Patent Publication Number: US-2006002670-A1

Title: Light-emitting gift combined with foggy and color-changing ball

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
      The present invention relates to gifts, more particularly to a light-emitting gift having a base on one side thereof for installing a foggy and color-changing ball and showing a foggy and color-changing effect in addition to the light-emitting effect.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      A wide variety of specially designed, attractive gifts are constantly available from gift manufacturers as a result of the technological advancements. For example, some gifts having the appearance of flower, human being, animal, or monster and being capable of emitting light are available by taking advantage of the transmission of light of fiber optics. In detail as shown in a well known light-emitting gift  6  of  FIG. 1 , one ends of a plurality of optical fibers are provided in suitable positions of a gift  6  (e.g., wings of an angel or a dragon) and the other ends thereof are formed as a bundle on a bottom of the gift  6 . A light-emitting member provided on the bottom of the gift  6  is adapted to emit light onto the bundle. And in turn, light is transmitted from the bundle at the other ends to one ends of the optical fibers. As an end, a dazzling effect is occurred on the gift.  
      Also, a type of foggy and color-changing ball  7  is commercially available, as shown in  FIG. 2 , the foggy and color-changing ball  7  is implemented as a transparent enclosed ball filled with liquid (e.g., water) and additive (e.g., nonsolvent color paste) which are well mixed to form a jellylike mixture. Further, a magnetic rotation member is pivotably provided in a lower portion of the ball  7 . A motor is provided outside the ball  7  and is in a position lower than and corresponding to the rotation member. The motor has a shaft extended into the rotation member so that the rotation member is able to space apart from the ball  7  and rotatably couple to the shaft by means of magnetism. The shaft rotates when the motor is activated. And in turn, the rotation member rotates as the shaft rotates. Thus, the mixture is agitated by the rotation member. As an end, a foggy, turbulent effect can be seen from outside of the ball  7 .  
      Moreover, a control circuit board is provided adjacent the motor and is external to the ball  7 . The control circuit board comprises a plurality of LEDs (light-emitting diodes) each being adapted to emit light having a color different from the others. The control circuit board is adapted to activate the LEDs to emit light in turn. Further, the emitted light is impinged on an inner surface of the ball  7 . A ball having a continuous change of color is thus made by collecting the emitted light.  
      However, the prior foggy and color-changing ball and the light-emitting gift are two separate gifts as available in the market. A consumer has to buy either one or both of them for achieving respective, decorative purpose(s). Thus, it is desirable among the related manufacturers to provide a novel light-emitting gift by combining the prior foggy and color-changing ball with the prior light-emitting gift such that a new business opportunity can be created and a unique, decorative, attractive, and aesthetic gift is presented to the vast consumers.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      After considerable research and experimentation, a light-emitting gift combined with a foggy and color-changing ball according to the present invention has been devised so as to overcome the above drawback of the prior art.  
      One object of the present invention is to provide a light-emitting device comprising a hollow body having a base; a first light source on the base adjacent one side; at least one optical fiber section provided on the body adjacent the other side, a second light source provided on the base and located at an opposite side of the first light source; a frame element provided on the body opposite the second light source; and a foggy and color-changing ball supported on the frame element. The activated first and second light sources are able to emit light to the optical fiber section and foggy and color-changing ball respectively such that a plurality of optical fibers as the constituent components of the optical fiber section are able to transmit light to the body after collecting the light. Also, the foggy and color-changing ball is adapted to show a continuous change of color. By utilizing the present invention, it is possible of showing a foggy and color-changing effect in addition to the light-emitting effect.  
      The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken with the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a conventional light-emitting gift;  
       FIG. 2  is a perspective view of a conventional foggy and color-changing ball;  
       FIG. 3  is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of light-emitting gift according to the invention;  
       FIG. 4  is an exploded view of the light-emitting gift of  FIG. 3 ;  
       FIG. 5  is an exploded view of the first light source according to the invention; and  
       FIG. 6  is a block diagram of the second light source according to the invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
      Referring to  FIGS. 3 and 4 , there is shown a light-emitting gift combined with a foggy and color-changing ball in accordance with the invention. The light-emitting gift is implemented as a hollow body  1  including a base  10  having an internal first light source  2  adjacent one side. At least one optical fiber section  3  (one is shown) is provided on the body  1  corresponding to the first light source  2 . The optical fiber section  3  comprises a plurality of optical fibers  30  bundled together. A second light source  4  is provided on the base  10  and is located at an opposite side of the first light source  2 . A frame element  12  is provided on the body  1  and is opposite to the second light source  4 . A foggy and color-changing ball  5  is supported by the frame element  12 . The activated first light source  2  and the second light source  4  are adapted to emit light onto the optical fiber section  3  and the foggy and color-changing ball  5  respectively. And in turn, the optical fibers  30  are adapted to transmit light to the inner surface of the body  1 . Also, a continuous change of color is observed on the foggy and color-changing ball  5 . In such a manner, the colorful, foggy and color-changing ball  5  is additionally provided by the body  1 .  
      In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the other ends of the optical fibers  30  opposite the first light source  2  are extended away from the base  10 . One or more light-emitting members  32  are formed at the other ends of the optical fibers  30  on the body  1 . For example, the body  1  has the shape of an angel or a dragon and thus the light-emitting members  32  have the shape of the extended wings. The first light source  2  is adapted to sequentially emit light of different colors to the optical fiber section  3 . And in turn, light of different colors is transmitted from the optical fibers  30  to the light-emitting members  32 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 5 , in the embodiment the hollow, cylindrical first light source  2  comprises a power supply  20 , a first driver (e.g., motor)  22 , a lamp (e.g., halogen lamp)  24 , and a transparent disc  26 . The power supply  20  is provided on a top of the base  10  and is electrically energized by a transformer (not shown). The power supply  20  is coupled to the first driver  22  and the lamp  24  respectively for supplying power thereto. The lamp  24  is also provided on the base  10  facing the optical fiber section  3 . The first driver  22  is provided adjacent the lamp  24  on the base  10 . The first driver  22  has a projected shaft  220  extended toward inside of the body  1 . The transparent disc  26  has its central hole put on and secured to the shaft  220 . The edge of the transparent disc  26  is disposed above the lamp  24 . The transparent disc  26  is divided into a plurality of pies (five are shown)  260  having different patterns of stripe or colors. The shaft  220  rotates when the first driver  22  activates. Also, the lamp  24  is lit. The transparent disc  26  rotates as the shaft  20  rotates such that each of the pies  260  of the transparent disc  26  is able to dispose above the lamp  24  by rotation. The pie  260  is adapted to transmit light emitted from the lamp  24 . As such, lit patterns of stripe and different colors can be seen on the top of the pie  260  facing the optical fiber section  3 . Eventually, the lit patterns of stripe and different colors are transmitted to the optical fiber section  3 .  
      Referring to  FIG. 4  again, the foggy and color-changing ball  5  is implemented as a transparent enclosed ball  50  filled with liquid (e.g., water) and additive (e.g., nonsolvent color paste) which are well mixed to form a jellylike mixture. Further, a magnetic rotation member  52  is pivotably provided in a lower portion of the ball  50 . A second driver (e.g., motor)  54  is provided on the base  10  adjacent the second light source  4  and is in a position lower than and corresponding to the rotation member  52 . The second driver  54  has a shaft  56  extended into the rotation member  52  so that the rotation member  52  is able to space apart from the ball  50  and rotatably couple to the shaft  56  by means of magnetism. The shaft  56  rotates when the second driver  54  is activated. And in turn, the rotation member  52  rotates as the shaft  56  rotates. Thus, the mixture is agitated by the rotation member  52 . As an end, a foggy, turbulent effect can be seen from outside of the ball  50 .  
      In view of the above, the optical fibers  30  are adapted to transmit light of different colors as time passes. Hence, different colors are shown on different locations of the optical fibers (i.e., colorful). At the same time, a foggy, turbulent, and color changing effect can be seen on the foggy and color-changing ball  5 . As a result, the body  1  shows a combination effect distinctly different from a single light-emitting gift and a single foggy and color-changing ball of the prior art.  
      In the embodiment of  FIGS. 4 and 6 , the second light source  4  comprises a circuit board  40  and a plurality of light emitting elements (e.g., LEDs)  42 . The circuit board  40  comprises a transformer circuit  400  and a control circuit  402 . The transformer circuit  400  is coupled to the first light source  2  for being electrically energized by the first light source  2  and converting power supplied from the first light source  2  into a power to be supplied to the control circuit  402 . The control circuit  402  is coupled to the light emitting elements  42  so as to cause the light emitting elements  42  to emit light of different colors sequentially. As a result of the light of different colors emitted by the light emitting elements  42 , a continuous change of color can be seen on the surface of the ball  50  and the mixture. Referring to  FIG. 6  again, in the embodiment the control circuit  402  is a control chip (e.g., 3 LED output control IC, type MT-3179 by Chenre electronics company). However, the control chip may not function normally if a temporal electrical surge is generated by switching power on the other electrical device (e.g., fluorescent lamp). As a result, the second light source  4  cannot emit light. Thus, in the embodiment an interference suppressor circuit  404  is provided on the control circuit  402  of the circuit board  40 . The interference suppressor circuit  404  is adapted to eliminate the adverse effect of the temporal electrical surge on the control circuit  402 . In the embodiment, the interference suppressor circuit  404  is implemented as a capacitor parallel to the control circuit  402 . Hence, the adverse effect of the temporal electrical surge on the second light source  4  can be eliminated by the capacitor by absorbing the temporal electrical surge.  
      In another preferred embodiment of the invention, in the loop of the control circuit  402  of the circuit board  40  it is possible of eliminating the adverse effect of the temporal electrical surge on the control circuit  402  by decreasing the resistance of the control circuit  402 .  
      While the invention has been described by means of specific embodiments, numerous modifications and variations could be made thereto by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention set forth in the claims.