FR2828320A1 - Children's educational aid comprising transparent plastic squares marked with colored strips used to form letters or numbers - Google Patents

Abstract

A childrens educational aid comprises a series of flat transparent polygonal plastic shapes (3),such as squares, with one or more colored strips (30, 31, 32) printed on one surface. The strips are applied by silk screen printing and go as far as at least one edge of the shape. A childrens educational aid comprises a series of flat transparent polygonal plastic shapes (3), preferably square and of the same size, with one or more colored strips (30, 31, 32) printed on one surface. The strips are applied by silk screen printing and go as far as at least one edge of the square. Each square can have one or more strips, which can run along its edges, form an angle in the middle of one side or in a corner, or be in the shape of a semi-circle with its two ends on one edge of the square. After applying the ink in a series of silk screen printing passes, each square is heated to about 110 - 150 deg C for 1 - 8 minutes to infuse the ink into the surface. In a variant the strips can be printed on one plastic layer and then covered with another. An Independent claim is also included for a method of production of the educational aid

Description

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Device intended for the education of children, method for manufacturing such a device and use of such a device.

 The present invention relates to a device for the education of children and a method for manufacturing such a device.

 The present invention aims to educate children by assembling elements of simple constitution and limited number. By assembling a number of these elements, it will be possible to form each letter of the alphabet, words, numbers and create simple shapes and designs.

 This object is achieved by a device intended for the education of children, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of flat elements of polygonal shape, transparent, on a surface of which are deposited by screen printing one or more colored bands, comprising at minus one of their ends joining a vertex of the polygon.

 According to another particularity, the elements are substantially square, of identical size, and in that the colored band or bands either run along at least one side of the square, or form an angle centered in the square, or form an angle, one of the branches along one side of the square and the other follows the diagonal, either form a semicircle whose diameter is constituted by one side of the square, or form a G.

 According to another particularity, the elements are made of synthetic material based on PVC.

 In another feature, the elements are flexible.

 According to another particularity, the device comprises two elements having a band running along one side of the square, two elements having two adjacent bands each along one side of the square, two elements comprising three bands along three sides of the square, two elements comprising an angle centered in the square, two elements comprising an angle of which one of the branches runs along one side of the square and the other follows the diagonal of the square, two elements comprising a semicircle, an element comprising four bands each running along one side of the square, an element comprising a G.

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 Another object of the invention is to propose a device for manufacturing the device described above.

 This object is achieved by the method for manufacturing the device, this method being characterized in that it comprises a deposition by screen printing directly using mesh screens on a plastic element based on PVC or on a sheet. in PVC-based synthetic material, by successive passes, screen printing inks to form the strips on the sheet or on the element and which the element is then heated to a temperature between approximately 1100C and approximately 1500C for a time between 1 and 8 minutes, to embed the inks in the sheet or in the element.

 According to another particular feature, when the deposition is carried out on a sheet, it comprises an additional step of cutting the sheet to form the elements.

 According to another particular feature, the method consists in depositing a first layer of printing ink on one face of the sheet or of the element, in depositing at least one intermediate layer of ink on the first layer and a base layer on the intermediate layer, the intermediate layer having the function of forming a screen between the first layer and the base layer.

 Another object of the invention is to propose a use of the device according to the invention. This use of the device is characterized in that it consists of putting side by side or superimposing at least two elements to form letters or numbers.

 The invention, with its characteristics and advantages, will emerge more clearly on reading the description made with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Figures 1 to 8 show, in top view, the elements according to the invention, - Figures 9 and 10 show examples of shapes made with the device according to the invention, - Figure 11 shows a sectional view of a transparent sheet printed with the method according to the invention.

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 The invention will now be described in conjunction with FIGS. 1 to 11.

 The device according to the invention consists of several elements (1 to 8) which are transparent, identical, for example substantially square. These elements are printed by screen printing on at least one of their faces. They are for example made of flexible, synthetic material such as for example PVC.

 These elements are for example cut from a screen-printed sheet with the desired patterns or screen-printed independently one after the other.

 In the screen printing technique, inks are deposited on one side of a sheet of synthetic material, for example PVC, to form patterns or decorations. The sheet will, for example, be of the type sold by Kautex under the reference K 3016/35. The first ink is deposited using a screen comprising a certain number of threads.

For example, the screen can have between 90 and 120 wires. To form the pattern, meshes of the screen are closed, and the ink is passed through the meshes which have remained open.

 The sheet of synthetic material is then subjected to a temperature between approximately 1100C and approximately 1500C. The temperature of 1300C allows in particular to obtain good results. The sheet is subjected to this temperature for a period which can vary between one and eight minutes.

 When the temperature is below 110 ° C, the inks do not become embedded in the synthetic material. When the temperature is above 150oC, the sheet can warp and curl.

 The heating makes it possible to embed the inks in the sheet and it then becomes impossible at the end of the implementation of the process, to peel off the inks by scraping or rubbing them.

 In FIG. 11 is shown a transparent PVC sheet (11) on one face (110) from which a screen printing has been carried out.

According to the method, a first layer (12) of ink is deposited on the face (110) of the sheet (11). This first layer (12) may consist of one or more patterns. Optionally one or more layers (13)

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 ink intermediates on the first layer (12). Then a base layer (14) can also be deposited on the intermediate layer (13) to alter or modify the visual perception of the color or colors of the patterns produced by the first layer (12).

 The patterns made on the elements (1 to 8) according to the invention can be manufactured separately according to the screen printing technique described above or be made on a PVC sheet which will be cut to form the elements of the invention.

 According to the invention, each element (1 to 8) comprises on at least one of its faces, a specific pattern. According to the invention, the device comprises eight types of elements.

 A first type of element (1), represented in FIG. 1, comprises a screen-printed strip (10) running along one of the sides of the square constituting the element (1). According to the invention, the device comprises two elements of this type.

 A second type of element (2), represented in FIG. 2, comprises two adjacent strips (20,21), each running along one side of the square. The device according to the invention comprises two elements of this type.

 A third type of element (3), represented in FIG. 3, comprises three bands (30, 31, 32), each running along one side of the square. The device according to the invention comprises two elements of this type.

 A fourth type of element (4), represented in FIG. 4, comprises four bands (40,41, 42,43), forming a square and each skirting one side of the square. The device according to the invention comprises a single element of this type.

 A fifth type of element (5), represented in FIG. 5, comprises two bands (50,51) forming an angle, one (50) along one side of the square and the other along a diagonal of the square. The device according to the invention comprises two elements of this type.

 A sixth type of element (6), shown in FIG. 6, comprises two bands (60,61) forming an angle centered in the square, the apex of which is adjacent to one side of the square in the middle and each of the bands joined an opposite vertex. The device according to the invention comprises two elements of this type.

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 A seventh type of element (7), represented in FIG. 7, comprises a strip (70) forming a semicircle whose diameter runs along one side of the square. The device according to the invention comprises two elements of this type.

 An eighth and last type of element (8), represented in FIG. 8, comprises five bands (80 to 84) forming a G. Two of these bands (80,81) are adjacent by one of their ends and follow one side of the square. Two other strips (82,83) each follow another side of the square, up to half the side it runs along. Finally, a last strip (84) adjacent to one of the strips (83) running along one side to half a side, is formed in the direction of the center of the square and stops substantially in the center of the square. The device according to the invention comprises a single element of this type.

 According to the invention, using all of these elements and using the fact that they are transparent, it is possible to form, by combining or superimposing one or more of these elements, each of the letters of the alphabet, numbers at least from 1 to 10 and make simple patterns. It will also be possible to write relatively short words.

 For example, with reference to FIG. 9, it will be possible to form the letter A by superimposing an element (1) of the first type, the strip (10) of which is placed horizontally on an element (6) of the sixth type. Due to the transparency of the elements according to the invention, it will be possible to read the letter A. Similarly, in FIG. 9, the letter B has been formed by placing the two elements (1) of the first type end to end and by adjoining each of these elements (1) an element of the seventh type, each free end of the semicircle of this element (7) of the seventh type joining one end of the strip (10) of an element (1) of the first type .

 Similarly in Figure 10, we formed the number 7, by superimposing an element (1) of the first type on an element (5) of the fifth type. In this figure 10, the number 9 has also been produced by attaching the element (4) of the fourth type to an element (1) of the first type, the strip (10) of which is placed vertically. The other element (1) of the first type is placed to form the horizontal lower bar of the number 9.

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 According to the invention, each type of element has its pattern of a specific color so that the child can differentiate the elements from each other.

 It should be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention allows embodiments in many other specific forms without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. Therefore, the present embodiments should be considered by way of illustration, but may be modified in the field defined by the scope of the appended claims, and the invention should not be limited to the details given above.

Claims (9)

1. Device intended for the education of children, characterized in that it comprises a plurality of flat elements of polygonal shape, transparent, on a surface of which are deposited by screen printing one or more colored bands, comprising at least one of their ends joining a vertex of the polygon.  2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that the elements (1 to 8) are substantially square, of identical size, and in that the colored band or bands either run along at least one side of the square, or form a centered angle in the square, either form an angle of which one of the branches runs along one side of the square and the other follows the diagonal, or form a semicircle whose diameter is constituted by one side of the square, or form a G.  3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the elements (1 to 8) are made of synthetic material based on PVC.  4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the elements are flexible.  5. Device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that it comprises two elements (1) having a strip running along one side of the square, two elements (2) having two adjacent strips each along one side of the square, two elements (3) comprising three bands along three sides of the square, two elements (6) comprising an angle centered in the square, two elements (5) comprising an angle one of the branches of which runs along one side of the square and the other follows the diagonal of the square, two elements (7) comprising a semicircle, an element (4) comprising four bands each running along one side of the square, an element (8) comprising a G.  6. Method for manufacturing the device of claims 2 to 5, characterized in that it comprises a deposition by screen printing directly using mesh screens on a plastic element based on PVC or on a sheet of material synthetic based on PVC, by successive passes, screen printing inks to form the strips on the sheet or on the element and which the element is then heated to a temperature <Desc / Clms Page number 8>  between about 110 C and about 1500C for a time between 1 and 8 minutes, to embed the inks in the sheet or in the element.  7. Method according to claim 6, characterized in that when the deposition is carried out on a sheet, it comprises an additional step of cutting the sheet to form the elements.  8. Method according to claim 6 or 7, characterized in that it consists in depositing a first layer (12) of printing ink on one face (110) of the sheet (11) or of the element (1 8), depositing at least one intermediate layer (13) of ink on the first layer (12) and a base layer (14) on the intermediate layer (13), the intermediate layer (13) having the function of form a screen between the first layer (12) and the base layer (14).  9. Use of the device according to claims 1 to 5, characterized in that it consists of putting side by side or superimposing at least two elements to form letters or numbers.