US20100257896A1

US20100257896A1 - Necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images

Info

Publication number: US20100257896A1
Application number: US12/078,459
Authority: US
Inventors: David Michael Zakutin
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-03-31
Filing date: 2008-03-31
Publication date: 2010-10-14

Abstract

A necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images in continuous loop based on the detection of the motion of wearers comprises a housing and a circuit board assembly. The housing is provided with a transparent window on one side thereof. The circuit board assembly provided detachably in the housing includes a pixelated display for displaying images, a non-volatile flash memory for storing images and other additional data, a microprocessor for processing the stored images and setting parameters, at least a motion detection switch activating the necklace worn device, a wireless transmitting and receiving unit for sending or receiving images, at least a rechargeable battery for power supply, and at least a control button for controlling the wireless transmitting and receiving unit and setting the parameters. The pixelated display is preferably an organic light emitting diode display and is provided under the transparent window of the housing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a necklace and, more particularly, to a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images in continuous loop comprising a housing and a circuit board assembly, which is controlled via the detection of the motion of wearers and is low power-consumption.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional decorative necklace usually comprises a pendant and a chain or a cord. The pedant can be made of plastics, metal, jade, or various jewels in different shapes. Different necklaces suitable for wearers to wear in different occasions or match for the clothes of the wearers can be formed by combining different chains or cords with different pendants. Therefore, wearers usually need to have many necklaces to choose for different occasions or clothes. Consequently, it will not only be uneconomic to have different necklaces and inconvenient to store these necklaces.
Besides, there are still other disadvantages of using the conventional necklaces as described following.
First, conventional necklaces cannot emit light or glitter at night or in dim or dark places no matter what material mentioned above is. Thus, these necklaces have no decorative effects when wearers are in dark or dim places.
Moreover, there are some necklaces where different pendants thereof can be changed in order to show different visual effects for wearers to choose. However, the visual effects shown by these necklaces are usually static rather than dynamic and consequently these necklaces may easily become boring and unattractive after long-term use.
Furthermore, by using the conventional necklaces, it is difficult to produce an interactive effect between wearers and viewers.
In order to solve the problems mentioned above, the inventor had the motive to study and develop the present invention after hard research to provide a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images that is controlled via the detection of the motion of wearers and is low power-consumption.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main object of the present invention is to provide a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images in order to show various visual effects by displaying different images and enhance the interaction between wearers and viewers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images having a motion detection switch. By using this motion detection switch, the necklace worn device can be activated to show images by the motion of a wearer and will be in silence automatically when the wearer stops moving. Consequently, the necklace worn device can give the wearer lively feeling when using it. Besides, the using time can be prolonged because of the reduced power consumption resulting from the automatic deactivation.
In order to achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images that is controlled by the detection of the motion of wearers and comprises a housing and a circuit board assembly. The housing has a front half case and a back half case engaged with each other and is provided with a transparent window on the front half case. The circuit board assembly is provided detachably in the housing for controlling the image display and includes a pixelated display, a non-volatile flash memory, a microprocessor, at least a motion detection switch, a wireless transmitting and receiving unit, at least a rechargeable battery, and at least a control button. The pixelated display is provided under the transparent window of the housing for displaying images. The non-volatile flash memory is for storing images and other additional data. The microprocessor is for processing the stored images and setting parameters concerning image display. The motion detection switch is for activating the necklace worn device. The wireless transmitting and receiving unit is for sending images to another necklace worn device and for receiving images transmitted from another necklace worn device. The rechargeable battery is provided for power supply. The control button is for controlling the wireless transmitting and receiving unit and setting the parameters.
The following detailed description, given by way of examples and embodiments, will best be understood in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

FIG. 3A is a sectional schematic view showing a motion detection switch of the necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

FIG. 3B is a schematic view showing another kind of motion detection switch of the necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows a functional block diagram of a dual-axis accelerometer (ADXL 202) used as a motion detection switch in the present invention.

FIG. 5A shows a using-state diagram of the necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

FIG. 5B is a schematic view showing different statuses of the motion detection switch corresponding to FIG. 5A.

FIG. 6 shows another using-state diagram of the necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic view for showing the image transmitting and receiving between two necklace worn devices of the present invention.

FIG. 8A shows file structural trees used in the present invention.

FIG. 8B shows choices on a display of the necklace worn devices of the present invention for users to setup relevant parameters.

FIG. 8C shows choices on a display of the necklace worn devices of the present invention for users to select desired images.

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the use of the necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides a necklace worn device 1 for displaying images that is controlled by the detection of the motion of wearers and comprises a housing 2 and a circuit board assembly 3. The housing 2 has a front half case 20 and a back half case 22 engaged with each other and is provided with a transparent window 202 on the front half case 20. The circuit board assembly 3 is provided detachably in the housing 2 for controlling image display and includes a pixelated display 31, a non-volatile flash memory 32, a microprocessor 33, at least a motion detection switch 34, a wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35, at least a rechargeable battery 36, and at least a control button 37. The pixelated display 31 is provided under the transparent window 202 of the front half case 20 for displaying images. The non-volatile flash memory 32 is for storing images and other additional data. The microprocessor 33 is for processing the stored images and setting parameters concerning image display. The motion detection switch 34 is for activating the necklace worn device 1. The wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35 is for sending images of one necklace worn device 1 to another necklace worn device 1′ and for receiving images transmitted from another necklace worn device 1′. The rechargeable battery 36 is provided for power supply. The control button 37 is for controlling the wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35 and setting the parameters concerning image display.
Please refer to FIGS. 1, 2, and 9 respectively showing an exploded perspective view, a perspective view, and a using-state diagram of an embodiment of a necklace worn device 1 for displaying images according to the present invention. The necklace worn device 1 comprises a housing 2 and a circuit board assembly 3 detachably disposed in the housing 2.
The housing 2 includes a front half case 20 and a back half case 22. The front half case 20 is provided with a transparent window 202 thereon, a plurality of recesses 206 on the inner surface of two lateral sides, and a space 208 therein. The back half case 22 has peripheries 224 provided with protrusions 222 corresponding to the recesses 206 on the external surface of two lateral sides of the back half case 22. The back half case 22 is made of elastic material (such as rubber) and the peripheries 224 can be fit into the peripheries of the front half case 20. The front half case 20 can be detachably engaged with the back half case 22 by means of the engagement between the recesses 206 and the protrusions 222.
The circuit board assembly 3 is detachably disposed in the space 208 of the front half case 20. Therefore, in practice, users can put the circuit board assembly 3 into any desired housings of different patterns. In this embodiment, the circuit board assembly 3 has a baseboard 30 provided thereon with a pixelated display 31, a non-volatile flash memory 32, a microprocessor 33, two motion detection switches 34 a, 34 b, a wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35, a rechargeable battery 36, two control buttons 37, and a bi-directional serial port 38.
The pixelated display 31 is disposed on the front surface of the baseboard 30 and under the transparent window 202 of the front half case 20 for displaying images. The pixelated display 31 can be, but not limited to, a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or an organic light emitting diode display.
The non-volatile flash memory 32, the microprocessor 33, and the wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35 are provided on the front surface of the baseboard 30. The non-volatile flash memory 32 is used for storing images or other related or unrelated files. The wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35 is used for transmitting images.
The microprocessor 33 having a RAM (random access memory) is used for processing image display and setting parameters concerning image display, and as shown in FIG. 8C, users can adjust these parameters via control buttons 37. The parameters includes the duration time of a static or an animated image that is activated to display, the total display time of a static or an animated image, or the frame rate of an animated image. For example, if the duration time of an image is set as 5 seconds, the pixelated display 31 will automatically stop displaying five seconds after it is activated without another activation. By this way, the power consumption can be reduced. A wearer also can set the total display time of an image, for example, to be 5 minutes and the currently displayed image will be superseded by another one when the total display time of the currently displayed image expires.
The two motion detection switches 34 a, 34 b are disposed vertically to each other on the front surface of the baseboard 30 for activating the pixelated display 31 via the detection of side-to-side motion of the wearer. Please refer to FIG. 3 showing a sectional schematic view of the motion detection switch 34 a, 34 b. As shown in FIG. 3, the motion detection switch 34 a or 34 b includes a connector 342, a cylinder 344, and a ball 346. The cylinder 344 is disposed on the front surface of the baseboard 30. The connector 342 has one end in electrical connection with the circuit board assembly 3 and another end extending into one end of the cylinder 344 where the connector 342 is separated from the cylinder 344 via an insulator 348. The ball 346 is movable freely in the cylinder 344.
The ball 346 will move within the cylinder 344 with the body motion of a wearer who wears the necklace worn device 1. When the state of the necklace worn device changes, that is, the ball 346 moves to touch or depart from the end of the connector 342 that extends in one end of the cylinder 344, the pixelated display 31 will be activated. After the pixelated display 31 is activated for a certain period of time, the pixelated display 31 will be deactivated automatically. Therefore, wearers do not have to notice whether the pixelated display 31 is in activated status or in deactivated status. In other words, the pixelated display 31 will be activated when the wearer has body motion and be deactivated automatically after a certain period of time-lapse with no additional change of switch status.
Besides, the motion detection switch 34 can be of other structural features. For example, if the ball 346 mentioned above is replaced with mercury, the same effect can be achieved, that is, the pixelated display 31 is activated when the wearer has body motion and deactivated automatically after a certain period of time. Moreover, the motion detection switch 34 also can be a MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-system) based device and the necklace worn device 1 can be controlled automatically by wearers' body motion.
As shown in FIGS. 3B and 4, a Dual-Axis Accelerometer, one of MEMS based devices, is used as an example. The exemplified Dual-Axis Accelerometer (ADXL202) is manufactured by ANALOG DEVICES and is able to detect movements in two axes, such as x-axis and y-axis. FIG. 4 shows the functional block diagram of the Dual-Axis Accelerometer (ADXL202). The Dual-Axis Accelerometer (ADXL202E) is small enough to be adopted in the present invention. Besides, the Dual-Axis Accelerometer (ADXL202E) can measure both dynamic acceleration (e.g., vibration) and static acceleration (e.g., gravity) and provided better sensitivity than a ball-type motion detection switch. For example, the necklace worn device using ball-type motion detection switch may be activated even on a flat table as a result of an accidentally mild vibration that drives the ball to get in touch with the connector. However, the above problem can be overcome, that is, the necklace worn device using the Dual-Axis Accelerometer (ADXL202E) will not be activated as long as it is put on an even table.
As described above, the necklace worn device 1 can perform its functions automatically on the basis of the detection of the wearer's body motion by the motion detection switch 34 and show a static picture or an animated image composed of a series of pictures. The file type of the shown static picture is preferably a JEPG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) file while the file type of the shown animated image is preferably a GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) file. The duration time of the images is short, typically 1-20 seconds. The images are displayed in a continuous loop, as defined by a user's settings.
Please refer to FIGS. 5A-5B and 6 showing using-state diagrams of the necklace worn device 1 according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the two motion detection switches 34 are used for activating the pixelated display 31 to show images and time respectively. As shown in FIG. 5A, the pixelated display 31 is activated to show images when the necklace worn device 1 is moved horizontally with the body motion of the wearer (as indicated by the arrow). In other words, as shown in FIG. 5B, the images will begins to be displayed on the pixelated display 31 when the ball 346 of the motion detection switch 34 a touches or untouches the connector 342 and the display will be continued for a given period of time based on a user's settings even after the ball 346 is detached from the connector 342.
If the wearer takes the necklace worn device 1 upside down as indicated in FIG. 6, the pixelated display 31 is activated to show the current time, date, or residual capacity of battery via the motion detection switch 34 b in inverted orientation and wearers can use this necklace worn device 1 more convenient. If the wearer routinely releases the necklace worn device, the images will resume the pixelated display 31 again.
Moreover, the bi-directional serial port 38 is disposed at one end of the circuit board assembly 3 for connection with a computer. In this embodiment, the bi-directional serial port 38 is a USB (universal serial bus) port. Wearers can download images from a computer into the non-volatile flash memory 32 via the USB port to update the images or upgrade the programs for processing images. Besides, wearers also can store files unrelated to images from a computer into the non-volatile flash memory 32. Besides, the rechargeable battery 36 can be charged via the connection of the USB with the computer. When the necklace worn device is connected with the computer via USB, the recharge status is shown on the pixelated display 31 and the files can be automatically transferred between the computer and the necklace worn device while recharging.
Please refer to FIG. 7 showing a schematic view of image transfer between two necklace worn devices according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 7, the wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35 is used for transmitting an image from one necklace worn device 1 to another 1′ or receiving an image from another necklace worn device 1′. By this way, wearers can exchange images with each other within close distance, such as one meter. Besides, the received images will be displayed automatically once the images are received.
The wireless transmitting and receiving unit 35 can be a Zigbee device, an infrared device, a Bluetooth device, or other devices having similar function.
FIG. 8A shows a diagram to demonstrate an exemplified file structure of the present invention. Two sub-folders “Image 1” and “Image 2” are shown below the main folder “C” and the sub-folder “Image 2” is unfolded as an example. As shown in FIG. 8A, the sub-folder “Image 2” includes image files and other non-image files and only image files will be shown on the pixelated display 31. As shown in FIG. 8A, the image files include three image files “pic 1.gif”, “pic 2.gif”, and “pic 3.gif” and the non-image files include a file “txt.txt” and a folder “X” that are not selectable for display. Accordingly, users can carry any information by storing the information into these non-image files. Besides, as shown in FIG. 8B and 8C, users can select a desired image or setup parameters by moving a cursor on the pixelated display 31 via the control buttons 37.
Therefore, the present invention has the following advantages:

- 1. By using the motion detection switch, the necklace worn device can display images autonomously. Consequently, wearers can enjoy it without noticing if they have turned on or turned off the necklace worn device, the power consumption can be reduced, and it does not require additional operation to turn off redundant switch.
- 2. By using the motion detection switch and certain type of images (such as GIF), the power needed to operate the necklace worn device can be reduced and the lifetime of the battery can be extended.
- 3. By the detachable connection between the housing and the circuit board assembly, wearers can replace old housing with any desired new one.
- 4. By using the wireless transmitting and receiving unit, a wearer can conveniently exchange images displayed with another one in anywhere they meet without using any other accessory.
- 5. By using the non-volatile flash memory, wearers can store extraneous files in addition to images into the necklace worn device.
- 6. Time can be readily accessed and displayed and thus it makes the necklace worn device a suitable replacement for a watch or pocket timepiece for telling time.

Accordingly, as disclosed in the above description and attached drawings, the present invention can provide a necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images that is controlled via the detection of the motion of wearers and is low power-consumption. It is new and can be put into industrial use.
Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, various modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art from the teachings disclosed hereinabove. Therefore, it should be understood that any modification and variation equivalent to the spirit of the present invention be regarded to fall into the scope defined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. An necklace worn device for displaying short moving or static images in continuous loop that is controlled by the detection of the motion of wearers, comprising:

a housing having a front half case and a back half case that are engaged with each other and provided with a transparent window on the front half case;

a circuit board assembly provided detachably in the housing for controlling the image display, including:

a pixelated display provided under the transparent window of the housing for displaying images

a non-volatile flash memory for storing images and other additional data;

a microprocessor for processing the stored images and setting parameters concerning image display;

at least a motion detection switch for activating the necklace worn device;

a wireless transmitting and receiving unit for sending images to another necklace worn device and for receiving images transmitted from another necklace worn device;

at least a rechargeable battery provided for power supply; and

at least a control button for controlling the wireless transmitting and receiving unit and setting the parameters.

2. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motion detection switch includes a connector, a cylinder, and a ball; the cylinder is disposed at the circuit board assembly, the connector has one end in electrical connection with the circuit board assembly and another end extending into the cylinder, and the ball is movable in the cylinder.

3. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motion detection switch includes a cylinder and liquid mercury loaded therein.

4. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the motion detection switch is an inclination-type device.

5. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the inclination-type device is a MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical-system) based device.

6. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1 further includes a bi-directional serial port for connecting the necklace worn device with a computer for setup and for recharging battery.

7. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the front case is provided with a plurality of recesses on two lateral inner sides and the back half case is provided with a plurality of protrusions on two lateral outer sides for engagement with the recesses of the front half case.

8. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pixelated display is a liquid crystal display, a light emitting diode display, or an organic light emitting diode display.

9. The necklace worn device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the wireless transmitting and receiving unit is a Zigbee device, an infrared device, or a Bluetooth device.