GB2237418A - Simulated pendulum - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a decorative pendulum for an electronic clock. A pendulum supporting frame is secured at the back of a clock for holding a pendulum and has a pivot 12 supporting a connector 2. At the upper or middle portion of the pendulum supporting frame is disposed an electromagnetic coil 14 in opposition to a magnet 23 positioned on the pendulum. Furthermore, a transparent screen is disposed in front of the clock, part of which 50 is made in convex or concave form so as to distort the image of the pendulum when swinging back and forth. <IMAGE>

Description

PENDULUM The present invention relates to a magnetically operated swingable pendulum and more particularly to a decorative pendulum adapted for an electronic clock.

There have been many types of electronic clock produced and sold on the markets, which replace the conventional clocks operated by springs. The old fashioned clocks are powered by a tightly wound spring which must work in cooperation with a pendulum to drive an inner gear system by way of spring force.

The disadvantage of the old type clocks consists in the spring powered system which must be rewound after a period of time by hand so as to keep the clocks operating. The rewinding of the spring and adjustment of the time of a clock must be performed in a routine manner, causing inconvenience in the first place; and the fatigue of the spring makes the clock run gradually slower and hence the clock cannot keep good time.

Electronic clocks have the merits of easy maintenance and energy saving and are cheap in cost and small in size and light in weight. Therefore, more and more people prefer the electronic clocks to the conventional spring powered clocks which are bulky in size and noisy in operation. However, there are some customers who are fond of seeing old fashioned, artisticly designed pendulums swinging back and forth under a clock. The common electronic clocks without a pendulum cannot meet the requirement.

To solve the above cited problem, the inventor has invented an electronic clock equipped with an artistic pendulum which is swingable back and forth by way of the interaction between a magnet disposed on the pendulum and an electromagnetic coil secured to the rear side of the clock, actuated by electricity.

According to the present invention there is provided a pendulum structure comprising a mount disposed at the rear side of clock having a pendulum supporter horizontally disposed therein, an electromagnetic cell being disposed vertically above said pendulum supporter, said coil being electrically operated to produce a magnetic field, an L-shaped connector having a horizontal side and a vertical side, said horizontal side comprising a V-shaped groove on its underside, and a magnet secured at the top end of said vertical side of said connector, the distance of said magnet to said V-shaped groove of said horizontal side being equal to the distance between said eletromagnetic coil and said horizontal pendulum supporter, so that said electromagnetic coil can be located face to face with respect to said magnet.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a swingable pendulum on an electronic clock for decoration which is held in place by a pendulum supporting frame secured at the rear side of an electronic clock.

One other object of the present invention is to provide a swingable pendulum on an electronic clock, which is equipped with a magnet; and a pendulum supporting frame which is provided with an electromagnetic coil actuated by batteries and located at a corresponding place thereon in operative association with the magnet, so that on the coil being electrically actuated, the magnet of the pendulum is attracted and then repelled repeatedly in a cycle, causing the pendulum to swing back and forth.

One further object of the present invention is to provide a swingable pendulum on an electronic clock, wherein the lower end of the pendulum is designed to have various kinds of figures of cartoon characters or the like which is disposed behind a transparent screen part of which is made in concave or convex form so as to make the figures at the end of the pendulum have a funny deformed image when viewed through the transparent cover by a person, making the electronic clock look interesting and special.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 is an exploded view showing the components of the present invention in perspective; Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing the assembled electronic clock with a pendulum attached to the back of the clock; Fig. 3 is a sectional view showing the location of the center of the pendulum on a pointed supporter.

As shown in Fig. 1 the clock 10 is provided with a mount 11 at the rear side thereof. A horizontal supporter 12 is disposed on the mount 11. The supporter 12 is defined to have a V-shaped pointed edge. A rod parallel to the supporter having a hook end 13 is disposed above the supporter with a distance defined therebetween. An electromagnetic coil 14 is located a distance above the supporter 12, and a battery box 15 is disposed adjacent thereto which supplies the necessary electrical power to the coil.

The pendulum is comprised to two arms 30 and 40 which are removably mounted on an L-shaped connector. The horizontal side 20 of the connector 2 is attached with a hook member 21 for the suspension of the arm 30. An attachment hook 31 is disposed at the top of the arm 30 so that it can be suspended from hook member 21. The horizontal side 20 of the connector 2 is provided with a V-shaped groove 25 which when the pendulum is in use, is in engagement with the pointed edge of the horizontal supporter 12. The vertical side 22 of the L-shaped connector 2 is attached to a magnet 23 at the top end thereof.

On the side of the magnet 23 opposite to the L-shaped connector is disposed a protrusion block 24. The protrusion block 24 may be engaged with the connection unit 41 attached at the end of the upper portion 40.

The electromagnetic coil 14 is actuated by a battery 15 to generate an induced magnetic field which can produce attraction and repulsion forces repeatedly in a cycle with respect to the magnet 23, so that the suspended pendulum can accordingly swing back and forth continuously.

The hook end 13 of the parallel rod situated above the supporter 12 engages with a protusion 221 on the horizontal side 20 of the L-shaped connector 2, when the pendulum is in use, to prevent sliding of the L-shaped connector relative to the supporter.

To the arms 40 and 30 of the pendulum can be attached a variety of interesting forms of cartoon figures or anmials so to make the moving pendulum more appealing to the eyes.

Furthermore, in front of the clock 10, is disposed a transparent screen, part of which is made in a convex or concave form 50; thereby the figures on the pendulum can be distorted in a funny manner when swinging back and forth.

It.should be noted that the terminology used in the foregoing description and also in the claims refers to the clock when positioned in an upright position on a horizontal surface. Obviously, the clock and pendulum structure hereinbefore described and hereinafter claimed may not be situated on an ideally flat horizontal surface and hence the parts of the clock and pendulum structure herein qualified by the terms "horizontal" and "vertical" would not in such cases be truly horizontal and vertical. The terms "horizontal" and "vertical" when used herein should therefore not be considered limiting.

It becomes apparent that the pendulum according to the present invention is designed to decorate electronic clocks and is actuated to swing back and forth by way of an electromagnetic coil actuating on a magnet disposed on the pendulum, and the various artistic forms of the pendulum in cooperation with the cartoon figures may be distorted in shape by the transparent convex or concave screen so to make the clocks more appealing to people.

Claims (12)

1. A pendulum structure comprising; a) a mount disposed on one side of a clock having a pendulum supporter horizontally disposed thereon; b) an electromagnetic coil being disposed above said pendulum supporter, said coil being electrically operated to produce a magnetic field; e) an L-shaped connector having a horizontal side and a vertical side, said horizontal side comprising a V-shaped groove on its underside; f) a magnet being secured at the top end of said vertical side of said connector the distance of said magnet to said V-shaped groove of said horizontal side being equal to the distance between said electromagnetic coil and said horizontal pendulum supporter, so that said electromagnetic coil can be located face to face with respect to said magnet.

2. A pendulum structure as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the pendulum supporter has a V-shaped pointed edge.

3. A pendulum structure as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 wherein a rod is disposed a distance above the pendulum supporter, parallel to said pendulum supporter, said rod provided with a hook at one end thereof.

4. A pendulum structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein a hook member is attached to the horizontal side of the L-shaped connector.

5. A pendulum structure as claimed in Claim 4 wherein an arm is suspended from the hook member on the horizontal side of the L-shaped connector, said arm comprising an attachment hook at one end.

6. A pendulum structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein a protrusion block is disposed on the top side of the magnet connected to the L-shaped arm.

7. A pendulum structure as claimed in Claim 6 wherein an arm is attached to the magnet situated at one end of the vertical member, said arm having a connection unit situated at one end thereof which engages with the protrusion block disposed on the magnet to connect said arm and said magnet.

8. An electronic clock comprising a pendulum structure as claimed in any one of the preceding claims.

9. An electronic clock as claimed in Claim 8 comprising a transparent screen.

10. An electronic clock as claimed in Claim 9 wherein the transparent screen comprises a concave or convex portion disposed at one end thereof.

11. A pendulum structre as substantially described in the accompanying specification and drawings.

12. An electronic clock as substantially described in the accompanying specification and drawings.