FR2772116A1 - CHARACTER CANDLE HOLDER FOR BIRTHDAY CAKE - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention concerns a device for holding a candle (5) on a cake (7) and decorating it, comprising a support (2) with a hollow part (3) for receiving the candle (5); said device which needs to be compact, stable and capable of serving several purposes, comprises a decorative object (1) representing a character, and a base (6) integral with said support (2) and said object (1), said base (6) having a support surface on said cake (7) such that its largest dimension is not more than 5 cm and the pressure p transmitted to the cake is less than 8 g/cm<2>, and the whole device forming a single piece having a total height H between 2.5 and 6 cm and being made of food material.

Description

CHARACTER CANDLE HOLDER FOR CAKE
BIRTHDAY
The present invention relates to a character candle holder for a birthday cake.

The technical sector of the invention is the field of making devices for placing a candle on a pastry and decorating it.

We know different devices allowing the attachment of candles on pastries to celebrate birthdays or holidays in particular: the best known device is a candle holder essentially made of plastic and comprising a pointed appendage located opposite the part supporting the candle, which appendage is intended to be planted in the pastry in order to keep the candle in a vertical position.

To improve this type of candle holder, in particular to guarantee better stability and prevent the wax from the candle from flowing onto the pastry, various other devices have been developed, such as in particular the one described in the application for patent
FR2656207 published on June 28, 1991 and describing a device for improving the fixing of candles on the pastry by means of a support in the form of a crown or of a solid surface having a decorative outline; this support, covering a large part of the surface of the pastry, is suitable for supporting candles and candle holders as well as all decorative patterns by magnetization or other mechanical means. Such a device is however rather bulky, can only be used on pastries in which almost the entire upper surface is clear and flat, and requires the handling of several objects placed on said support.

The objective of the present invention is to be able to produce a device for placing candles on a birthday-type pastry which, as in the example of the previous patent application, does not require pricking the actual pastry, does not mark. the surface thereof and is of reduced dimensions, forming a fairly compact assembly, while ensuring stability to the candle holder with inclinations that may be quite significant, which device must also constitute an additional decorative element, on the one hand in its use on a pastry, and on the other hand after said pastry has been consumed by being able to be placed on a piece of furniture such as in a child's room, and even constitute a collector's item, and thus have a second use, while being produced in accordance with food standards.

These objectives are achieved by means of a device for placing a candle on a pastry and decorating it, and comprising a support having a hollow part suitable for receiving the candle, which device comprises a decorative subject bearing the likeness of a character, and a base integral with said support and said subject, which base having a bearing surface on said pastry such that its largest dimension is at most 5 cm and the bearing pressure p transmitted to the pastry is less than 8 grams per cm2 , and the entire device forming a single piece having a total height H of between 2 and 7 cm and the base at least being made of food material.

In a preferred embodiment, said hollow part is suitable for receiving a writing instrument such as a pen or pencil, which makes it possible to use such a device according to the invention according to a use other than that of a candle holder. decoration. Stability and multi-use are obtained with a material constituting said device sufficiently dense, such as ceramic or food porcelain, so that the weight and the center of gravity of the whole of the device even equipped with said pen or said candle or such that they remain stable, even with an inclination which can range at least up to 200 in all directions and even 400 for the device alone.

Preferably, the candle holder is located behind a plane defining the front face of the decorative subject, and its height is less than the height of said decorative subject, so that the latter completely hides said candle holder when we look at the face of said subject.

If said decorative subject is a character from comics or cartoons, the child whose birthday or party has been desired by a cake on which said device according to the invention has been placed, can keep it and collect it. with other characters that he will be able to recover at every opportunity.

The result is a new candle holder device corresponding to the desired objective. We could cite other advantages of the present invention but those mentioned above already show enough to prove its novelty and interest.

The description and the attached figures represent an exemplary embodiment of the invention but are in no way limiting: other embodiments are possible within the scope and extent of this invention, in particular by changing the decorative subject and the shape of the base.

Figure 1 is a schematic side view of a device according to the invention.

Figure 2 is a top view of the device of Figure 1.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are perspective views of an example of a device according to the invention, one seen from the side, and the other seen almost from the front.

The device according to the invention making it possible to place a candle 5 on a pastry 7 and to decorate it comprises in a known manner a support 2 having a hollow part 3 capable of receiving the candle 5 and forming a candle holder; according to the invention, the device comprises a decorative subject 1 bearing the likeness of a character, such as that shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B and which preferably can be a character well known to children, and a base 6 in the form of generally flat, integral with said support 2 and said subject 1 which are fixed thereto or made in one piece with it.

Said base 6 has a lower bearing surface, preferably flat on the pastry 7 such that the pressure p transmitted to the latter is less than 8 grams per cm2, and even preferably 6 grams per cm2 so as not to leave any mark on the surface of the pastry when removing the device. The whole thereof forms a single compact piece which can be produced by molding, having a total height H of between 2.5 and 6 cm and being made of a food material such as ceramic and preferably porcelain; at least character 1 can also be made of resin. The density of the whole of the device according to the invention is greater than 1, and even preferably more than 2 kg / dm3
The base 6 may be of quasi-circular shape according to the representation of FIGS. 3A and 3B, of oblong shape according to the representation of FIG. 2, or else of quasi-triangular shape, each vertex of which is rounded, one receiving the support. 2 of the candle 5, and the surface delimited by the other two vertices and located in front of said support or candle holder 2 receiving said subject 1.

In all cases, the support 2 of said candle 5 is located behind the plane YY 'defining the front face of the decorative subject 1, so that the candle holder 2 is hidden by the character 1 himself, when the one is placed. here facing the observer.

To obtain the pressure p indicated above, for a weight P obtained with a material of density greater than 1 and even 2, such as porcelain or a resin, while ensuring good stability of the assembly, such as center of gravity G is such that the device with a candle or even a pencil or other writing instrument, remains in the support polygon of the base 6, even with an inclination of at least 200 if not 300 in any direction, the base 6 has a minimum dimension of 2 cm in the axis parallel to the front face YY '; and for considerations of balance, shape and reasonable size to have a sufficiently compact object, said base 6 has a maximum dimension of 5 cm along the axis XX 'perpendicular to the plane of the front face YY' of the decorative subject 1.

Preferably, said candle holder 2 has a total height (h3 + h4) of 1.5 to 3.5 cm and therefore always less than that (He) of subject 1, and its hollow part 3 receiving the candle has a diameter interior from 0.7 to 1 cm with a minimum height h3 of 1 to 1.5 cm.

The base 6 preferably has a thickness of e = 0.5 to 1 cm and the height h5 of the candle 5 above the subject 1 is between 3 and 3.5 cm.

An exemplary embodiment is a device whose total height
H is 4.4 cm; the largest dimension D of the base 6 is 4.2 cm for a width of 3 cm with an almost triangular shape and a thickness of 9 mm. This corresponds to a height of the decorative subject 1 of 3.5 cm with a height (h3 + h4) of the candle holder 2 of 2.5 cm.

The decorative subject can then be a character in a seated position, legs apart, each foot being positioned on a vertex of the small side of the almost triangular shape of the base 6, and the candle holder 2 is located on the third vertex in the back of said character 1.

The entire device made in a single piece of porcelain weighs approximately 36 grams, for a bearing surface of the base 6 of approximately 6.3 cm2, corresponding to a pressure p of 5.70 grams per cm2, and a volume of about 14 cm3, corresponding to a density of 2.5.

Such a device according to the invention may be called a "bobèche" by extension of the dictionary definition, which designates the upper part of a candlestick intended to collect the wax from the candles, although here such a function is not sought, and the character 1 is preferably colored with the same colors as those which characterize it in the cartoon or the comic strip from which it is taken; the support or candle holder 2 can also be colored while the base 6 can remain white.

Claims (10)

1. Device for placing a candle (5) on a pastry (7) and decorating it, and comprising a support (2) having a hollow part (3) adapted to receive the candle (5), characterized in that it comprises a decorative subject (1) bearing the likeness of a character, and a base (6) integral with said support (2) and said subject (1), which base (6) having a bearing surface on said pastry (7) ) such that its largest dimension is at most 5 cm and the pressure p transmitted to the pastry is less than 8 grams per cm2, and the whole of the device forming a single piece having a total height H of between 2 and 7 cm and the base at least being made of food material. 2. Device according to claim 1 characterized in that the support (2) of the candle (5) is located behind the plane YY 'defining the front face of the decorative subject (1). 3. Device according to Claim 2, characterized in that the base (6) has a quasi-triangular shape, one of the vertices of which receives the support (2) of the spark plug (5) and the surface delimited by the other two vertices and located in front of said support (2) receives said subject (1). 4. Device according to claim 2 characterized in that the base (6) is of quasi-circular shape. 5. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the base (6) has a maximum dimension of 5 cm in the axis XX 'perpendicular to the plane of the front face YY' of the decorative subject (1 ), and for a minimum dimension of 2 cm in the axis parallel to said plane of the front face YY '. 6. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 characterized in that the support (2) has a height of 1.5 to 3.5 cm always lower than that of the subject (1), and its hollow part (3 ) receiving the candle has an inner diameter of 0.7 to 1 cm with a minimum height of 1 to 1.5 cm. 7. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 characterized in that the base (6) has a thickness of 0.5 to 1 cm and the height of the candle (5) above the subject (1) is between 3 and 3.5 cm. 8. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterized in that the hollow part (3) of the support (2) is adapted to receive a writing instrument. 9. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 7 characterized in that it is made of ceramic or food porcelain. 10. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 9 characterized in that its weight P and its center of gravity G are such that the device equipped with the spark plug (5) remains stable with an inclination of at least 20 in any direction. .