초록 ▼

A candle construction incorporating a fuel core and a surrounding film having sufficient rigidity and/or stiffness along a vertical direction, to provide support for a fuel core which may be fabricated from a soft, cold-flowing or otherwise non-self-supporting material. The film is preferably fabric

A candle construction incorporating a fuel core and a surrounding film having sufficient rigidity and/or stiffness along a vertical direction, to provide support for a fuel core which may be fabricated from a soft, cold-flowing or otherwise non-self-supporting material. The film is preferably fabricated from material(s) that are transparent or translucent, to permit visual inspection of the fuel core, and through the fuel core, if the fuel core is itself transparent or translucent. The film has a softening temperature range, the high end of which is greater than the high end of the melting temperature range of the fuel core material. When the fuel core material is molten and consumed through combustion, the film briefly remains in place to establish a vertical gap to contain the molten fuel material pool. The film may have one or more layers, with different materials and characteristics in the different layers.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A candle unit having a top, comprising:a fuel core, fabricated from a flammable fuel material, the fuel material having a fuel core melting temperature range; a wick embedded in the fuel core, for drawing up molten fuel material, for supporting a candle flame; a film, surrounding at least a porti

1. A candle unit having a top, comprising:a fuel core, fabricated from a flammable fuel material, the fuel material having a fuel core melting temperature range; a wick embedded in the fuel core, for drawing up molten fuel material, for supporting a candle flame; a film, surrounding at least a portion of the fuel core, the film being fabricated from at least one substantially nonflammable material, having a film softening temperature range, having an upper-end temperature that is greater than an upper-end temperature of the fuel core melting temperature range such that the fuel core material becomes liquid substantially sooner than the film becomes non-self-supporting due to softening, so that when the candle burns, a pool of molten fuel core fuel material forms on the top of the candle unit, around the candle flame, without immediately causing the film to become non-self-supporting, and a portion of the molten fuel core material is consumed, so that an upper surface of the pool is vertically spaced from a top edge of the film; whereupon as the candle burns down, the top edge of the film is exposed to progressively higher temperature regions of the candle flame, and ultimately becomes non-self-supporting and recedes downward from the descending candle flame, while the pool of molten fuel core material is further consumed, so that a vertical spacing between the upper surface of the pool of molten fuel core material and the top edge of the film is maintained.