Patent Application
20110267929
The present invention relates to a clock, and more particularly to a clock with two display faces.
Many households have two beds in one or more bedrooms, such as the master bedroom and/or the children's room or guest room. Many hotels offer the option of two beds in a room. Due to design, space or financial restrictions there may only be one night table or other surface between the two beds where a clock can be conveniently mounted or placed. With such a two-bed, one-clock arrangement, only individuals on a single side of the night table can readily see the clock's face. Individuals in the other bed must reorient the face of the clock in order to view same. This may prove frustrating or even difficult for older people or people with disabilities. Known solutions involve the use of projectors to indicate the time on the ceiling or wall, which introduces unnecessary light and is complicated or difficult to read from multiple positions within the room. Other solutions require the use of two clocks, which can waste considerable space and may not be synchronized, leading to confusion when disabling alarms, requiring additional time for configuration or set-up after a power outage or otherwise complicate clock interaction.
Thus there is a need for a device that overcomes the above listed and other disadvantages.
The disclosed invention relates to a clock comprising: a housing; a first face located on the housing; a front end, adjacent to the first face; a second face located on the housing and adjacent to the front end; a first time display located on the first face; a second time display located on the second face; a single control unit located in the housing, and in signal communication with the first time display and second time display; an angle α, defining the angle between the first face and the second face, and where the angle α is greater than 0° and less than 180°.
The present disclosure will be better understood by those skilled in the pertinent art by referencing the accompanying drawings, where like elements are numbered alike in the figures, in which:
In one embodiment, the disclosed clock is a single clock with two displays. It has a triangular shape that allows people to view it from many angles. An alternate embodiment has a pyramidal shape which increases vertical visibility. These shapes make the clock displays visible not only when a person is their bed but also when they are out and about their room. Both displays are synchronized, and the clock centrally manages all features such as alarm, radio or music and time adjustment.
The time displays 20, 24, may also display “pm” and/or “am”, the date, temperature, time zone, indicate alarm status, am or fm radio, and/or the radio station currently playing. The clock 10, may be battery powered and/or ac powered. The time displays 20, 24 may be LED, LCD displays. In other embodiments, the time displays may comprise a traditional clock face and or clock dial with an hour hand, a minute hand, and/or a second hand.
The disclosed clock has many advantages. It is a green device, that is, it saves energy and materials, by requiring only one clock to display the time in two directions, so that people on two beds, or in various locations in a room, can read the display. A single control unit controls the time shown on both displays, so that there will be no discrepancy between the time indicated on the two time displays. Only one power source is required to power the clock and its two faces. The disclosed clock will allow those in two-bed rooms, such as hotel rooms, to be easily able to tell the time from either bed, if the clock is located between the two beds.
It should be noted that the terms “first”, “second”, and “third”, and the like may be used herein to modify elements performing similar and/or analogous functions. These modifiers do not imply a spatial, sequential, or hierarchical order to the modified elements unless specifically stated.
While the disclosure has been described with reference to several embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted for elements thereof without departing from the scope of the disclosure. In addition, many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material to the teachings of the disclosure without departing from the essential scope thereof. Therefore, it is intended that the disclosure not be limited to the particular embodiments disclosed as the best mode contemplated for carrying out this disclosure, but that the disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.
