US2323804A

US2323804A - Citronella candle

Info

Publication number: US2323804A
Application number: US357508A
Authority: US
Inventors: Philip J Driscoll
Original assignee: CLIFFORD D STEWART
Current assignee: CLIFFORD D STEWART
Priority date: 1940-09-20
Filing date: 1940-09-20
Publication date: 1943-07-06
Anticipated expiration: 1960-07-06

Description

CITRO DRISCOLL NELLA CANDLE July 5, 1943.

Patented Jul 6,1943

CITRONELLA CANDLE Philip J. Driscoll, Newton, Mass., assignor to Clifford D. Stewart, Boston, Mass.

Application September 20, 1940, Serial No. 357,508

1 Claim.

This invention relates to candles containing volatile ingredients which ar vaporized upon burning of the candle for .the purpose of repelling mosquitoes or other insects; and the principal purpose of the invention is to provide a candle of this type comprising paraffin and oil of citronella so fashioned and compounded that the candle will burn for many hours and, while burning, will diffuse the citronella odor with sufficient strength to be effective in repelling mosquitoes from a substantial area around the candle.

Repeated experiment have demonstrated that a citronella candle satisfying the purposes of this invention cannot be satisfactorily manufactured from many of the paraflins or waxes which are used in making ordinary candles or from ordinary oil of citronella which, as is well known, is a mosquito repellent when applied in liquid form to the person; and I have found that the best results are obtained when the improved candle is made from a mixture of refined parafli n having a melting point of 132 F., and a heavy, slow flowing citronella oil having a viscosity comparabl to that of molasses. Tests have shown that the crude parafiin having a melting point at 102 F., as ordinarily used in candle manufacture, nullifies or substantially reduces the desired effect of the citronella oil; and that the standard, light weight, and free flowing citronella oil does not properly combine with the paramn so that its vapor may be diffused upon burning of the candle with suflicient strength to be reasonably effective agains mosquitoes.

Although the proportions of the preferred ingradients may be varied within reasonable limits in achieving satisfactory results, I prefer to make a candle mixture by adding twenty (20) ounces (by weight) of full strength, heavy oil of citronella to one hundred (100) pounds of melted. fully refined parafiin wax having a melting point at 132 F. as aforesaid. The ingredients are thoroughly stirred together while the paraffin is in a molten condition, to produce a homogeneous mixture; and the mixture is then processed and molded with a center wick in accordance with well known candle manufacturing methods, to produce the improved citronella candle.

Fig. 2 is a diametrical section of Fig. 1.

The candle II is approximately two inches in height and one and three-quarters inches in diameter; it is provided with the usual center wick I 2; and it preferably fits a glass cup or receptacle l3 with the top of the candle slightly below the mouth of the cup. A candle of these dimensions will burn for approximately fifteen hours, consecutively or intermittently; and, when made with the ingredients and in the Proportions above recommended, the citronella odor diffused from the burning candle will be effectiv in repelling mosquitoes from a circle having a diameter of approximately fifteen feet, subject to air current conditions.

Candles manufactured in accordance with this invention obviously can be used for purposes of illumination as well as to serve the novel and desirable purpose of repelling -mosquitoes in a simple, efiicient and unobjectionable manner.

' The candles may be placed upon a table or other The candle may be made in various sizes and shapes, but I recommend a cylindrical form which is relatively thick in comparison to its height as illustrated in the accompanying drawing showing a preferred embodiment of a candle made in accordance with this invention.

In the drawing,

Figure 1 is a perspective top view of the improved candle, disposed in a glass cup; and

support or mounted in an attractive Wall sconce or holder, indoors or outdoors; and they are preferably located from twelve feet to fifteen feet apart when it is desired that the diffused citronella fumes be dispersed over an unusually large area.

When a candle mixture is compounded in accordance with the preferred proportions above prescribed, the citronella ingredient constitutes approximately one and one quarter percent of the compound, but it will be evident that this percentage is subject to variations within reasonable limits according to the desired odor strength of the burning candle, without departing from the essence of this invention-which consists essentially in providing a satisfactory and efficient candle for use in repelling mosquitoes, comprising a mixture of a fully refined paraflin and a relatively small proportion of a heavy or viscous citronella oil.

I claim:

A candle of the character described comprising a body portion consisting of a mixture of refined paraflin wax melting at approximately 132 F. and a heavy, viscous'citronella oil, in proportions equivalent to a compound containing approximately one hundred pounds of paraffin and twenty ounces of oil, and a wick extending through the center of the candle, so that the paraiiin is melted by the ignited wick to diffuse and disperse the vapors of the citronella oil.

PHILIP J. DRISCOLL.