Abstract:
A combined greeting card/candle arrangement ( 10 ) including a greeting card member ( 20 ) having a front face ( 21 ) adapted to releasably receive a candle unit ( 12 ) including a plurality of different colored wax sheets ( 30 ) ( 30′ ) ( 30″ ) having different sizes wherein the largest of the wax sheets ( 30 ) has a wick element ( 36 ) embedded therein; and, a plurality of decorative members ( 40 ) releasably associated with selected portions of the wax sheets ( 30 ) ( 30′ ) ( 30″ ) which may be rolled together to form a tapered candle ( 50 ).

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     Not applicable. 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to the field of greeting cards in general and in particular to a greeting card in combination with a diverse article such as a candle or the like. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     As can be seen by reference to the following U.S. Pat. No. 3,077,981; DES. 319,843; U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,714,774; 4,035,937; and, U.S. Pat. No. 5,632,615, the prior art is replete with myriad and diverse greeting cards combined with diverse articles such as candles. 
     While all of the aforementioned prior art constructions are more than adequate for the basic purpose and function for which they have been specifically designed, they are uniformly deficient with respect to their failure to provide a simple, efficient, and practical greeting card and candle combination wherein the candle is comprised of a plurality of components that in their unassembled state form a background for an image that appears on the face of the greeting card. 
     Unfortunately, the prior art greeting card/candle combinations employ whole candle elements which, due to their bulky external configurations, are prone to damage in the mail since they do not have the slim profile that most automated mail handling systems require for processing flats. 
     As a consequence of the foregoing situation, there has existed a longstanding need for a new and improved combined greeting card and decorative candle display wherein the components of the candle comprise a plurality of generally flat rectangular contoured elements to initially produce a slim profile for mailing and which are combinable with one another to produce a tapered candle once the recipient has the greeting card in their possession and the provision of such an arrangement is the stated objective of the present invention. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Briefly stated, the combined greeting card and candle arrangement that forms the basis of the present invention comprises in general a card unit, a candle unit adapted to be received by the greeting card unit and a decorative unit which is releasably associated with the candle unit. 
     As will be explained in greater detail further on in the specification, the candle unit comprises the crux of this invention and includes a plurality of different sized and different colored wax sheets which originally form a removable background for the front of the card unit and a support surface for the decorative unit; but, which more importantly comprise the components of a tapered finished candle member wherein the largest of the wax sheets has a wick element embedded along one edge which winds up being axially disposed relative to the finished candle member. 
     In addition, the front face of the card unit is provided with a plurality of slots which releasably receive selected portions of the multiple, generally flat layers of the wax sheets; wherein, the different colored wax sheets constitute a background and a support surface for the decorative unit which are releasably attached thereto. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
     These and other attributes of the invention will become more clear upon a thorough study of the following description of the best mode for carrying out the invention, particularly when reviewed in conjunction with the drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the greeting card/candle arrangement in its assembled mode; 
     FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the greeting card/candle arrangement in its segregated mode; 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the components of the candle unit; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the candle components partially assembled; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the fully assembled candle unit. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As can be seen by reference to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, the combined greeting card/candle arrangement that forms the basis of the present invention is designated generally by the reference number  10 . The arrangement  10  comprises in general a card unit  11 , a candle unit  12  and a decorative unit  13 . These units will now be described in seriatim fashion. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, the card unit  11  comprises a folded stock card member  20  having a front face  21 , a rear face  22 , and a pair of interior faces  23  wherein at least one of the interior faces  23  contains a printed or handwritten greeting or the like (not shown). 
     In addition, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the front face  21  of the card member  20  is provided with a plurality of angled slots  24  disposed adjacent to, but spaced from, the four corners of the front face  21  of the card member  20  for reasons that will be explained later on in the specification. 
     Turning now to FIGS. 3 through 5, it can be seen that the candle unit  12  comprises a plurality of different sized contoured wax sheets  30   30 ′  30 ″ which diminish in size and which all share in common a pair of opposed straight vertical sides  31   32  and a straight horizontal bottom edge  33 ; wherein, the largest of the wax sheets  30  has a straight horizontal top edge  34  and the smaller sized wax sheets  30 ′  30 ″ have a contoured top edge  35 . 
     In addition, the largest wax sheet  30  is further provided with an embedded wick element  36  disposed adjacent to one of the straight vertical sides  32  and each of the wax sheets  30   30 ′ and  30 ″ is fashioned from wax of a different color for reasons that will be explained shortly. 
     Furthermore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the decorative unit  13  comprises a plurality of generally flat contoured decorative members  40  fabricated from generally soft flexible material  41 ; wherein, the various decorative members  40  are adapted to be releasably attached to the front faces of the wax sheets  30   30 ′  30 ″ such as by light adhesives or the like. 
     As can best be appreciated by reference to FIG. 1, the generally flat, slim profile of the wax sheets  30   30 ′ and  30 ″ allows their lower corners to be captively received in the lower slots  24  on the front face  21  of the card member  20 ; wherein, the upper corners of the largest wax sheet  30  are likewise captively received in the upper slots  24 ; and, the smaller dimension wax sheets  30 ′  30 ″ adhere to one another and the largest wax sheet  30  by virtue of the inherent tackiness of the wax material. 
     Furthermore, as was mentioned previously, each of the wax sheets  30   30 ′  30 ″ is fabricated from wax of a different color so that the staggered arrangement of the wax sheets  30   30 ′  30 ″ provides a contoured multi-colored background for the decorative members  40 . 
     By now it should be appreciated that once a person receives the combined greeting card/candle arrangement  10  of FIG. 1, and has read the greeting on at least one of the interior faces  23  of the card member  20  the combined arrangement  10  may be segregated into its respective units  11   12  and  13 . 
     At this point, as depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, the overlapping wax sheets are rolled together starting from the vertical edge  32  having the embedded wick element  36  to produce the tapered multi-layered wax candle designated generally as  50  and depicted in FIGS. 2 and 5. 
     As can also be appreciated by reference to FIG. 2, the decorative members ( 40 ) may also be re-arranged around and/or on the finished candle to produce an aesthetically pleasing display that maintains the theme set forth in the original combined greeting card/candle arrangement  10  depicted in FIG.  1 . 
     As can also be appreciated by reference to FIGS. 1 through 5, in the preferred embodiment of the invention, the wax sheets  30   30 ′ and  30 ″ are provided with a raised honeycomb array to both minimize the surface contact between adjacent wax sheets  30   30 ′ etc., and to provide structural integrity and thickness to the finished multi-layered wax candle  50 . 
     Although only an exemplary embodiment of the invention has been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the following claims. 
     Having thereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications, and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims.