Amusement devices: toys – Smoking – Wheeled vehicle
Reexamination Certificate
2000-07-06
2001-12-04
Ackun, Jr., Jacob K. (Department: 3712)
Amusement devices: toys
Smoking
Wheeled vehicle
C446S129000, C446S242000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06325690
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to toy tops. More particularly, the present invention is related to toy tops that contain a message display that displays a readable message as the toy top is spinning.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Spinning tops have been a popular children's toy for hundreds of years. As such, the prior art record is replete with different types of toy tops. Tops have been created in most every conceivable shape, size and style.
In the many years that tops have been in existence, many tops have been designed with various secondary features that make the top more interesting to watch as the top spins. One such secondary feature is an electronic message display. Electronic message displays utilize a line of LEDs. The LEDs are placed on the moving surface of the top. As the top spins, the LEDs are sequentially lit. The result is that the LEDs are capable of displaying alpha-numeric characters that are readable to a person watching the spinning surface of the top. The technology of lighting a row of LEDs on a moving surface to produce alpha-numeric characters is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,300 to Tokimoto. The application of that technology to a spinning toy top is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,791,960 to Capps.
In order for an electronic display on a moving object to be readable, the lighting of the various LEDs within the display must be synchronized to the rate of movement of the surface on which the LEDs are located. If the lighting of the LEDs is not synchronized to the movement of the LEDs, the message set forth by the LEDs will appear as a blur and will not be readable.
In prior art systems, the methods used to synchronize the lighting of the LEDs are commonly done in one of two ways. In the first application, the moving surface contains some sort of internal sensor that can sense the rate of speed of the moving object containing the display. This technique is used in the cited Tokimoto patent. The second type of technique is to preprogram the lighting of the LEDs to certain speeds. As such, any message set forth by the LEDs is not readable until the speed of movement of the LEDs matches the preprogrammed speed. This second technique is disclosed in the cited Capps patent.
The present invention is an improvement over the prior art toy tops that have electronic displays. The present invention toy top contains a unique system and method of synchronizing a display on a top to its speed of rotation.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is a system and method for initiating, orienting and synchronizing the electronic display on a top or a similar spinning object. The system includes a top on which is disposed an array of lights which forms the electronic display. The electronic display lights when an external activation device is brought into close proximity to the spinning top. Within the top is a detector that detects when the external activation device is brought within a predetermined distance of said top. The detector is connected to circuitry that starts the electronic display when the external activation device is detected. The circuitry also orients the electronic display depending upon the location of the external activation device relative the top. Lastly, the circuitry synchronizes the electronic display as a function of the detector's rate of spin past the external activation device.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 3783550 (1974-01-01), Andrews
patent: 3798833 (1974-03-01), Campbell
patent: 3867786 (1975-02-01), Greenblatt
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patent: 4562516 (1985-12-01), Chastain
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patent: 5026057 (1991-06-01), Watford
patent: 5041947 (1991-08-01), Yuen et al.
patent: 5057827 (1991-10-01), Nobile et al.
patent: 5406300 (1995-04-01), Tokimoto
patent: 5791966 (1998-08-01), Capps et al.
patent: 5810640 (1998-09-01), Clarke et al.
Ackun Jr. Jacob K.
Francis F.
LaMorte & Associates
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