Education and demonstration – Means for demonstrating apparatus – product – or surface... – Chalkboard or equivalent means having easily erasable surface
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-23
2001-03-06
Ackun, Jacob K. (Department: 3712)
Education and demonstration
Means for demonstrating apparatus, product, or surface...
Chalkboard or equivalent means having easily erasable surface
C446S131000, C434S085000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06196848
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an infant toy for drawing a colored picture, and more particularly to an infant toy for drawing a colored picture which is suitable for use as an intellectual training toy for infants who begin to exhibit a color identifying ability or be interested in color.
BACKGROUND ART
An infant toy for drawing a colored picture which has been conventionally known in the art includes a magnetic migration display panel by way of example, which is so constructed that two substrates or panels are arranged so as to define therebetween a space in which a multi-cell structure including a plurality of cells is arranged. The cells each have a dispersion encapsulated therein, which includes magnetic particles made of a magnetic material such as magnetite, ferrite or the like, a dispersion medium and a coloring agent constituting a background, as well as a thickening agent added as desired.
The thus constructed conventional infant toy for drawing a colored picture is operated in such a manner that when a surface of the substrate on a front side of the magnetic migration display panel is contacted with a magnetic pen, the magnetic pen attracts the magnetic particles by means of magnetic force thereof, so that the magnetic particles may be transferred from an inner surface of the substrate on a rear side of the display panel to a rear surface of the front-side substrate due to migration, resulting in a black and white display or monochrome display being provided due to a difference in contrast between the dispersion and the magnetic particle.
Referring now to
FIGS. 5A and 5B
, a magnetic migration display panel conventionally used for the infant toy for drawing a colored picture is partially illustrated, which toy is generally designated by reference numeral
10
. The magnetic migration display panel
10
includes two non-magnetic panels
12
a
and
12
b
arranged opposite to each other, which act as a viewer-side panel and a non-viewer-side panel, respectively. The panels
12
a
and
12
b
have a number of partitions
14
arranged therebetween, which cooperate with the panels
12
a
and
12
b
to provide a number of cells
16
of a honeycomb structure. In general, the viewer-side panel
12
a
is formed to have a thickness of about 0.2 to 0.3 mm, the partitions
14
are each formed to have a height of about 0.5 to 1.5 mm, the non-viewer-side panel
12
b
is formed to have a thickness of about 0.1 mm, and the cells
16
are each formed to have a maximum width of about 4 mm.
The cells
16
each have a dispersion
20
encapsulated therein, which includes magnetic particles
18
, a dispersion medium and a coloring agent constituting a background, as well as a thickening agent added as desired. Thus, when a surface of the viewer-side panel
12
a
is scanned or contacted with a magnetic pen
22
, the magnetic particles
18
are magnetically attracted by the magnetic pen
22
, resulting in the magnetic particles
18
being moved to a rear surface of the viewer-side panel
12
a
due to migration, so that a character or the like described by contacting with the magnetic pen
22
may be displayed on the surface of the viewer-side panel
12
a
due to a difference in color or contrast between the coloring agent constituting the background and the magnetic particles. In general, since the magnetic particles
18
each have a black or dark-brown ground color, the coloring agent constituting the background is constructed to exhibit a white color so as to form a monochrome display.
Then, erasure of the character or the like thus displayed is carried out. For this purpose, a permanent magnet
24
for erasure arranged on a rear surface of the non-viewer-side panel
12
b
is slid along the surface of the panel
12
b
. This permits the magnetic particles
18
kept attracted on the rear surface of the viewer-side panel
12
a
to migrate to an inner surface of the non-viewer-side panel
12
b
, so that the character or the like may be erased. Thus, when the viewer-side panel
12
a
is viewed from a front side thereof, only the color of the dispersion
20
is seen, resulting in the character or the like being erased. The viewer-side panel
12
a
is constituted by a light diffusion plate of an opaque color such as, for example, white in order to prevent the color of the magnetic particles
18
from being seen therethrough when the display is not carried out.
Unfortunately, the conventional infant toy for drawing a colored picture adapted to exhibit a monochrome display and constructed as described above causes fickle infants to readily weary of it and become interested in another play when it is attempted to let them to learn characters, numerals or the like by means of the toy. Thus, the conventional infant toy fails to exhibit an appeal sufficient to attract infants without causing a reduction in efficiency. Also, magnetic particles described above made of magnetite, ferrite or the like have a black or dark-brown ground color, to thereby be suitable for a monochrome display. However, coloring of the magnetic particles using a coloring agent causes a color of the coloring agent to be deteriorated by the ground color of the magnetic particles, so that such magnetic particles are not suitable for a color display. In addition, the magnetic particles are generally formed to have a spherical configuration, to thereby fail to permit the coloring agent to exhibit satisfactory coloring properties, resulting in the coloring agent tending to be peeled or removed from the magnetic particles. Further, such magnetic particles fail to exhibit sufficient response to magnetic force.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an infant toy for drawing a colored picture which is capable of carrying out a multi-color display, to thereby be suitable as an intellectual training toy.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
An infant toy for drawing a colored picture according to the present invention includes a pair of substrates and a multi-cell structure arranged between the substrates and including a number of cells. The cells are previously classified into a desired number of regions. The toy also includes dispersions encapsulated in the cells of the regions in such a manner that the regions adjacent to each other may exhibit colors different from each other, respectively. The dispersions each includes magnetic particles having a respective one of the different colors put thereon, a dispersion medium and a coloring agent constituting a background, as well as a thickening agent added as desired. Thus, when a magnetic means is contacted with a surface of one of the substrates over different regions of the regions, the magnetic particles having a corresponding one of the different colors are permitted to be attracted onto the one substrate for every region, so that a trace on the one substrate contacted with the magnetic means may exhibit a multi-color display.
In the present invention thus constructed, when contacting with the magnetic means such as a magnetic pen is carried out over the desired regions, the magnetic means attracts the magnetic particles having a respective one of different colors put thereon for every region. Therefore, mere description of a single line provides a colorful display wherein the line is constituted by a plurality of portions different in color. Thus, the infant toy for drawing a colored picture according to the present invention attains a multi-color display of characters, numerals, pictures, symbols and the like while rendering colors fresh, to thereby permit infants to attend learning. Also, the regions which provide the multi-color display are usually kept from being seen, so that the resultant multi-color display provides infants with unexpectedness, resulting in the infants being prevented from being tired.
In addition, the infant toy for drawing a colored picture according to the present invention readily provides a multi-color display, to thereby be suitable for infants who begin to exhibit a color identifying ability or be interested in color, so that a se
Ackun Jacob K.
Fermstrom Kurt
Price and Gess
Takara Co. Ltd.
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