Candle with polyethersulfone barrier

Combustion – Candle – e.g. – taper – etc. – Having structure additional to wax and wick

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C431S291000, C431S289000, C431S125000, C431S126000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06669468

ABSTRACT:

FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates in general to candles, and in particular to a new and useful candle with a heat barrier which is partly or entirely clear or transparent, and a medium outside the barrier which is clear or transparent and which either contains one or more decorative items, or is free of everything but the medium.
The clear medium and a wax or wax-like fuel material for burning which is inside the barrier, may be any one of a variety of clear waxes or wax-substitutes such as one of the ester-terminated polyamides (ETPA) disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,998,570 to Pavlin, et al. issued Dec. 7, 1999 or U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,657 to Pavlin, et al. issued Jul. 21, 1998, which are both incorporated here by reference. An example is a product known by the trademark UNICLEAR for an ETPA sold by the owner of these patents.
See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,578,089 for another clear candle material which can be used for the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,214,063 teaches candle products with etpabased icons, and is also incorporated here by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,354,343 discloses a shield or barrier made of non-flammable metal or plastic material that is opaque of transparent and that is inserted into the body of a large diameter candle. A particular plastic that is disclosed for use in ethyl cellulose and similar compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,711 discloses a pillar candle having a glass cup supporting a combustible portion of the candle inside a cylinder of insulating material and a second, larger cylinder of glass. The glass cylinder is embedded in an outer body of candle material. The glass cup does not extend the entire depth of the pillar candle. The insulating and glass cylinders are covered by a thin layer of candle material to hide them from view. The rim of the glass cup is visible on the top of the candle.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,395,233 teaches a pillar candle having an outer shell of wax, an intermediate cylindrical layer of transparent wax and potpourri and an inner core comprising a combustible candle with a wick. The inner core has a sufficiently large diameter that the intermediate and outer layers do not melt or burn. The candle does not include a barrier.
Patents teaching patterns illuminated by candle flames include U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,460 for a clear wax candle having an optical lens. In one embodiment of the candle, a lens insert made of wax is positioned in the candle below the wick which can be used to project an image and diffuse light from the candle flame. When the exposed surfaces of the lens cavity are pigmented, a pattern can be generated which reflects onto the outer surface of the candle.
U.S. Pat. No. 589,173 teaches a toy having a pattern cylinder with pattern openings that permit light from a candle burning inside the pattern cylinder to pass through onto spaced screens mounted on an outer frame. Heat rising from the candle is used to turn the pattern cylinder on an axis about the candle, so that the images formed by the pattern openings will move across the screens. The candle is a simple taper candle with a large air space between the candle and the pattern cylinder. The screens are also separated from the pattern cylinder by a gap.
A lampshade having a hidden image when the light source it is near is turned off is covered by U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,725. A design or pattern is held between inner and outer layers of the lampshade to hide the design when the shade is not being illuminated.
A candle having a non-combusting light source, such as a light bulb, inside the candle for illuminating the candle is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,761,702. The bottom of the candle is hollowed out and replaced with a light source. In one embodiment a clear sheath is inserted into the hollow. The sheath is disclosed as possibly having special light distributing or filtering qualities for light emanating from a light source contained therein.
A safety night light having a metal shield embedded in a glass container for a candle is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 2,315,803. The metal shield can have a pattern such as a mesh or honeycomb or spaced holes which light from the candle flame can pass through. The shield is a layer between the surfaces of the glass holder; the only candle material present is the candle inside the glass holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,981 teaches a candle having a design painted on the outer surface of a container which is illuminated by the candle flame inside the container. A disposable mailing tube for the candle is also provided which may have a similar design to that on the candle container. The mailing tube is discarded before using the candle.
Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 3,744,957 for a candle made of an opaque wax which turns transparent when it melts. A disk with a design is placed just below the top surface of the candle around the wick, so that when the top layer of wax is heated by the candle flame, the disk is revealed.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,210 discloses a candle with wax core and surrounding gel components in a clear mineral oil gel, has no barrier around the core.
A flame-resistant and retardant barrier is needed, that can be easily molded and formed. Plastics are a material which can be easily molded and formed, but which can also combust and produce very toxic by-products. Thermoplastics ordinarily have a low melting point because their structure is not highly cross-linked. In fact, most thermoplastics such as polyethylene and polypropylene are held together by weak dispersion forces causing them to act much like molecular solids (e.g., flexible, low strength, low melting point). Because the tensile strength of a polymer tends to degrade with increasing temperature, a thermoplastic such as polyethylene or polypropylene will melt or flow when heated by a flame. Polyethersulfone (PES) is an ideal material for a barrier because it is a transparent thermoplastic that is easily molded and formed, but also is uniquely and inherently a flame-retardant.
A widely accepted test to determine flammability of plastics used in products is found in Underwriter Laboratories UL-94 standard. A material is only considered flame-retardant if it meets the UL flammability standards, in which a product satisfying the V-0 standard is considered to have the highest flame resistance. ASTM standard 3801-96 and ISO standard 1210-1991 are similar standards having similar tests and equivalent ratings.
The UL-94 standard includes horizontal and vertical burn tests which can be used to rate the flammability of plastics. The vertical burn test is considered more stringent and a plastic can receive one of several ratings, depending on its flammability.
A rating of V-0 from the UL-94 vertical burn test indicates that combustion of the product stops within ten seconds after two applications of ten seconds each of a flame to a test bar of the plastic material, and the material must not produce any flaming drips. The V-0 rating is considered one of the best ratings of non-flammability for a plastic.
The UL-94 vertical burn test is performed by suspending a ½ inch wide by 5 inch long test rod of the plastic material over a cotton pad. A burner flame is applied to the lower end of the test rod for ten seconds, following which combustion of the rod, if any is observed until it stops. The burner flame is applied to the test rod for a second period of ten seconds. Observations of the test rod following application of the flame determine the rating the material will receive. In addition to the requirements noted above, the specimen must not begin glowing or flaming combustion after application of the burner flame. The rating for the material is based on the thickness of the test rod used. That is, a ¼ inch thick test rod which achieves a V-0 rating qualifies the material of the test rod used in products in ¼ or greater thicknesses. The thinner the test rod, the less combustible the material.
Polyethersulfone is one such material which has a V-0 rating for the UL-94 vertical burn test at a thickness of 0.8 mm, o

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