US20160074768A1

US20160074768A1 - Dynamic liquid ornament

Info

Publication number: US20160074768A1
Application number: US14/488,027
Authority: US
Inventors: Kuan-Pin TSAI
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2014-09-16
Filing date: 2014-09-16
Publication date: 2016-03-17

Abstract

A dynamic liquid ornament including a transparent container, an ornamental object and a base is revealed. The transparent container has an opening on a bottom thereof, at least one cavity filled with liquid, and a neck portion on the bottom of the cavity. The size of the ornamental object is larger than the neck portion of the cavity. Thus the ornamental object is compressed and elastically-deformed to pass through the opening of the transparent container, the neck portion of the cavity, and suspend in the liquid. A first magnet is disposed on the bottom of the ornamental object. The base mounted with a rotation device therein is connected to the bottom of the transparent container. The rotation device is connected to a second magnet for driving the second magnet to rotate. The first magnet is affected by the second magnet to make the ornamental object rotate.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a liquid ornament, especially to a dynamic liquid ornament that includes a transparent container with a cavity and a neck portion on a bottom of the cavity. An ornamental object whose size is larger than the neck portion of the cavity is compressed and deformed to be set in the cavity. Then a liquid is filled into the cavity and the ornamental object is suspended in the liquid. Next the ornamental object is driven to rotate by magnet means.
By a magnet attached to a transmission device, an ornamental object with magnetism is driven to rotate in a transparent container of a dynamic liquid ornament. The dynamic ornamental object has special visual effect and interesting effect. However, in conventional dynamic liquid ornament, the ornamental object therein is made from hard material that is incompressible. Thus the size of the ornamental object must be smaller than the size of the opening of the transparent container for being mounted into the transparent container smoothly. While the ornamental object is rotating dynamically in the transparent container, the motion of the ornamental object is not so obvious due to the limited size. Thus the interest is reduced and the application is reduced. There is room for improvement and a need to provide a novel dynamic liquid ornament.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a dynamic liquid ornament that overcomes shortcomings of conventional dynamic liquid ornaments and having a better visual effect, decorative effect and interesting effect.
In order to achieve the above object, a dynamic liquid ornament of the present invention includes a transparent container, an ornamental object and a base. The transparent container consist of at least one cavity disposed therein, an opening on a bottom thereof and a neck portion on the bottom of the cavity. The cavity is filled with one kind of liquid or two kinds of liquid. Through the neck portion, the cavity together with the opening is communicating with the external environment. The ornamental object can be compressed and then passed through the opening of the transparent container, and the neck portion of the cavity to be mounted in the cavity and suspended in the liquid/or two kinds of liquid. The size of the ornamental object is larger than the inner diameter of the neck portion of the cavity. A first magnet is disposed on the bottom of the ornamental object. The base is mounted with a rotation device therein and is connected to the bottom of the transparent container. The rotation device has a drive shaft that is connected to a second magnet. The drive shaft is driven by the rotation device and the second magnet is further driven by the driven shaft to rotate. Thus the first magnet is affected by a magnetic force of the second magnet to make the ornamental object rotate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The structure and the technical means adopted by the present invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a dynamic liquid ornament according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the embodiment in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic drawing showing a longitudinal section of another embodiment with a transparent container having an upper cavity and a lower cavity according to the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic drawing showing a longitudinal section of a further embodiment in which the size of a neck portion of a cavity of a transparent container is smaller than that of an opening of the transparent container according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a further embodiment of a dynamic liquid ornament according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Refer to FIG. 1, a dynamic liquid ornament of the present invention includes a transparent container 10, an ornamental object 20 and a base 30.
Refer to FIG. 2, the transparent container 10 is a one-piece hollow housing and having an opening 11 on a bottom thereof, at least one cavity 12, and a neck portion 13. The cavity 12 is used for mounting a kind of liquid 40 or two kinds of liquid 40. The neck portion 13 is formed between the opening 11 and the cavity 12. Through the neck portion 13, the cavity 12 together with the opening 11 is communicating with the external environment. A seal plug 14 is arranged at the opening 11 to close the opening 11 and prevent the liquid 40 from flowing out through the opening 11. The cavity 12 of the transparent container 10 is ball-shaped and the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12 is a circular opening.
As shown in FIG. 2, a diameter of the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12 is equal to a diameter of the opening 11 of the transparent container 10. As shown in FIG. 4, in another embodiment, the diameter of the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12 is smaller than the diameter of the opening 11 of the transparent container 10.
Refer to FIG. 2, the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12 can be formed by the opening 11 of the transparent container 10 when there is one cavity 12 arranged at the transparent container 10.
Refer to FIG. 3, when a transparent container 10 is vertically disposed with two cavities 12 overlapped and communicating with each other, a neck portion 13 of an upper cavity 12 a is formed between the upper cavity 12 a and a lower cavity 12 b while a neck portion 13 of the lower cavity 12 b is formed on the bottom of the lower cavity 12 b. An ornamental object 20 can be compressed and passed through an opening 11 of the transparent container 10, the neck portion 13 of the lower cavity 12 b, and the neck portion 13 of the upper cavity 12 a to be mounted into the upper cavity 12 a. Similarly, when the transparent container 10 is vertically arranged with at least three cavities 12 overlapped and communicating with one another, the neck portion 13 of the upper cavity 12 is formed between the upper cavity 12 and the adjacent cavity 12 while the neck portion 13 of the lowest cavity 12 is formed on the bottom of the lowest cavity 12.
The ornamental object 20 can be, but not limited to, ball-shaped and having a rotation central axis X. The size of the ornamental object 20 is larger than the inner diameter of the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12. The ornamental object 20 is made from compressible elastic material such as PU (polyurethane) foam. Thereby the ornamental object 20 can be a flexible ornament or an inflated ornament which is elastically compressed and deformed to pass through the opening 11 of the transparent container 10 and the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12. Then the ornamental object 20 is elastically recovered to original size and floated in one kind of liquid 40 or two kinds of liquid 40 after being mounted inside the cavity 12. A top surface of the ornamental object 20 is under an inner top surface of the cavity 12 or a bit in contact with the inner top surface of the cavity. Moreover, a first magnet 50 is disposed on the rotation central axis X and located at the bottom of the ornamental object 20.
As shown in FIG. 2, FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, in order to increase buoyancy of the ornamental object 20 in the liquid 40, a closed floating ball 22 is set on the rotation central axis X, in a space 21 inside the ornamental object 20 and closed to the top of the ornamental object 20. The floating ball 22 can be a hollow ball or be made from material whose buoyancy is large than the material for the ornamental object 20 such as expandable polystyrene for improving buoyancy of the ornamental object 20. Moreover, in order to make the ornamental object 20 have direction character in the liquid 40, a heavy block 23 is arranged at the inner side or the outer side on the bottom of the ornamental object 20, along the rotation central axis X of the ornamental object 20. Furthermore, the heavy block 23 can also be formed by the first magnet 50.
The base 30 is connected to the bottom of the transparent container 10 and a rotation device 60 is mounted in the base 30. A drive shaft 61 is extended from the top of the rotation device 60 and a top end of the drive shaft 61 is connected to a second magnet 70. The first magnet 50 and the second magnet 70 are arranged vertically and correspondingly to each other. One end of the first magnet 50 and one end of the second magnet 70 facing each other have different magnetic poles.
After being assembled, the drive shaft 61 is rotated to drive the second magnet 70 rotating when the rotation device 60 is turned on. Due to that magnets with different poles attract each other, the first magnet 50 is rotated along with the second magnet 70. Thus the ornamental object 20 is rotated around the rotation central axis X. Therefore the ornamental object 20 is driven by the rotating second magnet 70 to move dynamically within the liquid 40 in the transparent container 10.
As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, besides the ornamental object 20 mounted in the cavity 12, another ornamental object 80 is set in other cavity 12 b, separated from and located under the ornamental object 20. Thus the aesthetic appearance and the usage of the dynamic liquid ornament are improved. Yet the ornamental object 80 is not disposed with magnets to avoid disturbance of the magnetic field.
As shown in FIG. 5, the ornamental object 20 is having a special three-dimensional design and made from flexible materials. A cake is arranged at the center of the ornamental object 20 while the words of “happy birthday” are disposed around the cake.
The ornamental object 20 of the present invention can be connected to at least one other ornamental object by at least one fine line so as to have the vivid interaction therebetween (not shown in figure). But other ornamental object connected is not arranged with magnets to avoid disturbance of the magnetic field.
If the ornamental object 20 of the present invention is a ball, the outer surface of the ornamental object 20 can be printed with the figure of earth or commercial advertisements for increasing aesthetic appearance or practical value. The outer diameter of the ornamental object 20 is 1.1˜5 times of the diameter of the neck portion 13 of the cavity 12 of the transparent container 10 and the range of 1.3˜2.5 times is preferred.
In summary, the ornamental object 20 of the present invention is not limited to floating object with small volume and poor decorative effect. After being put into the cavity 12 of the transparent container 10, the elastically deformed ornamental object 20 turns back to original shape and size. Thus the ornamental object 20 has a cool and interesting effect in the liquid 40 in the cavity 12. The aesthetic appearance and usage of the dynamic liquid ornament are improved.
Additional advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details, and representative devices shown and described herein. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A dynamic liquid ornament comprising:

a transparent container having at least one cavity disposed therein, a neck portion on a bottom of the cavity and an opening arranged at a bottom thereof; the cavity is filled with a kind of liquid or two kinds of liquid;

an ornamental object whose size is larger than an inner diameter of the neck portion of the cavity, able to be compressed, passed through the opening of the transparent container and the neck portion of the cavity, mounted in the cavity and suspended in the kind of liquid or two kinds of liquid; a bottom of the ornamental object is disposed with a first magnet; and

a base that is connected to the bottom of the transparent container and having a rotation device mounted therein; a drive shaft is extended from a top of the rotation device and a top of the drive shaft is connected to a second magnet; the second magnet is rotated along with the drive shaft and the first magnet is affected by a magnetic force of the second magnet to make the ornamental object rotate.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a diameter of the neck portion of the cavity of the transparent container is equal to a diameter of the opening of the transparent container.

3. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a diameter of the neck portion of the cavity of the transparent container is smaller than a diameter of the opening of the transparent container.

4. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the transparent container is disposed with one cavity and the neck portion of the cavity is formed by the opening of the transparent container.

5. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein a transparent container is vertically arranged with two cavities overlapped and communicating with each other; a neck portion of an upper cavity is formed between the upper cavity and a lower cavity while a neck portion of the lower cavity is formed on a bottom of the lower cavity; the ornamental object is able to be compressed and passed through the opening of the transparent container, the neck portion of the lower cavity, and the neck portion of the upper cavity to be arranged into the upper cavity.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the cavity of the transparent container is ball-shaped and the neck portion of the cavity is a circular opening.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ornamental object is made from polyurethane (PU) foam.

8. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ornamental object is a flexible ornament made from flexible materials.

9. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ornamental object is an inflated ornament.

10. The device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ornamental object includes a space therein for mounting a closed floating ball.