The present invention is a balance scale that is designed to depict and teach the significance of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ and how the sacrifice of Jesus is available to save mankind from their sins.
From a Christian perspective, Jesus Christ of Nazareth died on a cross to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind. For those who choose to believe, Jesus freed mankind from the bondage of sin. As it is written in the Gospel of John, Jesus said “It is finished” just before He died. Another form of this saying is “Paid in full!”
This invention demonstrates the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on a balance scale, showing that mankind's sin has been paid in full by Jesus' ransom sacrifice. Put another way, God's remedy for mankind's sin problem was the death of His own Son, God has accepted His Son's death as payment for everyone's sin, but if we refuse to accept Jesus' death by faith, then the penalty of our sins remains upon us and our sin debt is still counted against us, as demonstrated on the scale.
The self-righteousness of mankind is considered to be the equivalent of filthy rags in the eyes of our God, as it is written in the Book of Isaiah. Furthermore, written in the Book of Romans, “There is none righteous, no, not one.” Therefore, from a Christian perspective, we attain righteousness by having faith in the completed work of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Jesus Christ, the sin debt that was charged against us has been paid in full, and on a balance scale demonstration, the debt that was originally owed has been off-set by the payment made through the atoning death of Christ. Put another way, we have a debt that we cannot pay and Jesus paid a debt that He didn't owe. This is demonstrated in a visual perspective on a balance scale.
This invention involves a loaded balance scale, where one side of the scale represents mankind in their sinful or natural state, and the other side of the scale represents the sacrificial work of Jesus Christ. Both sides of the scale have trays to hold articles that represent mankind and represent Christ, where the articles are of equal or approximately equal weight. The trays are supported on a balance arm, and the balance arm rotates on a pivot.
At or near the center of the balance arm is a pointer that rotates to a label plate, and the label plate has descriptions listed thereon. Alternatively, the label plate can be at or near the center of the balance arm and rotate to a pointer, and the label plate has descriptions listed thereon. The weight on the trays will determine which description the pointer will point to.
Even in our natural state, mankind has a sin problem that has been passed down from our first ancestors Adam and Eve. Therefore, this invention can be used as a Christian teaching aid showing the benefit of choosing to accept the death of Christ as payment in full for our sins, along with showing the consequence of our refusal to accept the death of Christ as payment for our sins.
In the drawing, the base 10 supports the balance arm support 12, and the balance arm support holds the balance arm 16 which rotates on a pivot 18. At or near the center of the balance arm 16 is a pointer 14 that rotates to a label plate 20. The pointer may have a counter-balance on the opposite end to bring equally weighted trays to an even level. The label plate 20 has descriptions posted thereon which are listed in Table I.
Hanging one end of the balance arm 16 is a tray 24 that holds an article of Christ's redemption 30. A label 32 may be at or near the base of the article of Christ's redemption 30, and has descriptions which are listed in Table II.
Hanging on the other end of the balance arm 16 is a tray 22 that holds an article of mankind 26. A label 28 may be at or near the base of the article of mankind 26, and has descriptions which are listed in Table III.
The base 10, balance arm support 12, balance arm pivot 18, balance arm 16, trays 22 and 24, and pointer 14 are made from but not limited to metal, plastic, wood, hardboard, cardboard, composites, ceramic, glass, rubber, or any combination thereof.
The label plate 20 is made from but not limited to metal, plastic, wood, hardboard, cardboard, composites, ceramic, glass, rubber, or any combination thereof.
The article of Christ's redemption 30 is made from but not limited to metal, plastic, wood, hardboard, cardboard, composites, ceramic, glass, rubber, or any combination thereof.
The article of mankind 26 is made from but not limited to metal, plastic, wood, hardboard, cardboard, composites, ceramic, glass, rubber, or any combination thereof.
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Movement of both the pointer 14 and the movable label plate 120 allows for alternate sizes of labels 106A, 106B and 106C on the movable label plate 120, provides flexibility if the movable label plate 120 is bumped, aides in visual centering of the pointer 14, and aids in the entertainment feature of the alternate balance scale 100.
In order for the movable label plate 120 to move in conjunction with the pointer 14 in this fashion, linkage of several pivoting arms 108A, 108B, 108C, 108D and 108E that are pivotally secured via pivot points 110A, 110B, 1100, 110D, 110E, 110F, 110G, 110H and 1101 to the pointer 14 and to the vertical balance arm support 12 cooperate to cause movement of the movable label plate 120 in response to movement of the pointer 14, as illustrated in the drawings and particularly in
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Movement of both the pointer 14 and the movable label plate 220 allows for alternate sizes of labels 206A, 206B and 2060 on the movable label plate 220, provides flexibility if the movable label plate 220 is bumped, aides in visual centering of the pointer 14, and aids in the entertainment feature of the alternate balance scale 200.
In order for the movable label plate 220 to move in conjunction with the pointer 14 in this fashion, linkage of several pivoting arms 208A, 208B, 208C, 208D, 208E, 208F, 208G and 208H that are pivotally secured via pivot points 210A, 210B, 210C, 210D, 210E, 210F, 210G, 210H and 2101 to the pointer 14 and to the vertical balance arm support 12 cooperate to cause movement of the movable label plate 220 in response to movement of the pointer 14, as illustrated in the drawings and particularly in
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Movement of both the pointer 14 and the movable label plate 320 allows for alternate sizes of labels 306A, 306B and 306C on the movable label plate 320, provides flexibility if the movable label plate 320 is bumped, aides in visual centering of the pointer 14, and aids in the entertainment feature of the alternate balance scale 300.
In order for the movable label plate 320 to move in conjunction with the pointer 14 in this fashion, linkage of several pivoting arms 308A, 308B, 308C, 308D and 308E that are pivotally secured via pivot points 310A, 310B, 310C, 310D, 310E, 310F, 310G, 310H and 3101 to the pointer 14 and to the vertical balance arm support 12 cooperate to cause movement of the movable label plate 320 in response to movement of the pointer 14, as illustrated in the drawings and particularly in
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Movement of both the pointer 14 and the movable label plate 420 allows for alternate sizes of labels 406A, 406B and 406C on the movable label plate 420, provides flexibility if the movable label plate 420 is bumped, aides in visual centering of the pointer 14, and aids in the entertainment feature of the alternate balance scale 400.
In order for the movable label plate 420 to move in conjunction with the pointer 14 in this fashion, linkage of several pivoting arms 408A, 408B, 4080, 408D, 408E, 408F, 408G and 408H that are pivotally secured via pivot points 410A, 410B, 410C, 410D, 410E, 410F, 410G, 410H and 410I to the pointer 14 and to the vertical balance arm support 12 cooperate to cause movement of the movable label plate 420 in response to movement of the pointer 14, as illustrated in the drawings and particularly in
While the invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is manifest that many changes may be made in the details of construction and the arrangement of components without departing from the spirit and scope of this disclosure. It is understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiments set forth herein for the purposes of exemplification, but is to be limited only by the scope of the attached claim or claims, including the full range of equivalency to which each element thereof is entitled.
The present application is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/478,937, entitled Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ Demonstrated on Balance Scale, filed Jul. 18, 2019, which is a national stage application of co-pending International Application No. PCT/US18/015794, Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ Demonstrated on Balance Scale, filed Jan. 29, 2018, which is a continuation-in-part of co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/421,485, entitled Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ Demonstrated on Balance Scale, filed Feb. 1, 2017, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/802,990, entitled Redemptive Work of Jesus Christ Demonstrated on Balance Scale, filed Jul. 17, 2015, now abandoned, the entire contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 16478937 | Jul 2019 | US |
Child | 16517531 | US | |
Parent | 15421485 | Feb 2017 | US |
Child | 16478937 | US | |
Parent | 14802990 | Jul 2015 | US |
Child | 15421485 | US |