GB2054235A

GB2054235A - Word making device

Info

Publication number: GB2054235A
Application number: GB8022914A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1979-07-14
Filing date: 1980-07-14
Publication date: 1981-02-11

Abstract

A device is provided for selecting letters so that they may be displayed in the form of words or sentences to aid teaching of spelling and reading to children. The device (24) comprises a support (26) for a set of elongate members (31) on which the letters (32) are written, the elongate members be ing disposed side-by-side in the support (26), with a letter (32) of each member (31) displayed through one or more slots (33) in the support (26) or indicated adjacent a respective slot (not shown) in the support. The letters (32) displayed or indicated at different locations of the support (26) are preferably of a different form, e.g. upper and lower case letters. The members (31) are provided with recesses which cooperate with protrusions on either adjacent members (31) or on the support (26) so that they may be located in position in their longitudinal direction. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Word making device This invention relates to devices for the selecting and displaying of letters in the form of words or sentences, to aid the teaching of spelling and reading to children or people having little or no facility in there subjects.

Such devices are known but tend to be mechanically complex or of electronic operation, and are in consequence costly to produce and may require frequent servicing in order to operate satisfactorily.

One such device is known from British Patent No. 1,313,557, which device comprises a frame formed of two sections, each having a transversely extending slot dividing the section into first and second portions, the two sections being secured together in face-toface relationship with the respective slots in register, and which contain a plurality of strips inscribed with characters on both sides and provided with a bar for moving each strip independently to bring a selected character opposite the slot which extends transversely of the strips so that the selected characters appear in the selected sequence.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a device of this type which is mechanicaliy simpler and therefore less costly to produce and more reliable in use than the aforementioned type and which requires an intelligency developed to only a small degree to use and appreciate the displayed information.

The invention provides a device for selecting and displaying of letters in the form of words or sentences, comprising a support structure, a plurality of elongate members adapted to be located in said support structure in side-by-side relationship, each member having a plurality of letters on a front facing surface thereof and being provided with recess means adapted to cooperate with protrusion means on an adjacent member or on said support structure whereby said members are located in a direction longitudinally of themselves in a position whereby corresponding sequences of letters are displayed or indicated at a plurality of locations of said support structure.

A first of said locations may be provided by a slot in a front face of the support structure, the slot extending transversely of the longitudinal direction, and the form of the letters displayed at any location may differ from that of those letters displayed at any other location, for example upper and lower case letter forms.

In a first embodiment of the invention each elongate member has a plurality of corresponding letters thereon, the form of each letter being different from that of the other letter or letters thereon. In this case each location may be provided by a respective slot in the front face of the support structure, with each of such slots extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the members.

One or more clamping means may be provided, adapted to slide relative to the support structure to abut an end one of the members.

The invention may further comprise a container having a plurality of holders therein, each holder being adapted to hold one or a plurality of members therein.

In a second embodiment of the invention the support structure is of box-like form in which said members are constrained to move in parallel paths lengthwise of themselves, said members each having a plurality of recesses therein adapted to cooperate with indexing protrusion means attached to said support structure whereby each member may be located in a desired position along said path with a selected letter thereon displayed in said slot.

Individual indexing protrusion means may be provided for each member or alternatively a common indexing protrusion member may be provided and adapted to cooperate with each member. In either case the support structure may be provided with a plurality of slots in its front face, each slot extending along one of the parallel paths and an indicator may be provided on each member to extend through a respective slot to indicate a letter of a plurality of letters provided on the front face of the support structure adjacent each slot. The indexing protrusion means preferably comprises a resilient plate secured to the back of the support structure.

Embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 is a front elevation of a first embodiment; Figure 2 is a part elevation of a second embodiment; Figure 3 is a sectional side elevation of the embodiments of Figs. 1 and 2; Figure 4 is a plan view of part of the embodiments of Figs. 1 and 2; Figure 5 is a section on line V-V of Fig. 4; Figure 6 is a rear elevation of the detail of Figs. 4 and 5; Figure 7 is a front elevation of a third embodiment; Figure 8 is a sectional side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 7; Figure 9 is a front elevation of the embodiment of Figs. 7 and 8 with the front cover removed; Figure 10 is a front elevation of a fourth embodiment; Figure Ii is a side elevation of the embodiment of Fig. 10; and Figure 12 is an underplan of the embodiment of Figs. 10 and 11.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 3 to 6, there is shown a first embodiment of word making device 24 which comprises a support structure in the form of a plate 26, having upstanding sides 25. Secuted to or integral with the plate 26 are ribs 30 spaced from the plate 26 by the sides 25 to allow a plurality of elongate members 31 to be inserted therebetween. These elongate members have letters 32 on a front face thereof which are visible through the spaces or slots 33 between the ribs 30. As shown particularly in Fig. 1 the letters 32 are in upper, and lower case and handwriting form so that comparison between the appearance of the letters and words formed therefrom is easily made.

As shown particularly in Fig. 3, the elongate members 31 are inserted between the plate 26 and the ribs 30. Slides 34 abut the endmost members 31 to retain the members 31 in the desired positions. Alternatively only one slide 34 may be used and an appropriate number of blank members 31 are then inserted at the left hand end of the plate 26 to provide for central disposition of the words if desired.

Particular details of the construction of the device 24 are shown more clearly in Figs. 3 to 6. The members 31 have straight parallel sides, with protruberances 35 on one side and corresponding recesses (not shown) on the opposed side. The slides 34 may be formed in a manner corresponding with the form of the members 31. In this way moving the slides 34 into abutment with the endmost members 31 will preclude any member 31 from falling out of the device should the device be inverted at any time.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 2 the members 31 are formed with parallel but bent sides. In this case the slides 34 are formed having correspondingly shaped sides for abutting the endmost members 31. Any form of non-straight sides may be adopted for members 31 and slides 34.

In Figs. 3 to 6 there is shown a slide 34 and its manner of operation. Attached to the slide 34 is a knob 43 by means of which the slide is moved in a direction parallel with the ribs 30 to abut an endmost member 31. A groove 44 is provided in the support 26 and a screw 45 passes from the back of the support 26 through the groove 44 and into the slide 34. A spring plate 46, through which the screw passes, provides a force acting between the back of the support 26 and the head of screw 45 to urge the slide into contact with the support 26, and this causes frictional resistance to sliding of slide 34 so that it is restrained in any position to which it is moved.A guiding distance piece 47, through which the screw 45 also passes, fits into the groove 44, and together with lugs 48 on spring plate 46 which also fit into groove 44 and serve to locate the spring plate, provides a guiding restraint on the sliding movement of the slide 34. The spring force produced by spring plate 46 may be adjusted to provide the desired frictional restraint on movement of slide 34 by adjustment of screw 45. A removable cover 49 is provided to enclose the spring plate 46 and screw 45.

The letters 32 may be recessed in the front faces of the members 31 so that tracing of those letters is facilitated, thereby providing a means of teaching the formation of letters.

Also, as shown in Fig. 1, the members 31 may be marked, for example by colouring the ends thereof, so as to distinguish between vowels and consonants.

A container, not shown, may be provided in the form of a case containing a plurality of holders, each of which is adapted to hold one or more members 31. For example one holder may hold a number of members 31 having the letter A thereon, another holder may hold a number, greater, equal to or less than the aforesaid number, of member 31 having the letter B thereon, and so on throughout the alphabet. The holders may be for example pockets, straps or clips.

As a further alternative a set of members 31 may be provided which, instead of letters of different form thereon as previously described, have syllables thereon spelled in the different ways in which certain syllables may be spelled whilst being pronounced in a similar manner, for example uff and ough, ate and eight. This further set of members 31 may also be marked, as by having coloured tops thereto, to distinguish them from the previously described members 31 having consonants or vowels thereon, and may assist in the teaching of spelling.

Referring now to Figs. 7 to 9, there is shown another embodiment of word making device 10 which comprises a box-like structure having a front wall 11 and sides 12.

Approximately centrally of the front wall 11, and extending from side-to-side thereof, is a slot 1 3 which divides the outer face of wall 11 into upper and lower regions 14,15 respectively. The lower region 1 5 is a plain surface on which a piece of paper 1 7 may be rested for writing purposes. A clip 1 6a or a hinged transparent flap 1 6b is provided to hold the paper 17 in position on the surface.

In the front wall, in the upper region 14, are a plurality of slots 1 8 and alongside each slot 1 8 are the letters 1 9 of the alphabet in sequence as shown. The letters 1 9 may be in upper and lower case form of alternatively in any other form as desired.

Within the box-like structure are a plurality of elongate members 20 which are arranged in side-by-side relationship and are constrained to move in parallel paths lengthwise of themselves. A small portion of each elongate member is visible through the slot 13.

An operating peg 21 is attached to the upper end of each member 20 and each peg 21 projects through one of the slots 18 in the front wall 11. An operating peg 21 may be moved along the slot 1 8 through which it projects to a position adjacent a chosen letter 1 9 of those alongside that slot 1 8. This movement causes the member 20, to which that peg 21 is attached, to slide to a position in which a letter 22, corresponding with the chosen letter 1 9 and which is on the front facing surface of the member 20, is visible through the slot 1 3. By moving an appropriate number of adjacent pegs 21 to positions adjacent chosen letters 1 9 a word or groups of words may be made to appear through slot 1 3. Since the slot 1 3 is in a position which is close to and above the paper 1 7 copying onto the paper, as at 22a, of the word or words appearing in the slot 1 3 may be conveniently performed. In the above manner the teaching of both spelling and writing is aided by means of the device.

Figs. 8 and 9 show the manner in which the elongate members 20 are supported in the device 1 0. Attached to the back wall 36 is a support block 37 for a spring plate 38. The spring plate 38 engages one recess 39 of a plurality of such recesses spaced equidistantly along the undersurface 40 of the member 20.

By this means the member 20 is resiliently urged towards the front wall 11 and is restrained in a desired position along its path of movement longitudinally of itself. The member 20 is guided by means of operating peg 21 sliding in groove 18 and also by means of spigot 41 sliding in a groove 42 in the underside of front wall 11. As shown a single spring plate 38, extending laterally of the members 20 co-operate with one recess 39 in each member 20. Alternatively individual spring loaded plungers may be provided for each member 20.

Referring now to Figs. 10 and 1 2 there is shown a fourth embodiment of word making device 110 which is in effect a combination of the first and third embodiments described above. This embodiment comprises a box-like structure having a front wall 111 and sides 11 2 and a slot 11 3 which divides the outer face of wall 111 into upper and lower regions 114, 11 5 respectively. The lower region 11 5 is a plain surface on which a piece of paper 11 7 may be held by clip 11 6 for writing purposes. In the front wall 111, in the upper region 114, are a plurality of slots 118 and the letters 11 9 of the alphabet.

Within the box-like structure are a plurality of first elongate members 1 20 which are arranged in side-by-side relationship and are constrained to move in parallel paths lengthwise of themselves by movement of operating peg 1 21 attached to the upper end thereof.

The construction and operation of this part of the device 110 is exactly the same as that of the embodiment of Figs. 7 to 9.

However, in this embodiment, on the sides 112, are located receiving means in the form of headed studs 1 23. Side members 1 24 have grooves 1 25 into which the headed studs 1 23 may slide so as to retain the side members 1 24 in an operating position or to allow the side member 1 24 to be removed from the studs 123.A plate-like support 126, having triangularly-shaped depending sides 1 27 is supported by the side members 1 24 and is slidable in grooves 1 29 in those side members 1 24. This means of support enables the support 1 26 to slide between the posi tions shown in Fig. 10, in which the whole of the upper region 114 is uncovered, and a position in which that upper region 114 is at least partly covered.

On the plate-like support 1 26 are restrain ing means in the form of ribs 1 30 spaced from the support 1 26 to allow a plurality of second elongate members 131 to be inserted therebetween. These second elongate mem bers 131 have letters 132 on a front face thereof which are visible through the spaces 1 33 between the ribs 1 30. As in the embodi ment of Fig. 1 the letters 32 are in upper, and lower case and handwriting form. Move ment of the support 1 26 to a position adja cent the paper 11 7 allows for the easy copy ing of the letters and/or words shown on the support 1 26 onto the paper 117, in which ever form is desired.

Claims

1. A device for selecting and displaying of letters in the form of words or sentences, comprising a support structure, a plurality of elongate members adapted to the located in said support structure in side-by-side relation ship, each member having a plurality of letters on a front facing surface thereof and being provided with recess means adapted to coop erate with protrusion means on an adjacent member or on said support structure whereby said members are located in a direction longi tudinally of themselves in a position whereby corresponding sequences of letters are dis played or indicated at a plurality of locations of said support structure.

2. A device according to claim 1 wherein a first of said locations is provided by a slot in a front face of said support structure, said slot extending transversely of said longitudinal di rection.

3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said letters displayed at said first location are of a form different from the form of the letters displayed or indicated at a second location.

4. A device according to claim 3 wherein the differing forms of letters are upper case and lower case.

5. A device according to claim 3 or claim 4 wherein each of said elongate members has a plurality of corresponding letters thereon, each letter being of a form different from the form of the other or others of said corresponding letters.

6. A device according to claim 5 wherein each of said locations is provided by a respective slot in a front face of said support structure, each of said slots extending transversely of said longitudinal direction.

7. A device according to claim 5 or claim 6 comprising at least one clamping means adapted to slide relative to said support structure and to abut an end one of said members.

8. A device according to any one of claims 5 to 7 wherein each member has at least one recess in a side thereof and a corresponding protrusion on the opposing side thereof.

9. A device according to any one of claims 5 to 7 wherein each member has parallel curvilinear sides.

1 0. A device according to claim 9 and claim 7 wherein said clamping means is formed having a curvilinear side corresponding with those of said members.

11. A device according to any one of claims 5 to 10 wherein the members having vowel letters thereon are marked differently from those members having consonant letters thereon.

1 2. A device according to any one of claims 5 to 11 further comprising a container containing a plurality of holders each holders being adapted to hold one or a plurality of members.

1 3. A device according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein each member has thereon a plurality of groups of letters, the letters of one group forming a syllable having a phonetic relationship with a syllable formed by the letters of the other or others of said groups.

14. A device according to claim 2 wherein said support structure is of box-like form in which said members are constrained to move in parallel paths lengthwise of themselves, said members each having a plurality of recesses therein adapted to cooperate with indexing protrusion means attached to said support structure whereby each member may be located in a desired position along said path with a selected letter thereon displayed in said slot.

1 5. A device according to claim 14 wherein individual indexing protrusion means are provided in respect of each member.

1 6. A device according to claim 14 wherein a common indexing protrusion means is provided and adapted to cooperate with each member.

1 7. A device according to any one of claims 14 to 1 6 wherein said support structure is provided with a plurality of slots in a front face thereof each slot extending along one of said parallel paths.

1 8. A device according to claim 17 wherein a plurality of letters is provided on said front face adjacent each one of said plurality of slots.

19. A device according to claim 1 8 wherein an indicator means is provided on each member and is adapted to extend through a respective one of said plurality of slots so as to indicate a letter adjacent thereto corresponding to said selector letter.

20. A device according to any one of claims 14 to 1 9 wherein the or each indexing protrusion means comprises a resilient plate secured to a back of said support structure.

21. A device for selecting and displaying of letters in the form of words or sentences substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the various figures of the accompanying drawings.