Patent Application
20190038991
One or more embodiments of the invention relates generally to magnetically interacting spinning devices. More particularly, the invention relates to a fidget toy allowing a user to turn and/or click components thereof with magnetic interactions.
The following background information may present examples of specific aspects of the prior art (e.g., without limitation, approaches, facts, or common wisdom) that, while expected to be helpful to further educate the reader as to additional aspects of the prior art, is not to be construed as limiting the present invention, or any embodiments thereof, to anything stated or implied therein or inferred thereupon.
“Fidgeting” consists of actions that are conducted by certain persons as a means to release internal tension so as to allow the person to better concentrate, focus and complete tasks that would be problematic without the ability to fidget. Many fidgeting actions result in motions and noise that may be self-destructive and/or disruptive to others. Accordingly, fidgeting, while beneficial to the user, is often discouraged in schools and other settings where other people are present.
Current fidget spinning devices typically include a central bearing configured to be held, for example, between a user's thumb and finger, and a plurality of arms extending from the central bearing, the arms providing weight to give the spinner sufficient angular momentum to spin for a period of time.
Most conventional fidget spinners are single action devices. However, many “fidgeters” utilize multiple methods of fidgeting. For example, a person may like to twist a pen end on and off while also clicking the pen. Moreover, conventional fidget spinners are aimed at the fidgeting, without providing additional functions or features to the user.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for an improved spinning device.
Embodiments of the present invention provide a device comprising at least one of a spinning device and a toggle device, wherein the spinning device comprises a first wheel having a first plurality of magnets disposed about an outer circumference of a first end, the first plurality of magnets arranged with poles facing parallel to a longitudinal axis of the spinning device, and a second wheel having a second plurality of magnets disposed about an outer circumference of a first end, the second plurality of magnets arranged with poles facing parallel to a longitudinal axis of the spinning device, the first end of the first wheel disposed adjacent against the first end of the second wheel, the first and second wheels independently rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the spinning device; and the toggle device comprises a toggle mechanism extending along the longitudinal axis of the spinning device, the toggle mechanism movable between a first position, with a visible portion of the toggle mechanism being visible out of a second end of the first wheel, and a second position, with the visible portion of the toggle mechanism being visible out of a second end of the second wheel.
Embodiments of the present invention further provide a spinning device comprising a first wheel having a first plurality of magnets disposed about an outer circumference of a first end, the first plurality of magnets arranged with poles facing parallel to a longitudinal axis of the spinning device; a second wheel having a second plurality of magnets disposed about an outer circumference of a first end, the second plurality of magnets arranged with poles facing parallel to a longitudinal axis of the spinning device, the first end of the first wheel disposed adjacent against the first end of the second wheel, the first and second wheels independently rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the spinning device; and an input device extending from at least one of the second end of the first wheel and the second end of the second wheel.
Embodiments of the present invention also provide a spinning device comprising a first wheel having a first number of magnets disposed about an outer circumference of a first end, the first plurality of magnets arranged with like poles facing parallel to a longitudinal axis of the spinning device; a floating spinner having a second number of magnets disposed about a bottom surface thereof, the second number of magnets arranged with like poles facing downward along and parallel to a longitudinal axis of the spinning device, the floating spinner fitting partially in the first wheel, the floating spinner being independently rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the spinning device, wherein the magnets of the first wheel repel the magnets of the floating spinner.
In some embodiments, the spinning device includes at least one rotational position sensor operable to detect a relative rotational position of the first wheel relative to the second wheel.
In some embodiments, the spinning device includes at least one linear position sensor operable to detect a distance between the first end of the first wheel and the first end of the second wheel.
In some embodiments, the spinning device includes at least one linear position sensor operable to detect a position of the toggle mechanism.
In some embodiments, the spinning device includes a controller receiving inputs from one or more position sensors disposed in the spinning device and a wireless communication module for sending signals from the controller to an external computing device.
In some embodiments, the spinning device includes a laser diode configured to emit a laser signal from the spinning device.
In some embodiments, the spinning device includes a plurality of push buttons disposed about an external surface of at least one of the first wheel and the second wheel.
These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.
Some embodiments of the present invention are illustrated as an example and are not limited by the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which like references may indicate similar elements.
Unless otherwise indicated illustrations in the figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. The invention and its various embodiments can now be better understood by turning to the following detailed description wherein illustrated embodiments are described. It is to be expressly understood that the illustrated embodiments are set forth as examples and not by way of limitations on the invention as ultimately defined in the claims.
The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well as the singular forms, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises” and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, 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.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one having ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and the present disclosure and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In describing the invention, it will be understood that a number of techniques and steps are disclosed. Each of these has individual benefit and each can also be used in conjunction with one or more, or in some cases all, of the other disclosed techniques. Accordingly, for the sake of clarity, this description will refrain from repeating every possible combination of the individual steps in an unnecessary fashion. Nevertheless, the specification and claims should be read with the understanding that such combinations are entirely within the scope of the invention and the claims.
In the following description, for purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. It will be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details.
The present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplification of the invention, and is not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated by the figures or description below.
As is well known to those skilled in the art, many careful considerations and compromises typically must be made when designing for the optimal configuration of a commercial implementation of any system, and in particular, the embodiments of the present invention. A commercial implementation in accordance with the spirit and teachings of the present invention may be configured according to the needs of the particular application, whereby any aspect(s), feature(s), function(s), result(s), component(s), approach(es), or step(s) of the teachings related to any described embodiment of the present invention may be suitably omitted, included, adapted, mixed and matched, or improved and/or optimized by those skilled in the art, using their average skills and known techniques, to achieve the desired implementation that addresses the needs of the particular application.
Broadly, embodiments of the present invention provide a spinning device having two halves—a bearing end and a magnet end, where both halves may include magnets disposed on facing end surfaces thereof. The magnets on each of the end surfaces can have alternating poles facing outward and toward each other, causing a detented motion between the two halves as they are rotated along their longitudinal axes. The magnet end can include a magnet that is mutually attracted to ferrous surfaces at either end of a section of a tube, such as a copper tube. Lenz force between the copper and the moving magnet damps the magnet's speed and provides a smooth feel to the user. The bearing end includes bearings which accepts a protruding shaft from the magnet end. In addition to a spinning, detented motion, the user can also toggle the protruding shaft from extending out of opposite ends of the device. The device may include features to create an interaction between the device and an external computing device. The magnet end may be changed with various spinning devices.
Referring to
The toggle feature of the device 10 may be constructed, for example, as shown in
The magnet end toggle 18 may extend form the magnet portion 12 through an endcap 42, which may help keep the magnet end toggle 18 centered in the magnet portion 12. The magnet end toggle 18 may also pass through a sleeve, such as a sleeve, such as a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) sleeve 40, as well as a finger disc spring 36 before passing through the first compliant member 38.
A second compliant member 32, such as a spring or a sealing washer, may be disposed on an opposite side of the conductive metal tube 34 and bearing end toggle 16 may pass from the bearing end 14, through the second compliant member 32 and may connect to magnet 46 via a second attachment magnet 24. Thus, magnet end toggle 18 is connected linearly with the bearing end toggle 16, with the magnet 46 disposed there between.
The bearing portion 14 can include a sleeve, such as a PFTE sleeve 22 for supporting the bearing end toggle 16. One or more bushings or bearings 26, generically referred to as bearings 26, may be disposed within the bearing end for permitting rotation of the bearing portion 14 relative to the magnet portion 12. In some embodiments, two bearings 26 may be disposed on opposite ends of a bearing spacer 28.
An extension portion 11 of the magnet portion 12 may extend into the bearing portion 14. A retention mechanism may be used to keep the magnet portion 12 and the bearing portion 14 in at least two distinct positions—a close position, as shown in
A plurality of magnet portion magnets 30 may be disposed in one face of the magnet portion 12. This face may be the face from which the extension portion 11 extends, or, in other words, the face that faces the bearing portion 14. A plurality of bearing portion magnets 22 may be disposed in one face of the bearing portion 14. This face may be the surface that faces the magnet portion 12. Thus, the magnet portion magnets 30 and the bearing portion magnets 22 may face each other with the device 10 is assembled as shown in
If the device 10 is moved into a separated position (as shown in
Referring now to
A plurality of spinner magnets 52 may be disposed on an underside of the floating spinner 50. The floating spinner 50 may include, for example, six spinner magnets 52. The magnets 52 may be equally spaced with pole symmetry. That is, all of the spinner magnets 52 may be oriented with their north pole or their south pole facing outward/downward and toward the bearing portion 14.
In some embodiments, the bearing portion 14 may include eight bearing portion magnets 22 equally spaced and disposed on its face. The bearing portion magnets 22 may have pole symmetry so that the poles of magnets 22 facing outward (toward the floating spinner 50) are the same as those of the spinner magnets 52. Thus, the magnets 22, 52 would repel each other when the device is assembled as shown in
While individual magnets 22, 52 are shown as a plurality of individual magnets, these individual magnets may be replaced, in either the floating spinner 50, or the bearing portion 14, or both, with a single ring magnet.
In some embodiments, the bearing portion 14 can include eight equally spaced bearing portion magnets 22 with pole symmetry such as to repel the floating spinner magnets 52. The bearing portion 14 may further include two pole-symmetric, axially mirrored magnets 22A of opposite polar orientation to the other eight. The result is that the floating spinner 50 floats when rotational motion is present, but when rotational momentum is depleted, the two odd magnets 22A in the bearing portion 14 create a low-energy state where they attract the floating spinner magnets 52. This is possible because all repelling magnets are not in phase owing to the unequal circumferential distribution (six magnets 52 in the floating spinner and eight magnets 22 in the bearing end 14). The result is a two-state device—attraction or repulsion depending on rotational momentum.
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The inertial sensor 102 (see
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In some embodiments, a microphone, as is known in the art, may be incorporated into the device. The microphone may permit the device to interact to an external computing device, a home automation device, or the like.
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In each of the embodiments of
While several different relative motion aspects are described above, other motions may be contemplated within the scope of the present invention. For example, the damping magnet 46 may be used to attract a cylindrical or spherical magnet moving about an exterior surface of the device. In some embodiments, the exterior surface can include flattened areas where the attraction between the outer movable magnet can have a greater attraction, due to the shorter distance, to the damping magnet 46. In other embodiments, the magnet portion may be used to move small spherical or cylindrical magnet or ferrous metal sphere or cylinder, herein simply referred to as a sphere, resting on a surface. For example, a user may encircle the magnet portion above the sphere resting on a surface, causing the sphere to mimic the motion of magnet portion. If the user gets too close, the sphere may be lifted up due to attraction to the damping magnet 46 and/or the magnet portion magnets 30.
All the features disclosed in this specification, including any accompanying abstract and drawings, may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.
Claim elements and steps herein may have been numbered and/or lettered solely as an aid in readability and understanding. Any such numbering and lettering in itself is not intended to and should not be taken to indicate the ordering of elements and/or steps in the claims.
Many alterations and modifications may be made by those having ordinary skill in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, it must be understood that the illustrated embodiments have been set forth only for the purposes of examples and that they should not be taken as limiting the invention as defined by the following claims. For example, notwithstanding the fact that the elements of a claim are set forth below in a certain combination, it must be expressly understood that the invention includes other combinations of fewer, more or different ones of the disclosed elements.
Insubstantial changes from the claimed subject matter as viewed by a person with ordinary skill in the art, now known or later devised, are expressly contemplated as being equivalently within the scope of the claims. Therefore, obvious substitutions now or later known to one with ordinary skill in the art are defined to be within the scope of the defined elements.
The claims are thus to be understood to include what is specifically illustrated and described above, what is conceptually equivalent, what can be obviously substituted and also what incorporates the essential idea of the invention.
