Patent Abstract:
Disclosed is a refillable melody candle in which a seated plate having a sensor and a melody chip built therein is coupled to the bottom of a body of the candle in such a manner as to be removably coupled to a separate base having a power supply section and a driving controller built therein. The melody candle of the present invention has an economical effect in that it enables the re-use of the base in spite of replacement of a candle body. Further, the inventive melody candle may include a number of candle bodies, and the seated plates corresponding to the candle bodies includes melody chips having different melody sounds stored therein, respectively, such that a user can selectively hear various melodies. In addition, the use of the coupling cap for improving the coupling ability between the base and the body simplifies assembly process of the melody candle.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0002]     The present invention relates to a refillable melody candle, and more particularly, to a refillable melody candle in which a seated plate having a sensor and a melody chip built therein is coupled to the bottom of a body of the candle in such a manner as to be removably coupled to a separate base having a power supply section and a driving controller built therein.  
         [0003]     2. Background of the Related Art  
         [0004]     In general, a melody candle includes a body  10  formed into a solid state by solidifying a combustible material, and a wick  11  interposed in the center of the body and made in such a manner that natural fibers or chemical fibers are processed in the form of threads or fabrics and then twisted in the form of spiral knitting yarn.  
         [0005]     An optical transmission member  13  for transmitting light of a flame  12  generated during the combustion of the wick is interposed inside of the wick  11 . The optical transmission member  12  is configured with an optical fiber used as a transmission line for optical communication.  
         [0006]     The melody candle also includes a base portion  20  having a seated plate  20   a  formed at the top thereof for seating and fixing the bottom portion of the body  10 , a volume adjust button  21  mounted at one side thereof for gradually adjusting volume level of the melody candle, and a battery container formed at a predetermined position therein for receiving batteries  22 .  
         [0007]     A printed circuit board (PCB)  24 , which has a melody storage chip  26  for storing various melodies classified by genre, an optical sensor  25  as on/off means for playing back sounds stored in the melody storage chip  26 , etc., mounted thereon, is installed within the base portion  20 . At this time, the optical sensor  25  is positioned to be oriented vertically toward the lower end portion of the optical transmission member  13  interposed inside of the wick so as to receive light emitted from the optical transmission member.  
         [0008]     A flame intercepting member  14  made of a metal material is disposed at the lower portion of the wick  11  so as to prevent the wick from being burnt.  
         [0009]     When the tip of the wick  11  of the melody candle A constructed as above catches fire, it becomes ignited while generating flame. At this time, light emitted by the flame is downwardly transmitted to the optical sensor  25  positioned vertically via the optical transmission member  13  interposed inside of the wick such that the optical sensor  25  may receive the light.  
         [0010]     Thereafter, the light sensor detects the received light and supplies power from batteries to the melody storage chip  26 . Then, the melody storage chip outputs various melody sounds stored therein so as to play back them through a loudspeaker  23 .  
         [0011]     However, for the above conventional melody candle, there has been a problem in that since the body of the candle and the base portion for generating melodies are integrally formed with each other, it is difficult for general users to replace a burnt-out candle used with a new one.  
         [0012]     To this end, there has been developed a technology which enables replacement of a candle used with a new one. As shown in  FIG. 2 , two different twisted metal wires are jointed together such as thermocouple so as to sense flame of a candle. Electromotive force effect generated between the two metal conductors when heat is applied to the junctions of the metal wires, is used as Seeback effect. The conductors are configured in such a manner as to be thin enough to be burnt by flame of the candle, and hence can be burnt together with the candle wick  6 . In order to transmit electromotive force generated from the candle wick  6  during the burning of the candle to the a sound playback device, a metal wire  1  and a metal wire  2  used as conductors in  FIG. 2  is soldered to a circuit board  3  having two concentric circular electrodes  4  and  5 , respectively. This structure is made in such a manner that the two electrodes  4  and  5  mounted on the bottom surface of the candle are in contact with the sound playback device disposed within a separate support.  
         [0013]     However, since such a conventional technology employs Seeback back, each of the metal wires is not molten well during the heating of it, such that it may be exposed to the outside of the candle. In addition, long term use of the metal wires contributes to soot production, which in turn deteriorates quality of the candle. Further, since this prior art is only a method in which a burnt-out candle is replaced with a new one, a melodies stored in the sound playback device are always outputted in a uniform pattern, which may allow a user to feel a repugnance to the candle in use during a for long time.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0014]     Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a melody candle in which a seated plate has a melody chip for generating a unique melody sound built therein and is coupled to the bottom of a candle body in such a manner as to be removably coupled to a separate base, such that when the candle is ignited it outputs its own unique melody sound from the melody chip.  
         [0015]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a melody candle in which different melody sounds are stored in melody chips built in the seated plates of respective candles, to thereby satisfy various desires of users according to season, weather, sex and taste.  
         [0016]     Another object of the present invention is to provide a melody candle in which a fitting recess is formed on the central bottom portion of a candle body such that a coupling cap is pressedly fitted into the fitting recess while being coupled with a coupling part formed on a seated plate, to thereby facilitate both the coupling between a candle body and the seated plate and the fixing of a candle wick.  
         [0017]     To accomplish the above objects, according to the present invention, there is provided a refillable melody candle comprising: a body; a seated plate including a coupling part protruded from a central upper surface thereof so as to fix a wick which is interposed inside of the body and has an optical transmission member built therein at the bottom surface of the body, an optical sensor disposed at a corresponding portion of the lower end of the optical transmission member, a melody chip coupled to the optical sensor, the optical sensor and the melody chip being received in the seated plate, power terminals mounted on the underside thereof such that they can be interlocked with the optical sensor upon the actuation of the optical sensor, an output terminal of the melody chip; and a base including a receiving recess formed on the upper surface thereof for receiving the seated plated and the bottom portion of the body therein, base terminals mounted on the bottom surface of the receiving recess to be electrically conducted with the power and output terminals, respectively, a controller and a power supply section disposed inside thereof for outputting a predetermined melody via the respective base terminals, whereby a melody is generated from the base coupled to the bottom portion of the candle when the optical sensor senses flame of the candle via the optical transmission member.  
         [0018]     According to the present invention, the seated plate having the optical sensor and the melody chip is coupled to the bottom surface of the candle body, the candle including the seated plate is removably received within the receiving recess of the base, the base amplifies a melody sound to output it to the outside via the seated plate, and the base terminals are protruded from the top surface of the receiving recess to enable electrical connection of the base terminals to the output terminal of the seated plate upon the contacting between the base terminals and the output terminal of the seated plate. Further, the coupling part is formed protrudedly on the central top surface of the seated plate such that the seated plate can be easily coupled to the bottom surface of the candle body with the coupling part being fitted into the coupling cap. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0019]     The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:  
         [0020]      FIG. 1  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a general melody candle;  
         [0021]      FIG. 2  is a schematic perspective view illustrating essential parts of another example of a general melody candle;  
         [0022]      FIG. 3  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a refillable melody candle according to the present invention;  
         [0023]      FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram illustrating the construction of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention;  
         [0024]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view illustrating essential parts of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention;  
         [0025]      FIG. 6  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an assembled state of essential parts of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention; and  
         [0026]      FIG. 7  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating another assembled state of essential parts of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0027]     Reference will now made in detail to the preferred embodiment of the present invention with reference to the attached drawings.  
         [0028]      FIG. 3  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating a refillable melody candle according to the present invention.  
         [0029]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a refillable melody candle including a body  10 , a seated plated  30  and a base  40 .  
         [0030]     The seated plate  30  includes a coupling part  34  protruded from a central upper surface thereof so as to fix a wick  11  which is interposed inside of the body  10  and has an optical transmission member  13  built therein at the bottom surface of the body, an optical sensor  31  disposed at a corresponding portion of the lower end of the optical transmission member  13 , a melody chip  32  coupled to the optical sensor  31 , the optical sensor and the melody chip being received in the seated plate, power terminals P 1 ′ and P 2 ′ mounted on the underside thereof such that they can be interlocked with the optical sensor  31  upon the actuation of the optical sensor  31 , an output terminal P 3 ′ of the melody chip  32 .  
         [0031]     The base  40  includes a receiving recess  41  formed on the upper surface thereof for receiving the seated plated  30  and the bottom portion of the body  10  therein, base terminals P 1 , P 2  and P 3  mounted on the bottom surface of the receiving recess  41  to be electrically conducted with the power and output terminals P 1 ′ P 2 ′ and P 3 ′, respectively, a controller  42  and a power supply section B disposed inside thereof for outputting a predetermined melody via the respective base terminals P 1 , P 2  and P 3 .  
         [0032]     The melody candle further includes a coupling cap  16  having a fixing hole  18  formed therein to be coupled with the outer circumferential surface of the coupling part  34  and having a hook protrusion  17  formed on the outer circumferential surface thereof to be fixedly fitted into a fitting recess formed at the central bottom surface of the body  10 . The coupling cap  16  also serves to internally cap a pressed fixing member  15  mounted at the lower end portion of the wick  11  for pressedly fixing the wick together with the coupling part  34 .  
         [0033]      FIG. 4  is a circuit diagram illustrating the construction of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention.  
         [0034]     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the terminals P 1 ′, P 2  and P 3 ′ of the seated plate  30  and the terminals P 1 , P 2  and P 3  of the base  40  are correspondingly coupled to one another in such a manner as to be in contact with one another. The seated plate  30  includes an optical sensor  31  such as a photo coupler for sensing light via the optical transmission member, i.e., an optical fiber of  FIG. 3 , and a melody chip  32  for being supplied with power through the power terminal P 1 ′ upon the actuation of the optical sensor  31  and applying the supplied power to the output terminal P 3 ′.  
         [0035]     The base  40  includes a controller  42  which has an amplifier  43  for receiving the output sound from the melody chip  32  via an input terminal P 3  connected to the output terminal P 3 ′ of the seated plate  30  and amplifying the output sound to output it, a variable resistor  44  for variably adjusting the amplified sound from the amplifier  43  to output it, and a speaker  45  for outputting the adjusted sound from the variable resistor  44  as a audible signal to the outside. Of course, the power supply section B such as a battery contained in the base  40  is used as a needed power source, but an adapter for rectifying AC power into DC power may be used, if necessary. Although there has been described the sensing of flame of the candle via the optical fiber  13  and the optical sensor  31  herein, the sensing of flame may be implemented by other sensing methods (known equivalent means such as Seeback, glass fiber, thermal conduction, etc.).  
         [0036]      FIG. 5  is an exploded perspective view illustrating essential parts of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention.  
         [0037]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , a coupling part  34  is protruded from a central upper surface of the seated plate  30  such that a wick  11  and an optical transmission member  13  are placed on the coupling part. A coupling cap  16  has a fixing hole  18  formed therein for internally capping, a pressed fixing member  15  mounted at the lower end portion of the wick to pressedly fix the wick, together with the coupling part  34 , such that it may be fitted around the outer circumferential surface of the coupling part  34 . A hook protrusion  17  is formed on the outer circumferential surface of the coupling cap  16  to be fixedly fitted into a fitting recess  10 - 1  formed at the central bottom surface of the candle body  10 . The coupling part  34  also has an optical fiber inserting hole  35  for inserting the optical transmission member  13  thereto so as to guide the optical transmission member  13  toward the optical sensor  31 .  
         [0038]      FIG. 6  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating an example of an assembled state of essential parts of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention.  
         [0039]     Referring to  FIG. 6 , the candle body  10  has a recess  10 - 2  formed on the bottom surface thereof for receiving the seated plate  30  therein in such a manner that the bottom surface of the body is flush with the bottom surface of the seated plate  30 . The coupling cap  16  is so structured that it is slidably fitted into the fitting recess  10 - 1  formed at the central bottom surface of the body. The top end portion of the fixing hole  18  defining the inner diameter of the coupling cap  16  forms a pressing plate  19  having a pressing hole  19 - 1  formed therein. The diameter of the pressing hole  19 - 1  is smaller than that of the fixing hole  18  so that the wick  11  and the optical transmission member  13  are tightly inserted into the pressing hole to be received within the coupling cap  16 .  
         [0040]      FIG. 7  is a longitudinal sectional view illustrating another example of the assembled state of essential parts of the refillable melody candle according to the present invention.  
         [0041]     As shown in the drawing, the construction of  FIG. 7  is identical to that of  FIG. 6  except that the body  10  does not have the recess  10 - 2  of  FIG. 6  formed on the bottom surface thereof, and different from that of  FIG. 6  in that the seated plate  30  has a peripheral dam  36  formed at the outer circumference thereof in such a manner as to be extended slantingly upward from the outer circumferential surface thereof so as to correspondingly encircle a bottom peripheral portion of the body  10 .  
         [0042]     According to the present invention constructed as above, the actuation of a switch SW applies power supplied from the power supply section B such as a battery, etc., to the seated plate  30  via the base  40 . At this time, when a user lights the tip of the wick  11 , the optical sensor  31  of  FIGS. 3, 4 ,  6  and  7  is operated via the optical transmission member  13  such as an optical fiber. When the optical sensor  31  is operated, a bias voltage from the power supply section B is applied to the seated plate  30  such that battery power of the power terminal P 1 ′ drives the melody chip  32  via a collector terminal of the optical sensor  31  which is called a photo coupler. The melody sound outputted from the melody chip  32  is supplied to the input terminal P 3  of the amplifier  43  which in turn amplifies the melody sound to a corresponding sound level to output the amplified sound to the outside through the speaker  45 . Of course, the volume of the sound may be adjusted by the variable resistor  44 , if necessary.  
         [0043]     When the candle is burnt out after a lapse of the certain time period, a remaining portion of the candle body  10  coupled with the seated plate  30  is replaced with a new separate candle set coupled with a seated plate such that a user can hear another new melody sound. To this end, as shown in  FIG. 5 , the pressed fixing member  15  presses and fixes the lower end portion of the wick  11  having the optical transmission member  13 , after which a part of the optical transmission member  13  extended downwardly from the bottom surface of the pressed fixing member  15  alone or/and the wick  111  is/are tightly inserted into the optical fiber inserting hole  35  of the coupling part  34 . In this case, there is of course used the seated plate  30  having the optical sensor  31  and the melody chip  32  built therein as shown in  FIGS. 3, 6  and  7 . Then, the lower end portion of the optical transmission member  13  is disposed opposite to the optical sensor  31 . The coupling cap  16  is moved downwardly from the upper end portion of the wick  11  to the lower end portion thereof along a longitudinal direction of the wick in such a manner as to fit around the wick through the fixing hole  18  thereof, so that it can press the coupling part  34  to encircle the pressed coupling part therein or can be threadedly coupled with the coupling part  34 . At this time, the fixing hole  18  of the coupling cap  16  preferably has threads formed on the inner circumferential surface thereof to enable the coupling part  34  to be engaged with the coupling cap  16  or has protrusions formed on the inner circumferential surface thereof to enable the coupling part  34  to be pressedly fitted into the coupling cap  16 . Then, the pressing plate  19  formed on the top end of the fixing hole  18  presses against the bottom surface of the pressed fixing member  15  to securely fix the wick  11 . Thereafter, the coupling cap  16  previously coupled with the coupling part  34  is pressedly fitted into the fitting recess  10 - 1  as shown in  FIGS. 6 and 7 . Although the fitting of the coupling cap  16  into the fitting recess  10 - 1  has been easily and simply performed by the pressing action of the hook protrusion  17  of the coupling cap  16 , the seated plate  30  is prevented from being separated from the body  10  to thereby ensure stability in use. In addition, only the simple fitting action enables an assembly between the seated plate  30  and the candle body  10  to thereby shorten the assembly time for the candle. Further, like in  FIG. 6 , the seated plate  30  is adapted to be received within the bottom recess  10 - 2  of the body  10  upon the coupling between the seated plate  30  and the body  10 . Accordingly, the assembly structure as mentioned above can be used for a candle having a large diameter body. On the other hand, for a candle having a small or regular diameter body, a peripheral dam  36  is formed at the outer circumference of the seated plate  30  to correspondingly encircle and protect a bottom peripheral portion of the body  10  so as to improve durability of or prevent deformation of the bottom structure of the body.  
         [0044]     As described above, a seated plate having a sensor and a melody chip built therein is coupled to the bottom of a body of the candle in such a manner as to be coupled/released to/from a receiving recess of a separate base. Accordingly, the base is kept as it is, and the candle body coupled with the seated plate is replaced with a new separate candle set coupled with a seated plate to thereby enable the refill of a candle which has been burnt out.  
         [0045]     In addition, the melody candle of the present invention employs a technology in which the seated plate has a melody chip built therein, and hence different melody sounds are generated according to respective candles, to thereby satisfy various desires of users according to season, weather, sex and taste, which contributes to an increase in sale of candle products.  
         [0046]     Further, a protrusion, i.e., a coupling cap is formed on the central top surface of the seated plate to fix a wick of the candle, and has a hook protrusion formed on the outer circumferential surface thereof to be easily fitted into a fitting recess formed at the central bottom surface of the candle body without a separate coupling tool.  
         [0047]     While the present invention has been described with reference to the particular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by the embodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

Technology Classification (CPC): 5