GB2395835A

GB2395835A - Teaching aid for telling the time.

Info

Publication number: GB2395835A
Application number: GB0324998A
Authority: GB
Inventors: John Barry Redman
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2002-10-25
Filing date: 2003-10-27
Publication date: 2004-06-02
Also published as: GB0324998D0; GB0224833D0

Abstract

A teaching aid for telling the time using an analogue clock comprises a first panel 4 provided with hour markings 8 and a second panel 2 provided with minute markings 13. The panels are located in a housing 1 and are arranged to be slidable with respect to one another so that they can be superimposed one behind the other. Preferably the first panel is provided with an hour hand 9 and the second panel is provided with a minute hand 14. A digital display of hours 20 and minutes 21 may also be provided on the first and second panels respectively.

Description

TEACHING AIDS

The present invention relates to teaching aids and particularly but not exclusively relates to teaching aids for teaching the time-telling of analogue clocks.

5 At some stage during a person's development, the person will be taught to tell the time. This often achieved using an analogue clock having a generally circular clock face, numbers from 1 to 12 spaced around the clock face, and hour and minute hands which point to numbers 1 to 12.

It can be difficult to explain the concept of the different function of the 10 hour and the minute hands especially as the minute hands point to numbers 1 to 12 but are actually indicative of minutes between 0 and 60.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a teaching aid for teaching time-telling of an analogue clock, the teaching aid comprising a first panel provided with hour indicia of an analogue clock, ., 15 and a second panel provided with minute indicia of an analogue clock, À. À the panels being connectable for lateral sliding movement relative to one À.e another to a superimposed condition in which one panel is located behind . À. À. the other.

À.e À In a highly preferred embodiment an hour hand and a minute hand are Àe À. 20 provided on respective first and second panels such that in the À À. superimposed condition, a complete analogue clock face with a particular time displayed thereby is produced.

Preferably the teaching aid is arranged such that the second panel is to be slid behind the first panel.

Preferably the teaching aid comprises guide means, one panel being slidably mounted on the guide means.

Preferably the guide means comprises a slot.

Preferably at least one of the panels constitutes part of a housing, said 5 housing being provided with an opening which is adapted to slidably receive the other panel.

The teaching aid is desirably provided with stop means which acts to limit sliding movement of one panel relative to the other and determine a condition in which an hour hand and a minute hand are in register.

10 Preferably the first panel comprises a substantially transparent region.

Preferably the substantially transparent region is located centrally of the hour indicia. Most preferably both panels comprise a substantially transparent region. This latter arrangement can be advantageous in that the teaching aid can be placed on an overhead projector to enable the À. e. À. À À 15 teaching aid to be used simultaneously by a group of people.

À e.. À Àe Preferably obscuring means is provided which is such that when the À À panels are in a superimposed condition the minute indicia are e À substantially obscured.

À ÀÀ .. Preferably the hour indicia are substantially permanently provided on the 20 first panel.

Preferably the minute indicia are substantially permanently provided on the second panel.

Preferably the first panel is such that an hour hand may be non-

permanently provided thereon. Preferably the second panel is such that the minute hand may be non-permanently provided thereon.

Advantageously the minute hand and/or the hour hand can be adjusted/set 5 to point to different indicia on the respective panels.

Preferably the hands are provided on respective transparent sheets which are adapted to be mounted on at least one of the first and second panels, different sheets being provided to show different times.

The hour and minute hands may be provided on respective panels by way 10 of a readily erasable pen or by way of a detachable sticker.

Preferably the hour and minute hands are secured magnetically to the respective first and second panels.

Preferably the time is also digitally shown on the teaching aid.

À. Àe : '.. Preferably a region for providing a numerical representation of a À.e À. 15 particular hour is provided on the first panel and a region for providing a . numerical representation of a number of minutes is provided on the À À. À Àe second panel, the arrangement being such that when the panels are in a À superimposed condition the hour and the number of minutes are displayed . À...: adjacent to each other.

À a. À I. 20 Other aspects of the present invention may include any combination of the features or limitations referred to herein.

The present invention may be carried into practice in various ways, but embodiments will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view from the front of a teaching aid in accordance with the present invention and shows the teaching aid in a first condition; and Figure 2 is a view corresponding to Figure 1 but shows the teaching aid 5 in a second condition.

Referring to the figures, a teaching aid comprises a housing 1 and a panel 2 mounted on the housing 1.

The housing 1 comprises a rectangular base 3, a front rectangular panel 4 upstanding therefrom and a rear rectangular panel 5 upstanding 10 therefrom. The panels 4, 5 are parallel and the tops of the panels 4, 5 are connected by rectangular ceiling 6. The base 3, panels 4, 5 and the ceiling 6 thus define an internal cavity 7.

The front panel 4 is transparent and has a circular clock face 8 provided thereon. The clock face 8 comprises numbers from 1 to 12 which are À À À À 15 spaced around the clock face. The clock face 8 is provided with an hour À. À. hand 9 which is shown pointing to the number 12 but can be moved to . point to any of the other numbers.

À À: À The hour hand 9 can be pivotally mounted on the housing 1 either on the . À... front or the rear panel 4, 5 or the hour hand 9 can simply be drawn on to À,. 20 the front or the rear panel 4, 5. This may be achieved using a non permanent marker so that the hand 9 can be erased and then redrawn in another position. Alternatively the hour hand can be drawn or printed on a separate transparent sheet which is adapted to be secured on top of the panel 4.

The base 3 defines an elongate slot 10 which extends along the length of the base 3 in a direction parallel with the plane of the panels 4, 5. The slot 10 opens into the cavity 7. The ceiling 6 defines a similar slot 11 which also opens into the cavity 7 so that the slots 10, 11 are directly 5 opposed to one another.

The panel 2 is rectangular having a circular clock face 13 provided thereon. The panel 2 is transparent. The clock face 13 is provided with numbers from O to 55 indicative of the number of minutes in an hour.

The numbers are spaced around the clock face 13 in increments of 5 10 minutes but it will be appreciated that any other size of increment could alternatively be used.

The clock faces 8, 13 may be marked or printed directly on the panel 4, 2 respectively or the clock faces 8, 13 may be marked or printed on a separate transparent sheet which is subsequently secured to the panel 4, 2 15 respectively.

Àe À. À À À À A minute hand 14 is provided on the clock face 13 in similar manner to À.. À À.e. the hour hand 9 provided on the clock face 8.

À À À. As can be seen from Figure 1, the panel 2 is slidably mounted on the À - housing 1, the lower and upper edges of the panel 2 being received in . À...: 20 slots 10, 11 respectively. The panel 2 can then be slid along the slots À ee À. 10, 11 in a direction parallel to the plane of the panel 2 and the panel 4 from the position shown in figure 1 to the position shown in Figure 2.

When in the position shown in Figure 2 it will be appreciated that the clock face 8 is superimposed on the clock face 13 to form a complete 25 clock face. The hour indicia from 1 to 12 on the clock face 8 can be seen but the minute indicia from O to 55 on clock face 13 are hidden from

view by the hour indicia. However both the hour hand and the minute hand can be seen and thus indicate the time on the clock face 8.

Thus by initially using the teaching aid in the position shown in Figure 1, the child can be taught what the hour hand represents and separately what 5 the minute hand represents. The clock faces 8, 13 can then be superimposed as shown in Figure 2 so that the child can be taught what the hour hand and the minute hand represent together.

It will be appreciated that the slidable interaction between the two clock faces is such that different times can be shown on the clock in relatively 10 quick succession by sliding the panel 2 out of the housing 1, altering the time shown by moving the minute hand, redrawing the minute hand or using another transparent sheet as described above. The panel 2 can then be slid back into the housing 1.

It will also be appreciated that the teaching aid can be used on overhead 15 projectors provided that both the panel 4 of the housing 1 and panel 2 are À transparent. Thus the teaching aid can be located with the rear panel 5 . À'.. resting on the overhead projector so that a group of people can be taught .. À to tell the time simultaneously. Again the sliding interaction between the , housing 1 and the panel 2 facilitate relatively quick changes of the time 20 shown. It will be appreciated that the housing 2 can remain on the À À À. projector as the panel 2 is removed and changed thus further facilitating .. . time changes.

The teaching aid could be modified such that the numbers shown on the clock faces 8, 13 are Roman numerals or indicate a 24 hour clock.

The hour and minute hands can be secured to the housing 1 and panel 2 respectively using magnets provided on the hands, the housing 1 and the panel 2.

Further to this a digital time 19 can also be shown for example by 5 showing a digital hour 20 on the panel 4 of the housing 1 and by showing digital minutes 21 on the panel 2. Thus when the panel 2 slid into the housing 1, the digital hour 20 and the digital minutes 21 are superimposed to show the complete digital time 19.

In a modified embodiment (not illustrated) of the apparatus a first panel 10 provided with hour indicia is pivotally connected to a second panel which is provided with minute indicia, the arrangement being such that the second panel may be pivoted laterally of the first panel from a superimposed condition in which the second panel is located behind the first panel to a condition in which the second panel is exposed, and vice 15 versa.

c c Àe c a... Àe e À ce À C À À À C À À 1.

À À.

Claims

1. A teaching aid for teaching time-telling of an analogue clock, the teaching aid comprising a first panel provided with hour indicia of an analogue clock, and a second panel provided with minute indicia of an 5 analogue clock, the panels being connectable for lateral sliding movement relative to one another to a superimposed condition in which one panel is located behind the other.

2. A teaching aid as claimed in claim 1 in which an hour hand and a minute hand are provided on respective first and second panels such that 10 in the superimposed condition, a complete analogue clock face with a particular time displayed thereby is produced.

3. A teaching aid as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the teaching aid is arranged such that the second panel is to be slid behind the first panel.

(... À 15

4. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which at least r *en À one of the panels constitutes part of a housing, said housing being . provided with an opening which is adapted to slidably receive the other .,,, panel.

À A.

5. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which teaching À. 20 aid is provided with stop means which acts to limit sliding movement of one panel relative to the other and determine a condition in which an hour hand and a minute hand are in register.

6. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which the first panel comprises a substantially transparent region.

7. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which the substantially transparent region is located centrally of the hour indicia.

8. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which both panels comprise a substantially transparent region.

5

9. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which obscuring means is provided which is such that when the panels are in a superimposed condition the minute indicia are substantially obscured.

10. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which the first panel is such that an hour hand may be non-permanently provided 10 thereon.

11. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which the second panel is such that the minute hand may be non-permanently provided thereon.

I.

12. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which the time . I. 15 is also digitally shown on the teaching aid.

Àe.. À ',.

13. A teaching aid as claimed in any preceding claim in which a region for providing a numerical representation of a particular hour is provided , on the first panel and a region for providing a numerical representation . of a number of minutes is provided on the second panel, the arrangement . 20 being such that when the panels are in a superimposed condition the hour and the number of minutes are displayed adjacent to each other.

14. A teaching aid substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings.