Abstract:
In summary, the present invention provides a novelty electricity free domino that overcomes the overtone problem of the prior art and a domino system that is capable of controlling the interval of the sound generated by the sound emitting dominos may be extended so as to control the tempo thereof. Accordingly, the present creation not only solves the long last problem of long lasting overtone exists in the prior art but also has the advantages of simple and low manufacturing cost.

Description:
PRIORITY CLAIM 
       [0001]    This application claims the benefit of the filing date of Taiwan Patent Application No. 101207693, filed Apr. 25, 2012, entitled “SOUND EMITTING DOMINO SYSTEM AND THE SOUND EMITTING DOMINO,” and the contents of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
       FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The present invention discloses a sound emitting domino system and a sound emitting domino. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    Domino generally refers to the collective gaming pieces making up a domino set (sometimes called a deck or pack) or to the subcategory of tile games played with domino pieces. However, besides playing games, another use of dominoes is standing them on end in long lines so that when the first tile is toppled, it topples the second, which topples the third resulting in all of the tiles falling. For large and elaborate arrangements, special blockages (also known as firebreaks) are employed at regular distances to prevent a premature toppling from undoing more than a section of the dominoes while still able to be removed without damage. 
         [0004]    Please refer to the U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,281, it discloses a toppling tone-producing toy apparatus for producing a plurality of tones comprising a plurality of tiles, each tile having a front face, a back face, and a peripheral edge; a plurality of striker bars, each striker bar coupled to the back face of a tile; a note mechanism coupled to each tile for producing a tone when struck by a striker bar on another tile; a support mechanism for holding the tiles thereon; and a plurality of hinges, each hinge coupling the peripheral edge of each tile to the support mechanism for allowing pivotal movement of the tile, the coupling of the tiles with the support mechanism creating a generally aligned configuration where the front faces of the tiles are directionally aligned and each tile is offset from adjacent tiles by a distance less than its height such that when a tile is toppled towards an adjacent tile, its striker bar contacts the note mechanism of the adjacent tile, whereby toppling the adjacent tile, producing a tone, and creating a toppling effect that ripples through the remainder of the configuration, thus producing a plurality of tones from the note mechanisms of subsequent toppling tiles. However, each of the note bars of the said domino is not capable of emitting sound by itself without the strike of the striker bar of another domino, therefore, the relative position of the dominos have to be carefully arranged and be aligned or the tone or sound emitted thereof shall not work properly, meanwhile, the aligning of the dominos may takes a long time. 
         [0005]    Furthermore, please refer to the ROC patent number M376331, it utilizes a ram to strike onto to a string so as to generate a tone thereby, however, after striking, the string shall keep vibrating until the energy thereof is exhausted and noise (overtone) shall keep generating during the said process. 
         [0006]    Therefore, a need exists, for a sound emitting domino that is capable of generating sound by its own and overcoming the overtone problem of the prior art. Furthermore, another need exists that a domino system that is capable of controlling the interval of the sound generated by the sound emitting dominos without accurate alignment may be extended so as to control the tempo thereof. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    In one aspect of the invention, a sound emitting domino (hereinafter called as the domino) is provided. The domino comprises a casing, a sound emitter and a ram. The casing has an accommodating spacing formed therein, the sound emitter is disposed in the accommodating spacing of the casing and fixed therewith. The ram is movably disposed in the accommodating spacing of the casing. Wherein, while the domino topples, the arm thereof strikes the sheet shaped sound emitter so as to generate a sound wave having a predetermined wavelength by the vibration thereof. 
         [0008]    While in actual practice, the casing may optionally have a through hole formed on the surface thereof so as to connect the accommodating spacing with the external environment. Furthermore, the sound emitter may has a first surface and a corresponding second surface, the first surface faces toward the ram and the second surface faces toward the through hole of the casing. Furthermore, the domino may further comprises a restoring unit, having a fixing portion and a loading portion, the fixing portion fixed with the casing and the loading portion directly connected with the ram, wherein, the restoring unit may be, or may not be, a spring and the loading portion thereof is located at the internal surface thereof. Apart from the said design, the restoring unit may, but not limited to, be a flexible arm, which the loading portion thereof is located at one of the top end of the flexible arm. 
         [0009]    Nevertheless, the domino may further comprises a stabilizing unit, disposed in the accommodating spacing so as to stabilize the ram by constantly applying an external force or additional force thereto, wherein the stabilizing unit may be a plant shaped magnet and the magnet is optionally bendable. 
         [0010]    Furthermore, the domino may further optionally comprises a base and a buffering module, the sound emitter fixed to the casing via the base and the buffering module is disposed on the surface of the casing for buffering the shock caused by the topple, wherein the buffering module has a hollow portion formed therein for accommodating the casing, the shape of the hollow portion is corresponding to the shape of the casing, 
         [0011]    In another aspect, the present invention discloses a sound emitting domino system comprising a first sound emitting domino as the sound emitting domino described in the claim  1 , capable of emitting a first sound while be triggered; a second sound emitting domino as the sound emitting domino described in the claim  1 , capable of emitting a second sound while be triggered and at least one solid domino, disposed between the first sound emitting domino and the second sound emitting domino so as to adjust the interval between the first sound and the second sound or the tempo thereof. 
         [0012]    In summary, the present invention provides a novelty domino that overcomes the overtone problem of the prior art and a domino system that is capable of controlling the interval of the sound generated by the sound emitting dominos may be extended so as to control the tempo thereof. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0013]    The teachings of the present invention can be readily understood by considering the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which; 
           [0014]      FIG. 1  depicts a cross section area of a preferred embodiment of the domino of the present invention. 
           [0015]      FIG. 2  depicts a cross section area of another embodiment of the domino of the present invention. 
           [0016]      FIG. 3A  depicts a schematic figure of the preferred embodiment of the buffering module of the present invention. 
           [0017]      FIG. 3B  depicts a cross section figure of the preferred embodiment of the buffering module of the present invention. 
           [0018]      FIG. 4A  depicts a cross section figure of another embodiment of the buffering module of the present invention. 
           [0019]      FIG. 4B  depicts a cross section figure of another embodiment of the buffering module of the present invention. 
           [0020]      FIG. 5A  to  FIG. 5D  respectively depicts a schematic figure of relative position of the ram and restoring unit in different situations. 
           [0021]      FIG. 6  depicts a schematic figure of an embodiment of the sound emitting domino system of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0022]    The present invention generally provides a sound emitting domino system, a sound emitting domino and a buffering module thereof. Please refer to  FIG. 1 , the  FIG. 1  depicts a cross section area of a preferred embodiment of the domino of the present invention. By the  FIG. 1 , it is clearly shown that the present invention of domino  10  is mainly composed of a casing  11 , a sound emitter  12  and a ram  13 . More specifically, while the sound emitting domino  10  topples, the arm  13  strikes the sheet shaped sound emitter  12  so as to generate a sound wave having a predetermined wavelength by the vibration thereof with no electricity needed at all. By the design of sheet shaped sound emitter, the present invention overcomes the problem of overtone of the prior art. 
         [0023]    More specifically, please refer to  FIG. 1 , in the preferred embodiment, the casing  11  may, but not limited to, composed of at least one upper casing  11 A and one lower casing  11 B fixed therewith. Furthermore, the casing  11  is not limited to the said design but also may be one piece formed. Moreover, the casing  11  has an accommodating spacing S formed therein between the upper casing  11 A and the lower casing  11 B. Meanwhile, in the preferred embodiment of  FIG. 1 , one through hole  11 C is formed on the surface of the lower casing  11 B so as to connect the accommodating spacing S with the outer space, which allows the sound wave generated by the sound emitter  12  to output via the through hole  11 C. It should be noticed that the casing  11  may has more than one through hole  11 C formed thereon, furthermore, apart from the lower casing  11 B, the through hole  11 C may also be formed on the upper casing  11 A or any other possible position of the casing  11 . 
         [0024]    Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the casing  11  may, but not limited to, be formed of polymer material by molding process. In additionally, the casing  11  can also be formed of metal, wood or any other non-crystal material by machining process not previously listed. Moreover, in the preferred embodiment as depicts in the  FIG. 1 , the sound emitter  12  refers to a piece shaped thin metal plate. 
         [0025]    Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the sound emitter  12  may, but not limited to, be an electricity free unit. Please refer to the  FIG. 1  of the present invention, in the present embodiment, the sound emitter  12  refers to a piece shaped thin metal plate, such as a reed, which is capable of generating a sound wave having predetermined frequency via the vibration thereof. Meanwhile, by changing the shape, length, thickness, material or the fixation position of sound emitter  12 , the duration, music scale or volume generated by sound emitter  12  may also be adjusted correspondingly. 
         [0026]    Furthermore, the sound emitter  12  has a first surface  12 A and a corresponding second surface  12 B. In the present embodiment, the first surface  12 A faces the ram  13  and the second surface  12 B faces the through hole  11 C of the casing  11 . By the  FIG. 1 , the sound emitter  12  is disposed in the accommodating spacing S of the casing  11  and be relatively fixed with the casing  11 . More specifically, in the present embodiment, the sound emitter  12  is fixed to the casing  11  via two base  15  which each of the base  15  is preferred, but not limited, to be fixed to the lower casing  11 B and penetrates both surface of the lower casing  11 B so as to be fixed thereto. 
         [0027]    Moreover, each of the base  15  is disposed in the accommodating space S between the sound emitter  12  and the casing  11 . Furthermore, the base  15  may, but not limited to, be formed of a soft polymer material and the base may capable of having a small degree of elastic deformation so as to absorb and decrease the duration and degree of the vibration of the sound emitter  12  and overcome the problem of overtone. In the preferred embodiment, each of the bases  15  may directly contacts with both sound emitter  12  and casing  11  so as to further absorb the vibration of the sound emitter  12  and decreases the overtone causes thereby. 
         [0028]    Meanwhile, the ram  13  is disposed at the accommodating spacing S between the said first surface  12 A and the casing  11  for striking the sound emitter  12  so as to generate a sound wave having a predetermined wavelength of frequency thereby. In the preferred embodiment, the ram  13  is, but not limited to, a rigid and solid metal block, 
         [0029]    In another hand, the domino  10  of the present invention may further optionally comprise a restoring unit  14  and a stabilizing unit  16 . The restoring unit  14  is disposed in the accommodating spacing and be connected with the casing and be utilized to maintain the relative position of the ram  13  and the casing  11 . The restoring unit has a fixing portion  14 A and a loading portion  14 B, and the fixing portion  14 A is fixed with the casing and the loading portion  14 B is directly connected with the ram  13  so as to maintain the position thereof. In the present embodiment, the restoring unit  14  may be, but not limited to, a spring like structure having a hollow space formed therein for accommodating the ram  13  therein. However, it should be noticed that the ram  13  is not limited to be disposed into the hollow space of the spring like structure, but may also be disposed onto the outer surface of the spring or any other possible position that is capable of providing the same function thereof as previously described. 
         [0030]    More specifically, the fixing portion  14 A refers to the portion that the restoring unit  14  connected with casing  11 , and the loading portion  14 B refers to the portion that utilized for affording the ram  13  and connected thereto. Meanwhile, the restoring unit  14  may further be classified into a far condition, a stable condition and a close condition in accordance with the relative position to the sound emitter  12 . 
         [0031]    The stabilized condition refers to a condition that the position of the restoring unit  14  and the ram  13  disposed therein are both in a static status. The far condition refers to a condition that the minimum displacement between the ram  13  and the sound emitter  12  is greater than the stabilized condition. The close condition refers to a condition that the minimum displacement between the ram  13  and the sound emitter  12  is smaller than the stabilized condition. For example, while in the far condition, the loading portion  14 B of the restoring unit  14  deforms toward the direction opposite to the sound emitter  12 . However, while in the close condition, the loading portion  14 A of the restoring  14  deforms toward the direction toward the sound emitter  12 . Furthermore, restoring unit  14  of the present invention is not limited to a spring, it can also be a flexible arm having one end fixed with the casing  11  and the end fixed with the arm  13  as  FIG. 2  shown. 
         [0032]    Furthermore, please refer to the  FIG. 1 , the present invention may optionally comprises a stabilizing unit  16  so as to stabilize the ram or to fix the ram onto the casing by constantly applying an external force or additional force thereto, which the external force applied to the ram  13  may be proportional to the displacement therebetween. In the embodiment of the  FIG. 1 , the stabilizing unit  16  may be a soft plant shaped magnetic material, such as a soft magnet or a piece shaped bendable magnet. In actual practice, the stabilizing unit  16  is disposed on the surface of the upper casing  11 A that faces the first surface  12 A of the sound emitter  12 . 
         [0033]    Furthermore, the domino  10  of the present invention may further comprise a buffering module  20  as the  FIGS. 3A and 3B  shown. The  FIG. 3A  and  FIG. 3B  respectively depicts a schematic figure and a cross section figure of the preferred embodiment of the buffering module of the present invention. The buffering module  20  is disposed on the outer surface of the casing  11  so as to absorb the shock caused by the topple thereof and capable of minimize the noise generated by the strike. The buffering module  20  may comprises at least one buffering unit  21 . The buffering unit  21  may be formed of an elastic material that cover the domino  10  completely or be fixed on the certain surface thereof so as to absorb the shock thereof. In the present embodiment, the said buffering module  20  has a hollow portion  22  formed therein which the shape of the said hollow portion  22  may be corresponding to the shape of the casing  11  of the domino  10 . Furthermore, the buffering unit  21  may be formed of a soft material, such as silicon, and be manufactured by casting process. It needed to be notice that the thickness of the whole buffering module  20  may or may not be even in accordance with the requirement of the designer. More specifically, the position, weight, thickness or other parameters that not be mentioned of the buffering unit  21  may be adjusted by the requirement of the user in order to modify the centroid or mass centric so as to adjust the difficulty of toggling the domino  10 . 
         [0034]    Furthermore, the said buffering module  20  is not limited to be applied to the sound emitting domino  10  of the preset invention and can be utilized independently at the other kind of domino. It should be noticed that the common design rule of the domino of the prior art preferred a clear and melodious strike sound by striking the domino  10 , therefore, the one skilled in art shall has no motivate to utilize the buffering module  20  thereto. Furthermore, more possible embodiments of the buffering module  20  are disclosed in  FIGS. 4A and 4B . 
         [0035]    The way of use of the domino of the present invention shall be described herein so as to clarity the details. Please refer to the  FIG. 5A  to  FIG. 5B , the  FIG. 5A  to  FIG. 5D  respectively depicts a schematic figure of relative position of the ram  13  and restoring unit  14  in different situations. Meanwhile, a fixed block B is defined in the FIGS. for reference. Please refer to the  FIG. 5A , the user disposes the domino  10  onto the surface vertically, wherein the ram  13  is disposed in the restoring unit  14  and the resorting unit  14  is in the stabilized condition. Then, please refer to  FIG. 5B , an external force is applied to the domino  10  and the domino  10  topples toward the surface that having the through hole  11 C formed thereon, meanwhile, the ram  13  is attracted and fixed onto the casing  11  by the stabilizing unit  16 , the resorting unit  14  in the far condition. Please refer to the  FIG. 5C , while the domino  10  strikes the ground, the domino  10  is stopped, however, the inertia of the ram  13  overcome the external force applied thereto by the stabilizing unit  16  and strikes the sound emitter  12  so as to generate a sound wave having a predetermined wavelength, then the sound wave shall outputs to the external space via the penetrate hole  11 C of the casing  11 , the resorting unit  14  is now in the close condition. 
         [0036]    Then, please refer to the  FIG. 5D , after the ram  13  strikes the sound emitter  12 , the ram  13  shall be pushed by the restoring unit  14  and moves toward the stabilizing unit  16 , then the ram  13  may be once again be attracted by the stabilizing unit  16  so as to be attached thereto. Therefore, by the stabilizing unit  16 , the ram  13  shall not strike the sound emitter  12  again so as to avoid the generation of the overtone. 
         [0037]    Furthermore, while in actual practice, the domino of the present invention maybe mixed with other normal domino which shall not have the sound generating mechanism of the present invention so as to form a sound emitting domino system  1  that provides the flexibility required during the composition of the music process. More specifically, by disposing at least one normal or solid domino between two sound emitting dominos, the interval of the sound generated by the dominos may be extended so as to control the tempo thereof. For example, please refer to the  FIG. 6 , the  FIG. 6  depicts a schematic figure of an embodiment of the sound emitting domino system of the present invention. It is clearly shown that the sound emitting domino system  1  is composed of at least one first sound emitting domino  10 , at least one normal domino N and at least one second sound emitting domino  30 . The first sound emitting domino  10  and the second sound emitting domino  30  may or may not be the sound emitting domino  10  of the present invention set forth and capable of emitting a first sound and a second sound respectively while it is triggered. And the said normal domino N may refer to a normal or solid domino that has no sound emitting or generating mechanism therein. It should be noticed that, apart from the domino having a mechanical sound emitting design set forth, the sound emitting domino of the domino may also be electrically driven. 
         [0038]    In summary, the present invention provides a novelty domino that overcomes the overtone problem of the prior art and a domino system that is capable of controlling the interval of the sounds generated by the sound emitting dominos may be extended so as to control the tempo thereof. 
         [0039]    With the example and explanations above, the features and spirits of the invention will be hopefully well described. Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teaching of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.