US20030215763A1

US20030215763A1 - Wick for a candle/lamp

Info

Publication number: US20030215763A1
Application number: US10/147,399
Authority: US
Inventors: Bruce Campbell
Original assignee: Biotronik Mess und Therapiegeraete GmbH and Co
Current assignee: Biotronik SE and Co KG
Priority date: 2002-05-17
Filing date: 2002-05-17
Publication date: 2003-11-20

Abstract

A wick for a candle/lamp. The wick includes a core and a cotton jacket. The core is comprised of a composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds that eliminate contribution of wick material to the combustion of the candle/oil lamp. The cotton jacket over braids the core in order to maintain sufficient flow of fuel, and which burns off during initial lighting. The inert inner core is the mechanism for combustion and does not contribute to the mass of material being consumed, thus lessening potential for smoking. The wick does not degrade after the cotton jacket bums off therefore lessening the propensity for sooting and smoking. The cotton jacket remains intact below the fuel or wick holder level, thus insuring a constant flow of the fuel to feed the flames.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention:

The present invention relates to a wick. More particularly, the present invention relates to a wick for a candle/lamp.

2. Description of the Prior Art:

Typically, candle wicks and oil lamp wicks have been constructed of organic materials, such as cotton and paper. Also, some wicks have a metal wire core, or in the case of some oil lamps, a fiberglass wick.

A typical naturally aspirated candle or lamp flame burns at approximately 1485° F. This is a temperature at which all commonly used wicking materials are either fully consumed, or with fiberglass' 1300° F. softening point, melted. The disadvantage to all these products is that they become another component of the combustive process. Therefore, they are a factor in the chemical reactions that occur and add to the flames emissions and by-products.

With the infinite variations possible in candle and oil lamp fuels (varying formulas comprising combustive additives, colors, scents, and the basic inherent fluctuations in the synthesis of fuels) it is an advantage to create a wick that is chemically and physically inert in combustion. The candle and oil lamp industry is forced to use thousands of different wick materials in order to find an acceptable balance between wick consumption and the flames characteristics. These flame parameters are dictated by anticipating how the wicks physical construction will supply the fuel to the flame and how its materials of construction will chemically decompose.

Furthermore, certain types of fuels or formulations will create residue buildup through varying degrees of inefficient combustion. Polymerization will also have a degrading effect on the combustive dynamics to the point of flame extinguishing.

Numerous innovations for wicks have been provided in the prior art that will be described. Even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they differ from the present invention.

FOR EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,416,616 to Shimizu et al. teaches a wick for burning a liquid fuel, having a liquid fuel supplying section adapted to supply the liquid fuel and a combustion section connected to the upper end of the liquid fuel supplying section and adapted to evaporate the liquid fuel supplied through the liquid fuel supplying section thereby to burn the liquid fuel. The improvement comprises that a thin sheet body from heat resistance fibers is attached at least to a part of the combustion section and that the combustion section is separably coupled to the liquid fuel supplying section. The thin sheet body attached to the combustion section reduces the generation of tar on the latter, while the separable coupling between the liquid fuel supplying section and the combustion section permits an easy renewal of the combustion section solely when the tar deposition on the latter has become heavy.

ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,477 to Adachi et al. teaches a combustion wick comprising a fuel suck-up portion wherein liquid fuel is sucked up and a fuel gasifying portion provided above said fuel suck-up portion is provided wherein of said fuel suck-up and fuel gasifying portions, at least the fuel gasifying portion is formed from silica-alumina type ceramic fibers with an organic binder, with at least a part of said portion being impregnated with a coating material composed principally of an inorganic pigment, silicic anhydride and a surface active agent. By impregnating at least part of the fuel gasifying portion with the coating material, no or little tar-like substance is formed or deposited on the fuel gasifying portion.

STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 4,569,656 TO Shimizu et al. teaches a wick for liquid fuel burner wherein liquid fuel is drawn and burnt. A thin sheet body made with fine ceramic fibers bound by an organic binder is installed on the combustion part at the top of the wick, to thereby improve the durability of the wick while using inferior quality liquid fuel.

YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,425,633 TO Cole teaches a combustion apparatus that comprises a floatable combustion device which rests atop the surface of a mass of fuel such as solid paraffin or a quantity of liquid fuel such as liquid paraffin or vegetable oil contained within a fuel vessel. The combustion device has a substantially conical top member and a bottom ballast member each fabricated of a thermally conductive material that serve to both melt solid fuel and heat the liquid fuel being supplied to the flame with an interior wick. Supporting this wick is a conical buoyant member that allows the device to float when positioned in liquid fuel or in melted solid fuel.

STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 5,955,387 to Garrigus teaches a ceramic composite is provided comprising ceramic fibers, glass microballoons and/or diatoms, bound together with a ceramic reinforcing cloth with a sol-gel ceramic binder. The composite is particularly useful as a high strength, high temperature insulation material.

YET STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,036,477 to Frandsen teaches a composite candle including an exterior shell of candle wax having at least one circular and/or specially-shaped inner core region in which a wick is positioned. When the wick is ignited, provision is made for consuming only that wax contained in the inner core region so as to create a core-sized cavity of a size to subsequently receive a candle core replacement adapted for insertion into the cavity. The exterior shell is not melted by the heat of the candle flame, and candle core replacements may therefore be employed indefinitely. Also included is a method of making composite candles in which one or more cavity-defining inserts are installed within a shell, and candle wax is then poured within the insert(s) and the region(s) between the insert(s) and an exterior surface-defining mold.

STILL YET ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,385 to Mifune et al. teaches a combustion appliance provided with a combustion wick for sucking up a liquid fuel by the utilization of capillarity and burning it, the combustion wick is constituted, such that a flame length in accordance with the application of the combustion appliance can be obtained, such that little change in fuel feed rate may occur due to a change in amount of residual fuel, and such that the flame length may not change. The combustion wick ( 6) comprises a sucking section (61) for sucking up the liquid fuel and a heat-resistant burning section (62), which are made from different materials and connected to each other.

YET STILL ANOTHER EXAMPLE, U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,844 to Mifune et al. teaches a structure of a burning portion of an alcohol-fueled ignitor provided with a wick for drawing up fuel alcohol in a fuel reservoir by capillarity from one end portion thereof to the other end portion and burning the fuel alcohol at the other end portion, the wick is formed of glass fibers and said the other end portion of the wick at which the fuel alcohol is burnt is exposed in a surface area of 30 mm ²to 170 mm².

It is apparent that numerous innovations for wicks have been provided in the prior art that are adapted to be used. Furthermore, even though these innovations may be suitable for the specific individual purposes to which they address, however, they would not be suitable for the purposes of the present invention as heretofore described.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

ACCORDINGLY, AN OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a wick for a candle/lamp that avoids the disadvantages of the prior art.

ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a wick for a candle/lamp that is simple to use.

BRIEFLY STATED, STILL ANOTHER OBJECT of the present invention is to provide a wick for a candle/lamp. The wick includes a core and a cotton jacket. The core is comprised of a composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds that eliminate contribution of wick material to the combustion of the candle/oil lamp. The cotton jacket over braids the core in order to maintain sufficient flow of fuel, and which burns off during initial lighting. The inert inner core is the mechanism for combustion and does not contribute to the mass of material being consumed, thus lessening potential for smoking. The wick does not degrade after the cotton jacket burns off therefore lessening the propensity for sooting and smoking. The cotton jacket remains intact below the fuel or wick holder level, thus insuring a constant flow of the fuel to feed the flames.

The novel features which are considered characteristic of the present invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its construction and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following description of the specific embodiments when read and understood in connection with the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The sole FIGURE of the drawing is briefly described as a diagrammatic perspective view of the wick of the present invention in use in a lamp, [0022]

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS UTILIZED IN THE DRAWING

[0023] 10 wick of present invention for candle/lamp 12
[0024] 12 candle/lamp
[0025] 14 core
[0026] 16 fuels for use in candle/lamp 12
[0027] 18 cotton jacket
[0028] 20 fuel or wick holder level
[0029] 22 flames
[0030] 24 holder

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring now to the sole figure, in which like numerals indicate like parts, and which is a diagrammatic perspective view of the wick of the present invention in use in a lamp, the wick of the present invention is shown generally at [0031] 10 for a candle/lamp 12. The wick 10 has a length and a physical construction.
The [0032] wick 10 comprises a core 14. The core 14 is comprised of a composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds that eliminate contribution of wick material to combustion of the candle/oil lamp 12.
The composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds of the core [0033] 14 generally have a continuous use temperature of 800° F. to 1000° F. over existing maximum flame temperatures with melt points of over 3000° F.
The [0034] core 14 is a non-reactive medium for vaporization and chemical reduction of various fuels 16 for use in the candle/lamp 12, and also promotes capillary action since it runs the length of the wick 10. The inert inner core 14 is the mechanism for combustion and does not contribute to mass of material being consumed, thus lessening potential for smoking.
The [0035] wick 10 further comprises a cotton jacket 18. The cotton jacket 18 over braids the core 14 in order to maintain sufficient flow of the fuel 16, and which bums off during initial lighting. After the exposed cotton jacket burns 18 burns off, the wick 10 does not degrade therefore lessening a propensity for sooting and smoking. The cotton jacket 18 remains intact below a fuel or wick holder level 20, thus insuring a constant flow of the fuel 16 to feed flames 22.
The physical construction of the [0036] wick 10 is identical to all products currently manufactured and in use in industry, except for the core 14 so as to allow the wick 10 to be processed with familiar procedures and machines that are currently used in the candle and oil lamp industry.
The [0037] wick 10 can be waxed, cut, tabbed, and manipulated with full integration into existing products.
Since the [0038] ceramic fiber core 14 doesn't burn up with the fuel 16, the flame 22 will stabilize in a holder 24, only having a fixed size exposed to promote combustion. This predictable sized conduit for the flame 22 and lack of disintegration allows the wick 10 tremendous latitude and imperviousness in consuming all formulations in solid as well as liquid candle and oil lamp fuels.
With its [0039] ceramic fiber core 14 and cotton jacket 18. the wick 10 is a stand alone complete package to combust the candle and oil lamp industries fuels in a more efficient and controllable paradigm.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together, may also find a useful application in other types of constructions differing from the types described above. [0040]
While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in a wick for a candle/oil lamp, however, it is not limited to the details shown, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. [0041]
Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for various applications without omitting features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute characteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this invention. [0042]

Claims

The invention claimed is:

1. A wick for a candle/lamp, wherein said wick has a length and a physical construction, said wick comprising:

a) a core; and

b) a cotton jacket;

wherein said core is comprised of a composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds;

wherein said composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds of said core eliminates contribution of wick material to combustion of the candle/oil lamp;

wherein said cotton jacket over braids said core;

wherein said cotton jacket maintains sufficient flow of fuel; and

wherein said cotton jacket burns off during initial lighting.

2. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said composition of varying ceramic fiber compounds of said core generally has a continuous use temperature of 800° F. to 1000° F. over existing maximum flame temperatures with melt points of over 3000° F.

3. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said core is a non-reactive medium;

wherein said non-reactive medium of said core is for vaporization and chemical reduction of the fuel for use in the candle/lamp; and

wherein said non-reactive medium of said core promotes capillary action since it runs said length of said wick.

4. The wick as defined in claim 3, wherein said inert inner core is a mechanism for combustion;

wherein said inert inner core does not contribute to mass of material being consumed, thus lessening potential for smoking;

wherein said wick does not degrade after said cotton jacket bums off therefore lessening a propensity for sooting and smoking; and

wherein said cotton jacket remains intact below a fuel or wick holder level, thus insuring a constant flow of the fuel to feed the flames.

5. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said physical construction of said wick is identical to all products currently manufactured and in use in industry, except for said core so as to allow said wick to be processed with familiar procedures and machines that are currently used in the candle and oil lamp industry.

6. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said wick is waxed.

7. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said wick is cut.

8. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said wick is tabbed.

9. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein said wick is manipulated with full integration into existing products.

10. The wick as defined in claim 1, wherein the flame stabilizes in a holder, only having a fixed size exposed to promote combustion, since said ceramic fiber core doesn't bum up with the fuel, so as to provide a predictable sized conduit for the flame that together with a lack of disintegration allows said wick tremendous latitude and imperviousness in consuming all formulations in solid as well as liquid candle and oil lamp fuels.