Indefinitely reusable candle

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.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to chandlery and more particularly to indefinitely 
reusable candles and improved methods of manufacture. 
A variety of reusable candles have heretofore been proposed, illustrative 
of which are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,481,019 granted to James 
A. Joyce U.S. Pat. No. Sep. 6, 1949; U.S. Pat. No. 2,974,509 granted to 
Aladar J. Penke Mar. 14, 1961; U.S. Pat. No. 3,741,711 granted to Gladys 
Bryant Jun. 26, 1973; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,300 granted to Michael C. 
Wohl Jan. 28, 1997. According to some of these proposals, relatively large 
dimension (e.g., diameter) outer shells are provided within which there 
are disposed wells or recesses into which smaller replacement candle 
elements may be successively disposed. Thus, the exterior shells may be 
employed indefinitely, with just the consumable inserts replaced. 
The foregoing proposals, however, involved the utilization of waxes of 
differing melting temperatures, ornamentation, insulated inserts, or 
special effects additives, thereby adding to cost and complexity. 
Accordingly, there has continued to be a need for simplification, ease of 
fabrication and cost reduction. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The reusable candle of the present invention is characterized by its 
relative simplicity and its particular adaptability to use with a variety 
of candle inserts, e.g., votive candle inserts and the like. It includes 
an outer shell which, in one preferred embodiment, has substantially 
cylindrical concentric inner and outer surfaces. When manufactured, the 
base and outer shell are initially cast of candle wax using a relatively 
simple exterior mold in combination with an essentially concentric insert 
to create a relatively thick exterior wall having an essentially 
concentric inner well of uniform radius open at its upper extremity. When 
the outer shell has hardened (solidified), a wick is positioned along the 
cylindrical axis of the well, and consumable candle wax is then poured 
into the well to fill it to the desired level, thus creating an inner 
solid cylindrical insert of consumable candle wax. When the candle is 
burned, only a part of the inner cylindrical insert is consumed, thus 
creating a cylindrical cavity into which replacement inserts (such as 
conventional votive candles in glass, or candles in plastic, dolomite, or 
stainless steel) may be successively inserted to provide for multiple 
re-use. As an alternative to, or in addition to, the use of candle wax for 
the outer shell, other substances may be included in the outer shell. 
Thus, for example, there may be included substances such as ceramics. 
In another embodiment, the wick is positioned within the well region before 
wax is poured for either the walls of the composite shell or the inner 
core of the candle; and candle wax is poured to simultaneously form both 
the shell and inner core. 
As employed herein, the term "candle wax" includes the petroleum based 
waxes, beeswax, bayberry wax, artificial beeswax and other similar waxes 
that are suitable for use in candles. 
OBJECTS AND FEATURES OF THE INVENTION 
It is one general object of the invention to improve reusable candles. 
It is another object of the invention to simplify manufacture and use of 
such candles. 
It is yet another object of the invention to improve appearance and cost 
effectiveness of reusable candles. 
Accordingly, in accordance with one feature of a first embodiment of the 
invention, a generally cylindrical outer mold is provided within which an 
essentially concentric insert is positioned; and the insert is retained 
within the candle structure after pouring of wax into the space between 
its outer surface and the inner surface of the exterior mold, thus 
enabling use of a single mold in a composite structure. 
In accordance with another feature of the first embodiment of the 
invention, the aforementioned concentric insert acts as a wall to define 
the radial distance of wax melt about a central wick within the candle, 
thus facilitating creation of a well into which refill candles may be 
advantageously positioned. 
In accordance with yet another feature of the invention, the insert may be 
provided with an ornamental cross section such as a star, thus imparting 
versatility. 
In accordance with still another feature of the first embodiment of the 
invention, the aforementioned wick is sized to a length equal to the depth 
within the candle to which burning is desired plus a length desired for 
initial exposure above the wax level at the surface for lighting, thus 
providing for initial burning only to the desired depth and thereby 
creating a cavity of the desired depth. 
In accordance with a feature of an alternate embodiment of the invention, a 
composite candle is prepared by placing an inverted cup of the desired 
cavity size in the bottom center of the exterior mold and then pouring 
candle wax into the mold to surround the exterior surface of the cup, 
thereby facilitating the inclusion of a cup in what subsequently becomes 
the upper exposed surface of the composite candle.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Now turning to the drawing, and more particularly FIG. 1 thereof, it will 
be seen to depict a first preferred embodiment of the invention in the 
form of a composite candle generally shown at 10. This first preferred 
embodiment comprises a substantially cylindrical outer sheath 11 of candle 
wax extending entirely about the periphery of the candle and defining an 
exterior exposed wall of the candle as at 12. Within the candle, and 
defining the inner wall of sheath 11 is wall 13. Wall 13 defines a cavity 
14 which extends vertically from the base 15 of the candle 10 to top 16. 
Contiguous to wall 13 is the outer wall 17 of a cylindrical insert 18 
which has an inner wall 19 defining cavity 14 as mentioned above. 
Preferably centrally positioned along the vertical center axis of candle 
10 is candle wick 20 fully immersed in solidified candle wax 21 which 
fills cavity 14. 
When the candle 10 is burned the first time, it continues to burn (unless 
overtly extinguished) until the level of interior candle wax 21 drops to 
the bottom of the wick 20, whereupon, the wick is completely consumed, and 
the condition of the candle is as shown in FIG. 3. There, it will be seen, 
are the outer sheath 11 surrounding the insert which, in the space above 
dashed line 22 is empty, thus creating an empty upper portion 14a of 
original cavity 14. Below dashed line 22, the wax remains in place, thus 
continuing to fill the lower part 14b of original cavity 14. It will now 
be evident that to reuse the candle 11, it is only necessary to drop a 
small candle into empty upper portion 14a of cavity 14; and when that 
replacement candle is consumed, to replace it with others successively so 
that the outer sheath continues to be reusable indefinitely. 
The remaining figures illustrate a second preferred embodiment together 
with its method of fabrication. There, as mentioned above with respect to 
FIG. 4, there is shown a top view of a mold for making such second 
embodiment. Positioned in the center of the mold 30 there is an inverted 
cup 31, for example glass, thermoplastic, metal or ceramic having thin 
walls 32 and a bottom (when the cup is reinverted to its normal upright 
position) 33. Candle wax is then poured into the mold to fill it to the 
desired level. After cooling and solidifying, mold 30 is inverted and 
removed, thus leaving an intermediate composite as shown in FIG. 5. There, 
in FIG. 5, are seen the outer surface 12a of a modified sheath 11a 
surrounding an empty single non-flamable cup-shaped insert 31 cast into 
composite candle 10a. 
Following creation of the intermediate composite depicted in FIG. 5, a wick 
35 is installed in insert 31 and the empty space 36 (FIG. 5) is filled 
with candle wax 37 poured therewithin to essentially fill space 36. 
Surface 37A is shown to reside slightly below the upper surface 16a of the 
sheath 11a so as to illustrate any shrinkage that may occur upon cooling. 
However, such surfaces may be essentially co-planar; or in some instances 
surface 37A may actually extend slightly higher than surface 16a. 
Turning now to FIG. 7, there will be seen a top view of a composite candle 
generally similar to the composite candle of FIG. 6 with a star-shaped 
insert therein and otherwise generally similar to the composite of FIGS. 
1-3. As mentioned above, FIG. 8 is a front elevation view of the composite 
candle of FIG. 7. In FIGS. 7 and 8 there are seen the above-described 
exterior wall 12b of exterior sheath 11b, candle wick 20b, and insert 40 
which has a star-shaped cross section as shown. It will thus be evident 
that the cylindrical inserts and the cups described above could readily be 
made into special shapes such as the star-shape shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. It 
will also be evident that instead of a star shape, the insert could be any 
one or more of a variety of cross-section shapes such as a rectangle, 
trapezoid, pentagon, hexagon, septagon, or octagon. 
It will now be evident that there has been described herein an improved 
reusable candle which provides an improvement in simplicity. 
Although the invention hereof has been described by way of preferred 
embodiments, it will be evident that adaptations and modifications may be 
employed without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Thus, for 
example, an insert cylinder or cup such as those described hereinabove, 
may be disposed other than at the central axis of a cylindrical outer 
sheath. Moreover, it should be understood that a plurality of cylindrical 
or cup-shaped inserts (including combinations thereof) may be disposed 
within the exterior sheath, thus providing for multiple replacements. 
The terms and expressions employed herein have been used as terms of 
description and not of limitation; and thus, there is no intent of 
excluding equivalents, but on the contrary it is intended to cover any and 
all equivalents that may be employed without departing from the spirit and 
scope of the invention.