The current specification discloses a first invention related to a unique system of stackable candlestick holders and a second invention related to a unique candlestick holder.

Description of related art

Stackable candlestick holders are available in the art, however, they are limited to a single type of candlestick holder. It is desired to provide an alternative form which has more stacking options to allow a greater variation in assemblies which can be formed by the system.

Candlestick holders in the prior art are also provided in many different forms. Different attractive designs are always interesting to users and providing alternative forms and designs of candlestick holders is therefore a technical problem for designers.

Summary of the invention

As such, a first invention disclosed in the current specification relates to a system of stackable candlestick holders which allows for more varied stacking options such that a greater variety of assemblies can be formed. The first invention is provided by the features of claim 1. It should be noted that in the current specification, the concept of a “system of stackable candlestick holders” is to be understood as a system which comprises a number of different base modules which can engage with each other. The system in claim 1 is defined with two different base modules. However, any number of individual elements of the two different base modules can be provided as part of the system. For example, three first candlestick holders can be combined with four second candlestick holders. Or any other number of individual candlestick holders of the two different kinds can be combined as part of the system.

In some embodiments, the first candlestick holder has exactly three cylindrical elements and the second candlestick holder has exactly two cylindrical elements.

In some embodiments, the system could further comprise a third candlestick holder, said third candlestick holder having four cylindrical elements, said four cylindrical elements being identical to the three cylindrical elements of the first candlestick holder, said four cylindrical elements of said third candlestick holder being connected by a third connection element arranged such that the centre axes of the recesses of the four cylindrical elements and the centre axes of the bottom portions of the four cylindrical elements are arranged parallel to each other and are arranged to pass through vertices of a square with a side length of L. In some embodiments, the third candlestick holder has exactly four cylindrical elements.

Via the proposed system, an assembly of candlestick holders can be provided which comprises a first candlestick holder of the system of candlestick holders and a second candlestick holder of the system of candlestick holders and where a bottom portion of one of the cylindrical elements of the first candlestick holder is inserted into a recess of one of the cylindrical elements of the second candlestick holder, or vice versa. Other assemblies can be provided with even more candlestick holders of the first and/or second kinds of candlestick holders described above. In some embodiments, a standalone cylindrical element similar to the cylindrical elements of the first and/or second candlestick holders can be provided which has a bottom portion which can be inserted into a recess of cylindrical element of a first or second candlestick holder, and a recess into which a bottom portion of a cylindrical element of a first or second candlestick holder can be inserted.

In some embodiments, an assembly is provided which further comprises a third candlestick holder of the system of candlestick holders, and where a bottom portion of one of the cylindrical elements of the third candlestick holder is inserted in a recess of a cylindrical element of the first or second candlestick holder, or vice versa.

In some embodiments, the system of candlestick holders could furthermore be arranged such that the bottom portions of two separate cylindrical elements of a first candlestick holder can be arranged in recesses of two separate cylindrical elements of a second candlestick holder or vice versa.

The current specification also discloses a second invention related to a candlestick holder as defined by claim 6. The use of a connection plate and cylindrical elements provides a unique and novel candlestick holder with an attractive visual appearance.

According to the current specification, a connection plate should be understood as an element which has a plate shaped form, i.e. an element with a thickness which is much less than the length and width of the element. In some embodiments, the thickness of the element is at least 8 times, at least 10 times or at least 15 times less than the length or width of the element. In some embodiments, the connection plate has a uniform thickness. In some embodiments, the connection plate has an outer periphery which encloses all the cylindrical elements and an inner opening arranged inside the cylindrical elements. In some embodiments, the outer periphery and the inner opening are cut. In some embodiments, the outer periphery and the holes and/or the inner periphery are cut via a laser cutting operation. In some embodiments, the thickness of the plate element is less than 10mm, less than 8mm or less than 6mm. In some embodiments, the candlestick holder has 3 or 4 identical cylindrical elements.

In some embodiments, the bottom portions of the at least two cylindrical elements are suitable for being inserted into and supported in a recess of a cylindrical element of another identical candlestick holder. In this way, candlestick holders can be stacked on top of each other in a stable manner.

In some embodiments, the cylindrical elements are pressed into the holes of the connection plate to establish a friction fit between the connection plate and the cylindrical elements. By press fitting the cylindrical elements into the connection plate, a simple and fast assembly operation is provided. In some embodiments, the cylindrical elements are friction welded to the connection plate. In some embodiments, the cylindrical elements are welded or glued to the connection plate.

In some embodiments, a portion of a surface area of the cylindrical element which is engaged with the connection plate when the cylindrical element is pressed into a hole in the connection plate is provided with a series of depressions and/or projections prior to press fitting the cylindrical element into the connection plate. In some embodiments, a diameter of a circle which encompasses all the projections is larger than a diameter of the holes in the connection plate. In some embodiments, a diameter of a circle which is arranged inside the depressions is less than a diameter of the holes in the connection plate. In some embodiments, the surface of depressions and projections is provided via a knurling operation. In some embodiments, a cross section of the cylindrical elements is not circular and an inner shape of the holes in the connection plate is shaped to correspond to an outer shape of the cylindrical elements. In some embodiments, the series of depressions and/or projections, are arranged around the circumference of the cylindrical element in a band which has a height (dimension parallel to the central axis of the cylindrical element) which is equal to or less than the thickness of the connection plate. In this way, when the cylindrical element is press fitted into the connection plate, the series of depressions and/or projections is not seen. In one embodiment, the height of the band is greater than half of the thickness of the connection plate. In some embodiments, the series of depressions and/or projections comprises a series of grooves and/or ridges which are aligned with a centre axis of the recess of the cylindrical element.

It should be emphasized that the term "comprises/comprising/comprised of" when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

Brief description of the drawings

In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to embodiments shown by the enclosed figures. It should be emphasized that the embodiments shown are used for example purposes only and should not be used to limit the scope of the invention.

Figure 1 discloses a perspective view of a first embodiment of a candlestick holder according to the current invention.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of a second embodiment of a candlestick holder of the invention. Figure 3 shows a perspective view of a third embodiment of a candlestick holder according to the invention.

Figures 4, 5 and 6 show top views of the connection plates of the first, second and third embodiments of the candlestick holders of figure 1 , 2 and 3 respectively.

Figure 7 shows a perspective view of an assembly of multiple of the candlestick holders of figures 1, 2 and 3.

Figure 8 shows an exploded perspective view of the assembly of figure 7.

Figure 9 shows an exploded perspective view of the candlestick holder of figure 1.

Figure 10 shows a detailed perspective view of an upper portion of a cylindrical element of the candlestick holder of figure 1 as defined by the circle X in figure 9. Figure 11 shows a schematic side cross sectional view illustrating one method of assembling the candlestick holder according to the current invention. Detailed description of the embodiments

The first embodiment 1 of a candlestick holder shown in figure 1 comprises three identical cylindrical elements 2. Each cylindrical element has a bottom portion 4 which has a circular cylindrical cross section and a top portion 6 with a recess 8. The recess is arranged to allow a user to insert a candlestick into the recess in the manner known in the art to support the candlestick in an upright and vertical orientation.

The cylindrical elements 2 are held in position with respect to each other by a connection plate 10. The connection plate in this embodiment is a laser cut plate in the form of a loop or curved ribbon which connects each of the cylindrical elements 2. A top view of the plate element is shown in more detail in figure 4.

The connection plate 10 has three holes 14 which are arranged such that the centres of the three holes lie on the vertices of an equilateral triangle. In this way, the distance between any of the holes is the same and is shown by “L” in figure 4.

The connection plate 10 in this embodiment is laser cut from a flat plate element. An outer periphery 16 is cut into the form shown in the figures, however other outer peripheries could also be imagined. The outer periphery encompasses all the holes 14. In this embodiment, the plate element is provided with a large central opening 17 which is also cut with a laser cutting operation in this embodiment. The central opening 17 has an outer periphery 18 which is arranged inside all the holes 14. In this way, the holes are arranged between the outer periphery of the connection plate and the outer periphery of the central opening. The holes 14 are also cut with a laser cutting operation in this embodiment.

While laser cutting is used in this embodiment, other forms of cutting operation could also be imagined and implemented by the person skilled in the art.

Figure 2 shows a second embodiment 20 of a candlestick holder. In this embodiment there are four cylindrical elements 22. However, the four cylindrical elements are essentially identical to the cylindrical elements 2 of the first embodiment. A connection plate 24 connects the four cylindrical elements 22. A top view of the connection plate 24 is shown in figure 5. In this case, the four cylindrical elements are arranged such that the centres of the four cylindrical elements lie on the vertices of a square with sides of length “L”.

Figure 3 shows a third embodiment 30 of a candlestick holder. In this embodiment there are only two cylindrical elements 32. Again, the two cylindrical elements of this embodiment are essentially identical to the cylindrical elements 2,22 of the first embodiment 1 and the second embodiment 20. A connection plate 34 connects the two cylindrical elements 32. A top view of the connection plate 34 is shown in figure 6. In this case, the two cylindrical elements 32 are arranged at a distance from each other of

Of special interest in these three embodiments, is that the bottom portion 4 and the recess 8 of each of the cylindrical elements are arranged such that a bottom portion of one cylindrical element 2 can be inserted into a recess 8 of another cylindrical element 22,32 in a stable manner. In this way, multiple candlestick holders can be assembled into more complex structures. An example of this is shown in figures 7 and 8. In the figures 7 and 8, an additional “single cylindrical element” candlestick holder 40 is also shown. The user can arranged these four different types of candlestick elements as they wish. In the terminology of this specification, these four different candlestick holders 1,20,30,40 are all considered to be elements of a system of stackable candlestick holders.

It is to be noted, that in this current embodiment of the system of candlestick holders, the distance between any two cylindrical elements around the periphery of any of the candlestick holders is always “L”. In this way, the different candlestick holders can be easily stacked inside each other to form many different types of arrangements. It should be noted, that one cylindrical element of one candlestick holder can be inserted into a recess of another cylindrical element of another candlestick holder of the same or different type. However, it is also possible to insert two bottom portions of one candlestick holder into two recesses of another candlestick holder.

Figures 9 and 10 show some details of how a cylindrical element 2 is joined to the connection plate 10. At the upper portion 6 of the cylindrical element, a cylindrical band 12 of grooves and ridges is provided. The distance between ridges on opposite sides of the cylindrical element is slightly greater than the diameter of the hole 14 in the connection plate 10. In this way, when the cylindrical element is pressed into the hole, the ridges of the cylindrical element securely engage with the edges of the hole to form a press fitted connection between the cylindrical element and the connection plate.

In the embodiment shown, the band of ridges/grooves has a height which is essentially equal to the thickness of the connection plate. In this way, once the cylindrical element is pressed completely into the hole in the connection plate, the band of ridges/grooves is completely hidden from view. This improves the appearance of the candlestick holder.

The area of ridges and/or grooves can be provided via a knurling operation on a lathe. Other forms of suitable processing could also be provided. It should also be noted that in the figures, a series of grooves/ridges which are aligned with the central axis of the recess are shown. However, other forms of projections/depressions could be provided. In one embodiment, a series of ridges/grooves which cross each other can be provided in a cross hatch type of pattern. Many different suitable patterns can be provided. It should be noted, that typically, a cylindrical element can easily be press fitted into a hole in a plate without the need for a band of projections/depressions. However, if the tolerances are too large, then there will be problems. In the case were the cylindrical element is larger than the hole, the forces required will be very large. In the case where the cylindrical element is smaller than the hole the attachment force will be too small and the cylindrical element will not be firmly connected to the connection plate. Furthermore, when the forces are large, there is a risk that the elements will be damaged. This is especially true if one of the components which is being press fitted is a thin plate, as in the current design of the candlestick holder. Hence, by providing a band of ridges/grooves, the elements can have larger tolerances without raising the pressing forces significantly and without causing damage to the components. This has been shown to be especially beneficial in the case where the parts of chromed.

Since the cylindrical elements need to be very well aligned if different candlestick holders are to be assembled together, the assembly process is important. One proposed method is illustrated schematically in figure 11. A block 60 is provided with recesses 62 which are shaped to be complementary to the outer form of a cylindrical element 2. A connection plate 10 is then provided above the block 60. Cylindrical elements 2 are then placed in the holes 14 in the connection plate 10. A press 64 is then arranged on top of the cylindrical elements and the cylindrical elements are pressed into the holes in the plate via a force F. Due to the recesses 62 in the block 60, the cylindrical elements 2 are arranged in proper alignment with each other. In order to prevent damage to the cylindrical elements during the pressing operation, the inside of the recesses could be lined with a nylon or another protective material.

Other options for suitable assembly could also be imagined by the person skilled in the art. It is to be noted that the figures and the above description have shown the example embodiments in a simple and schematic manner. Many of the specific mechanical details have not been shown since the person skilled in the art should be familiar with these details and they would just unnecessarily complicate this description. For example, the specific materials used and the specific manufacturing procedures have not been described in detail since it is maintained that the person skilled in the art would be able to find suitable materials and suitable processes to manufacture the candlestick holders according to the current invention.