US3903627A

US3903627A - Kinetic card viewing device

Info

Publication number: US3903627A
Application number: US325200A
Authority: US
Inventors: Rupert C Herzog
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1973-01-19
Filing date: 1973-01-19
Publication date: 1975-09-09
Anticipated expiration: 1992-09-09

Abstract

A device for holding the cards of a pack, and positioning them individually in succession substantially in an enclosed means, exposing the faces to view in a window, first the front faces, followed by the reverse faces, of all of the cards in the pack, in a recycling of the cards which continues until device is stopped.

Description

United States Patent [191 [111 Herzog Sept. 9, 1975 [54] KINETIC CARD VIEWING DEVICE 3,783,540 l/l974 Barclay 7. 40/7807 [76] Inventor: Rupert C. Herzog, 7651 N. Harlem FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS Niles 60648 465.54l 9/1928 Germany 40/36 [22] Filed: Jan. 19, 1973 Primary Examiner-Robert W. Michell [21] Appl 325200 Assistant Examiner-John H. Wolff 52 us. Cl v l 40/65; 40/7807 [57] ABSTRACT 51 Int. Cl. G09! 11/30 [58] Field of Search 40/36, 65, 78.07 devce f Cards f 8 Pack posfllon' mg them individually in succession substantially in an 6 R f Cited enclosed means, exposing the faces to view in a win- [5 1 e erences dow, first the front faces, followed by the reverse UNITED STATES PATENTS faces; of all of the cards in the pack, in a recycling of 364-247 8/1907 Lambert 40/36 the cards which continues until device is stopped 1197,90] S/l965 Alleman 40/7807 3,696,537 l0/l972 Alleman 40/65 X 2 Claims, 50 Drawing Figures IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PATENTEDSEP' sins S'rIEET 1 Front-Fac z e Series 0d 101 Z01 S01 1701 901 901 01 801 601 g i 661 003 Back-Fa c e Series Fig.1-A

Cards having 1 moved past window Card at window Direction of Card Movement 1 Cards set 3 to move FlQ.1-B past window FATE h TE [1 EP 9 I975 What time is it? Wie sp't ist es? 'wesfiue e13 UGIIOQJdS 31119 Where shall we meet? W0 sol/en wir uns treffen? Make yourself comfortable.

'ayey auyaw 157 1a 'pJeo Aw s eJe Machen Sie sich bequem.

guoqos 13 ueueM fiue 31 Please sit down.

gfiumem ueaq noA eAeq 6uo MOH Bitte setzen Sie sich.

'uaJ q qqls uon e13 uasse- 1 no/l mum; .leaq aw 101 German Front Face Back Face Fig. 2

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PATENTED 9'975 3.903.627 SHEET 9 Start of operation of device Forward movement aspect of card-drive means Time interval dWe/l Card-d rive cycle for a face-side of T each card in pack Return of time-reckoning disc to its zero position Reverse movement aspect of card-drive means Automatic stoppage of device upon completion of the play of a face-side of the cards in a pack Fig. 20

PATENTED SEP 91915 3.903.627 sum 10 Fig. 21

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PATENTED SEP 9 I975 3. 9 O3 6 2 7 SHEET 17 KINETIC CARD VIEWING DEVICE This invention relates in general to devices using media which bear communicable effects for display in sequential order for visual recognition, and more particularly to devices wherein the media used are cards.

To my knowledge, the invention pioneers the conception of devices using cards wherein in a potentially endless continuity of recycling the faces of the cards come into position in a window for viewing, individually in succession, first the front faces, followed by the reverse faces, of the cards in the pack.

A significant attribute of my invention is a card cartridge which is insertable into, and removable from, the device, and ready for operation in the device upon insertion.

The cards require no holes to effect their movement as the drive mechanism involved is either of a kind which effects movement of the cards by pushing it by its lower butt end, or by having it drawn against a moving belt by air suction.

Likewise no holes are involved in the cards if the inputs of data concepts are provided by means of indicia printed in a magnetic encoding ink in conjunction with their application to photo-electric means. However, where the inputs of data concepts involve electromechanical means, the indicia are implemented by holes punched out of the card substance of a shape to make them applicable to one face of a card to the exclusion of its other face.

A significant application of the invention is in the educational field covering devices for the presentation of data in such a way as to stimulate student interest. Applications include the hidden answer method for cramming in school examinations. In this connection, the device provides ingenious signaling means for directing the student in his problem solving, and provides means for scoring performance. The techniques which thus find application in the educational field, also have application in the entertainment field covering games for which a wide variety of programs may be developed.

It has application in a device for improving reading skills. Such a device may be provided with speed regulators to establish the number of words read in a given period of time.

The invention has application in a device for use as a mechanized book, such as is provided in a dictionary, wherein cards which have been data-punched for builtin sensing means provide for automatically locating a specific card, turned to the applicable face from among the cards in a pack, which contains a word or term on which information is sought. Other similar applications include use of the device as a telephone directory, a catalog, a price list, cookbook, etc.

The invention fills a need in a device for the presentation of sheet music in sequential order for reading by the performer without requiring him to handle the sheets while engaged in the execution of music. In this connection, timing controls may be provided to enable him to regulate or preset the device to his requirements. Another similar application involves cards which present a musical composition in a single horizontal arrangement of musical graphics.

Likewise it provides for a device using cards which bear copy of communicable matter for delivery in talks and sermons, with means provided in the device, controlled by the speaker, for keeping movement of the copy past a viewing window held to his speed of delivery.

To summarize: The invention covers devices using cards constituted as reading and teaching machines, data processing machines, mechanized books and entertainment machines. In addition, the device may be adapted for use as a camera, photographic copying machine, or a machine for projecting graphical effects upon a screen.

OBJECTIVES OF MY INVENTION Objectives of my invention are to provide in its basic materialization in a kinetic card viewing device specific characteristics as follows:

a. A device driven by one of two difi'erent means, viz.:

1. Manual means;

2. Electrical means.

b. A device provided with a card drive means of one of three different types, viz.:

l. A belt drive holding card by vacuum (air suction);

2. A worm drive holding card by its lower butt end;

3. A twin worm drive with cams, which holds card by its lower butt end.

0. A device manifested in either of two versions, viz.:

l. A portable version which is compact and easy to handle;

2. A fixed installation version for large-scale operation.

d. A device provided with one of two types of card receptacle means, viz.:

1. A fixed card receptacle means, providing for the manual insertion and removal of cards;

2. A cartridge means which contains a pack of cards,

with said cartridge readily insertable into, and removable from, the device, and when in device, to operate coordinatively with aspects in the device which are interdependent with it.

e. A device provided with the means to endow it with one of the patterns of card movement from among the following, viz.:

l. A continuous forward reading speed of full card lengths;

2. A stop-and-go sequence f cr equi-sized divisions of full card lengths;

3. wherein in (2) above, a high-speed go aspect is followed by a time interval dwell which is either: i. Selective;

ii. Fixed.

f. A device provided with a window to expose each cardface for viewing in one of the following five ways:

1. In its entirety;

2. In a fractional part, equal to one of the parts into which cardface is divided along its length to which its is in registry;

3. In a series, wherein one or more cardfaces are continually exposed for viewing, aligned to form a single band of graphical effects in movement;

4. Same as (3) above, except that a multiplicity of bands is provided wherein a mask set against the window exposes a selected band for viewing to the exclusion of the other bands;

5. ln a reduced width, to provide a marginal portion for accommodating indicia contained therein.

g. A device provided with a pilot card, wherein, upon completion of the play of a face-side of the cards in the pack, the pilot card conveys this condition by means of a visual signal, and brings the device to a stop through means provided in connection therewith.

h. A device provided with a score registry means in connection with its use as a teaching, game or enter' tainment machine.

j. A device provided with the means to sense data concepts through indicia provided in the cards to produce data outputs thereof, in accordance with the requirements established therefor in each particular design application.

Other objectives and a fuller understanding of the invention may be had by referring to the specifications and the claims hereinafter presented, to be taken in conjunction with the illustrations included therewith.

The Cards in a Pack The cards comprising a pack for use in the device have face-sides of rectangular shape with their butt ends squared, with the pack of the dimensions to fit into the card receptacle means in the space provided so that the cards can undergo the required movement therein, allowing a minimum increment of space for clearance of the cards by their width and length, and keeping the number of cards at the maximum at which they will not bind, thus for the cards to exert sufficient pressure against the front and rear walls of the card receptacle means that each successive forwardmost card in the pack is held flush against the front wall of the card receptacle means, thus, preceding the initiation of a card drive cycle, for card to be in required vertical alignment with the card contact aspect of card drive means that said aspect faces lower butt end of card squarely, with the upper butt end of card aligned to card egress orifice, thereby for card to clear said orifice without impediment in the action of the card drive means upon the card to move it out of the card receptacle means.

The cards should be produced from a good quality bristol or tag stock possessed of a fair degree of flexibility.

A measure of practicability of the device lies in the fact that both faces of each card are utilized, and that in a number of design concepts presented herein each cardface is utilizable in its entirety.

Operation of the device starts with the series of the faces of the cards in a pack facing frontward, followed by the series facing rearward thereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAMNGS FIG. l-A illustrates the paging arrangement of the cards in ascending order, in the front-face series, pages 1 to 100 inclusive, and in the back-face series, pages 101 to 200 inclusive;

FIG. l-B illustrates the cards and direction of card movement;

FIG. 2 presents an example of a card taken from a pack, which has the graphical matter in its two faces applying to a teaching method;

FIG. 3 presents a cross-sectional side view of the device;

FIG. 4 presents a view of the lower part ofa version of the device provided with a built-in card receptacle means designed for the manual handling of the cards;

FIG. 5 presents an enlarged cross-sectional top view of the card drive means;

FIG. 6 presents an enlarged cross-sectional side view of the card drive means;

FIG. 7 presents a rear view of the device showing viewing window;

FIG. 8 presents a cross-sectional front view of the device, showing card drive means;

FIG. 9 presents a cross-sectional view of the semicylindrical part of the card passage way means provided with a rotatable inner aspect of said means;

FIG. 10 presents a sectioned view of the device from the rear wall containing the viewing window;

FIG. 11 presents a sectioned side view of the device showing the card drive means;

FIG. 12 presents a view of the device centered vertically head-on to apex of card passageway means;

FIG. 13 presents an enlarged sectioned top view of card drive means;

FIG. 14 presents an enlarged partial lengthwise view of card drive means;

FIG. 15 presents a cross-sectional side view of card passageway means, viz., the position of insertion of cartridge into device, showing pilot card centered in duct of said means;

FIG. 16 presents a cross-sectional side view of upper part of card cartridge;

FIG. 17 presents the design of a face-side of pilot card;

FIG. 18 presents a sectioned view of the upper part of the device from the front, showing means for selecting and implementing periods of time interval dwell;

FIG. 19 presents a sectioned view of the upper part of the device from the side showing means for selecting and implementing periods of time interval dwell;

FIG. 20 presents a flow chart of the principal operational functions of the device;

FIG. 21 presents a partially sectioned front view of card drive means;

FIG. 22 presents a sectioned top view of card drive means;

FIG. 23 presents a cross-sectional top view of device;

FIG. 24 presents a front view of device;

FIG. 25 presents a side view of the device, partially cross-sectioned to show interior details;

FIG. 26 presents a view of the device, from the position as faced by the operator, partially sectioned to show the means provided for the application of power and vacuum;

FIG. 27 presents a perspective view of the device showing the viewing window and the operating controls;

FIG. 28 presents a card in the progress of entering cartridge through two-way card-flow orifice in its front wall;

FIG. 29-A presents a card in the process of entering cartridge through two-way card-flow orifice in its rear wall;

FIG. 29-8 presents a card in the process of exiting cartridge through two-way card-flow orifice in its rear wall;

FIG. 30 presents an enlarged partially sectioned side view of device showing card in pack in cartridge, and belt for transport of cards;

FIG. 31 presents an enlarged partial view of device through section A-A', FIG. 30;

FIG. 32 presents an enlarged partial view of device through section B-B', FIG. 30;

FIG. 33 presents a portion of the combination data retrieval selector aspect and card viewing window;

Claims

1. A device with a card receptacle means which contains a pack of cards, said receptacle being bounded by six rectangular walls which define an enclosure, the upper wall of said enclosure is provided with a card exit slot and a card entry slot in substantially parallel alignment, respectively, with the front and rear cards in said receptacle means; the device includes a card passageway means with duct therein for the transfer of the cards individually in sequence from the front to the rear of the receptacle means, said card passageway means being seated on said upper wall of the receptacle means by its two ends of a cross-sectionally inverted U-shaped configuration, to which each terminus of said duct extends wherein it meets a slot in said upper wall of the receptacle means; a card apart from the cards in the pack is provided and is located in the duct of the card passageway means preceding the start of operation of the device, upon operation of the device said card abuts and moves sequentially with the cards of the pack; the wall of the receptacle means facing the front card of the cards in the receptacle means having a slot centered widthwise thereto for the card''s full length and extending lineally therefrom such distance below the baseplane of the cards therein into the lower wall, to provide in a forward movement of a manually actuated card drive means for card to be expelled from the receptacle means, a card pusher element of said card drive means extends through said slot into the receptacle means to the depth at which it effects contact with the baseplane of said front card to the exclusion of the other cards in said receptacle means; whereby the action of the card pusher element expells a card from the receptacle means, said last mentioned card bears against the card which is occupying the duct to move it therefrom through the card entry slot of the receptacle means from whence it is deposited in the receptacle means to become the backmost card of the cards therein, the wall of the receptacle means contiguous to the outer face of said backmost card constitutes the window for viewing the card, said window being composed of transparent material with its interior surface contoured so as to guide the incoming card, so that upon completing its entry into the receptacle means further means offsets said incoming card from said wall to provide a space between itself and said wall for entry of the next succeeding card; a card drive retaining means attached adjacent to the wall of the receptacle means facing the front card of the cards in the receptacle means and structurally stabilized relative to said wall provides for a push/pull block adapted to be slid forward and backward by respectively pushing and pulling on said block aspect manually each way between two anchor blocks positioned on said card drive retaining means, to effect respectively the discharge of a card out of the receptacle means, and the restoration of the card drive means to the starting position of a card drive action, wherein said anchor blocks provide between them a measured distance to which the card drive means is held.

2. A device including a cartridge to effect therebetween the circulation of the cards contained in said cartridge for their sequential viewing in said cartridge: the cartridge comprises in combination a receptacle means and a pack of aligned cards contained in said receptacle means; the receptacle means is in the shape of a hexahedron bounded by six rectangular walls comprising a front wall facing the outer face of the front card of said pack of cards, a rear wall of transparent material constituting a window for viewing individual card faces, an upper wall, a lower wall and two side walls, said walls being contiguous to the four ends of the cards; the upper wall is provided with a card exit slot and a card entry slot in substantially parallel alignment respectively with the front and rear cards in the receptacle means; the front wall is in two parts, separated from one another by a slot centered widthwise to its length, of a width to accommodate slideably a card pusher element of a card drive means, said slot extending therefrom lineally for such distance below said front wall into the lower wall to provide the required range for the card pusher element of the card drive means to engage a card along its end contiguous to the lower wall and thereby eject said card out of the receptacle means; the rear wall is provided in its interior surface with a protrusion to offset therefrom the card completing its movement into the receptacle means so as to leave a space between itself and the wall for entry of the next succeeding card; the cards of the pack are of such dimensions as to provide an amount of clearance between their ends and the respective walls of the receptacle means contiguous thereto that the cards do not bind against said walls, and the pack comprises such quantity of cards that continual pressure is maintained by the cards against the front and rear walls of the receptacle means; the cards are of such thickness that only one card at a time can pass through the card exit slot and the card entry slot of the receptacle means, and that only one full card at a time can be accommodated in the duct of the card passageway means; both faces of each card in the pack are utilizable for application of graphical effects for visual recognition which are on the one face up-side-down relative to those on the face reverse thereof; the device comprises in combination: enclosing walls for holding the cartridge stably in position for operation, and means to render the space into which cartridge fits easily accessible for its insertion and removal; a card passageway means with duct therein for the slideable transfer of the cards individually in sequence from the front to the rear of the receptacle means, said card passageway means being in such position that a cartridge is Insertable in the device said card passageway means is located on said upper wall of the receptacle means by its two ends of a cross-sectionally inverted U-shaped configuration to which each terminus of said duct extends wherein it meets a slot located in said upper wall of the receptacle means; the length of the cards in the receptacle means is substantially equal to the length of the duct in the card passageway means, before the start of operation of the device a card in said duct abuts both the front and rear cards in the receptacle means; a card apart from the cards in the pack is provided, and located in the duct of the card passageway means preceding the start of operation of the device with the cartridge in position in the device with all of the cards of the pack intact, upon operation of the device said card apart moves sequentially with the cards of the pack, thus upon the completion of the return of the cards of the pack into the receptacle means, said card apart again occupies the duct of the card passageway means, means permitting the removal of the cartridge with the cards of the pack intact, from the device; the card pusher element of the card drive means extends vertically through slot in front wall of receptacle means to the depth at which it underlies the bottom portion of the front card to the exclusion of the other cards in the receptacle means, whereupon in a card drive action said pusher element bears against said rear end of card to eject card from said receptacle means; and wherein said card pusher element is provided with a sloping face extending rearward from the apex of its card contact fact to effect an unobstructed return movement of the card pusher element to the starting position of a card drive action; a card drive retaining means constituting a rigid extension of the wall of the device contiguous to the front wall of the receptacle means, provides for a push/pull block of card drive means to be slid thereon manually forward and backward by respectively pushing and pulling on said block each way between two anchor blocks positioned on said card drive retaining means, to effect respectively the discharge of a card out of the receptacle means, and the restoration of the card drive means to the starting position of a card drive action, wherein said anchor blocks provide a measured distance to which the card drive means is held.