Ornamental liquid color box

• US 6,203,394 B1
• Filed: 01/07/2000
• Issued: 03/20/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Vincent Kuo Wei Lee
• Original Assignee: Vincent Kuo Wei Lee
• Inventors: Lee, Vincent Kuo Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Rimell, Sam
• Application Number:
  US09/479,627
• Time in Patent Office: 438 Days
• Field of Search: 446/153, 446/158, 446/166, 403/26, 404/06, 404/07, 404/12
• US Class Current: 446/159
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 19/02 incorporating moving display members

Abstract

An ornamental liquid color box includes stationary clear containers fixedly mounted on a cover of a seat. Propellers are provided on the seat to propel liquid colors flowing into the seat to liquid passages that are led to upper storing zones of the containers. Liquid colors sent to the upper storing zones then moves into narrowed middle display zones to form flattened and irregular drips before reaching lower storing zones of the containers and entering the seat again to complete a cycle of movement of the liquid colors in the liquid color box. The whole liquid color box need not be manually or mechanically turned to maintain continuous circulation of the liquid colors in the liquid color box. The propellers are driven to rotate by driving means that may be coil windings or a combination of a motor and magnet-loaded driving and driven gear wheels. No leakproof means, such as shaft seals, are required for the liquid color box.

Claims

1. An ornamental liquid color box comprising an upper part and a lower part, said upper part including an outer decorative part and a display part, said lower part including a cover tightly closing a seat below said cover;

said display part of said upper part being fixedly mounted on said cover of said lower part and composed of at least two overlaid but slightly spaced containers into which predetermined volumes of different liquid colors are contained, each of said containers including an upper storing zone, a lower storing zone, and a relatively thin middle display zone which is relatively thin as compared to said upper and said lower storing zones, such that liquid colors in said containers flow from said upper storing zones to said lower storing zones via said middle display zones to form flattened and irregular drips;

each of said lower storing zones being provided with a bottom hole aligned with an inlet provided on said cover of said lower part, so that liquid colors in said containers may flow from said containers to said seat via said bottom holes and said inlets; and

at least two independent liquid passages being separately provided outside said containers, such that upper ends of said at least two liquid passages are separately connected to said upper storing zones of said at least two containers and lower ends thereof to two outlets formed on said cover of said lower part; and

said seat being formed of at least two keyhole-shaped liquid-supply zones, each of which including a round portion below one of said inlets on said cover and an elongate portion extended outward from the round portion to locate an outer end thereof below one of said outlets on said cover, and at least two disk propellers each having multiple blades being separately rotatably fixed in said round portions of said liquid-supply zones;

whereby when said disk propellers are driven to rotate by suitable driving means provided to said liquid color box, liquid colors flowing into said liquid-supply zones on said seat are propelled toward said elongate portions and sent upward into said liquid passages via said outlets on said cover to flow back into said upper storing zones of said containers and complete one cycle of movement of said liquid colors in said liquid color box.

2. An ornamental liquid color box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least two independent liquid passages are located between said outer decorative part and said containers so that they are not visible from outside of said liquid color box.

3. An ornamental liquid color box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least two independent liquid passages are two tubes provided at opposite sides of said display part.

4. An ornamental liquid color box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said at least two independent liquid passages parallelly extend in one tube.

5. An ornamental liquid color box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said liquid-supply zones each includes a tubular recess of suitable length for receiving a rotating shaft connected at an upper end to a bottom center of one said disk propeller that is located on said recess, and wherein said driving means provided to said liquid color box include coil windings having coils surrounding lower wall portions of said tubular recesses, so that said rotating shafts in said tubular recesses and accordingly said disk propellers connected to said rotating shafts are driven to rotate by said driving means.

6. An ornamental liquid color box as claimed in claim 1, wherein said disk propellers are provided at lower surfaces with first magnets, and wherein said driving means provided to said liquid-color box include a single motor, a driving gear wheel connected to a top of a rotating shaft of said motor, and two driven gear wheels meshing with said driving gear wheel to rotate along with the latter, said two driven gear wheels being provided at top surfaces with second magnets and separately located below said disk propellers, whereby when said motor is started and said two driven gear wheels are brought by said driving gear wheel to rotate, said second magnets on said driven gear wheels magnetically attract said first magnets on said disk propellers to cause said disk propellers to rotate.

7. An ornamental liquid color box as claimed in claim 4, wherein said at least two liquid-supply zones abut on one another side by side on said seat, wherein said disk propellers are provided at lower surfaces with first magnets, and wherein said driving means provided to said liquid color box include a motor, a driving gear wheel connected to a rotating shaft of said motor, and a driven gear wheel meshing with said driving gear wheel, said driving and said driven gear wheels having second magnets provided on their top surfaces and being separately located below said disk propellers disposed in said liquid-supply zones, whereby when said motor is started and said driving and said driven gear wheels are brought to rotate, said second magnets magnetically attract said first magnets on said disk propellers to cause said disk propellers to rotate.