Horology: time measuring systems or devices – Chronological – With simultaneous time indicating means
Patent
1993-01-25
1994-02-01
Miska, Vit W.
Horology: time measuring systems or devices
Chronological
With simultaneous time indicating means
368250, G04B 2102, G04C 2100
Patent
active
052837696
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to a clock, particularly to a clock for children.
Existing children's clocks do not have the facility to help children who have not yet learnt to read the time displayed on a clock to relate clock time to night or sleeping time and day or waking time. This facility would be useful in assisting children to begin to understand the basic principles and purpose of clock time. Also, many of these children unwittingly disrupt the normal day or waking time of their families or guardians by waking earlier and assuming an earlier start to the day because they are unable to relate to and understand the clock measurement of time and to differentiate between night and day.
BACKGROUND ART
The conventional alarm clock brings to the attention a pre-determined point in time by means of an audible alarm, but it does not differentiate between the time before and after the sounding of the alarm in a way that children, who are unable to read the time displayed on a clock, can relate to. A cuckoo clock indicates certain times by visual signals, but these are transient. For a child unable to read a clock, the cuckoo signal would probably convey no useful information and, when the signal was not being produced the clock would certainly be wholly uninformative.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
The present invention provides a clock having a clock mechanism, display means which are displaceable between first and second configurations, in at least one of which they are at least partly visible from the exterior of the clock so that the configurations are visually distinct; and means coupling the display means to the clock mechanism so that at a predetermined time the clock mechanism actuates the coupling means whereby it tends to urge the display means from the first to the second configuration; characterised in that said display means tend to remain in the second configuration until the clock is reset, so that the state of the clock after the predetermined time is visually distinct from the state of the clock before the predetermined time on the basis of the configuration of the display means.
Generally, a clock embodying the invention has an arrangement of mechanically interdependent parts which can undergo a reversible physical change between the expression of night or sleeping time and that of day or waking time as intended to be understood and interpreted by children who have not learnt to read a conventional clock. The clock mechanism is adapted to cause a change in the mechanical relationship of the parts at a preelected time. It may be triggered by a generally convention alarm clock type mechanism. There should be a means of reversing the change at a later time and which may be either manually actuated or pre-selected for automatic actuation.
Many clock mechanisms operate by means of an electric motor which drives the clock hands by way of a series of gears. Such clock mechanisms which are often used in alarm clocks initiate the sounding of the alarm by means of an electrical switch which closes when the alarm hand assumes the same angular position as the hour hand. This completes an electrical circuit allowing an electrical device to emit a sound.
An alarm clock mechanism of the present invention can be extended to include an electro-mechanical device such as a motor solenoid or other induced magnetic device which is used to release a latch which initiates the change from the asleep or night time position. Such a device can be activated as result of the closure of the alarm switch provided in the clock mechanism allowing power to be transmitted to such an electro-mechanical device by means of an appropriate power source.
Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 shows a front elevation of a first embodiment of the clock in the day or awake mode;
FIG. 2 shows a front elevation of the clock in the night or sleeping mode;
FIG. 3 shows in perspective the relationship between t
REFERENCES:
patent: 2791853 (1957-05-01), Coons et al.
patent: 3247614 (1966-04-01), Spengler
patent: 4730284 (1988-03-01), Adams
patent: 4941137 (1990-07-01), Kikuchi
patent: 5047998 (1991-09-01), Aizpwa et al.
patent: 5050140 (1991-09-01), Albert
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