Abstract:
A versatile, animated cake decoration that can be used with a cake to celebrate various occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and the like. The cake decoration can be partially embedded in the upper surface of the cake so as to simulate a face that has moving eyes and a moving mouth. The apparatus includes a battery that powers a mechanism that moves the eyes and the mouth and also powers a sound generator that can play a number of different songs and greetings to fit the celebration. The apparatus is safe and is constructed from non-toxic materials so it can safely be used on food products such as cake.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   1. Field of the Invention 
   The present invention relates to animated cake decorations. More particularly, the invention concerns a novel cake decoration that simulates a face and has moving eyes and a moving mouth. Additionally, the apparatus includes a battery powered sound generator that can play a number of different songs and greetings. The apparatus is adapted to be partially embedded in the center of celebration cakes of various kinds as, for example, birthday, anniversary and graduation cakes. 
   2. Discussion of the Prior Art 
   It is common practice to use cakes to celebrate special occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, Halloween and like events. Typically, such cakes are decorated with candles and with words and symbols applicable to the occasion, such as “Happy Birthday” and “Happy Anniversary”. Often, following lighting of the candles, songs are also sung to further celebrate the occasion. 
   Providing animated, mechanically operated decorations for use in connection with cakes is not new. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,796,872 issued to Herber discloses a pop-up device that may be placed in a hollow section of a cake, which is later iced over so that the candle holder is not visible. In the preferred embodiment, the base of the device supports the pop-up mechanism within a housing. The device is held in a compressed state by a release mechanism. Upon triggering of the release mechanism, the device is released and pushed through the cake or other confection, thereby providing surprise and entertainment. 
   It is also not new to provide animated cake decorations that play music. By a way of example, United States Patent to Valentino No. 5,673,802 describes a rotatable holder for a candle on a cake. Within the housing of the device is a small, battery powered D.C. motor connected through reduction gearing to a shaft, and audio may be provided so that when rotating the shaft an appropriate melody can be played. The holder is fixedly secured to the cake by means of a plurality of prongs. 
   A drawback of many of the prior art cake decorations is that they tend to be quite complex in construction and, therefore, often quite expensive to manufacture. Additionally, such prior art devices tend to be unreliable in use and frequently can be used only for one occasion. 
   It is these drawbacks that the device of the present invention seeks to overcome by providing a unique cake decoration that is relatively simple in construction, can be inexpensively manufactured and that can be used over and over for various types of celebrations. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel, highly versatile cake decoration that can be used to celebrate various occasions such as birthdays, anniversaries, graduations and the like. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a cake decoration of the aforementioned character that can be partially embedded in the upper surface of the cake and partially iced over so as to simulate a face that has moving eyes and a moving mouth, thereby humanizing the cake or like products, by simulating movement of lips in the manner of a human singing. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a cake decoration as described in the preceding paragraphs that includes a battery powered sound generator that can play a number of different songs and greetings to fit the celebration. 
   Another object of the invention is to provide a cake decoration on the class described that is of a relatively simple construction and one that is easy to use. 
   Another object of the invention to provide such a cake decoration that is highly reliable in use and after the celebration can be readily salvaged and reused. 
   These and other objects of the invention will be achieved by the novel cake decoration illustrated in accompanying drawings and described in the specification that follows. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a generally perspective view of the cake showing the cake decoration of the present invention in position within the upper portion of the cake. 
       FIG. 2  is a top plan, diagrammatic view illustrating the movement of the mouth and eyes of the apparatus. 
       FIG. 3  is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the cake illustrated in  FIG. 1 , further illustrating one form of the cake decoration of the invention in position within the upper portion of the cake. 
       FIG. 4  is a top plan view of the cake decoration illustrating one form of the operating mechanism of the apparatus. 
       FIG. 5  is a greatly enlarged, foreshortened cross-sectional view taken along lines  5 - 5  of  FIG. 4 . 
       FIGS. 5A ,  5 B and  5 C when considered together illustrate the movement of the simulated eye of the device within the eye socket of the apparatus shown in  FIG. 5 . 
   

   DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   Referring to the drawings and particularly to  FIGS. 1 through 4 , one form of the cake ornament of the present invention is there shown and generally identified by the numeral  14 . Cake ornament  14  here comprises a hollow housing  16  ( FIGS. 4 and 5 ) that includes a first elevated portion  16   a  having a mouth like aperture  18  and a second elevated portion  16   b  that includes first and second spaced apart eye sockets  20  and  22 . An intermediate, lower housing portion  16   c  is disposed between and interconnects first and second elevated portion housings  16   a  and  16   b  ( FIG. 5 ). 
   As best seen in  FIGS. 4 and 5  of the drawings, a first curved member  24  that simulates a human lip is disposed within mouth aperture  18  for movement between a first position shown by the dotted lines in  FIG. 5  and a second position shown by the solid lines in  FIG. 5 . First curved member  24  is movable by means of a first actuating means that is mounted within the housing and is operably associated with said first curved member  24  for causing said first curved member  24  to controllably move between the first position and the second position to simulate opening and closing of the mouth. The construction and operation of the first actuating means will presently be described. 
   A second curved member  26  that simulates an eyeball is disposed within the first eye socket  20  for movement by a second actuating means between a first position shown by the dotted lines in  FIG. 2  and a second position shown by the solid lines in  FIG. 2 . Similarly, a third curved member  28  that also simulates an eyeball is disposed within the second eye socket  22  for movement by the second actuating means between a first position shown by the dotted lines in  FIG. 2  and a second position shown by the solid lines in  FIG. 2 . The construction and operation of the second actuating means will presently be described. 
   A cross member assembly  30  interconnects the second and third curved members  26  and  28  in the manner shown in  FIGS. 4 and 5  of the drawings. As best seen in  FIGS. 4 and 5 , cross member assembly  30  comprises a transversely extending cross member  34  having first and second ends  34   a  and  34   b . Cross member assembly  30  also includes a first link  36  having a first end  36   a  connected to second curved member  26  and a second end  36   b  that is pivotally connected to first end  34   a  of cross member  34 . A second link  38  that is of similar construction and operation to first link  36  interconnects the third curved member  28  with cross member  34  (see  FIG. 4 ) so that it can pivot relative to the cross member in the same manner as does first link  36  (see  FIGS. 5A ,  5 B and  5 C). 
   In the present form of the invention, the first actuating means comprises a rotatable member  42 , shown here as a pinion gear that is connected to the first end of the rotating shaft  44  of a conventional electric motor  45  powered by a pair of dry cell batteries  47 . Motor  45  and pinion gear  42 , which is rotated about a transverse axis defined by rotating shaft  44 , are mounted within the intermediate portion  16   c  of the housing  16  ( FIG. 3 ). As indicated in  FIGS. 4 and 5  of the drawings, pinion gear  42  mates with and reciprocally drives a rack  46  that, in turn, reciprocally drives a first connector member  48  in the manner indicated by the arrows  49  in  FIG. 4 . Connector member  48  which has an offset  48   a  also has a first-end  48   b  that is connected to rack  46  and a second end  48   c  that is connected to first curved member  24  that simulates a human lip. 
   In the present form of the invention, the second actuating means comprises a rotatable member  52 , shown here as a pinion gear that is connected to the second end of the rotating shaft  44  of electric motor  45 . As indicated in  FIGS. 4 and 5  of the drawings, pinion gear  52  mates with and reciprocally drives a rack  56  that, in turn, reciprocally drives a second connector member  58  in the manner indicated by the arrows  59  in  FIG. 4 . Connector member  58  which has an offset  58   a , also has a first-end  58   b  that is connected to rack  56  and a second end  58   c  that is connected to cross member  34  proximate its center  34   c.    
   An important feature of the cake ornament of the present invention is the provision of a sound generator  62  that is carried by housing  16  for generating a sound. Sound generator  62  can generate various sounds including spoken words and selected musical scores. The sound generator can take on various forms well understood by those skilled in the art, but here comprises integrated circuit chip  64  that is connected to batteries  47  by means of a cable  65  and is programmed to play a selected musical score through a piezoelectric speaker  66 . 
   As indicated in  FIG. 5  of the drawings, a conventional, readily commercially available on/off slide switch  69  is provided for actuating and de-actuating the motor  44  and the sound generator  62 . Switch  69  is carried by the intermediate portion of housing  16  and, as shown in  FIG. 5 , extends to the exterior surface of the housing. Switch  69  can be covered with a nose like design cover or similar design. 
   In using the apparatus of the invention, the housing  16  is carefully inserted into the center of the cake to the position illustrated in  FIGS. 1  and  3  wherein the mouth, eyes and switch  69  protrude slightly from the upper surface of the cake. While the cake shown in  FIG. 1  is generally round in cross-section, it is to be understood that the apparatus of the invention can be used with cakes of various configurations including rectangular, triangular, oblong, and the like. 
   Operation of switch  69 , by exerting a downward pressure on the switch, activates both the motor  44  and the sound generator  66 . Activation of the motor causes the shaft to controllably rotate, which in turn causes controlled rotation of pinion gears  42  and  52 . Rotation of the pinion gears imparts a controlled reciprocal motion to racks  46  and  56  causing movement of the simulated lip  24  and the eye sockets  26  and  28 . More particularly, the reciprocal motion of rack  56  will impart reciprocal motion to member  48  causing the lip  24  to reciprocate in the manner indicated by the arrow  71  of  FIG. 4 , thereby simulating opening and closing of the mouth. 
   In similar manner, the reciprocal motion of rack  56  will impart reciprocal motion to member  58  causing it to reciprocate in the manner indicated by the arrow  59  of  FIG. 4 . This reciprocal motion of member  58  will cause cross member  34  to reciprocate in a manner illustrated in  FIGS. 5A ,  5 B and  5 C of the drawings. As the cross member moves in the manner indicated by the arrow of  63  of  FIG. 5B , the simulated eyeballs  26  and  28  will move within their respective sockets in the manner indicated by the arrow  65  of  FIG. 5 , thereby simulating a rolling of the simulated eyeballs of the apparatus. 
   At the same time that the lip and eye sockets move, the sound generator will generate words such as “happy birthday”, “happy anniversary” and the like and may also generate music appropriate to the particular celebration at hand. 
   Having now described the invention in detail in accordance with the requirements of the patent statutes, those skilled in this art will have no difficulty in making changes and modifications in the individual parts or their relative assembly in order to meet specific requirements or conditions. Such changes and modifications may be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention, as set forth in the following claims.