Writing device for practice in writing characters

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6416329
  • Patent Number
    6,416,329
  • Date Filed
    Tuesday, August 8, 2000
    24 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, July 9, 2002
    22 years ago
Abstract
In a magnetically writable and erasable writing device for practice in writing characters, the writing device includes a case member provided with an opening in a top surface of the case member wherein a frame section surrounding the opening is formed on the top surface of the case member. A writing sheet includes a microcapsule magnetic sheet and is disposed on the case member so as to expose a top face of the writing sheet from the opening of the case member. A magnetic member for writing on the writing sheet and an erasing member which is positioned under the writing sheet and which has magnetism is included in the case member. The magnetic member put on the top face of the writing sheet enables writing and moving the erasing member along a back face of the writing sheet enables the written contents to be erased. The frame section of the top surface of the case member indicates a character model.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




The present invention relates to a writing device for practice in writing characters with reference to a character model.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




Young children usually obtain practice in writing characters by repeatedly writing characters on a paper with a pen or pencil with reference to a character model. Particularly in initial stage, the practice is enjoyably performed by easily depicting a character model on a paper with ink stamps respectively having a mark of a character model, or by using a character drill book in which a character model is represented by a dotted line and tracing the character model with a pen or pencil.




Meanwhile, there is known a magnetically writable and erasable writing device. In this device, a microcapsule magnetic sheet is used as a writing sheet so that characters and figures can be freely written on the writing sheet with a magnetic pen having an end made of magnetic material, and the characters and figures written on the top face of the writing sheet can also be erased with an erasing member which has magnetism and is disposed on a back face of the writing sheet.




The theory of the above device will be shortly described as follows. As shown in

FIG. 1

, in a microcapsule magnetic sheet


10


for use in a writing sheet, microcapsules


11


respectively having about the size of 500 μm in diameter are two-dimensionally arranged between a top sheet


12


and a back sheet


13


. A black magnetic powder


14


having magnetism and a white emulsion


15


are enclosed in each microcapsule


11


. Thus, when magnets


16


,


17


are positioned close to the microcapsule magnet sheet


10


, the black magnetic powder


14


in the microcapsule


11


is magnetically attracted so as to present a black color on one side of the microcapsule magnet sheet


10


to which the magnets


16


,


17


are closely positioned. In contrast, on the other side of the microcapsule magnet sheet


10


, a white color can be presented due to presence of only the white emulsion


15


. Applying this theory of magneticphoresis to the magnetically writable and erasable writing device enables black color characters or figures to be freely written on the front sheet


12


with the magnet


16


. In addition, when the magnet


17


is positioned close to and moved along the back sheet


13


of the microcapsule magnetic sheet


10


, the magnetic powder


14


in the microcapsule


11


is attracted along the track of the magnet


17


toward the back sheet


13


, so that the written characters or figures on the front sheet


12


can be erased.




The magnetically writable and erasable writing device is realized by using this theory. An inner mechanism of the device will be shortly described by taking “Recording Device Using Microcapsule Magnetic Sheet” described in Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-81877 filed by the present applicant as an example. As shown in

FIG. 2

, on the outside of a recording device


20


, there are provided a case


21


which is of a rectangular, generally planar shape and formed in the upper section with a rectangular opening


22


. There is also provided a writing sheet


23


comprised of a microcapsule magnetic sheet which is disposed on the case


21


so as to expose a top face of the microcapsule magnetic sheet through the upper opening


22


of the case


21


. A magnetic pen


24


is provided and has a magnet on an end of the magnetic pen. The case


21


is provided with an erasing button


25


on the right lower side of the top surface of the case


21


. As shown in

FIG. 3

, FIG.


4


and

FIG. 5

, within the recording device


20


, there are provided an erasing sheet


26


which is positioned under and in parallel with the writing sheet


23


and which has magnetism, a motor


27


, a battery


28


, a switch


29


, and a driving unit


30


which is connected to the erasing sheet


26


and which is powered by the motor


27


. The driving unit


30


includes an eccentric cam mechanism


31


for creating a horizontally parallel movement of the erasing sheet


26


, and an interlocking device for creating the movement in which the erasing sheet


26


is gotten close to or get away from the writing sheet


23


in conjunction with the horizontally parallel movement of the erasing sheet


26


. The interlocking device comprised of a link mechanism


32


which couples the erasing sheet


26


to the case


21


. The link mechanism


32


is swingable in the direction of the parallel movement of the erasing sheet


26


. The driving unit


30


drives to reciprocate the erasing sheet


26


with keeping the erasing sheet approximately parallel to the writing sheet


23


, from the position (

FIG. 4

) where the erasing sheet


26


is far enough from the writing sheet


23


so that the magnetic force of the erasing sheet


26


will not erase the written characters and figures on the writing sheet


23


, to the position (

FIG. 5

) where the erasing sheet


26


is close enough to the writing sheet


23


so that the magnetic force of the erasing sheet


26


may erase the characters and figures on the writing sheet


23


. When the erasing button


25


is pressed down, the switch


29


is turned on to start supplying an electric power from the batteries


28


to the motor


27


, and the erasing sheet


26


is then started to move by the driving unit


30


. The switch is kept in ON state until the eccentric cam


31


is gone into a 360-degree rotation by the erasing sheet


26


which is moving, and, that is, the erasing sheet


26


finishes one cycle of reciprocating motion. When the erasing sheet


26


finishes one cycle of reciprocating motion, the switch is turned off to automatically stop the motor


27


, and one cycle of erasing motion is now completed. In other word, a learner can erase character or figures written on the writing sheet


23


in a lump simply by pressing the erasing button


25


on the top surface of the case


21


.




When repeatedly writing characters on a paper with a pen or pencil with reference to a character model, or depicting a character model on a paper with ink stamps respectively having a mark of character model, or using a character drill book in which a character model is represented by a dotted line and tracing the character model with a pen or pencil, as described above, there are problems that it is required to appropriately supplement consumable supplies, such as a pen and pencil, a paper, a drill book in which a character model is represented by a dotted line, and an ink, and also surroundings, such as hands, a cloth, and a desk and wall, may be stained by the pencil or pen, and the ink of the ink stamp.




Thus, it may be appreciated to apply the aforementioned magnetically writable and erasable writing device, which enables to repeatedly writing any characters and figures and also enables to erase the written characters and figures without consuming writing tools, papers and the like, and without staining hands, clothes and the like, as a writing device for practice in writing characters.




However, heretofore in the practice in writing characters, there has been a problem that it has been necessary to prepare a referential character model in addition to the writing device and to place it in an appropriate position during the practice. Additionally, it has been necessary to store the referential character model not to be lost after the practice. This problem cannot be solved even if the magnetically writable and erasable writing device is applied. Besides, when the magnetically writable and erasable writing device is applied, the conventional ink stamps cannot jointly be used. Even assuming that the conventional ink stamps may be used, an extra space has been needed to store the ink stamps because they are bulky although a necessary stamping face is provided only on one side of each ink stamp, which would cause a problem. Further, when the magnetically writable and readable writing device is applied, if the a character model represented by dotted line similar to the conventional drill book is to be provided on the writing sheet of the writing device, the writing device should be fairly enlarged and otherwise the number of characters should be limited. This will cause another problem.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is an object of the present invention to solve the aforementioned problems in applying the magnetically writable and readable writing device as a writing device for practice in writing characters, and to provide a writing device for practice in writing characters, in which no supplement of writing tools and the like is required, hands, clothes and the like being free from stain, the burden of preparing and handling of the character model being removed, no extra space being required, embarrass store keeping being removed, the character model being magnetically writable with extremely easy, the practice by tracing the dotted lines of the character model being able to be performed without enlarging the writing device and otherwise limiting the number of the characters.




In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, there is provided a writing device for practice in writing characters comprising: a case member provide with an opening in a top surface of the case member wherein a frame section surrounding the opening is formed on the top surface of the case member; a writing sheet which is comprised of a microcapsule magnetic sheet and which is disposed on the case member so as to expose a top face of the writing sheet from the opening of the case member; a magnetic member for writing on the writing sheet; and an erasing member which is positioned under the writing sheet and which has magnetism, wherein putting the magnetic member on the top face of the writing sheet enables writing, moving the erasing member along a back face of the writing sheet enabling the written contents to be erased, the frame section of the top surface of the case member indicating a character model. In one embodiment, a lid member covering all or part of the top surface of the case member may be pivotally attached to the case member wherein a spread surface of the lid member indicates the character model. In another embodiment, the character model may be a table of hiragana, katakana, alphabetical character, or a correspondence table of those.




In other embodiment, the magnetic member may comprise a non-magnetic gripping member, and a stamping face which includes a magnetic member indicating a mirror image of the character model on a surface of the gripping member, wherein putting the stamping face on the top face of the writing sheet enables a mark of the character model to be indicated on the top face of the writing sheet. In still other embodiment, the gripping member may be a polyhedron, and two or more side surfaces of the polyhedron may be provided for the stamping face. In yet other embodiment, the mark of the character model may be indicated by a solid line or dotted line thinner than a line written by the magnetic pen, or an outline which traces a periphery of the character model.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a side view of a microcapsule magnetic sheet.





FIG. 2

is a perspective view showing an exterior of one embodiment of a recording sheet using a conventional microcapsule magnetic sheet.





FIG. 3

is a top plan view showing an internal mechanism of the recording sheet shown in FIG.


2


.





FIG. 4

is a side view showing an internal mechanism of the recording sheet shown in FIG.


2


.





FIG. 5

is a side view showing an internal mechanism of the recording sheet shown in FIG.


2


.





FIG. 6

is a perspective view showing an exterior of a first embodiment of a writing device for practice in writing characters according to the present invention.





FIG. 7

is a perspective view showing an exterior of a second embodiment of a writing device for practice in writing characters according to the present invention.




FIG.


8


(


a


) is a perspective view showing a stamping face of a first embodiment of a character model stamp according to the present invention.




FIG.


8


(


b


) is a perspective view showing an upper surface of the first embodiment of the character model stamp according to the present invention.





FIG. 9

is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the character model stamp according to the present invention.











DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings hereinafter.





FIG. 6

is a perspective view showing an exterior of a first embodiment of a writing device for practice in writing characters according to the present invention. A writing device


60


of the present embodiment is a magnetically writable and erasable writing device which includes an internal mechanism as described in the aforementioned Japanese Patent Application No. Hei 11-81877, and which is adapted to allow characters or figures written on a top face of a writing sheet


64


to be easily erased only by pressing down an erasing button


67


for a moment. As shown in

FIG. 6

, an exterior of the writing device


60


of the present embodiment comprises: a case member


61


provided with an opening


62


in a top surface of the case member wherein a frame section


63


surrounding the opening


62


is formed on the top surface of the case member; a writing sheet


64


which is comprised of a microcapsule magnetic sheet and which is disposed on the case member


61


so as to expose a top face of the writing sheet from the opening


62


of the case member. A depression


65


is formed on the right region of the frame section


63


, and a magnetic pen


66


having an edge formed of a magnetic member is accommodated in the depression


65


. An erasing button is provided on the right lower region of the frame section


63


, and a seal indicating a correspondence sheet of hiragana, katakana, and alphabetical character as a character model


68


is affixed on the upper region of the frame section


63


. Thus, immediately after picking up the writing device


60


, learner can start practicing and writing characters on the writing sheet


64


with the magnetic pen


66


with reference to the character model


68


on the upper region of the frame section


63


without preparing a referential character model in addition to the writing device and without placing in it an appropriate position.




While the correspondence table of hiragana, katakana, and alphabetical character is indicated as a character model in the present embodiment, the character model may optionally be selected and may, for example, be a table only describing each order for writing hiragana or a table of alphabet.





FIG. 7

is a perspective view showing an exterior of a second embodiment of a writing device for practice in writing characters according to the present invention. The same subject as the first embodiment in

FIG. 6

indicates the same reference number as FIG.


6


. As the difference between the present embodiment and the first embodiment, a lid member covering all or part of the case member


61


is pivotally attached to the case member


61


by the engagement between a shaft-like protrusion


70


provided on one side of the lid member


69


and a support member


71


which has a groove receiving the protrusion


70


and which is provided on the upper edge region of the top surface of the case member


61


. A character model


72


is indicated on a spread surface of the lid member


69


.




FIG.


8


(


a


) is a perspective view showing a stamping face of a first embodiment of a character model stamp according to the present invention. FIG.


8


(


b


) is a perspective view showing an upper surface of the first embodiment of the character model stamp. As shown in FIG.


8


(


a


) and FIG.


8


(


b


), the character model stamp


90


comprises a non-magnetic rectangular-parallelepiped gripping member


91


formed of plastic, and a stamping face which is formed by affixing a magnetic, planar magnet rubber


92


, which has a mirror image shape of the character model, on a lower surface of the gripping member


91


. Thus a learner can fairly easily depict the character model on the top face of the writing sheet by putting the stamping face


93


on the top face of the writing sheet as shown in FIG.


6


and FIG.


7


. The stamping face


93


may be formed by spraying a paint of magnetic particles in the shape of a mirror image of the character model, a substitute for the magnet rubber


92


. The mark of the character model may be indicated by a solid line or dotted line thinner than a line written by the magnetic pen, or an outline which traces a periphery of the character model. Thus, a learner can learn characters by tracing the character model indicated on the top face of the writing sheet, as same as the case of using the aforementioned character drill book. In the present embodiment, the character model depicted by the stamping face


93


is indicated on a top surface of the character model stamp


90


. However, other kind of character model may be indicated. For example, when a katakana model corresponding to hiragana model which is to be depicted by the stamping face


93


is indicated on the top surface of the character model stamp


90


, a learner firstly tries to figure out a hiragana model to be depicted by the stamping face corresponding to the katakana model which is indicated on the top surface of the character model stamp


90


, and learner can then confirm the answer by pressing the character model stamp


90


on the top surface of the writing device, which enables to learn characters in various ways.





FIG. 9

is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the character model stamp according to the present invention. As shown in

FIG. 9

, a gripping member


96


of a character model stamp


95


has equilateral triangular pole shape. On each of three side surfaces of the gripping member


96


, a stamping face


98


indicating a mirror image


97


of the character model by a magnetic member. Thus, a learner can roll the character model stamp


95


to sequentially depict each character model by three stamping faces. That is, while the conventional ink stamp has only one stamping face, this character model stamp


95


has a plurality of stamping faces


98


so that the annoyance of storing can be removed due to relatively small space required. A depression may be respectively provided in the center region of two opposing equilateral triangle shaped surfaces of the gripping member


96


for easy gripping. A non-magnetic seal


99


indicating the character model which is to be depicted by the stamping face


98


put on the top face of the writing sheet may be affixed on the stamping face


98


which is to be faced to a learner when the stamping face


98


is put on the top face of the writing sheet in the particular direction, so that the predetermined direction and the character to be depicted can be indicated.




Thus, according to the writing device for practice in writing characters of the present invention, there is provided an improved writing device, in which no supplement of writing tools and the like is required, hands, clothes and the like being free from stain, the burden of preparing and handling of the referential character model being removed, no extra space being required, embarrass store keeping being removed, the character model being magnetically writable with extremely easy, the practice by tracing the dotted lines of the character model being able to be performed without enlarging the writing device and otherwise limiting the number of the characters.



Claims
  • 1. A magnetically writable and erasable writing device for practice in writing characters, said writing device comprising:a case member provided with an opening in a top surface of said case member wherein a frame section surrounding said opening is formed on said top surface of said case member; a writing sheet which is comprised of a microcapsule magnetic sheet and which is disposed on said case member so as to expose a top face of said writing sheet from said opening of said case member; a magnetic member for writing on said writing sheet; an erasing member which is positioned under said writing sheet and which has magnetism; and an actuating mechanism projecting from the case member for actuating said erasing member upon depression of the actuating mechanism, wherein putting said magnetic member on said top face of said writing sheet enables writing, moving said erasing member towards and away from a back face of said writing sheet enabling the written contents to be erased, said frame section of said top surface of said case member includes a character model to provide an example for practice in writing characters on the writing sheet.
  • 2. A writing device for practice in writing characters as defined in claim 1, further including a lid member which covers all or part of said top surface of said case member and which is pivotally attached to said case member, wherein a spread surface of said lid member indicates the character model.
  • 3. A writing device for practice in writing characters as defined in claim 1, wherein said character model is an alphabetical character.
  • 4. A writing device for practice in writing characters as defined in claim 1, wherein said magnetic member comprise a non-magnetic gripping member, and a stamping face which includes a magnetic member indicating a mirror image of said character model on a surface of said gripping member, wherein putting said stamping face on said top face of said writing sheet enables a mark of said character model be indicated on said top face of said writing sheet.
  • 5. A writing device for practice in writing characters as defined in claim 4, wherein said gripping member is a polyhedron, and two or more side surfaces of said polyhedron include said stamping face.
  • 6. A writing device for practice in writing characters as defined in claim 1, wherein said mark of said character model is indicated by a solid line or dotted line thinner than a line written by a magnetic pen, or an outline which traces a periphery of said character model.
Priority Claims (1)
Number Date Country Kind
11-229332 Aug 1999 JP
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3509644 Santell May 1970 A
4143472 Murata et al. Mar 1979 A
4188734 Rich Feb 1980 A
4605328 Shomura et al. Aug 1986 A
4931019 Park Jun 1990 A
4960382 Alford Oct 1990 A
D321865 Derocher Nov 1991 S
5295837 Gilano et al. Mar 1994 A
5324202 Meyers et al. Jun 1994 A
5788506 Chabay Aug 1998 A
5820385 Ohashi et al. Oct 1998 A
6196848 Yamazaki Mar 2001 B1
6201947 Hur et al. Mar 2001 B1
Foreign Referenced Citations (4)
Number Date Country
7-181905 Jul 1995 JP
7-323149 Dec 1995 JP
10-91105 Apr 1998 JP
11-81877 Mar 1999 JP