Patent Application
20110311925
The present invention relates to a candle stand, especially to a candle stand in which an optical sensor is triggered to turn on a motor for driving ornaments in a liquid container to move dynamically when a candle mounted in a slot on top of a liquid container is lit.
There are various designs of a small candle stand as indoor ornaments. Refer to U.S. Pat. No. 6,305,108 “Structural improvement of a water ball”, a top center of the glass ball is disposed with a candle stand for receiving a short candle. After a candle mounted in the candle stand being lit up, the flame thereof and the water ball will provide a decorative atmosphere. Moreover, the stop center of the glass ball has a recess hole for receiving the candle stand. The claims of the prior art do not includes the structured revealed in FIG. 6. However, the movement of dynamic ornaments in the water ball such as artificial flakes, dynamic windmills, rotary ornaments etc. is not related to whether the candle on the top of the water ball is lit. Thus such design is not so interesting and lack of novelty.
Therefore it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a candle stand in which dynamic display is achieved along with the lighting of a candle.
In order to achieve object, a candle stand of the present invention includes a liquid container with dynamic ornaments therein, a base disposed under the liquid container, a driving member having a motor, and a candlelight optical sensor arranged on a center of the bottom surface of the liquid container. A slot for receiving a candle or a candle-like light source or other light emitting part is arranged at on a top of the liquid container. When the candle is lit, part of candle light is emitted into the liquid container and reaching the candlelight optical sensor by the light guiding effect of the liquid container. Then the candlelight optical sensor is triggered to activate the motor so as to make the driving member drive the dynamic ornaments moving dynamically. When the candle light is over, the motor stops working.
Moreover, the candle stand further includes an external light sensor arranged beside an outer edge of a bottom surface of the liquid container. The external light sensor, the candlelight optical sensor and the circuit board form a light comparison circuit. When the external light is with higher intensity and emitted directly to the liquid container, the light intensity detected by the candlelight optical sensor is lower than that measured by the external light sensor so that the circuit board is not driven to work. When the candle in the slot on top of the liquid container is lit, part candlelight is guided to the candlelight optical sensor by the light guiding effect inside the liquid container and the light intensity detected by the candlelight optical sensor is higher than that measured by the external light sensor. Thus the circuit board is driven to activate the motor rotating. Therefore, dynamic display is automatically achieved while the candle is lit.
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:
Refer to
The appearance and shape of the liquid container 10 are not restricted. In this embodiment, the liquid container 10 is a transparent ball container with light guiding effect such as a closed glass ball. An inner space of the liquid container 10 is filled with static objects 70 and dynamic ornament such as artificial flaks, dynamic windmills, rotary ornaments etc. (not shown in figure) and aqueous solution 11. The liquid container 10 is closed by a water plug 12. A slot 13 with an opening facing upward is disposed on a top of the liquid container 10. The shape of the slot 13 is not limited and the slot 13 should be integrated with and formed together with the liquid container 10 integratedly. As shown in figure, a round slot 13 with a certain depth is used to receive a candle 50, a common candle cup, or other light sources such as LED candles (candle-like products) or other light emitting parts. Take a candle cup as an example. When the candle 50 is lit, part of the candle light passing through an edge 14 of the slot 13 opening is emitted into the liquid container 10 filled with the aqueous solution 11, and reaching the candlelight optical sensor 40 by the light guiding effect.
The base 20 is disposed under the liquid container 10 and having an inner space for mounting parts related to the driving member 30 such as a circuit board 31, a motor 32, or others such as a battery holder etc.
The driving member 30 is mainly composed of a circuit board 31 such as printed circuit board (PCB) and a motor 32. In this embodiment, the circuit board 31 and the motor 32 are arranged in the base 20, separated from the liquid container 10. The dynamic ornaments such as artificial flasks (not shown in figure) in the liquid container 10 move freely in the aqueous solution 11 after the aqueous solution 11 being stirred. The circuit board 31, the motor 32 and the candlelight optical sensor 40 are electrically connected with one another. When the sensor 40 is activated, it enables the motor 32 starting to work through the circuit board 31 so as to drive the dynamic ornaments in the liquid container 10 moving, displayed dynamically. The driving member 30 is powered by a power source such as battery sets or an external power source.
The candlelight optical sensor 40 such as an infrared sensor or photoresistor is disposed in the base 20, separated from the aqueous solution 11 of the liquid container 10. The position of the candlelight optical sensor 40 in the base 20 is not limited, as long as the candlelight optical sensor 40 can receive a certain amount of light to be triggered and run. In this embodiment, the candlelight optical sensor 40 is arranged outside the ball-like liquid container 10 and facing a center of the bottom of the ball-like liquid container 10. Thus when the candle 50 is lit, candle light with sufficient light intensity is guided to the candlelight optical sensor 40 so as to turn on the candlelight optical sensor 40.
In this embodiment, the driving member 30 further includes a transparent blade 34 that is arranged on a center of an inner bottom surface of the liquid container 10 and is assembled with a transparent magnetic cover 35 to form an integrate assembly. Then the integrate assembly is disposed on a transparent shaft 36 moveably while the transparent shaft 36 is arranged at a transparent blade holder 37. The transparent blade holder 37 is fixed on a central hole of the water plug 12 and is closed tightly. A groove 38 with an opening facing downward for receiving the candlelight optical sensor 40 is disposed on a lower part of the transparent shaft 36. That means the candlelight optical sensor 40 is arranged on the other side of the water plug 12 and is separated from the aqueous solution 11 of the liquid container 10. As to the object 70, it is disposed on an object support 121 on the water plug 12 and a gap 71 is formed between the articles 70 and the water plug 12. Through the light guiding of the liquid container 10 and those transparent parts having the transparent blade 34, the transparent magnetic cover 35 and the transparent shaft 36, sufficient candle light is guided to the candlelight optical sensor 40 after the candle 50 being lit. For example, the candle light is reflected several times in the liquid container 10, passing through the gap 71 between the object 70 and the water plug 12, and reaching the center of the bottom of the liquid container 10 so as to trigger the candlelight optical sensor 40 to be in an active state. Next the motor 23 is driven to work by the circuit board 31 and the ornaments therein starts moving dynamically. The motor 32 stops working when the candle light is out.
In this embodiment, the assembly of the transparent blade 34 with the transparent magnetic cover 35 is disposed on the transparent shaft 36 and is rotating in the aqueous solution 11 of the liquid container 10. The transparent magnetic cover 35 is a magnetic active part while the motor 32 and a motor magnetic plate 321 driven by the motor 32 are set separately outside the liquid container 10. The motor magnetic plate 321 in this embodiment is a magnetic passive part that is assembled with and magnetically coupled to the transparent magnetic cover 35 (magnetic active part). When the motor magnetic plate 321 (magnetic passive part) driven by the motor 32 rotates, the transparent magnetic cover 35 (magnetic active part) inside the liquid container 10 is rotated synchronously due to magnetic coupling interaction. Thus there is no need to use waterproof packing in the driving member.
The candle stand 1 further includes an external light sensor 60 such as infrared sensor or photoresistor disposed beside an outer edge of the bottom surface of the ball-like liquid container 10, outside the liquid container 10. The external light sensor 60, the candlelight optical sensor 40 and the circuit board 31 form a light comparison circuit. When the external light is with higher intensity and emitted directly to the liquid container 10, the light intensity detected by the candlelight optical sensor 40 is lower than that measured by the external light sensor 60 due to the object 70 in the liquid container 10 that shades the light. Thus the circuit board 31 is not driven to work and the motor 32 also doesn't run. When the candle 50 in the slot 13 on top of the liquid container 10 is lit, sufficient candlelight is guided to the candlelight optical sensor 40 by the light guiding effect inside the liquid container 10. Thus the light intensity detected by the candlelight optical sensor 40 is higher than that measured by the external light sensor 60 and the circuit board 31 is driven to activate the motor 32 rotating. Therefore, dynamic display is automatically achieved when the candle is lit. The design of the light comparison circuit can be done by electronic techniques available now and the related details are not described.
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.
