placed in a container containing oil (not shown). However, a non-metal wick holder, such as ceramic, may be utilized. This embodiment can be formed by forming disk 18 through forming a flat sheet of flashing around a circular form and cutting a corresponding hole 20 through disk 18 into which wick holder tube 16 is fitted or soldered. Wick 22 is disposed through central orifice 24 through tube 16 into contact with candle/lamp oil. Other methods known in the metal working industry may additionally be employed such as molding a single unit from molten metal in a form.

It is important in the present invention that the combination device 10 extend into the oil and encompass the wick, thereby serving as a heat sink. This function safely distributes the heat of the device to avoid flashovers, explosions, and burning of the wick. (The wick should serve as a conduit of the oil and not burn out itself).

Other embodiments of the invention serve the same wick holder/heat sink function with differing surface configurations. As shown in FIG. 2, apparatus 10 may comprise other configurations, including configurations formed out of flat sheets of metal, or incorporating thickened metal, such as cylinders of metal, other geometric metal shapes, or non-geometric metal shapes too thick to be designated as a wire or sheet of metal. Device 10 as shown in FIG. 2 comprises a wick holding tube 16 made by folding a flat sheet of metal around a cylindrical form and crimping the metal to shape. Stabilizing flaps 26 serve to keep the device 10 in an upright position and form a part of the heat sink 18 as do walls 28 adjacent to wick holder 16. One can appreciate that the device 10 can be easily made with hand tools or by machining by utilization of a rectangular piece of flashing-type metal, folded around cylindrical form and then bent to provide stabilizing pieces. As with the first embodiment described this. and all other embodiments could be made by utilizing molten metal and a form.

Another embodiment as shown in FIG. 3 displaces walls 28 to form an angle relative to one another sufficient to maintain stability instead of providing stabilizing flaps. For example, an angle of 90° would form a stabilizing angle. The degree span between walls depends on the number of walls utilized. For instance a third stabilizing wall could be soldered onto tube 16 equidistant from the first two walls, thereby providing additional stability. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, four walls could serve the same stabilizing use. It follows that any number of walls greater than one could be utilized, as shown in FIG. 5. Also, as shown in FIG. 4, any essentially cylindrical configuration of tube 16 can be utilized.

Additionally, the heat sinks 18, need not comprise walls, but can comprise wires extending from tube 16 to a base, as shown in FIG. 6, showing the apparatus in use. There are four different parts of this embodiment of the invention. Part I is a length of tube, Parts II and III are lengths of wire, and Part IV is a length of cotton or fiberglass wick (not illustrated).

Assembly of the apparatus can be achieved as follows, but maybe achieved by other methods known in the art: Beginning from the center of Parts II and III, which are bent 180° to the outside diameter of Part I (see FIG. 1a), Parts II and III are placed in a fixture for soldering, or welding, the parts together. Then the next step consists of bending Parts II and III at points a, b, c, and d. The wire should look similar to FIG. 6c. Referring to FIG. 6c, 90° bends should then be made at points e, f, g, and h. Next, 85° bends should be made at points i, j, k, and l bringing the ends of the wire together at point m. The resulting shape should look similar to FIG. 7. At point m, the wires should be cut and then soldered or welded together. The connection of the ends of the wires at point m stabilizes the assembly. FIG. 6c is a view looking vertically down on the assembly.

The purpose of the wire assembly is to suspend or hold Part I at a set height in the air. Then Part IV can be pushed or threaded into Part I. Then, the assembly is placed into a vessel and filled with lamp oil just to the upper wires. With capillary action, Part IV acts as a conduit delivering oil from the vessel to the flame. The height of the flame is regulated by the length of Part IV protruding from Part I.

Other arrangements of metal may be used as the heat sink, as shown in FIG. 8, wherein a sheet of metal is bent to an approximately 45° angle and a tube is disposed through a hole formed in a surface of the metal, or alongside the metal.

Also evident is that the invention can be formed by one continuous wire or one continuous sheet with either joined or non-joined ends. For example, a continuous sheet may have a wick holder formed by crimping the sheet around a cylindrical form to shape the wick holder with the two remaining ends around in a circle and being joined on the ends to form a continuous circle.

The device of the invention could easily be modified to be used into additional configurations utilizing the wick holder/heat sink combination. It is envisioned that many differing configurations will be utilized and the embodiments depicted herein are offered to be illustrative but not limiting of the invention.

Claims

1. An oil candle apparatus comprising:

a metal heat sink;

a wick holder; and

a wick.

2. The oil candle apparatus of claim 1 wherein the heat sink and the wick holder are both comprised of metal.

3. The oil candle apparatus of claim 2 wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of copper, aluminum, gold, silver, steel, and mixtures thereof.

4. The oil candle apparatus of claim 3 wherein at least two different types of metal are used.

5. The oil candle of claim 4 wherein said at least two different types of metal used are not an alloy.

6. The oil candle apparatus of claim 1 wherein said wick holder is comprised of a non-metal.

7. The oil candle apparatus of claim 6 wherein said wick holder is comprised from a material selected from at least one member of the group consisting of ceramic, thermostable plastics, glass, rock, concrete, and composite materials.

8. The oil candle apparatus of claim 1 wherein said heat sink is comprised of at least one wire is disposed to secure said wick holder.

9. The oil candle apparatus of claim 8 wherein said heat sink is comprised of at least two wires wherein said at least one wire is disposed to secure said wick holder.

10. The oil candle apparatus of claim 1 wherein said heat sink is comprised of at least one sheet of metal.

11. The oil candle apparatus of claim 10 wherein said wick holder is disposed within the surface of said at least one sheet of metal.

12. The oil candle apparatus of claim 10 wherein said wick holder is disposed adjacent to the surface of said at least one sheet of metal.

13. The oil candle of claim 1 wherein said heat sink comprises a combination of wires, sheets, or thickened metal.

14. An oil candle apparatus comprising:

a metal heat sink, wherein said heat sink is shaped to form a wick holder; and

a wick.

15. The oil candle apparatus of claim 14 wherein the metal is selected from the group consisting of copper, aluminum, gold, silver, steel, and mixtures thereof.

15. The oil candle apparatus of claim 15 wherein at least two different types of metal are used.

16. The oil candle of claim 15 wherein said at least two different types of metal used are not an alloy.

17. The oil candle apparatus of claim 14 wherein said wick holder is comprised of a non-metal.

18. The oil candle apparatus of claim 17 wherein said wick holder is comprised of ceramic.

19. The oil candle apparatus of claim 14 wherein said heat sink is comprised of at least one sheet of metal.

20. The oil candle of claim 1 wherein said heat sink comprises a combination of wires, sheets, or thickened metal.