Method of making candles in a water bath

A device for making decorative candles which have varied shapes and colors of wax throughout in an heated water bath and an apparatus utilizing said device comprised of multiple heated sources of melted wax suspended above an open topped waterproof box, having one side lined with a water proof gasket through which a waterproof sleeve communicates to a base plate upon which the candle is formed by moving the plate in three dimensions within the water bath and collecting thereon the colored wax, supplied to the top of the water by a heated tube means from selected sources of melted colored wax, as it sinks and cools in the water. The rate of cooling of the wax is controlled by the temperature of the water bath. The water borne wax is built up around a core candle or around a wick, stretched from the center of the plate to an arm, extending to the center of the plate from a rod extending from one edge of the plate to a selected height above the plate.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for making
 candles which have multi-colored wax throughout the thickness of the
 candle and the wax is applied thereto in a decorative manner. Candle
 making has traditionally utilized molds of varied shape and complexity,
 such as those of Davis' U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,724,982, Berman's 3,752,433. In
 order to vary the color patterns of the candle, prior art has been limited
 to surface treatment, such as in Putzer's U.S. Pat. No. 3,867,173, and the
 exterior of the candle could only be decoratively constructed by means of
 an elaborate mold, such as Violet's U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,996. These devices
 and methods limit the artistic expression of the maker.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide the
 artist, candle maker, with a method and an apparatus to employ said method
 to create candles of various external shapes and multiple colors, wherein
 the color extends through the radius of the candle, which candle can be
 formed in a single step without a mold.
 The preferred embodiment of the apparatus, Water Candle Box, is comprised
 of one or more heated wax reservoirs, suspended above a water bath, to
 which the heated wax is selectively supplied by heated wax supply tubes.
 The water bath is maintained at a temperature to control the time of
 setting of the wax to enable the selected decorative design to form.
 Within the water bath is a base plate, upon which the heated wax collects,
 affixed to the top of a base plate holder capable of being moved in three
 dimensions within the water bath either by direct or remote manipulation
 through a waterproof sleeve extending from the outside of a water proof
 box containing the water bath via a waterproof gasket. The heated wax may
 be formed around a small core candle or merely around a wick, stretched
 from the center of the base plate to the end of an arm directly above,
 supported by a vertical shaft originating from the side of the base plate.
 As the process is completed under water, the risk of air pockets in the
 wax build-up is eliminated.
 The novel features of the invention and method for its use will be best
 understood from the following description in light of the accompanying
 drawings. While particular embodiments of the present invention are shown
 and described, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes
 and modifications may be made without departing from this invention in its
 broader aspects and, therefore, the aim of the appended claims is to cover
 all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and
 scope of this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
 Considering now the method of the invention in some detail with reference
 to FIG. 1, candle wax in liquid form (67) is conveyed from a wax reservoir
 (3), having a bottom and sides, contained in a heated cradle (7), having a
 bottom and sides, through a guide tube (12), which has a guide tube heat
 element (13) and released above the surface of water (16) contained in a
 waterproof box (1) with an open top (2). The liquid wax (67) descends
 through the water (16) via gravity and collects on a base plate (17)
 around either a core candle (65) or a wick (19) to form a decorative
 candle (75). The base plate (17) is manually manipulated in the
 horizontal, vertical and rotational planes by means of a flexible
 waterproof sleeve (24) extending through an access hole (26) in one side
 of the waterproof box (1), so that the candle maker (artist) can vary the
 form, texture and size of the candle. This method also includes the use of
 multiple wax reservoirs (3) as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, so that different
 colors of liquid wax may be incorporated in the decorative candle (75).
 An important factor in this method of making candles is the ability to
 control the rate of cooling of the liquid wax (67), and thus the form of
 the candle built up around the wick (19) or core candle (65), by varying
 the temperature of the wax reservoir (3), as shown in FIG. 2, and the
 temperature of the water (16). In the preferred embodiment of the
 apparatus to accomplish this method, rheostats are used for control for
 the heat element (35) in the wax reservoir (3) and for control for the
 waterproof box heat element (68).
 There are various means to accomplish this method. However, the preferred
 embodiment of the apparatus to accomplish this method is disclosed in the
 drawings submitted herein. With specific reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a
 perspective view of the over-all invention is shown. A wax reservoir (3),
 with a heated cradle (7), heated by an electric heat element (8) whose
 temperature is controlled by a rheostat control for the heat element (35)
 for which the electricity is supplied externally through a 220-volt rated
 electrical cord (341, is suspended above the open top (2) of a waterproof
 box (1) by means of a pivot arm (4) formed from one side of the wax
 reservoir (3) and extending a sufficient distance to a pivot arm
 attachment (5) on the wax reservoir support which is affixed to a side of
 the waterproof box (15), with the pivot arm (4) of the wax reservoir (3)
 being of sufficient length so that when attached to the wax reservoir
 support (6) at the pivot arm attachment (5), the outlet (9) and the
 opening in the bottom of the heated cradle (10) are directly above the
 center of the waterproof box (1), so that liquid wax (67) can flow, from
 the outlet (9) in the bottom of the wax reservoir (3) through the opening
 in the bottom of the heated cradle (10) and into the guide tube (12),
 having its own guide tube heat element (13) with a rheostat control for
 the guide tube heat element (36), when the shut-off valve (111) is opened
 mechanically, by being raised by depression of a foot pedal (29) located
 below the waterproof box (1), which when depressed raises the vertical
 support (30), as the direction of movement is reversed by the foot pedal
 pivot (69), which raises the horizontal support (31) and the top of the
 shut-off valve (33) which is removably affixed to the horizontal support
 (31) at the attachment point (32). In the preferred embodiment, the wax
 reservoir (3) and the shut-off valve (11) are made of copper.
 As can be seen with reference to FIGS. 1, 3, 4, 5, the liquid wax (67)
 flows from the outlet end (14) of the guide tube (12) above the surface of
 the water (16) contained in the waterproof box (1) with an open top (2)
 and descends through the water (16), heated by waterproof box heat
 elements (68) whose temperature is set by a rheostat control for the water
 temperature (37), and collected on a base plate (17), around a wick (19)
 tied to a hole (22) in the wick support arm (21) rigidly positioned above
 the center of the base plate (17) by a vertical shaft (20) affixed to a
 side of the base plate (17), said wick (19) being stretched and tied
 through a hole (23) in the base plate (17). The base plate (17) is
 removably affixed to the top of the base plate holder (18), so as to
 remain attached as the base plate holder (18) while it is manually
 manipulated in the horizontal, vertical and rotational planes through a
 flexible waterproof sleeve (24) extending from an access hole (26), of
 sufficient diameter to accommodate the arm of the candle maker (artist),
 and communicating through a waterproof gasket (28), to which it is sealed
 against leakage at its flared inner neck (41) to the edge of a hole in the
 gasket (40), which waterproof gasket (28) spans nearly the entire inside
 of the side of the waterproof box, having the opening in the side of the
 waterproof box (27) and securely sealed at its edges by the gasket
 attachment frame (38) and having sufficient excess gasket material (39) so
 that the flexible waterproof sleeve (24) can move vertically and
 horizontally without compromising the water seal.
 With specific reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the preferred embodiment of the
 invention relating to the vertical movement of the waterproof sleeve (24)
 is shown. The sleeve support plate (25) has grooved rollers (70) rotatably
 affixed to each corner whose grooves engage a vertical rail (71) on either
 side of the opening in the side of the waterproof box (27) on the inside
 of the waterproof box (1), and the sleeve support plate (25) is attached
 to a length of sleeve support plate bottom guide fabric (48) along its
 bottom edge and a length of sleeve support plate top guide fabric (49)
 along its top edge, which guide fabric is wrapped around a top shaft (47)
 which spans the top of the opening in the side of the waterproof box (27)
 and around a bottom shaft (45) which spans the bottom of the opening in
 the side of the waterproof box (27), the ends of which shafts are
 rotatably held in position by top roller bearings (46) and bottom roller
 bearings (44), and the sleeve support plate top guide fabric (49) and the
 sleeve support plate bottom guide fabric (48) being of sufficient length
 so as to allow vertical movement of the sleeve support plate (25)
 throughout the height of the opening in the side of the waterproof box
 (27) without becoming disengaged from the top shaft (47) or the bottom
 shaft (45), and the orientation of the sleeve support plate bottom guide
 fabric (48) to the sleeve support plate top guide fabric (49) being
 maintained by a continuous length of sprocket chain (42) stretched between
 and engaged with gears (43) at each end of the top shaft (47) and the
 bottom shaft (45). The movement of the sleeve support plate (25) being
 restrained in fixed relation to the side of the water proof box and being
 protected from damage by a retainer cover (64) of rigid material spanning
 the area within the gasket attachment frame (38) between the water proof
 gasket (28) and the roller bearings (44, 46). gears (43) and grooved
 rollers (70) and having an opening of sufficient dimension in its center
 to allow movement of the sleeve support plate (25) throughout its vertical
 travel on its rails (71) within the opening in the side of the water proof
 box (27).
 FIGS. 6 and 7 demonstrate an alternate form of the preferred embodiment
 comprised of multiple wax reservoirs (3), in this version four, with
 individual heated cradles (7) contained in a multiple wax reservoir basket
 (50) with a pivot arm (4) affixed to the wax reservoir support (6) at the
 pivot arm attachment (5), each wax reservoir (3) having an outlet (9)
 co-located with an opening in the bottom of each heated cradle (10) on the
 bottom near the side closest to the center of the multiple wax reservoir
 basket (50), through which liquid wax (67) flows into individual wax
 supply tubes (51), having wax supply tube heat elements, which communicate
 into the alternate guide tube (52), aligned vertically along the length of
 the alternate guide tube (52) so that there is vertical separation between
 their connections to the alternate guide tube (52) so that the single
 opening (56) in the solid side of the alternate shut-off valve (53) can be
 positioned to allow the flow of liquid wax (67) from one individual wax
 supply tube (51) at a time into the hollow interior of the alternate shut
 off valve (53) and through its outlet end (57), while the solid side of
 the alternate shut-off valve (55) blocks the flow of liquid wax (67) from
 the other individual wax supply tubes (51). The position of the alternate
 shut-off valve (53) is controlled by its end being affixed to the
 horizontal support which communicates to the foot pedal (29) as shown in
 FIG. 1.
 FIG. 8 discloses an alternative means of controlling the movement of the
 base plate (17) in the vertical, horizontal and rotational planes, being
 comprised of a remote control arm (58) extending from a base plate holder
 engagement plate (61) which spans the under surface of the base plate
 holder (18) and is rigidly attached to the end of the remote control arm
 extension (60) which arm extension spans the length of the waterproof
 sleeve (24) and is restrained in the horizontal plane by an inner stop
 (72), which stop is larger in dimension than the slot in the position
 plate (73), at a point along its length, so that the remote control arm
 extension (60) may not be withdrawn a distance which would damage the
 waterproof sleeve (24), and an outer stop (74) at a point along its length
 on the portion outside the position plate (59) to restrain the remote
 control arm extension (60) from being inserted beyond the limit of the
 excess gasket material (39) and the length of the waterproof sleeve, as
 the position plate (59) is larger than the access hole (26). The remote
 control arm is provided with a left hand grip (62) and a right hand grip
 (63).
 FIG. 8 also demonstrates the alternative method of making the decorative
 candle (75) by utilizing a core candle (65) of narrow diameter and height
 equal to the desired height of the finished decorative candle. The core
 candle (65) is retained on the base plate by impaling it on a core candle
 pike (66) which protrudes through the hole (23) in the base plate (17).
 FIG. 9 demonstrates an alternate means to control the base plate (17) being
 comprised of a support means which allows the base plate to be moved in
 three dimensions by a base plate control means, no part of which
 penetrates the sides of the water proof box (1). The support means is
 comprised of lengths of metal tubing, such as aluminum tubing, connected
 to each other by universal joints. The vertical support (76) is a length
 of metal tubing removably attached to one corner of the water proof box
 (1) by suitable means, such as clips (77), and extending above the sides
 of the water proof box (1) to communicate by universal joint (78) to a
 length of metal tubing (80) of sufficient length to span to the center of
 the waterproof box (1) and communicating by universal joint means (78) to
 a second length of metal tubing (81) of sufficient length to reach through
 the open top (2) of the water proof box (1) to its bottom and
 communicating by universal joint (78) to the base plate support arm (83),
 also made of the same metal tubing and rigidly affixed to the base plate
 (17) by suitable means. The base plate control means is composed of a
 handle (86) of suitable design to be easily grasped by one hand of an
 artist, to which is rigidly attached by suitable means (82) a control arm
 (85) of metal tubing of sufficient length to reach from the outside of the
 waterproof box (1) to above its open top (2) and to which is rigidly
 attached by suitable means (82) a span arm (84) of metal tubing of
 sufficient length to reach the expanses of the open top (2), to which is
 rigidly attached by suitable means (82) a vertical arm (87) of metal
 tubing of sufficient length to reach and rigidly communicate by suitable
 means (82), with the base plate support arm (83), all so that movement of
 the handle (86) by the artist results in direct movement of the base plate
 (17).
 Further, the movement of any mode of the control means for directing the
 movement of the base plate (17) can be directly or by computer linked to
 the control means for a plurality of Water Candle Boxes to mass produce
 the decorative candles (75) and the movement of the control means can be
 determined by a computer program, so as to replicate predetermined
 decorative candle (75) designs.
 Accordingly, it is understood that within the scope of the claims appended
 hereto, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically
 disclosed herein.