1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a decorating waterglobe and, in particular, to a waterglobe with the animation effect of optical illusions.
2. Related Art
The basic structure of a waterglobe includes a transparent waterglobe that has theme ornamental objects such as trees, houses, castles, or cartoon characters. To increase the variety and fun or dynamical presentation of the ornamental objects in the waterglobe, ornamental waterglobes with dynamical effects have become a trend. The base of the waterglobe is disposed with a music core driven by an electrical motor or a manually fastened spring. The power is transmitted via a transmission mechanism such as gears or magnets to dynamically rotate ornamental objects, thereby improving the visual effects of the waterglobe. The music core plays a beautiful melody at the same time, presenting desirable acoustic effects.
Since the ornamental waterglobe with dynamical effects has become the mainstream on the market, how to increase the novelty of visual effects is doubtless one of the main topic in the field. With continuous research and improvement, the inventor has many inventions along this line in recent years, such as the rotating base with continuous animation effects for the ornamental waterglobe or decoration disclosed in PROC Pat. No. 200520142807.5, the landscape model combined to the interior and exterior of a crystal ball disclosed in PROC Pat. No. 03208540.0, the driving device for the snow scene in a crystal ball disclosed in PROC Pat. No. 03244727.2, and the ornamental crystal ball with embossment effects disclosed in PROC Pat. No. 03244726.4.
The optical illusion is a visual illusion produced through certain geometrical arrangements of text or graphics, in combination with variations in brightness, angle, color, and motion. This renders interesting fake image effects. The animation produced using the optical illusions makes use of transparent BW strips and complementary object stripes on a GS. The stripes on the GS produce an illusion effect that makes a person think that the object on the GS is moving.
The inventor thinks that implementing the above-mentioned animation effect with optical illusions on a waterglobe will be a breakthrough in the visual effect thereof. Therefore, the inventor proposes the present waterglobe with an animation effect of optical illusions.
To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, the invention integrates the basic structure of a conventional waterglobe and an optical illusion component. The optical illusion component includes a BW GS and an object GS. The BW GS disposed in the front is held still, whereas the object GS disposed in the back is continuously moved. The transparent BW grating and the complementary object stripes on the GS render an illusive effect that the object is moving.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent by reference to the following description and accompanying drawings which are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitative of the invention, and wherein:
The present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein the same references relate to the same elements.
Please refer to the ornamental waterglobe in
The bottom 11 of the base 1 has a power source 12. It is usually composed of an electrical motor (not shown) or a mechanical energy-storing device (i.e., a usual music core) with a spring that is fastened manually. The globe 2 is disposed on the base 1 and filled with a liquid. Its opening part 21 is sealed by a rubber cork 3. The support platform 4 is disposed with a theme view 5. The transmission mechanism is interposed between the power source 12 and the support platform 4. It includes several sets of transmission gears 61, connecting elements 62, and dials 63. The function of the transmission mechanism is to transmit power to the support platform 4 so that the theme view 5 performs a rotation or other dynamical effect. Since the transmission mechanism belongs the prior art and has been widely used in the waterglobe industry, it is not further described herein.
The invention is featured in the combination of the above-mentioned basic structure of waterglobe and an optical illusion component. Please refer to
The animation effect of the above-mentioned optical illusion can be implemented on the globe 2 or on the base 1.
As shown in
In summary, the complementarity of the BW grating stripes and object stripes on the object GS produces an animation effect due to optical illusions. In combination with the basic structure of a waterglobe, the above-mentioned optical illusion animation effect can be implemented thereon to increase the fun.
Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments, this description is not meant to be construed in a limiting sense. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiments, as well as alternative embodiments, will be apparent to persons skilled in the art. It is, therefore, contemplated that the appended claims will cover all modifications that fall within the true scope of the invention.