US20090322026A1

US20090322026A1 - LED Chess Set

Info

Publication number: US20090322026A1
Application number: US12/200,662
Authority: US
Inventors: Ching-Cherng Sun; Hsin-ying Ho; Che-chih Hsu; Chang-yu Tsai; Shih-Kai Lin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: National Central University
Priority date: 2008-06-26
Filing date: 2008-08-28
Publication date: 2009-12-31
Also published as: TW201000188A

Abstract

In a light emitting diode (LED) chess set, when a chess piece of the chess set is placed on a chessboard, a power supply element in the chessboard will supply power to an LED in the chess piece to emit light, so that the chess piece gives a light emitting effect. When a player removes a chess piece from a square of the chessboard for a next movement of the chess piece, a control element in the chessboard will identify an identification element of the chess piece through a sensing element on the square to determine the possible next movements of the chess piece on the chessboard and drive the LEDs in the corresponding squares of all suggested movements to emit light. The light-emitting square guides and suggests players to make the next movement of a chess piece and improve a beginner's memory on the rules of chess.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a light emitting diode (LED) chess set, and more particularly to an LED chess set having a plurality of plurality of chess pieces and a chessboard, whose light emitting effect is provided by a plurality of diodes, and a control element such as an integrated circuit is provided for emitting light from the LEDs in the squares corresponding to all possible suggested movements, and the light emitting squares guide and suggest players to make the next movement of a chess piece and improve a beginner's memory on the rules of chess.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

At present, some chesses come with a plurality of chess pieces and a chessboard having a light emitting effect that produces a visual change and attracts the attention of players during the chess game.
In conventional chesses, most of the chess sets composed of the chess pieces and the chessboard adopt traditional light bulbs (such as a tungsten light bulb or a halogen light bulb) to provide a light emitting effect to the chess pieces and the chessboard.
In a traditional light bulb, a tungsten filament is provided in the light bulb for an electric connection to heat up the tungsten filament to a high temperature and then convert electric energy into a visible light. However, such method has the following shortcomings:
1. Since only a small portion of electric energy can be converted into visible light, after the tungsten filament in the traditional light bulb is connected electrically, the traditional light bulb gives poor light emitting efficiency and incurs high power consumption.
2. Since a vast majority of electric energy are converted into heat energy in the form of infrared, after the tungsten filament in the traditional light bulb is connected electrically, the traditional light bulb results in a high temperature and produces a large quantity of heat.
3. The tungsten filament in the traditional light bulb is situated at a high temperature status for a long time, the tungsten filament is burned or damaged easily by overheat, and thus having a short life expectancy.
4. Since the light bulb comes with a filament structure, the volume of the light bulb cannot be reduced.
Therefore, it is a major subject for manufacturers to develop a new technology of applying the LED to a chess set having a square guided movement mode for improving a beginner's memory on the rules of chess as well as enhancing the competitiveness of the chess product.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing shortcomings of the prior art, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to conduct extensive researches and experiments, and finally developed an LED chess set in accordance with the present invention to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide an LED chess set, wherein if a chess piece is placed on a chessboard, a power supply element installed in the chessboard will supply an electric power source to an LED installed in the chess piece to drive the chess piece to produce a light emitting effect for catching the players' attention.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an LED chess set, wherein if a chess piece is placed on a square of a chessboard, a positioning element installed in the chess piece will position the chess piece on the square, and a control element installed in the chessboard will identify an identification element of the chess piece through a sensing element installed on the square to determine the next suggested movement of the chess piece on the chessboard, and emit light from all LEDs of the squares corresponding to the suggested movements. In the meantime, the chess piece also emits light to achieve an entertaining visual effect.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide an LED chess set, wherein if a chess piece is removed from a square of a chessboard for making a next movement of the chess piece, a control element installed in the chessboard will identify an identification element of the chess piece through a sensing element of the square, and the control element will determine the type of the chess piece and the position of the chess piece on the chessboard. After the next movement of the chess piece on the chessboard is decided, all of the LEDs in the squares corresponding to the next possible and suggested movements will emit light, and the light emitting squares are provided for guiding players to make the next movement of a chess piece and improving a beginner's memory on the rules of chess.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a structure in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view of a chess piece light emitting mode of a chess set in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a positioning light emitting mode of a chess set in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a schematic view of a square positioning light emitting mode of a chess set in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

To make it easier for our examiner to understand the technical measures and the operating procedure of the invention, we use a preferred embodiment together with the attached drawings for the detailed description of the invention.
With reference to FIG. 1 for an LED chess set of the present invention, the chess set is comprised of a chessboard 10 and a plurality of chess pieces 20, wherein a surface of the chessboard 10 is made of a transparent material (such as a plastic material or an acrylic material) and includes a chamber 101, and the surface of the chessboard 10 includes a plurality of squares 102 formed by longitudinal and transversal lines, and each of the squares 102 includes an electric connecting portion 103 and a sensing element 104, and each of the squares 102 includes an LED 105.
In the present invention, the chamber 101 of the chessboard 10 includes a control element 30 (such as an integrated circuit) and a power supply element 40, wherein the control element 30 is provided for controlling the LEDs 105 in the squares 102 to emit light, and determining the type of the chess pieces 20 and guiding players to make the next suggested movement of the chess pieces 20 on the chessboard 10, and the power supply element 40 is provided for supplying an electric power to related electronic components of the chess set.
In the present invention, the chess pieces 20 are made of a transparent material (such as a plastic material or an acrylic material) and includes another chamber 201, and the other chamber 201 includes another LED 202, and each of the chess pieces 20 includes another electric connecting portion 203 and an identification element 204 disposed at positions corresponding to a plurality of squares 102 of the chessboard 10, and the other electric connecting portion 203 is electrically connected to the other LED 202, such that electric power connected to the electric connecting portion 103 is supplied to the other LED 202 to emit light. In the meantime, the sensing element 104 identifies the identification element 204, such that the control element 30 can determine the type of the chess piece 20.
In the present invention, the chessboard 10 further comprises a mode switch 206 coupled to the control element 30 for switching a light emitting mode of a chess piece 20 (as shown in FIG. 2), a positioning light emitting mode of a chess piece 20 (as shown in FIG. 3), a light emitting guided movement mode of a square 102 (as shown in FIG. 4) and a positioning guided movement mode of a square 102.
With the aforementioned components as shown in FIG. 2, the mode switch 206 is switched to a light emitting mode of the chess piece 20, such that if the chess piece 20 is placed on the square 102, the other electric connecting portions 203 will be electrically connected to the electric connecting portions 103 respectively, and the other LEDs 202 will emit light by means of the electric power of the electric connecting portion 103 supplied through the power supply elements 40 to light up the chess pieces 20 and produce a light emitting effect.
In FIG. 3, a positioning element 106 (such as a magnetic object) and another positioning element 205 (such as a magnetic object) are disposed at positions of the square 102 and the square 102 of the chessboard 10 corresponding to the chess pieces 20, such that if a mode switch 206 of the chess set is switched to the positioning light emitting mode, and the chess pieces 20 is placed on the square 102, the other positioning elements 205 will position the chess pieces 20 on the square 102 through the positioning elements 106 (such as a magnetic pole positioning). In the meantime, the sensing elements 104 identify the identification elements 204, such that the control element 30 determines the position of the chess pieces 20 on the chessboard 10 and controls the LED 105 to emit light. In the meantime, the other LED 202 also emits light, such that the chess piece 20 and the square 102 produce a light emitting effect at the same time.
In FIG. 4, if a mode switch 206 of the chess set (such as chess) is switched to a light emitting guided movement mode of the square 102, and a chess piece 20 (such as the rook) is moved (to any number of squares in one of the front, rear, left and right directions) for the next movement, the sensing elements 104 will identify the identification elements 204, so that the control element 30 can determine the types of the chess pieces 20 and the positions of the chess pieces 20 on the chessboard 10 and decide the next suggested movement of the chess piece 20 on the chessboard 10. In the meantime, the LED 105 of a corresponding square 102 (which is any square in one of the front, rear, left and right directions) emits light, such that the light emitting squares 102 are provided for guiding and suggesting players to make the next movement of a chess piece and improving a beginner's memory on the rules of chess.
Further, if a mode switch 206 of the chess set is switched to a positioning guided movement mode of the square 102, and a chess piece 20 is moved for the next movement, the control element 30 will determine the types of the chess pieces 20 and the positions of the chess pieces 20 on the chessboard 10, and decide the next suggested movements of the chess pieces 20 on the chessboard 10. In the meantime, the chess piece 20 is positioned to all possible squares 102 corresponding to the suggested movement of the chess piece 20. In other words, the positioning guide of the squares 102 can improve a beginner's memory on the rules of chess.
The chess set of the invention is applicable for different kinds of chesses including but not limited to go, Chinese chess, chess, gobang and checker, and the invention is also applicable for similar products including toys, stationary and high-tech products.
In summation of the description above, the present invention has the following features and advantages over the traditional chess set:
1. Compared with traditional light bulbs, the LEDs 105, 202 have the features of a long life, emitting light without generating heat or burning a player's hand, and a small size.
2. Since the light emitting effect of the chessboard and the chess piece of the chess set of the prior art is provided by the traditional light bulbs, and the light emitting effect of the chessboard 10 and the chess piece 20 of the chess set in accordance with the present invention is provided by the LEDs 105, 202, the present invention is novel.
3. The light emitting effect of the chessboard 10 and the chess piece 20 of the chess set in accordance with the present invention is provided by the LEDs 105, 202, and the mode switch 206 of the chess set is provided for switching at least one mode of the control element 30, so that the chess set can produce a light emitting effect to achieve an entertaining visual effect. In addition, the light-emitting squares guide and suggest players to make the next movement of a chess piece and improve a beginner's memory on the rules of chess.
While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. To the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.

Claims

1. A light emitting diode (LED) chess set, comprising a chessboard and a plurality of chess pieces, and a surface of the chessboard being made of a transparent material, and including a chamber disposed therein, and the surface of the chessboard having a plurality of squares formed by a plurality of transversal and longitudinal lines, and each of the squares having an electric connecting portion and a sensing element disposed thereon, and an LED disposed in each of the squares;

a control element, installed in the chamber of the chessboard, for controlling the LEDs in the squares to emit light, determining the type of a chess piece and guiding a player to move the chess piece to a suggested movement on the chessboard;

a power supply element, installed in the chamber of the chessboard, for supplying an electric power for related electronic components of the chess set;

the plurality of chess pieces, made of a transparent material, and including another chamber, and the other chamber including another LED, and each of the chess pieces including another electric connecting portion and an identification element disposed at a position of a corresponding square of the chessboard, and the other electric connecting portion being electrically coupled to the other LED, and an electric power connected to the electric connecting portion being supplied for the other LED to emit light, while the sensing element identifying the identification element for the control element to determine the type of the chess piece.

2. The LED chess set of claim 1, wherein the chessboard further comprises a mode switch coupled to the control element for entering the control element into a chess piece light emitting mode, a positioning light emitting mode, a square light emitting guided movement mode and a square positioning guide movement mode.

3. The LED chess set of claim 2, wherein if the mode switch is switched to the chess piece light emitting mode, and the chess pieces are placed on a plurality of squares of the chessboard, other LEDs in the chess pieces will emit light.

4. The LED chess set of claim 2, wherein the squares and the chess pieces further comprise a positioning element and another positioning element disposed at positions of the corresponding squares of the chessboard respectively such that if the mode switch of the chess set is switched to the positioning light emitting mode, and the chess pieces are placed on the squares, the other positioning elements will position the chess pieces on the squares through the positioning elements, and control the LEDs to emit light through the control element.

5. The LED chess set of claim 2, wherein if the mode switch is switched to the square light emitting guided movement mode, and a chess piece is intended to be moved for a next movement, the control element will determine the next movement of the chess piece in the chessboard while driving the LED in the corresponding square to emit light.

6. The LED chess set of claim 2, wherein if the mode switch is switched to the square positioning guided movement mode, and a chess piece is intended to be moved for a next movement, the control element will determine the next movement of the chess piece in the chessboard while positioning the chess piece on a square corresponding to one of all possible suggested positions of the chess piece.

7. The LED chess set of claim 1, wherein the chessboard comes with a surface made of a material selected from the collection of a plastic material and an acrylic material.

8. The LED chess set of claim 1, wherein the control element is an integrated circuit.

9. The LED chess set of claim 1, wherein the chess pieces are made of a material selected from the collection of a plastic material and an acrylic material.

10. The LED chess set of claim 1, wherein the chess set is one selected from the collection of go, Chinese chess, chess, gobang and checker.

11. The LED chess set of claim 4, wherein the positioning element and the other positioning element are magnetic objects.