Rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6622407
  • Patent Number
    6,622,407
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, January 30, 2002
    23 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, September 23, 2003
    21 years ago
Abstract
A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, which comprises a plurality of glue plates for gluing an ornament, and then is assembled together with a glass ball in water; the rubber plug has a buffer membrane under the glue plates, and extending downwards; the buffer membrane can provide a buffer space to prevent the water ball from having bubbles upon the water in the water ball being frozen in winter to cause a distension.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to an ornamental water ball, and particularly to a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles.




2. Description of the Prior Art




A conventional ornamental water ball usually comprises a glass ball having a round neck part furnished with a positioning ring and a seal plug, which are assembled together in water; the edge of the seal plug has a positioning ring and a salient ring to be mounted fixedly on the neck part of the glass ball; the water in the glass ball is isolated from the atmosphere. The ornamental water ball has an ornamental body portion with a cylindrical hole, in which the neck part of the glass ball is mounted, and sealed in place with a silicone. The bottom of the ornamental body portion is usually mounted with a music device, which can provide a short piece of music upon the spring motor thereof being wound up.




In a conventional ornamental water ball, all parts thereof are put in a water tank before the glass ball and the water-proof plug being assembled so as to prevent from air left in the glass ball, and to prevent from having bubbles left on the water-proof plug and the ornament. After the neck part of the glass ball and the water-proof plug are assembled together, no water is leaked out because of the water-proof plug is made of a resilient and hermetical material; in that case, no bubbles left in the glass ball is all right, but the density of the water varies with the temperature; particularly, the density of water would contract or distend to some extent during summer or winter because of temperature variation. When the temperature is varying, the water in the glass ball will also vary; in case of the pressure of contraction or distension being greater than the hermetic strength between the glass ball and the water-proof plug. The glass ball would leak or suck in air; in that case, the glass ball would become an air chamber.




In a conventional ornamental water ball, the flat plate of the water-proof plug is furnished with a plurality of grooves made of a thin material; the grooves would contract or distend simultaneously with the water during summer or winter; however when most part of the top surface of the water-proof plug is furnished with such grooves, the surface for gluing an ornament would be reduced; then, the ornament is subject to separating from the glued surface.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The prime object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the bottom of an ornament is glued to a glue plate on the rubber plug; then, the ornament and a glass ball are assembled together in water; a buffer membrane is furnished under the glue plates of the rubber plug to provide a buffer space, and it is used for removing bubbles in the water ball upon the water being frozen in winter.




Another object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the glue plates on the rubber plug are furnished in equal and separate manner; the glue plates have a given thickness for gluing an ornament thereon so as to prevent the ornament from slanting or separating upon the water in the water ball being frozen to cause a distension pressure.




Still another object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the bottom of an ornament is glued to the thick glue plates; a round and concave buffer membrane is furnished under the glue plates; the buffer membrane can provide a resilient buffer space for receiving the distension pressure of the water frozen into ice during water.




A further object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which a partition groove is furnished between two glue plates, and is under the bottom of an ornament; the connected portion between the partition groove and a ring groove has a wider groove, which is in communication with a hollow space of the buffer membrane so as to provide a wide communication passage between the buffer membrane and the glass ball; when the water inside the glass ball is frozen in winter, the distended water will flow into the buffer membrane via the communication groove so as to prevent the pressure in the space above the rubber plug from increasing too high.




A still further object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the rubber plug mounted in the neck part of the glass ball has a plurality of glue plates, under which a buffer membrane is furnished; the buffer membrane is a concave disk extended downwards, and the bottom thereof is a flat plate; the concave disk can provide a buffer space upon the water inside the glass ball being frozen and distended in winter.




Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the rubber plug mounted in the neck part of the glass ball has a plurality of glue plates, under which a buffer membrane is furnished, and the buffer membrane extends downwards to form into a concave disk, which has a short flat surface extended inwards, and then extended upward into a thin and salient disk, which is used to provide a buffer space upon the water being frozen and distended.




Yet still another object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the rubber plug mounted in the neck part of the glass ball has a plurality of glue plates, under which a buffer membrane is furnished, and the buffer membrane extends downwards from the ring plate to form into a concave disk, and the bottom of the concave disk extended inwards to form into a semi-spherical salient disk, which is used as a buffer space upon the water being frozen and distended.




Yet a still further object of the present invention is to provide a rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles, in which the glue plates in the center of the rubber plug are divided into equal and separate plates by means of partition grooves, and the center intersection of the partition grooves is a cylindrical hole which facilitates demolding upon casting the rubber plug.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure relation between the glass ball and the rubber plug.





FIG. 2

is a disassembled view of the present invention, showing an ornament separated from the rubber plug.





FIG. 3

is a fragmental section view of the present invention, showing the structure of the rubber plug.





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the rubber plug mounted in the neck part of the glass ball.





FIG. 5

is a fragmental section view of the present invention, showing the structure of the rubber plug.





FIG. 6

is perspective view of the present invention, showing another embodiment of the rubber plug, on which glue plates are furnished.





FIG. 7

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the second embodiment of the buffer membrane in the center of the rubber plug.





FIG. 8

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the third embodiment of the buffer membrane in the center of the rubber plug.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




This invention relates to a rubber plug for a water ball without bubbles; as shown in

FIGS. 1 and 2

, the bottom surface


15


of an ornament


14


is glued to the plate surface


31


of a plug plate


27


in the center of the rubber plug


13


; then, the ornament and the glass ball


12


are put in water so as to have the rubber plug


13


mounted in the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


; the rubber plug


13


can be hermetically mounted together with an inner surface


18


and a ring groove


19


of the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


by means of a round cylinder


22


and a salient ring


23


; then, the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


is mounted on a body portion


17


with ornamental feature. The ornament


14


in the glass ball


12


can be enlarged by means of the lens effect of water in the glass ball


12


so as to be used as a house ornament.




As shown in

FIGS. 1

to


5


, the water filled fully in the glass ball


12


of the water ball


11


is subject to freezing into ice in winter, and the ice therein would distend. After the ice is melted into water, the inside of the water ball


11


will have bubbles in case of the water ball not being furnished with a distension space for the ice. In order to prevent the water ball


11


from yielding bubbles, the center of the inner surface


18


of the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


is furnished with a ring groove


19


; the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


is mounted with a round cylinder


22


of the rubber plug


13


; the mid-portion of the round cylinder


22


is furnished with a salient ring


23


, which has a catching and a resilient functions so as to have the rubber plug


13


sealed and fixed on the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


in order to prevent the water in the water ball


11


from leaking out.




After the rubber plug


13


is mounted on the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


, the center of the rubber plug


13


has a sufficient hollow space, which is used as a distension space for water being frozen into ice during winter; in other words, the buffer membrane


26


in the center of the rubber plug


13


is used to provide a distension space without affecting or changing the flatness of the ornament


14


on the glue plate


27


of the rubber plug


13


.




The inner top of the round cylinder


22


of the rubber plug


13


is furnished with a ring plate


32


having a given thickness. A round surface


24


having a suitable height is furnished between the outer edge of the ring plate


32


and the round cylinder


22


. The round surface


24


and the inner shoulder of the neck part


16


are in registration position, which is used as the reference level for mounting the ornament


14


in the glass ball


12


.




Within the round surface


24


of the round cylinder


22


of the rubber plug


13


, there is a ring plate


32


having a suitable thickness; within the ring plate


32


, there are symmetrical glue plates


27


; under the glue plates


27


, a buffer membrane


26


is furnished; the glue plates


27


extend upwards from the ring plate


32


to form into a cylinder body


33


. The plate surface


31


of the glue plate


27


and the round surface


24


of the round cylinder


22


are on the same level, and they extend upwards in equal and separate portion; the thickness of the cylinder body


33


and the glue plates


27


is almost equal to that of the ring plate


32


so as to provide more glue area for the bottom surface


15


of the ornament


14


upon gluing the same. When the water in the glass ball


12


is frozen into ice during winter, the distended ice would not cause the cylinder body


33


and the glue plates


27


to deform because of the thickness thereof.




The buffer membrane


26


extended downwards from the inner side of the ring plate


32


of the rubber plug


13


has a given depth from the inner surface of the cylinder body


33


; the buffer membrane extended downwards from inner side of the ring plate


32


is made of a resilient material; after the glass ball


12


is filled with water, a person may touch the buffer membrane with a finger; in that case, the shape of the buffer membrane can vary with the pressure. Consequently, the buffer membrane can provide a distension space automatically upon the water in the glass water being frozen into ice.




In addition to the buffer membrane


26


able to provide a sufficient distension space for the water frozen in the glass ball


12


, the glue plates


27


are made of several equal and separate plates with a suitable thickness, and they can provide a wide plate surface


31


to facilitate the bottom surface


15


of the ornament


14


to glue without causing the glue plates


27


to deform upon the water being frozen; in other words, the beautiful outer view of the water ball


11


would not be damaged.




The buffer membrane


26


of the ring plate


32


and the glue plates


27


are substantially a combination of the rigid material for mold and the membrane


13


material; the center of the equal and separate glue plates


27


of the rubber plug


13


has a cylindrical hole


29


, which is substantially the spindle of the mold. The hollow space


34


under the glue plates


27


of the rubber plug


13


is the pull rod position of the spindle after demolding; the partition groove


28


among the equal and separate glue plates


27


is the position of a cross connection plate of the mold. By means of the cross connection plate, the rubber plug


13


can be demolded; since the cross connection plate has a given strength, it can facilitate the rubber plug


13


to be demolded easily; then, the rubber plug


13


would have a wide glue surface and a distension space for frozen water.




As shown in

FIGS. 3 and 4

, the glue plates


27


are separated by means of the partition groove


28


. After an ornament


14


is glued to the plate surface


31


of the glue plates


27


, the ornament will cover the whole plate surface


31


of the glue plates


27


. If there is no wide passage between the inner space of the glass ball


12


and the hollow space


34


in the rubber plug


13


, the buffer membrane


26


under the glue plates


27


would be useless upon the water in the glass ball


12


being frozen.




In order to provide a wide passage between the glass ball


12


and the buffer membrane


26


, a plurality of triangular communication grooves


30


are furnished between the partition grooves


28


of every two glue plates


27


and the ring groove


25


around the glue plates


27


. The connection part between the ring groove


25


and the communication groove


30


is designed particularly to be slightly lower than the level of the lower surface of the glue plate


27


. The communication groove


25


takes a small section of the partition groove


28


, and that small section extends divergently towards the ring groove


25


so as to have the communication area between the ring groove


25


and the hollow space


34


become wiser. After the ornament


14


covers the passage-way of the communication grooves


30


, the passage-way between the ring groove


25


around the glue plates


27


and the glue plates


27


is still wide enough.




Before the water in the glass ball


12


being frozen, the temperature thereof has to reduce to zero degree (0° C.); when the water inside the glass ball


12


becomes ice gradually from the surface of the ball to the inside thereof, the water therein will distend; then, the ice distended needs a buffer space, and then the wide communication grooves


30


will meet the requirement of distension. As a result of the hollow space


34


furnished between the communication grooves


30


and the buffer membrane


26


, the ornament


14


would not be deformed upon the ice in the glass ball


12


distending.




The glue plates


27


for gluing the ornament


14


extend upwards from the ring plate


32


as a cylinder body


33


; the glue plates


27


, the cylinder body


33


and the ring plate


32


are molded into one piece having a suitable thickness so as to prevent from deforming upon the water in the glass ball


12


being frozen and distending.




From the point of view of mold structure, the communication grooves


30


between the partition grooves


28


and the ring groove


25


have a strong and thick end so as to increase the strength of the ends of the connection plates; furthermore, the glue plates


27


on both sides of the communication grooves would reduce the resistance upon demolding so as to prevent the ends on both sides of the glue plates


27


from being torn.




As shown in

FIGS. 1

to


5


, the inner edge of the ring plate


32


of the rubber plug


13


is furnished with a cylinder body


33


extended upwards with a plurality of equal and separate glue plates, between every two of which a wide communication groove


30


is furnished so as to have the ring plate


32


and the hollow space


34


of the buffer membrane


26


communicated, and to furnish a distension space between the communication grooves


30


and the hollow space


34


upon the water in the water ball


11


being frozen into ice to distend. In that case, the inner pressure of the glass ball


12


will be reduced, i.e., the distension pressure of the ice will be directed into the hollow space


34


of the buffer membrane


26


; therefore, the ornament


14


on the glue plates


27


would not be affected by the distension pressure at all; since the glue plates


27


have a wide and thick plate, they would not be deformed with the distension pressure, and the ornament


14


on the rubber plug


13


will not be biased or separated from the glue plates.




As shown in

FIGS. 1 and 6

, if the diameter of the rubber plug


13


on the neck part


16


is different from that of the glass ball


12


, further consideration should be given to the size of the rubber plug


13


, the area of the communication groove


30


, the glued area for the ornament


14


, and the exposed portion of the communication groove


30


; in other words, a dark part under the glue plate


27


should be removed by furnishing a thin plate


35


between the communication groove


30


and the ring plate


32


.




As shown in

FIG. 7

, the buffer membrane


26


under the glue plates


27


of the rubber plug


13


extends downwards from the inner edge of the ring plate


32


, and has a concave disk with a short flat surface


36


extended inwards to form into a salient disk surface


37


; the thin and salient disk surface


37


can provide a distension space upon the water being frozen. As shown in

FIG. 8

, the ring plate


32


extends downwards to form into a semi-spherical salient surface


38


, which can provide a buffer space upon the water being frozen.




After the water ball


11


is filled fully with water, the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


is mounted in place in accordance with the aforesaid embodiment, the ornament


14


glued to the glue plates


27


of the rubber plug


13


would not deform. The distension space for the water frozen is provided by means of the wide communication groove


30


and the buffer membrane


26


under the glue plates


27


. The ice in the water ball


11


will be melted into water again upon the ambient temperature rising to the normal temperature; then, the buffer membrane


26


in the rubber plug


13


will restore to its original shape; the round cylinder


22


and the salient ring


23


in the neck part


16


of the glass ball


12


would not be affected by the frozen water in winter. When the ice is melted into water, the glass ball


12


would not have bubbles.




According to the description of the aforesaid embodiments of the present invention, the features and structural relation thereof have been disclosed completely; the present invention has provided an apparent improvement of the kind, and it is never anticipated and accomplished by any person in the field; therefore, the structure of the present invention is deemed unique.



Claims
  • 1. A rubber plug for water ball to prevent from having bubbles, and said rubber plug mounted in an inner surface of a neck part of a glass ball hermetically by means of a round cylinder, a salient ring; upper part of said round cylinder having a ring plate which including:a plurality of equal and separate glue plates extended upwards; said cylinder body and said glue plates having a given thickness, and said glue plates having flat surfaces to be glued with an ornament; a buffer membrane extended downwards from said ring plate to form into a concave disk; a partition groove furnished between two equal and separate glue plates, and connected with a hollow space of said buffer membrane; central part of said glue plates being a communicated space, and outer edge thereof being connected with a ring groove; and a communication groove connected between said ring groove and said buffer membrane.
  • 2. A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication groove is connected to a round surface above said ring plate and wherein said buffer membrane is a triangular groove including a section of said partition groove, which extends divergently towards said ring groove.
  • 3. A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said communication groove is connected to a round surface above said ring plate; said buffer membrane is a triangular groove including a portion of said ring groove; and a surface of said communication groove is lower than said ring groove.
  • 4. A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said partition groove between two said equal and separate glue plates has an end to meet at an intersection with other partition grooves to form into a cylindrical hole so as to provide a communication passage to all surfaces of said glue plates.
  • 5. A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said buffer membrane extended downwards from inner side of said ring groove is substantially a concave disk, of which bottom having a flat plate.
  • 6. A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said buffer membrane extended downwards from inner side of said ring plate is substantially a concave disk, of which bottom having a short flat surface and a salient disk.
  • 7. A rubber plug for a water ball to prevent from having bubbles as claimed in claim 1, wherein said buffer membrane extended downwards from inner side of said ring groove is substantially a concave disk with a semi-spherical salient surface.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Number Name Date Kind
5967088 Lin Oct 1999 A
5971831 Hsu Oct 1999 A
6001433 Meng Dec 1999 A
6061937 Meng May 2000 A