Motorized Wick Retraction for Automatic Candle Flame Extinguishing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing candles pose a significant fire hazard due to unattended flames and unstable wicks, leading to potential fires, injuries, and property damage, with existing self-extinguishing devices failing to provide automatic wick retraction and flame extinguishment.
Innovation Solution
A flame out candle system featuring a puck assembly with a motor-driven wick engaging member that automatically retracts the wick into the candle body using a gear mechanism, controlled by a computer or controller system, which can be activated by timers, sensors, voice commands, or wireless signals.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Object-affected harmful factors
If a traditional open flame candle is used, then the candle provides light and ambiance, but it poses fire hazards due to unattended flames and unstable wicks
Solution Approach 1:
The candle system automatically monitors and manages its own flame through a control system that detects flame presence, wick length, and temperature, then autonomously adjusts the wick position or applies water to extinguish the flame when safety thresholds are exceeded, eliminating the need for human intervention
Solution Approach 2:
The system incorporates sensors that continuously monitor flame status, wick length, and temperature, feeding this information back to a control system that automatically adjusts the candle's operation by retracting the wick or applying water to maintain safe operating conditions
2Illumination intensity
If the wick length is increased to provide more light, then the illumination intensity improves, but the flame becomes taller and more irregular creating greater fire risk
Solution Approach 1:
The wick is designed to be dynamically adjustable rather than fixed, allowing the system to automatically retract or extend the wick length based on real-time monitoring of flame characteristics, temperature, and safety conditions, optimizing light output while maintaining safety
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a self-extinguishing device is added to the candle, then fire safety improves, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The candle system is divided into functionally independent modules: a wick assembly that can be independently retracted, a control system with sensors, and a water delivery mechanism, allowing each component to be optimized and maintained separately while working together for safety
Data Source
AI summary
A flame out candle system and method for automatically retracting and extinguishing a wick flame. The system includes a candle, a wick, and a puck assembly. The candle includes a bore to receive the wick, and a cavity to receive the puck assembly. The puck assembly can include a motor driven power screw or spur gears associated with spaced apart pinion gears. The puck assembly is removable from the candle for reuse in another candle. A wick engaging member can be operatively associated with the power screw for linear movement that is transferred to the wick. The pinion gears can be engageable with a rack gear positioned therebetween so rotation of the pinion gears translates into linear motion of the wick. A computer system can be utilized to control the motor based on a time signal, an activation signal, a sensor signal or any wireless signal.