CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application may be deemed to be related to commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/985,991 filed on May 22, 2018 (now U.S. Pat. No. 11,021,677), and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/704,488 filed on Dec. 5, 2019 (now U.S. Pat. No. 10,975,329), the entire content of each such application being expressly incorporated hereinto by reference.

FIELD

The embodiments disclosed herein relate generally to candle wick assemblies having multiple candle wicks which curl oppositely to one another when lit and candles which include such wick assemblies.

BACKGROUND

Candles employing a wick have been in existence for many centuries. A typical candle has a single wick, or multitude of wicks, that extend(s) longitudinally through the body of the candle. Single wicks are usually centrally disposed in the candle body. The combustible candle body is typically a thermoplastic blend of petroleum (paraffin) wax, mineral (montan) wax, synthetic wax (polyethylene or Fischer-Tropsch (FT) waxes) or natural waxes (vegetable or animal waxes). Clear candle waxes, known as gel candles, have diverse decorating potential. These gel candles are made from mineral oil and special resins. Natural, plant based soybean wax is gaining popularity as a cost competitive, environmental or “green” wax derived from renewable resources. Various additives used to modify the candle hardness, color, burn rate and aroma are well known in the trade and include, for example, stearic acid, UV inhibitors, polyethylene, scent oils and color pigments. Upon lighting a candle wick, the heat melts the wax which then travels up the wick by capillary action and is vaporized. Performance requirements of a wick in a candle include the ability to create and maintain the desired burn rate, the ability to create and maintain the desired wax pool and, if specified or required, the ability to bend or curl to maintain the proper wick height (referred to in the trade as “self-trimming”). In addition to these performance requirements, it is important that the finished wick be stable and not subject to size fluctuation when tension is applied to the wick during the candle making or wick pre-waxing process. The ability of the wick to be self-supporting may be preferred, or even required, in certain candle types or candle manufacturing processes, e.g., so-called poured candle constructions where the molten wax fuel is poured into a mold around a pre-positioned and pre-waxed wick and thereafter allowed to solidify.

One performance characteristic of scented candles that may be employed for environmental scent freshening or aroma therapy is the size of the liquid pool of wax fuel that forms on the top of the candle. In general, manufacturers of scented candles prefer to have a large liquid pool of wax fuel as this increases the scent released into the ambient environment. At the same time, however, flame height cannot be too high or the candle flame will then emit undesirable soot that can mar the appearance of the candle and candle holder and nearby surfaces, i.e., by visible smoke being emitted from the candle flame and being deposited as soot on the candle holder and into the environment and/or by the presence of undesirable black carbon droppings that are visible in the liquid wax pool. These carbon deposits, can cause secondary ignition, a safety hazard near the end of the candle life. A single conventional wick large enough to produce the necessary heat to form the desired size liquid wax pool often results in an unreasonably high flame, carbon deposits and excess sooting all of which are undesirable and some of which are unsafe.

It is known that providing multiple spaced-apart wicks will increase the size of the liquid wax pool while maintaining several smaller flames. However, increasing the number of wicks will in turn increase manufacturing costs (and hence increase the cost of the finished candle product) since multiple wick insertions must be made into the solid wax fuel during production. Additionally, conventional multiple wick candles produce a much less consistent burn environment within the candle. Having two or more independent flames causes considerable air turbulence which changes as the wax level in the candle container drops over time. This air turbulence within the candle container can cause the flame height to fluctuate significantly from under ¼″ to over 1.5″ over the life of the candle.

It would therefore be highly desirable if a candle wick assembly could be provided having multiple individual wicks that are capable of achieving a further increase in the liquid wax pool size than that which has conventionally been available. It is towards fulfilling such a need that the embodiments disclosed herein are directed.

SUMMARY

In general, the embodiments disclosed herein provide multiple candle wicks that may be placed into a candle wax (paraffin) body such that the wicks when lit curl in a direction opposite to the curl direction of an adjacent wick. By such oppositely curling wicks when lit, therefore, the wax pool diameter may thereby be increased which in turn increases the amount of liberated scents from the candle body.

In some preferred embodiments, the multiple candle wicks as disclosed herein will include a wick construction having at least one pair of substantially parallel elongate candle wicks which are laterally separated from one another, and a ladder filament connecting the pair of candle wicks. The ladder filament extends back and forth between the candle wicks (e.g., at substantially 90° relative to the elongate axes of the wicks) so as to establish respective crossing portions that are spaced apart from one another along a lengthwise direction of the construction. The construction of each wick is such that a curl direction can be predetermined. As such, the wicks are positioned adjacent one another in such a manner so that when connected by the ladder filament and placed in a candle wick body, the wicks curl in opposite directions relative to one another (preferably opposite directions of a midplane of the candle wick body).

The candle wicks provided in the wick assemblies described herein are preferably knitted wicks such as those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,699,034 (the entire contents of which are expressly incorporated hereinto by reference). Such knit candle wicks will also preferably include an inserted elongate stiffening element to assist in maintaining the wicks of the wick assembly in an upright position during candle manufacturing. The preferred knit candle wicks will therefore have a weft side and a warp side with the elongate stiffening element being inserted therebetween by weft-inserted yarns.

According to certain embodiments, the ladder filament may be a thermoplastic monofilament which includes crossing portions are substantially orthogonal to respective elongate axes of the candle wicks. The candle wicks may include elongate stiffening elements, such as thermoplastic monofilaments and spun yarns of natural fibers coated with a thermoplastic material, to impart self-supporting characteristics to the candle wicks.

The candle wick construction may be inserted into a wax body so as to form a candle such that an upper portion of each wick extends above the top surface of the candle body. When lit, therefore, the candle wicks will form a molten wax pool at the top surface of the wax body and provide fuel to the wicks to maintain the candle flame. The diameter of the wax pool will therefore be increased by virtue of the multiple wicks curling the adjacent wicks curling in opposite orthogonal directions relative to a bisecting midplane of the candle. According to some embodiments, at least three wicks are provided, adjacent ones of each wick curling in an opposite direction relative to the bisecting midplane of the candle. Certain embodiments will include at least four wicks, wherein adjacent ones of the wicks curls in an opposite orthogonal direction relative to the bisecting midplane of the candle. The multiple wicks may be positioned in alignment with the bisecting midplane of the candle.

These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more clear after careful consideration is given to the following detailed description of the preferred exemplary embodiments thereof.

