Patent Application
20130039046
1. Field of the Invention
The invention is in the field of ceremonial and religious candles and in special deals with electric candles operated by the traditional act of kindling a match or a candle and using that flame source for turning on the candles.
2. Description of Related Art
For a matter of convenience the prior art is described in connection with Jewish religious tradition. However, similar prior art is known in other religions and in secular ceremonies worldwide, and the current invention is useful for these applications as well.
A stand alone candle on a candlestick as depicted in
To light or kindle a candle, one places the candle on a candlestick, kindles a match or a cigarette lighter, brings the flame close to the candle wick, increasing the temperature thereof such that a flame is ignited in the wick. The flames continues to light, as it is fed continuously by melted wax from the upper face of the candle by capillarity.
A pair of candles on respective candlesticks is shown in
Upon having children, a Jewish woman traditionally kindles additional candle for each child. For convenience, a woman having a single child may use a three candle candelabrum as shown in
Hanukkah is an eight day festive celebrating an historical event which occurred in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem almost 2200 years ago. A nine candles candelabrum, as shown in
In the sixth day example of
Hanukkah candles stay burning for at least half an hour after sunset. Thus, their total lighting duration depends on kindling time. In weekdays, one kindles the candles after sunset and thus their total burning time should be half an hour, and regular
Hanukkah candles are made to provide slightly more than that minimal burning duration. However, in Friday the candles are kindled well before sunset as kindling is forbidden during the entering Shabbat according to religious rules. Thus, candles of longer burning time are used to provide the extra burning time.
Despite the beauty and fancy character of ceremonial candle lighting, there are some drawbacks of traditional candle lighting. First, sometimes candles reside at an unattended place after kindling, and may set fire in the place. For example, while spending a weekend vacation in an hotel, the religious rule calls for candle lighting in the hotel room as the sleeping place. However, such an action is prohibited as a fire hazard, and the prohibition is enforced by smoke detectors which activate fire alarm means like siren. Thus, the hotel visitors kindle Shabbat and/or memorial candles in a special public location allocated by hotel management, rather than doing it in their intimate room place.
Secondly, upon burning the candle melts some wax without burning it, such that it drops down on candlestick or candelabrum and should be removed later before a succeeding use.
Electric candles operated electrically by a push button or by a control means are well known in the prior art, which describe candles shaped and designed to simulate real candles. However, such electric candles fail to preserve a sense of the traditional candle lighting. Thus, it is an objective of the current invention to employ electric candles while preserving at least part of the experience of traditional candle kindling, by using a real flame during certain steps of candle lighting.
It is disclosed in accordance with preferred embodiments of the current invention, an apparatus for electric candles. The apparatus includes an electric power supply, light emitters connectable to the electric power supply, flame sensors respectively proximate to the light emitters, and means for connecting a light emitter to the electric power supply in accordance with a flame sensed by a respective flame sensor.
The electric power supply may be a battery, a rechargeable battery connected to an electric mains source or to an interface for connection to an electric mains source.
In some embodiments, the apparatus includes two light emitters, and two respective flame sensors. In alternative embodiments, the apparatus includes seven, eight or nine light emitters.
The flame sensor may be a thermocouple sensor, an infra-red sensor, a light sensor, an ultra-violet sensor, a pyroelectric detector or a smoke sensor.
In some embodiments, the flame sensor activates an electric switch which connects the power supply to the respective light emitter.
Exemplary light emitters are a diode light emitter, an incandescent light bulb, and a gas discharge lamp.
In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a control unit adapted for receiving a flame detection signal from a flame sensor, connecting a respective light emitter to the power supply in accordance with a received flame detection signal, receiving control commands from an user interface, storing control commands, and turning off a light emitter in accordance with stored control commands.
In some embodiments the apparatus further includes a user interface for receiving control commands from a user.
It is provided according to preferred embodiments of the current invention a method for electric candles. The method includes kindling fire on a flame carrier, bringing the flame close to a flame sensor, the flame sensor detecting the flame, and connecting a light emitter to a power supply in accordance with the detecting.
In some embodiments the method further includes the step of turning off the light emitter in accordance with a predetermined control command.
In some embodiments, the connecting of a light emitter to a power supply occurs after a predetermined delay since said detecting.
The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. The invention, however, both as to system organization and method of operation, together with features and advantages thereof, may best be understood by reference to the following detailed description when read with the accompanied drawings in which:
a (prior art) illustrates kindling six Hanukkah candles in a eight candles-one serving-candle candelabrum.
b(prior art) depicts a fully lighted Hanukkah candelabrum in the eighth evening of the Hanukkah festive.
a is a block diagram of a coin operated memorial electric candlestick.
b illustrates a memorial electric candle having an associated digital frame.
The present invention will now be described in terms of specific example embodiments. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the example embodiments disclosed. It should also be understood that not every feature of the methods and systems handling the described device is necessary to implement the invention as claimed in any particular one of the appended claims. Various elements and features of devices are described to fully enable the invention. It should also be understood that throughout this disclosure, where a method is shown or described, the steps of the method may be performed in any order or simultaneously, unless it is clear from the context that one step depends on another being performed first.
Before explaining several embodiments of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. The systems, methods, and examples provided herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
In the description and claims of the present application, each of the verbs “comprise”, “include” and “have”, and conjugates thereof, are used to indicate that the object or objects of the verb are not necessarily a complete listing of members, components, elements or parts of the subject or subjects of the verb.
In general, the current invention provides an electric candle which is lighted in a way strongly resembling the traditional way of kindling candles, as described above. The user provides a real flame and brings it close to the candle, whereas a flame sensor senses the flame and consequently the electric candle starts to emit light.
A typical apparatus 10 for an electric candle is illustrated in
To kindle bulb 50*, a user presses a button 30 to retract a flame sensor 80, lights a match 20, and brings a flame 25 of match 20 in contact or very close to flame sensor 80. As sensor 50 senses flame 25, it stimulates switch 54 to connect battery 44 to bulb 50*. As a result, bulb 50* heats up and emits light. Note that the human actions involved in kindling electric candle 50* of apparatus 10 overlaps appreciably the actions taken in kindling a regular candle.
Battery 44 may be a rechargeable battery charged by mains 62. Alternatively, mains 62 may provide electric power to bulb 50* through control unit 70, preferably at a reduced voltage.
Control unit 70 receives a flame detection signal from flame sensor 80 or 82, connects respective light emitter 80* or 82* to rechargeable battery 64 or electric mains 62 in accordance with the received flame detection signal, receives control commands from an user interface 68, stores control commands in either a internal memory(not shown) or an external memory(not shown), and turns off light emitter 80* in accordance with the stored control commands.
For example, an electric Hanukkah candelabrum of nine candles, eight daily candles and a serving candle, may have a control unit 70 for turning off the candles 80* and 82* at appropriate time. During Hanukkah weekday evenings the user feeds interface 68 with a control command for turning candles 80* and 82* off one hour after kindling. In contrast, in Friday evening the user feeds a command to turn off candles 80* and 82* two hours after kindling, such that they light at least an hour after sunset, as desired traditionally.
Referring now to the flowchart of
Control unit 70 implements a method 200 for controlling candelabrum 60, as depicted in the flowchart of
Referring now to
A digital frame 380 may be incorporated in a memorial candlestick 300, and may be activated by electric switch 54 or control unit 470 whenever light emitter 50* is activated. As shown in
An electric candle 400 having an alternative light emitter for use whenever a default candle fails or becomes broken, is shown in
Electric candle 400 may include also a smoke or odor emitter 495, activated whenever one of the light emitters is activated. Emitter 495 is designed much alike the design of an electronic cigarette which is well known in the art.
Referring now to
Although the invention has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the appended claims. In particular, the present invention is not limited in any way by the examples described.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2011/050312 | 1/25/2011 | WO | 00 | 10/14/2012 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61300478 | Feb 2010 | US |
