Candle combustion testing apparatus

A machine (100) for testing candles by automatically viewing and recording thermal and visual data associated with the burning of a candle by its flame, comprising:

• a housing (14) defining an interior region (15), wherein the housing (14) includes a plurality of sidewalls (31, 33, 35, and 37) which partially enclose the interior region (15);
• a pedestal (24) onto which a candle (40) having a flame (41) associated with said candle (40) is placed, wherein the pedestal (24) is disposed within the housing (14);
• first and second thermal-and-machine-vision cameras (12, 34) located by an upper surface (39) in the housing (14), wherein the first camera (12) is located by a first sidewall (35) of the plurality of sidewalls (31, 33, 35, 37), wherein the second camera (34) is located by a second sidewall (31) of the plurality of sidewalls (31, 33, 35, and 37), and wherein the first and second cameras (12, 34) are each oriented to view and are configured to record the thermal and visual data associated with the burning of said candle (40) by its flame;
• a soot-detection camera (38) disposed in the housing (14) oriented to view and configured to record soot data associated with the burning of said candle by its flame;
• and
• a system (30) for automatically operating the machine, wherein the system (30) is disposed within the housing (14), wherein the system (30) includes a memory device (51) operatively associated with each of the first and second thermal-and-machine-vision cameras (12, 34) and the soot-detection camera (38), for storing the thermal and visual data, and the soot data, respectively recorded in relation to the burning of said candle by its flame, and wherein the system (30) includes a switch (28) for powering the machine on and off.