Abstract:
A donut shaped soap body has a special effect cartridge which emits sound and light triggered by movement of the soap bar or by wetting of the soap bar. The special effect cartridge has a sealed chamber and light support for backlighting an image and an open acoustic chamber for housing a miniature loudspeaker.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    This invention relates to a novelty soap bar and to a special effect cartridge for use in a novelty item of merchandise.  
         BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0002]    Novelty soap bars exist in various shapes, colours and fragrances for the pleasure of the owner and end user. One soap bar described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,116,573 provides a light source which is activated whenever the soap bar is wet.  
           [0003]    An object of this invention is to provide a soap bar which provides still more entertainment than an illuminated soap bar.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0004]    In accordance with one aspect of this invention, there is provided a soap bar having a special effect cartridge for producing light effects through an image.  
           [0005]    The special effect cartridge has a sealed chamber through which light is transmitted and which houses an electronic circuit and a power source. A light source provided in the sealed chamber is optionally mounted to a support spaced from a translucent portion of a housing where an image is mounted. In this way, the image is backlit whenever the light source is actuated.  
           [0006]    Actuation may take place by movement or by wetting the soap bar in a conductive medium. The soap bar has at least one movement actuated switch or a wet switch in the form of a pair of electric probes.  
           [0007]    In accordance with another aspect of the invention, the soap bar has a loudspeaker in a discrete housing which defines an open acoustic chamber through which sound is transmitted.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0008]    In order that the invention may be more clearly understood, a preferred embodiment of the invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view from the top of a soap bar made in accordance with the invention;  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a perspective view from the bottom of the soap bar of FIG. 1;  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 3 is a perspective view from the bottom of a special effect cartridge (drawn to a larger scale) for use in the soap bar of FIG. 1;  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 4 is a partially sectioned perspective view from the top of the special effect cartridge of FIG. 3; and  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 5 is a partially sectioned elevational view of the special effect cartridge of FIG. 3. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0014]    A soap bar in accordance with the invention is generally indicated in the drawings by reference numeral  20 . The soap bar  20  has a soap body  22  which is somewhat oblong with a rounded exterior surface and a central cavity  24  which extends through the soap body  22  through opposite upper and lower surfaces of the soap body. The soap body  22  effectively has the shape of a toroid or donut.  
         [0015]    A special effect cartridge  26  is disposed in the cavity  24 . In FIG. 1, it will be seen that the top surface  39  of the special effect cartridge  26  has a series of three arcuate openings  28  disposed on one side of the special effect cartridge.  
         [0016]    In the bottom view of the soap bar  20  shown in FIG. 2, it will be seen that the special effect cartridge  26  has a single drain hole  32  formed in a bottom surface  41  thereof and an access slot  34  exposing a pair of spaced apart electric probes  36  which will be described in more detail below.  
         [0017]    Now turning to FIG. 3, it will be seen that the special effect cartridge  26  has an upper casing  38  which is coupled to a lower casing  40  and which together encapsulate the components of the special effect cartridge. The upper casing  38  defines the top surface  39  for the special effect cartridge  26  which is translucent in order to allow light to be transmitted through the cartridge and has dependent side walls which engage corresponding side walls of the lower casing  40 . The lower casing  40  defines the bottom surface  41  of the special effect cartridge  26  and is made of an opaque material.  
         [0018]    A ridge is formed in the lower casing  40  at the junction with the upper casing  38 . The ridge serves to hold the special effect cartridge inside the soap body  22  which is formed around the pre-assembled cartridge  26  during fabrication of the soap.  
         [0019]    A first housing  42  defines a sealed chamber  44  within the special effect cartridge  26 . The first housing  42  is defined by upright portions which sealingly engage the top translucent portion of the upper casing  38  at one end and a dividing wall at the other end which also forms part of a second housing  46 . The first housing  42  has a substructure consisting of a light support  48  which sealingly engages a light source in the form of a miniature bulb  50  or led so that it is downwardly spaced from the translucent top surface  39  of the upper casing  38 . An image slide in the form of a disc  52  is mounted beneath the top translucent surface  39  of the upper casing  38  and is spaced from the light bulb  50  so that the image of the disc  52  will be back lit. Conveniently, the light support  48  may have a metalized surface  53  opposite to the translucent portion in order to reflect light and enhance the image.  
         [0020]    A pair of batteries  54  is supported inside the sealed chamber  44  and electrically coupled to the light bulb  50  and to a printed circuit board assembly which is generally indicated by reference numeral  56 . The printed circuit board assembly  56  forms part of an electronic circuit which includes a programmable integrated circuit for performing a predetermined sequence of light and sound effects when actuated by a switch.  
         [0021]    In the embodiment illustrated, there are two switches, namely a movement actuated electrical switch  58  mounted to the printed circuit board assembly  56  and received inside the sealed chamber  44  and also a wet switch comprising the spaced apart electric probes  36  which are external to the first housing  42  and which are electrically coupled to the both light and sound and is not limited to producing the two together. Also, the triggering of any special effects may be done by either movement or wetting of the soap bar or both movement and wetting of the soap bar. It will also be understood that the image disc  52  and the light support  48  for spacing the light bulb from the image disc are optional and that they may be substituted by other imaging modules.  
         [0022]    As will readily be apparent, the special effect cartridge may be incorporated, and modified as necessary, for use in a body other than a soap bar. The special effect cartridge could readily be transformed for use in a novelty item of merchandise.