Patent Application
20240190041
Arts and crafts have been an integral part of culture across a broad cross-section of society for both children and adults from various cultural and ethnic backgrounds for tens of thousands of years. One specific art and craft field is that of pottery, which archeologists estimate has been carried out for thousands of years. For example, the first pottery wheels are estimated to have been placed in use as early as five thousand years ago.
Over the millennia, improvements have been made to the use of pottery wheels to enhance performance and expand the pottery products achieved.
However, the size of known pottery wheels tends to be fairly large and quite heavy which, of course, means that dedicated space for use is required, especially where cleanup is factored in. The size of the known pottery wheels can also make it difficult for children to enjoy the experience of expressing their creativity by forming products.
Another common issue has been maintaining the raw clay to be worked about the center of the pottery wheel. Off center clays result in unacceptable end product, if any. Still another downside as to the use of existing pottery wheels is the relative mess involved. This problem persists using pottery wheels operable at various speeds. The mess adds substantial time during use and involves a lot of time to clean everything up to prepare for additional use.
In view of the foregoing, the present invention addresses each of the above noted issues relating to currently known pottery wheels. Still, other advantages will become apparent upon review of the summary, detailed description and claims when taken in conjunction with various figures provided.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a mini pottery wheel which is easy to set up and use with minimal clean up after use. By “mini”, it is meant that the device can be used in most settings including, without limitation, most table-tops or countertops. The mini pottery wheel generally includes a centering tool assembly to set up and position the clay during use, a base structure including a motor for driving the rotatable clay platform wheel, and an alignment structure for ensuring that the clay to be shaped is maintained centrally upon the platform.
The centering tool assembly includes in its most basic form a removable shell into which clay is packed to ready it for use, and a post which remains in the clay while the clay is being shaped. The base includes a decorative body which hosts the motor and associated electronics, and a top plate for receiving the cover once the clay is readied for shaping. The alignment structure is generally in the form of an at least partially transparent cover which generally includes one or more slots for receiving a shaping tool during use. The cover also includes a pin extending downwardly in the direction of the clay. The pin seats within the centering tool post to ensure that the clay remains centrally located upon a rotatable platform while being worked. The mini pottery wheel described herein is easy to set up, easy to use, and easy to clean to ready it for additional use. Thus, not only can both children and adults enjoy the opportunity to express themselves creatively by using the present invention, but useful end products can be achieved with little to no experience working with clay. The device is particularly suited to making relatively small objects which gives the user an enhanced sense of control and fulfillment. Many other features and advantages will become apparent by referring to the below presented detailed description of the invention.
The drawings described herein are for illustrative purposes only of selected embodiments and not all possible implementations, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure.
Corresponding reference numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views of the drawings.
Example embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and will fully convey the scope to those who are skilled in the art. Specific details are set forth such as examples of specific components, devices, and methods to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that specific details need not be employed, that example embodiments may be embodied in many different forms, and that neither should be construed to limit the scope of the disclosure. In some example embodiments, well-known processes, well-known device structures, and well-known technologies are not described in detail.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only, and is not intended to be limiting. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” may be intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “including”, and “having” are inclusive, and therefore specify the presence of stated features, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. The method steps, processes, and operations described herein are not to be construed as necessarily requiring their performance in the particular order discussed or illustrated, unless specifically identified as a necessary order of performance. It is also to be understood that additional or alternative steps may be employed.
When an element or layer is referred to as being “on”, “engaged to”, “connected to”, or “coupled to” another element or layer, it may be directly on, engaged, connected, or coupled to the other element or layer, or intervening elements or layers may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on”, “directly engaged to”, “directly connected to”, or “directly coupled to” another element or layer, there may be no intervening elements or layers present. Other words used to describe the relationship between elements should be interpreted in a like fashion (e.g., “between” versus “directly between”, “adjacent” versus “directly adjacent”, etc.). As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
Although the terms first, second, third, etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions, layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These terms may be only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer or section from another region, layer or section. Terms such as “first”, “second”, and other numerical terms when used herein do not imply a sequence or order, unless clearly indicated by the context. Thus, a first element, component, region, layer or section discussed below could be termed a second element, component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachings of the example embodiments.
Spatially relative terms, such as “inner”, “outer”, “beneath”, “below”, “lower”, “above”, “upper”, and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s), as illustrated in the figures. Spatially relative terms may be intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is turned over, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be oriented “above” the other elements or features. Thus, the example term “below” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly.
Referring to
Referring to
The key components of the mini pottery wheel 10 for working clay or another suitable material which is designated herein as “A” include a base assembly 12, a centering tool assembly 14, an alignment structure 16, and a shaping tool 18.
The base assembly 12 generally includes a thermoplastic decorative body 22, a motor 40, and a top plate 36. The body has a floor 24, optionally including a non-slip pad or pads 26 on the underside thereof, an upwardly extending peripheral wall 28 defining an open area 30 therein which can serve as a storage space for supplies of the mini pottery wheel, such as clay, during periods of non-use. Also extending upwardly from the floor 24 is a centrally disposed open-ended tube 32. The top plate 36 seats along the upper edge 34 of the body 22. Fixedly attached to the lower side 38 of the top plate is the motor housing 42, within which is contained the motor 40 for driving the clay platform 126, e.g. wheel, as will be described in greater detail below. The lower end 44 of the motor housing 42 seats within the tube 32 of the body 22. The upper end 46 of the motor housing includes a plurality of radially extending legs 46 attached to the underside of the top plate.
The motor housing 42 also includes a pocket 48 which contains the electronics 50 which cooperate with the one or more switches 52 for controlling the speed and direction of the platform and clay rotation. As should be appreciated, a single switch as shown can be used to control both the direction and speed of rotation, or two separate switches could be used respectively. The upper side 54 of the top plate 36 includes a central portion 56 having an aperture 58 through which the drive shaft 60 of the motor projects. Extending from the drive shaft 60 and extending into the lower end of the working space 74 is a coupling mechanism 62 in the form of a disk having at least one of male 64 or female 66 members along the periphery for hosting the clay platform 126 in a mating relationship. The coupling mechanism 62 may be best shown in
The cover 16 which is formed from substantially transparent thermoplastic material includes an outer annular wall 72 defining an open area 74 which serves as the working space for shaping the clay to a desired end product. Integrally and inwardly extending along the top of the outer wall 72 is the roof 78. Extending into the open area 74 from the lower side 82 of the roof 78 is a pin 84 which mates with a post member 124 associated with the centering assembly. Disposed along a portion of the outer wall 72 may be an inset 86 defining an elongated slot 88 for receiving a shaping template 96. During use of the mini pottery wheel, the lower end 94 of the cover is set within the trough such that it seats against a trough wall to preclude lateral movement. The slot includes a lower end 90 and an upper end 92. The shaping template includes a tab 100 disposed along the lower end 98 thereof and a flexible clip 104 extending from the upper end 102 thereof. To attach the shaping template to the cover, the tab 100 is first inserted into a hole 106 provided along the lower end of the slot. Thereafter, the flexible clip 104 is pressed into the upper end of the slot until the clip couples to the housing in the press fit relationship. To remove and replace the shaping template, the flexible clip is depressed until the clip is decoupled at the upper end and the template is pulled away from the slot. As shown in
Referring to
The components of the centering tool assembly 14 include a packing shell 120, an end cap 122, a post member 124, and a clay platform 126. Optionally, the assembly also includes a support sleeve 128 and a removable plastic sheet 130 that helps ensure that the clay does not stick to the inside of the packing shell as clay is packed. As should be appreciated in order to obtain a quality end product, it is important to ensure a quality loading and packing of the clay to be worked.
Initially, the first 132 and second 134 halves of the shell 120 are clamped together to capture the clay platform 126 as shown in
Referring to
With the clay ready to be worked, the platform 126 is placed over the coupling mechanism 62 in a generally nesting relationship as noted above, such that the platform and the clay with the post member embedded therein can be rotated. Prior to the rotation however, the cover 16 is positioned over the base assembly. The cover 16 is aligned such that the pin 84 penetrates the central bore 182 of the post member as the cover is disposed upon the top plate of the base assembly as described above. The pin extends sufficiently into the central bore to ensure that the clay remains centrally disposed upon the platform while being worked.
Finally, with the cover in place, a shaping template is attached to the cover as described above. As should be understood once the cover is securely attached to the base, templates can be interchanged as desired without the need to remove the cover. In this way, the multiple templates can be utilized to carry out different stages of the clay shaping in a convenient manner.
To work the clay once the user has decided upon an end product design, the motor is turned on to rotate the clay in a desired direction and at a predetermined speed. The platform can turn clockwise or counter-clockwise to accommodate right-handed users or left-handed users. For example, right-handed carving (clay shaping) can be carried out with the platform and clay rotating in a counter-clockwise direction. Thereafter, once carving is completed, the direction can be changed to carry out a decoration function, such as painting the end product. The opposite direction (clockwise) can be used for left-handed users. Still, it should be understood that rotations and speeds can be a matter of user preference, and single direction rotation and/or speeds are contemplated. Thereafter, a shaping tool 18 is inserted through the template opening 106. The shaping tool 18 as shown in
The top speed of the wheel pre-loaded with clay is approximately 1000 rpm. As the clay is being shaped, e.g., selectively carved, the user places the desired tip slowly and with limited pressure into contact with the clay to begin shaping. The tool may be advanced along the template to help control the shaping process. While predetermined end product designs can be obtained utilizing the various shaping tools following a work pattern employing one or more templates in sequence, it should be understood that free-formed designs are also possible. The user will develop tactile skills through use of the device, and will intuitively gain expertise in developing quality end products in a relatively short amount of time. Once the raw end product is achieved, the cover may be removed and the end product can be decorated. If the end product is decorated on the wheel, the motor can be switched to a slower rotation setting and the object can be easily painted. Still, other aspects of the present invention will become apparent through use of the below claimed invention.
The foregoing description of the embodiments has been provided for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure. Individual elements or features of a particular embodiment are generally not limited to that particular embodiment but, where applicable, are interchangeable and can be used in a selected embodiment, even if not specifically shown or described. The same may also be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as a departure from the disclosure, and all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the disclosure.
