Patent Publication Number: US-2005141218-A1

Title: Energy-saving foot board capable of producing sound and light by vibration

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to a foot board, and more particularly to an energy-saving foot board capable of producing sound and light by vibration so as to provide an optical or audio effect.  
      2. Description of the Related Art  
      Usually, the indoor or outdoor ground of a building often adopts an ornamental floor board to provide a decorative effect. The ornamental floor board has various colors and patterns so as to enhance the outer appearance of the ground of the building. However, the conventional ornamental floor board has a flat surface without providing an additional function, such as the optical or audio effect, thereby limiting the versatility of the conventional ornamental floor board.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      The primary objective of the present invention is to provide an energy-saving foot board capable of producing sound and light by vibration so as to provide an optical or audio effect.  
      Another objective of the present invention is to provide a foot board, wherein the light emitting members emit light outward from the main body when a person&#39;s one foot steps on the main body, thereby greatly enhancing the aesthetic quality of the foot board.  
      A further objective of the present invention is to provide a foot board, wherein the program control circuit of the controller transmits a signal to drive the audio drive circuit of the sound emitter, so that the sound emitter emits sound outward, thereby enhancing the amusement effect of the foot board.  
      In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a foot board, comprising: 
          a main body;     a plurality of light emitting members mounted on the main body;     a controller mounted on the main body and having a first side electrically connected to the light emitting members by conducting wires and a second side electrically connected to a power supply; and     a trigger mounted on the main body and connected to the controller to control operation of the controller.        

      Further benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent after a careful reading of the detailed description with appropriate reference to the accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       FIG. 1  is a partially exploded perspective view of a foot board in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective assembly view of a foot board in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 3  is a top plan cross-sectional assembly view of the foot board taken along line  3 - 3  as shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
       FIG. 4  is a schematic operational view of the foot board as shown in  FIG. 1  in use; 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
      Referring to the drawings and initially to  FIGS. 1-3 , a foot board in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention comprises a main body  1 , a plurality of light emitting members  2  mounted on the main body  1 , a controller  3  mounted on the main body  1  and having a first side electrically connected to the light emitting members  2  by conducting wires  30  and a second side electrically connected to a power supply, and a trigger  4  mounted on the main body  1  and connected to the controller  3  to control operation of the controller  3 .  
      Preferably, each of the light emitting members  2  is a light emitting diode (LED). The main body  1  has a plurality of transparent portions  10  each corresponding to a respective one of the light emitting members  2 .  
      As shown in  FIGS. 2 and 3 , the controller  3  includes a program control circuit  31 , a trigger circuit  32  connected to the program control circuit  31 , and an auto-switching circuit  33  having a first side connected to the program control circuit  31  and a second side connected to the power supply. Preferably, the power supply contains a solar battery set  37 , a dry battery set  38  and an electric power supplier  39 .  
      The controller  3  further includes a signal amplifying circuit  34  connected between the trigger circuit  32  and the trigger  4 . The signal amplifying circuit  34  includes a PNP transistor Q 2 . Thus, the trigger circuit  32  of the controller  3  is triggered by the trigger  4  through the signal amplifying circuit  34 .  
      The controller  3  further includes a photo control circuit  35  connected between the trigger circuit  32  and the trigger  4 . The photo control circuit  35  is a photo sensitive control member. Thus, when the light source of the foot board is disposed at a sufficient state, the trigger circuit  32  of the controller  3  is not triggered by the trigger  4  by control of the photo control circuit  35  so as to save the electrical energy.  
      The controller  3  further includes a drive circuit  36  connected between the program control circuit  31  and the light emitting members  2 . The drive circuit  36  includes a NPN transistor Q 3  and an integrated circuit IC 2  (CDT 3143 ). Thus, the drive circuit  36  drives the light emitting members  2  to emit light according to the predetermined working mode.  
      The foot board further comprises a sound emitter  5  mounted on the main body  1  and connected to the controller  3  by an audio drive circuit  51 . The audio drive circuit  51  includes an audio circuit  511 , and an audio amplifying circuit  512 . Thus, the audio signal is amplified by the NPN transistor Q 4  of the audio amplifying circuit  512  and is then transmitted to the sound emitter  5 , so that the sound emitter  5  emits sound outward.  
      In practice, when a person&#39;s one foot steps on the main body  1 , a vibration is produced to trigger and start the trigger  4  which emits a signal to trigger the trigger circuit  32  of the controller  3  which connects the light emitting members  2  to the power supply, so that the light emitting members  2  emit light outward according to the predetermined working mode so as to light successively or to blink. At this time, the controller  3  connects the sound emitter  5 , so that the sound emitter  5  emits sound outward.  
      In operation, the signal transmitted from the trigger  4  is amplified by the PNP transistor Q 2  of the signal amplifying circuit  34 . Then, the amplified signal is transmitted into the trigger circuit  32 , so that the central integrated circuit IC 1  (CDT 3143 ) of the program control circuit  31  of the controller  3  performs a level transfer to enter the working state to drive the auto-switching circuit  33  to connect the power supply. At the same time, the program control circuit  31  transmit a signal to drive the drive circuit  36 , so that the drive circuit  36  drives the light emitting members  2  to emit light according to the predetermined working mode.  
      Accordingly, the light emitting members  2  emit light outward from the main body  1  when a person&#39;s one foot steps on the main body  1 , thereby greatly enhancing the aesthetic quality of the foot board. In addition, the program control circuit  31  transmits a signal to drive the audio drive circuit  51  of the sound emitter  5 , so that the sound emitter  5  emits sound outward, thereby enhancing the amusement effect of the foot board.  
      Referring to  FIG. 4 , a plurality of foot boards are serially connected with each other to enhance the versatility of the foot board.  
      Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment(s) as mentioned above, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claim or claims will cover such modifications and variations that fall within the true scope of the invention.