Patent Application
20090298000
This invention relates generally to hollow glass blocks used in the building industry and to oil lamps.
Hollow glass building blocks are well-known in the construction trades for the construction of a wide variety of walls, windows and other architectural features. A typical line of such hollow glass building blocks is marketed by the Pittsburgh Corning Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pa.
Likewise, oil lamps comprising a combustion zone, a wick and a supply of liquid fuel have been known for centuries.
It would be desirable to somehow combine the structural characteristics of a hollow glass building block with the aesthetic and functional features of an oil lamp.
The invention is a glass block oil lamp comprising a hollow glass block and an attached oil lamp. The glass block has an interior, an exterior, and six walls configured in a generally parallelepiped shape. Each of at least five of the walls is between about 4 inches and about 12 inches in length and between about 4 inches and about 12 inches in width, and the hollow glass block has a compressive strength greater than about 400 psi, the oil lamp is attached to one of the walls of the glass block. The oil lamp comprises a combustion zone and a wick, the wick has a first end disposed proximate to the combustion zone and an opposed second end disposed within the interior of the glass block. In the invention, the interior of the glass block is adapted to accept and retain a liquid fuel capable of traveling from the interior of the glass block to the combustion zone via the wick.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims and accompanying drawings where:
The following discussion describes in detail one embodiment of the invention and several variations of that embodiment. This discussion should not be construed, however, as limiting the invention to those particular embodiments. Practitioners skilled in the art will recognize numerous other embodiments as well.
The invention is a glass block oil 10 lamp comprising a hollow glass building block 12 in combination with an oil lamp 14. In the invention, the interior of the glass block 12 is adapted to accept and retain liquid fuel 13 used in the oil lamp 14.
The hollow glass block 12 has an interior, an exterior and six walls 16 configured in a generally parallelepiped shape. In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the six walls 16 of the glass block 12 are configured in a regular parallelepiped shape.
At least five of the six walls 16 have a width between about 4 inches and about 12 inches and a length between about 4 inches and about 12 inches.
The glass block 12 has sufficient compressive strength to form a non-load bearing wall. Thus, the glass block 12 typically has a compressive strength greater than about 400 psi, typically between about 400 psi and about 600 psi.
As illustrated in
Typically, the first end 22 of the wick 20 is retained by a wick holder 26 which is typically made of metal. As illustrated in the drawings, the wick holder 26 can be retained within a wick holder well 28 defined at the combustion zone 18. The wick holder 26 typically has exterior dimensions which are sized and dimensioned to match the exterior dimensions of the wick holder well 28.
In the embodiments illustrated in the drawings, the wick holder 26 has the exterior shape of a truncated cone. The wick holder 26 illustrated in the drawings further comprises exterior threads 30 which correspond to matching interior threads (not shown) disposed within the wick holder well 28. Such exterior threads 30 allow the wick holder 26 to be threadedly retained at the combustion zone 18.
As illustrated in the drawings, the combustion zone 18 can be disposed within a generally horizontal table 32 having a peripheral lip 34. Typically, the wick holder 26 is countersunk into the wick holder well 28 defined in the horizontal table 32.
The horizontal table 32 typically is of sufficient size to accept and retain a solid wax candle 36 having a flat bottom side. Typically, the area defined by the horizontal table 32 is between about 5 square inches and about 15 square inches, more typically between about 7 square inches and about 12 square inches.
Typically, the oil lamp 14 is made from a glass or glass-appearing material. Either or both the glass block 12 and the oil lamp 14 can be transparent, translucent or opaque. Typically, the relative transparency of the oil lamp 14 is chosen to match the relative transparency of the glass block 12.
The invention provides a combination of a glass building block and an oil lamp having both unique aesthetic and functional features. Liquid fuel for the oil lamp is conveniently retained within the glass block.
Having thus described the invention, it should be apparent that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the scope and fair meaning of the instant invention as set forth hereinabove and as described hereinbelow by the claims.
