U.S. patent application number 10/639809 was filed with the patent office on 2005-02-17 for board for cross-and-circle game.
Invention is credited to Lee, Yi-Fu.
Application Number | 20050035545 10/639809 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34135950 |
Filed Date | 2005-02-17 |
United States Patent
Application |
20050035545 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Lee, Yi-Fu |
February 17, 2005 |
Board for cross-and-circle game
Abstract
An XO board for cross-and-circle game is internally provided
with a circuit board, on which an IC sound effect component is
provided. Chess pieces used with the XO board are divided into two
types, depending on the mounting position of a metal sheet at the
bottom surface of the chess piece. When one chess piece is
positioned on the XO board corresponding to an actuating switch
electrically connected to the IC sound effect component, the metal
sheet at the bottom surface of the chess piece would cause one of
two magnets in the actuating switch to move upward and thereby
actuates the IC sound effect component to produce a specific sound
depending on the type of the chess piece.
Inventors: |
Lee, Yi-Fu; (Tainan Hsien,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
TROXELL OFFICE PLLC
SUITE 1404
5205 LEESBURGE PIKE
FALLS CHURCH
VA
22041
US
|
Family ID: |
34135950 |
Appl. No.: |
10/639809 |
Filed: |
August 13, 2003 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
273/237 ;
273/271 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A63F 3/00094 20130101;
A63F 2003/007 20130101; A63F 2003/00662 20130101; A63F 2003/00652
20130101; A63F 2250/027 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
273/237 ;
273/271 |
International
Class: |
A63F 003/00 |
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An XO board for cross-and-circle game, comprising: a bottom
plate having an amplifier and a power switch provided at
predetermined positions thereon; a circuit board being provided on
an upper side with nine orderly arranged actuating switches; a top
plate being provided at one side with a battery compartment for
accommodating batteries to supply power needed by said actuating
switches to operate normally; and a plurality of first and second
types of chess pieces, each of which is provided on a bottom
surface with a metal sheet.
2. The XO board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said circuit board
is provided at a lower side with related electronic elements and an
IC sound effect component.
3. The XO board as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said
actuating switches provided on said circuit board includes a pair
of magnets, two pairs of dams, a pair of springs, and a pair of
metal spring leaves.
4. The XO board as claimed in claim 3, wherein said pair of springs
in each said actuating switch are arranged to point toward two
opposite directions, two outer ends of said pair of springs being
fixed to the lower side of said circuit board and connected to one
of two electrodes of said IC sound effect component, and two inner
ends of said pair of springs being two loops separately put around
said pair of magnets.
5. The XO board as claimed in claim 3, wherein said metal spring
leaves in each said actuating switch are n-shaped members having
two legs, each of said metal spring leaves straddling one of said
two springs with said two legs downward fixed to the lower side of
said circuit board and connected to the other electrode of said IC
sound effect component.
6. The XO board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said circuit board
is provided at a position in the vicinity of each said actuating
switch with a light-emitting-diode (LED) indicating lamp.
7. The XO board as claimed in claim 6, wherein said LED indicating
lamps have pins provided at a lower end thereof to electrically
connect to said IC sound effect component.
8. The XO board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said top plate is
provided on an upper surface with a plurality of flat-bottomed
round recesses corresponding to said actuating switches on the top
of said circuit board, and each of said round recesses having a
size close to an area covered by each said actuating switch.
9. The XO board as claimed in claim 8, wherein said top plate is
assembled to the top of said circuit board with one of said two
magnets in each said actuating switch generally aligned with a
central area of a corresponding one of said round recesses, and the
other said magnet generally aligned with a peripheral area of said
corresponding round recess.
10. The XO board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metal sheet
mounted on the bottom surface of each said first type of chess
piece is located at a central area of said bottom surface.
11. The XO board as claimed in claim 1, wherein said metal sheet
mounted on the bottom surface of each said second type of chess
piece is located at a peripheral area of said bottom surface.
12. The XO board as claimed in claim 10, wherein said metal sheet
on said bottom central area of each said first type of chess piece
is aligned with a first one of said two magnets in each said
actuating switch on the top of said circuit board when said first
type of chess piece is positioned in one said round recess on said
top plate.
13. The XO board as claimed in claim 11, wherein said metal sheet
on said peripheral area of each said second type of chess piece is
aligned with a second one of said two magnets in each said
actuating switch on the top of said circuit board when said second
type of chess piece is positioned in one said round recess on said
top plate.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] With the prosperous and rapid developments in the industrial
and commercial fields, people's living quality has been largely and
constantly upgraded. As a result, most consumers have higher
requirements for the products they intend to purchase. The products
that meet consumers' requirements must economically provide good
basic functions and have novel and fashionable appearances to
increase their added value and make them more changeful and
interesting when compared with other similar products.
[0002] It is therefore tried by the inventor to develop a unique
sound-producing board for cross-and-circle game, or an XO board,
with the above principle kept in mind, so that the XO board
attracts more children.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] A primary object of the present invention is to provide an
XO board for cross (X)-and-circle (O) game that would produce a
specific sound whenever a chess piece is positioned on a particular
location on the board, and another specific sound, such as
applause, whenever three chess pieces of the same type are formed
into line on the XO board to win one game.
[0004] To achieve the above object, the XO board of the present
invention is internally provided with a circuit board, on which an
IC sound effect component is provided. Chess pieces used with the
XO board are divided into two types, depending on the mounting
position of a metal sheet at the bottom surface of the chess piece.
When one chess piece is positioned on the XO board corresponding to
an actuating switch electrically connected to the IC sound effect
component, the metal sheet at the bottom surface of the chess piece
would cause one of two magnets in the actuating switch to move
upward and thereby actuates the IC sound effect component to
produce a specific sound, such as cat's meow or dog's bark,
depending on the type of the chess piece.
[0005] And, any three of the actuating switches that are located at
one line may be electrically connected in parallel, whereby
whenever three chess pieces of the same type having the metal sheet
mounted to the same position on the bottom surface of the chess
pieces are formed into line on the XO board, the sound of applause
is emitted from the IC sound effect component as a notice of
winning the game.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0006] 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
[0007] FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of an XO board for
cross-and-circle game according to the present invention;
[0008] FIG. 2 is an assembled perspective view of FIG. 1;
[0009] FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of an actuating
switch used in the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 4 shows the manner in which a first type of chess piece
used with the XO board of the present invention corresponds to the
actuating switch of FIG. 3;
[0011] FIG. 5 shows the manner in which a second type of chess
piece used with the XO board of the present invention corresponds
to the actuating switch of FIG. 3;
[0012] FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the state of the
actuating switch below a top plate of the XO board of the present
invention before the first type of chess piece is positioned on the
XO board;
[0013] FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing the state of the
actuating switch below the top plate of the XO board of the present
invention after the first type of chess piece is positioned on the
XO board;
[0014] FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing the state of the
actuating switch below the top plate of the XO board of the present
invention before the second type of chess piece is positioned on
the XO board;
[0015] FIG. 9 is a sectional view showing the state of the
actuating switch below the top plate of the XO board of the present
invention after the second type of chess piece is positioned on the
XO board; and
[0016] FIG. 10 shows the state of the XO board of the present
invention when three chess pieces of the same type are formed into
line on the board.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0017] Please refer to FIGS. 1 and 2 that are exploded and
assembled perspective views, respectively, of a board for the
cross-and-circle game according to the present invention. For the
purpose of simplicity, the board for the cross-and-circle game is
also referred to as the XO board throughout the specification,
wherein "X" represents the mark "cross" and "O" the "circle". As
shown, the XO board of the present invention mainly includes a
bottom plate 1, a circuit board 2 mounted on the bottom plate 1, a
top plate 3 covering the circuit board 2 and the bottom plate 1,
and a plurality of first and second types of chess pieces 4, 5.
[0018] The bottom plate 1 is provided on a top at predetermined
positions with an amplifier 11 and a power switch 12.
[0019] The circuit board 2 is provided at a lower side with related
electronic elements and an integrated circuit (IC) sound effect
component, and at an upper side with nine (9) orderly arranged
fixed positions, on each of which an actuating switch for actuating
the IC sound effect component is provided.
[0020] As can be clearly seen from FIG. 3, the actuating switch
includes a pair of magnets 21, 22, two pairs of dams 23, 24, a pair
of springs 25, 26, and a pair of metal spring leaves 27, 28. The
two springs 25, 26 are parallelly arranged to extend toward two
opposite directions. Two outer ends of the two springs 25, 26 are
fixed to the lower side of the circuit board 2 and connected to one
of two electrodes of the IC sound effect component. Two inner ends
of the two springs 25, 26 are two loops fixedly put around the two
magnets 21, 22, respectively. The two metal spring leaves 27, 28
are generally n-shaped members having two legs and adapted to
straddle the two springs 25, 26, respectively, with lower ends of
the two legs fixed to the lower side of the circuit board 2 and
connected to the other electrode of the IC sound effect component.
When the spring 25 or 26 is in contact with the corresponding metal
spring leaf 27, 28 to form a circuit loop, the IC sound effect
component is actuated to produce a specific sound.
[0021] Moreover, a light-emitting-diode (LED) indicating lamp 6 is
provided on the circuit board 2 close to each actuating switch.
Pins provided at a lower end of the LED indicating lamp 6 are
electrically connected to the IC sound effect component, so that
the LED indicating lamp 6 flashes whenever the IC sound effect
component is actuated to produce a specific sound.
[0022] The circuit board 2 includes an opening 29 provided at a
position corresponding to the amplifier 11 on the bottom plate 1,
so that the amplifier 11 is allowed to project from the opening 29
when the circuit board 2 is assembled to the top of the bottom
plate 1.
[0023] The top plate 3 is provided at one side with a battery
compartment 7, in which batteries 8 are mounted to supply power
needed for the IC sound effect component and the LED indicating
lamps 6 to operate normally. The top plate 3 is also provided on an
upper surface with nine (9) flat-bottomed round recesses 31 at
positions corresponding to the nine actuating switches on the top
of the circuit board 2. Each of the nine round recesses 31 has a
size close to an area covered by the actuating switch. When the top
plate 1 is assembled to the top of the circuit board 2, the magnet
22 in the actuating switch is generally aligned with a central area
of the round recess 31, and the other magnet 21 is generally
aligned with a peripheral area of the round recess 31, as can be
seen from FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively.
[0024] The first and the second type of chess pieces 4, 5
representing two opponents are so designed that they have a bottom
surface slightly smaller than the round recess 31, so that the
chess pieces 4, 5 may be positioned in the round recesses 31 in the
process of playing the cross-and-circle game on the XO board of the
present invention. The chess pieces 4, 5 are provided at their
bottom surface with a metal sheet 41, 51, respectively. The metal
sheet 41 is mounted at a bottom center of the chess piece 4, while
the metal sheet 51 is mounted at a lower periphery of the chess
piece 5, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, respectively. Therefore, when
the first type of chess piece 4 is positioned in any one of the
round recesses 31, the metal sheet 41 at the bottom center of the
chess piece 4 would be in alignment with the magnet 22 in the
corresponding actuating switch on the circuit board 2, as shown in
FIG. 6, causing the magnet 22 to move upward and magnetically
attract the metal sheet 41, as shown in FIG. 7. At this point, the
spring 26 is pulled upward by the upward moved magnet 22 to finally
touch the metal spring leaf 28 and thereby actuates the IC sound
effect component below the circuit board 2 to produce a specific
sound, such as cat's meow. And, when the second type of chess piece
5 is positioned in any one of the round recesses 31, the metal
sheet 51 provided at the lower outer periphery of the chess piece 5
would be in alignment with the magnet 21 in the corresponding
actuating switch on the circuit board 2, as shown in FIG. 8,
causing the magnet 21 to move upward and magnetically attract the
metal sheet 51, as shown in FIG. 9. At this point, the spring 25 is
pulled upward by the upward moved magnet 21 to finally touch the
metal spring leaf 27 and thereby actuates the IC sound effect
component below the circuit board 2 to produce a specific sound,
such as dog's bark.
[0025] Alternatively, it is possible to connect any three in-line
actuating switches in parallel, so that whenever three chess pieces
4 or 5 are located to form into line, the IC sound effect component
is caused to produce another kind of sound, such as applause, and
the LED indicating lamps 6 at the vicinity of the corresponding
actuating switches are caused to flash.
[0026] As having been mentioned above, when the top plate 3 is
assembled to the top of the circuit board 2, each of the round
recesses 31 has a central area aligned with the magnet 22 of the
corresponding actuating switch, and a peripheral area aligned with
the magnet 21 of the corresponding actuating switch. And since the
metal sheets 41, 51 are respectively mounted to the bottom center
and the lower periphery of the first and the second type of chess
piece 4, 5, the positioning of the two types of chess pieces 4, 5
in the round recesses 31 on the XO board would not result in
interference or confliction with each other. That is, the
positioning of the first and the second type of chess piece 4, 5 in
the round recess 31 would always cause the IC sound effect
component to produce a specific sound representing the type of
chess piece positioned in the round recess 31, such as the cat's
meow or the dog's bark. And, whenever any three chess pieces of the
same type 4 or 5 are formed into line, as shown in FIG. 10, the LED
indicating lamps 6 in the vicinity of the corresponding actuating
switches are caused to flash and the IC sound effect component is
caused to produce the sound of applause.
* * * * *