GB2438684A

GB2438684A - Apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon

Info

Publication number: GB2438684A
Application number: GB0610929A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Michael John Dalton
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2006-06-02
Filing date: 2006-06-02
Publication date: 2007-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 2026-06-02
Also published as: GB2438684B; GB0610929D0

Abstract

Apparatus (2) for indicating the phases of the moon, which apparatus (2) comprises an information member (4) containing information on the phases of the moon, a control member (6) which is positioned on a first side (8) of the information member (4), pivot means (10) for enabling the information member (4) to rotate with respect to the control member (6), dial formations (12) which are arranged in a circle on the information member (4), a slot (14) which is in the control member (6) and which enables the dial formations (12) to be accessed, date information (16) which is on the control member (6) adjacent the slot (14), and at least one information window (18) in the control member (6), and the apparatus (2) being such that it has 59 of the dial formations (12) or a multiple of 59 of the dial formations (12), the dial formations (12) enable a chosen date to be dialled through the slot (14) with the chosen date being the date on which it is desired to know the phase of the moon, the chosen date is dialled in a manner required by the date information on the control member (6) adjacent the slot (14), and the phase of the moon for the chosen date appears in the information window (18) in the control member (6).

Description

1 2438684

APPARATUS FOR INDICATING THE PHASES OF THE MOON

This invention relates to apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon.

The phases of the moon are new, first quarter, full, third quarter, and all shapes in between. The phases of the moon repeat themselves every 29.53059 days. This figure is responsible for it being difficult to calculate the phase of the moon on any chosen date.

There are many occasions when it is desirable to know the phase of the moon on a chosen date. This is because the phase of the moon shows where the moon is in relation to the sun and the earth. The positional relationship of the moon with respect to the sun and the earth dictates the direction of the gravitational pull of the moon, as well as the amount of light coming from the moon. These facts in turn affect the earth, as well as most living organisms on the earth. The following examples are given for illustrative purposes.

Tides are created by the pull of the moon and the sun. At full and new moon, the tides are particularly high. The tides are low at first and third quarters of the phases of the moon, and on a sliding scale in between. Times of tides vary in different locations but they are always the same for that location at that phase of the moon, and they are connected with the time of the rise of the moon.

-Life cycles of many plants, insects and animals are connected with the moon's orbit, probably because of the gravitational pull of the moon, the tides and/or the light the moon gives out. The human reproductive cycle is lunar, with the human female cycle being I lunar month, and the female gestation period being exactly nine lunar months -266 days. Fish spawn in accordance with life cycles, and salmon first swim into the sea two days after a new moon.

* Knowing the phases of the moon can help plan events, for example for walking at night, fishing, sailing, surfing and star gazing.

The phases of the moon are currently found out using newspapers, diaries, or wall charts for current time. Websites or reference books are available for other times. Tides vary by location and so annual Tide Tables are sold for a particular area for sailors, fishermen, surfers and other water users.

Generally, the phases of the moon are often required to be known by people involved in all kinds of recreation involving the sea. In addition, there are many other events where the light or position of the moon is relevant and these events are better planned knowing the phases of the moon. Still further, branches of lunar astrology going back for many thousands of years are used on a daily basis. Gardeners also require to know the phases of the moon for gardening purposes such for example as ideal sowing, pruning or cropping times.

It is an aim of the present invention to provide apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon, and which apparatus is an improvement in terms of use and convenience than the presently available methods involving using newspapers, diaries, or wall charts for current time, and using websites or reference books for other times.

Accordingly, in one non-limiting embodiment of the present invention there is provided apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon, which apparatus comprises an information member containing information on the phases of the moon, a control member which is positioned on a first side of the information member, pivot means for enabling the information member to rotate with respect to the control member, dial formations which are arranged in a circle on the information member, a slot which is in the control member and which enables the dial formations to be accessed, date information which is on the control member adjacent the slot, and at least one information window in the control member, and the apparatus being such that it has 59 of the dial formations or a multiple of 59 of the dial formations, the dial formations enable a chosen date to be dialled through the slot with the chosen date being the date on which it is desired to know the phase of the moon, the chosen date is dialled in a manner required by the date information on the control member adjacent the slot, and the phase of the moon for the chosen date appears in the information window in the control member.

The apparatus of the present invention is able to be produced in a compact and inexpensive manner. The apparatus is able easily to be used.

The phase of the moon is preferably given in an information window in the form of graphic and written information stating a number to indicate the phase of the moon and/or the number of days to full moon.

Usually, the apparatus will be one in which the information member is a disc. The information member may however have another peripheral shape if desired.

Also usually, the apparatus will be one in which the control member is a disc. The control member may however have another peripheral shape if desired.

The pivot means will usually be a pivot pin. The pivot pin may be in the form of a double-headed rivet. Other types of pivot means may be employed.

Preferably, the dial formations are holes. The holes are preferably circular holes. Holes of other shapes may be employed.

Alternatively, if desired, the dial formations may be ridges or grooves.

The ridges or grooves may be of any suitable and appropriate design.

The apparatus may be used by first setting the information member into its starting position, for example New Moon. Then for each Day, Month, Year of a required date, the date information on the control member will indicate a single rotational dialing movement that will finally indicate the phase of the Moon for the required date.

Each dialing movement could take the information member to any one of its 59 positions. Preferably the slots of the control member are arranged so that the information member can be turned clockwise or anti-clockwise so that only a maximum of half a revolution can take it to the required position. If the mechanism was to turn in only one direction it could need almost a complete revolution to find that position. For example, to move from position 33 to 32 would be almost a complete revolution in one direction but only a very small move in the other.

The Days of the month (Ito 31) and the Months of the year (January to December) may be marked on the edges of the slot on the control member to indicate the hole to be used for dialing and the direction of dialing. Any Year, past, present or future, will correspond to any one of the 59 possible positions of the information member. The required Year may be looked up in a table, preferably some will be printed on the control member, to indicate which hole should be used for dialing and in which direction. For example, looking up the year 2005 could produce the result 20, which would indicate that the hole marked 20 should be used for that year.

The lunar position information and phases may be compiled from historical, current and future astronomical reference tables.

The apparatus may be one in which the control member includes at least one supplementary window for giving supplementary information.

Preferably there is a plurality of the supplementary windows giving supplementary information for the planning of events. By way of example, it is mentioned that the events may be walking at night, fishing, sailing, surfing, star gazing, gardening, sowing, pruning and cropping.

The apparatus of the invention may include a backing member on a second side of the information member. The backing member may act as a stiffening member and/or to facilitate easy use of the apparatus.

The backing member is preferably of the same shape as the control member. Other peripheral shapes for the backing member may be employed.

The backing member may contain at least one of the supplementary windows giving the supplementary information.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described solely by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows the outline shapes of the three members and a cross-sectional view of the three members as assembled to make the apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon; Figure 2 is a top plan view of the assembled apparatus; Figure 3 shows a top plan view of the circular information member with 59 holes and central pivot hole; and Figure 4 shows a backing member, the same outline shape as the control member with a central pivot and a slot to allow any dialing implement to come through.

The apparatus 2 is such that it has 59 of the dial formations 12. In an alternative embodiment, there may be a multiple of 59 of the dial formations 12. The dial formations 12 enable a chosen date to be dialled through the slot 14 with the chosen date being the date on which it is desired to know the phase of the moon. The chosen date is dialled in a manner required by the date information 16 on the control member 6 adjacent the slot 14. The phase of the moon for the chosen date appears in the information window 18 in the control member 6.

As can be seen from the drawings, the information member 4 is in the form of a disc. The pivot means 10 is in the form of a pivot pin. The dial formations 12 are in the form of circular holes.

Figure 3 shows dial formations 12 in a complete circle. Figure 2 shows that only just over half of them are visible through the slot 14 in the control member. The apparatus 2 is used such that dialing is effected in a first rotational direction for dates in the first half of the month and day 31, and dialing is effected in an opposite rotational direction for dates in the second half of the month except 31. The first rotational direction is clockwise and the opposite rotational direction is anticlockwise.

The slot 14 is shown as having the same circular shape and extent as the circular shape and extent of the dial formations 12.

The year information is gained by looking in a table, like 8, and having the year translated into a number on the dial (e.g. 16, 5+, 28+ etc.) The information on the phases of the moon comprises figures which come from reference tables.

Referring to Figure 2 there is shown the apparatus top layer, i.e. the control member 6 with cutouts at 5 and 18, and the long curved slot 14 through which can be seen some of an information member 4 which is located underneath as shown in Figure 1.

The cutouts at 5 and 18 form windows which allow information about a specific phase of the Moon to show through from the information member 4, which is shown in detail in Figure 3.

The apparatus contains a pivot member 10 that connects together the control member 6, the information member 4, and a backing member 22.

The pivot member 10 allows the information member 4 to rotate in relation to the other two members.

The slot 14 provides access to the holes 12 in the information member 4 which create the dial mechanism.

As shown in Figure 2, date information 16 is provided on the control member 6 adjacent to slot 14. Information windows 5 and 18 are provided in the control member 6. In the model shown, information about each year is printed as tables 8 on the control member 6.

As shown in Figure 2, the control member 6 includes windows 5 and 18 for giving supplementary information, for example supplementary information useful for the planning of events such as walking at night, water activities, star gazing or gardening.

As shown in Figure 1, the apparatus 2 includes the backing member 22. The backing member 22 acts as a stiffening member. The backing member 22 also facilitates easy handling of the apparatus 2 and dialing of the information member 4 through the slot 14 in the control member 6. The backing member 22 can be in the same shape as the control member 6.

The backing member 22 may contain supplementary windows giving supplementary information. By this means, the supplementary information can then be obtained on both sides of the apparatus if required.

The apparatus 2 is used by dialing via the dial formations 12. Since the dial formations 12 are holes, an object such for example as a pen or pencil may be advantageously located in the dial formations for the dialing.

When a date has been dialled, the phase of the moon for that date appears in the information window 5 and 18.

In order to facilitate a full understanding of the invention, an example of how to use the apparatus 2 will now be given for the phase of the moon on a date which is 5th June 2001.

* Put the information member 4 into its starting position. This is done in one move by moving the information member 4 with a pointer such for example as a pen or pencil so that the phase of the Moon is indicated as New'.

* Dial the day by putting the pointer into the hole by "5" and turning the information member 4 clockwise as far as it will go.

* Dial the month by putting the pointer in the hole by "JUN" (it is also marked as 4+) and turning the information member 4 clockwise as far as it will go.

* Look at the figure printed for the year, in this case "5+", and put the pointer in the dial formation marked 5+ and move the information member 4 clockwise again.

* The phase of the moon will then be shown in the information window 18. This phase of the moon and all other supplementary information shown in the supplementary windows will be correct for the date of 5th June 2001.

* Occasionally the use of the apparatus 2 may require one final step.

More specifically, if the year chosen is a leap year (leap years are marked on the apparatus 2) and the date is in January or February, then put in the pointer in 29 and moving the information member 4 anti-clockwise adjusts for the extra day in the leap year.

* When the information member 4 has been put into it starting position, it does not matter in which order the day-month-year are entered.

* If a number between 16 and 30 (those above the slot 14) has to be entered, it will be seen that the apparatus 2 is such that graphics remind the user that the information member 4 has to be dialled anti-clockwise.

The apparatus 2 operates such that one revolution of the information member 4 represents a complete orbit of the moon. The information member 4 has 59 holes in it, each representing 12 hours of solar time. 59 half days is 29.5 days which is close to the actual orbit time of the moon.

The apparatus 2 is a simple working model that links solar and lunar cycles.

When a user puts in the "year", the user sets the information member 4 to the exact phase of the moon at the beginning of that year, all figures being taken from a website of NASA as mentioned above which gives figures from 3000 BC to 4000 AD.

When a user puts in the month, the user puts in the difference from the first day of January to the first day of the chosen month. For example, if there is a full moon at midday on Jan 1, there will also be a full moon 29.5 days later, at midnight on Jan 30. That is why the "month" position for February is 3 holes (representing the 36 hours to midday on Feb 1) away from the January hole.

When a user puts in the days, the user is just adding 24 hours from the first day of the chosen month. The fact that the dial formations for the 16 -30 numbers go anti-clockwise puts the information member 4 in the same position as it would be if the slot 14 went all the way around, and the information member 4 was only turned clockwise. The illustrated construction requiring clockwise and anti-clockwise movement is easier to construct and use than rotation in one direction only.

The apparatus of the invention operates with good acceptable accuracy. More specifically, because each dial formation represents 12 hours, the "year" setting could be plus or minus 6 hours out. There is greater accuracy with the "month" and the "day" settings because they are only affected by the difference between the actual orbit, 29.53059 days and the 29.5 provided by the apparatus of the present invention. This means that where January first will be accurate, December 31st could be plus or minus minutes additional error.

If there were 118 dial formations (each representing 6 hours) the errors would be halved. There could also be 177 formations (each representing 4 hours), 236 dial formations (each representing 3 hours) and so on in multiples of 59.

The error is in predicting the time to the exact phase of the moon, not to say to the time of predicted high tide. An hour wrong in phase is only about ten minutes in tide time.

It is to be appreciated that the embodiment of the invention described above with reference to the accompanying drawings has been given by way of example only and that modifications may be effected. Thus, for example, the control member 6 may have a twenty four hour clock face marked around its circumference to give indications for high tides etc. As indicated above, although the clockwise and anti-clockwise rotation is preferred, the apparatus of the invention may alternatively be rotated in one direction only, providing that their number of holes is a multiple of 59. The apparatus 2 is such that simply with a pointer and dial action, it is possible to obtain a quick and accurate result, without having to carefully slide scales or make other careful adjustments.

The apparatus of the present invention may be made of a wide variety of materials. It can also be made in different versions for different users. For example, sailors may want a more accurate apparatus with detailed tidal maps. A person interested in astrology or new-age aspects may want more information about moonrise and the significance of phases.

Information can be printed on one or both sides of the apparatus. The apparatus may be designed to hang on a wall as well as being comfortable to use when taken down.

The backing member 22 shown in detail in Figure 4 can also be printed, and can contain windows giving access to information on the back of the information member 4.

Claims

CLAIMS

1. Apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon, which apparatus comprises an information member containing information on the phases of the moon, a control member which is positioned on a first side of the information member, pivot means for enabling the information member to rotate with respect to the control member, dial formations which are arranged in a circle on the information member, a slot which is in the control member and which enables the dial formations to be accessed, date information which is on the control member adjacent the slot, and at least one information window in the control member, and the apparatus being such that it has 59 of the dial formations or a multiple of 59 of the dial formations, the dial formations enable a chosen date to be dialled through the slot with the chosen date being the date on which it is desired to know the phase of the moon, the chosen date is dialled in a manner required by the date information on the control member adjacent the slot, and the phase of the moon for the chosen date appears in the information window in the control member.

2. Apparatus according to claim I in which the information member is a disc.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2 in which the control member is a disc.

4. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the pivot means is a pivot pin.

5. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the dial formations are holes.

6. Apparatus according to claim 5 in which the holes are circular holes.

7. Apparatus according to any one of claims I -4 in which the dial formations are ridges or grooves.

8. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which the control member includes at least one supplementary window for giving supplementary information.

9. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims in which there is a plurality of the supplementary windows giving supplementary information for the planning of events.

10. Apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims and including a backing member on a second side of the information member.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10 in which the backing member is of the same shape as the control member.

12. Apparatus according to claim 10 or claim 11 in which the backing member contains at least one of the supplementary windows giving the supplementary information.

13. Apparatus for indicating the phases of the moon, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.