Cylindrical LED Time Display for Intuitive Interval Visualization
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current time display devices, such as hourglasses and smartphone apps, are imprecise, inflexible, and difficult for children and elderly individuals to operate and read, particularly in estimating time intervals and setting target events like brushing teeth or washing hands.
Innovation Solution
A compact, cylindrical timing display device with a dominant display section emitting rainbow colors, featuring a detachable housing with a rotary switch and LED lights controlled by a microprocessor, allowing easy setting and reading of time intervals through color and brightness variations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a smartphone app is used to display remaining time, then the device is compact and flexible, but the display is difficult to read and operate for children and elderly people
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses color changes in the display section to indicate different time intervals. The display section emits light in different colors (e.g., green, yellow, red) corresponding to different remaining time ranges, making it easily distinguishable for children and elderly people who may have difficulty reading numerical displays.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a two-dimensional numerical display on a smartphone screen to a three-dimensional optical display using light emission. The display section emits light radially in multiple directions, creating a volumetric visual indicator that is easier to perceive from various angles and distances.
2Ease of operation
If an hourglass is used to display time intervals, then the device is simple to operate, but the precision and flexibility are insufficient
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the mechanical sand-flow system of an hourglass with an electronic control system. A microprocessor controls LED lights to display time intervals, providing precise digital timing while maintaining the simplicity of visual indication. The mechanical movement of sand is substituted with electronic signal processing and light emission.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables dynamic adjustment of time interval parameters through electronic controls. Users can programmatically set different time durations, and the system adjusts the display accordingly by varying the duration of light emission or color sequences, providing both precision and flexibility.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a bulky adjustment section is included in the base, then the device has programmable settings, but the overall design becomes less compact and delicate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the adjustment section with the display section by integrating the control interface into the cylindrical housing. The adjustment section is positioned along the longitudinal axis rather than in a separate base, combining multiple functions into a unified compact structure that maintains programmable capabilities while reducing overall volume.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent repositions the adjustment section from a horizontal base extension to a vertical arrangement along the longitudinal axis. This dimensional reorganization allows the control interface to be integrated into the cylindrical form factor, maintaining full programmable functionality while achieving a more compact and elegant overall design.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The device provides a simple, intuitive way for children and elderly users to visualize and understand time intervals, with programmable settings and visual-acoustic feedback, enhancing usability and readability.
Implementation Method 1
the display section (11) is designed to be sufficiently transparent so that light in the visible spectral range can be emitted from the display section
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2a~2b
Figure 3a~3d
AI summary
A multi-part time-sequence display device (1) comprising at least one display section (11) in the course of the time-sequence display device (1) in the direction of the longitudinal axis (L), so that light in the visible spectral range can penetrate through the housing shell (110), is to be created which is easy to read.This is achieved by designing the multi-part time-sequence display device (1) as a hollow cylinder or hollow truncated cone, comprising electronics (100) which are arranged with light sources (111) inside the display section (11) and are operatively connected in such a way that the time-sequence display device (1), as a software-controlled device, enables a time-varying light emission in brightness and/or wavelength (λ) outwards from the multi-part time-sequence display device (1) radially away from the longitudinal axis (L) by software controlled by the microcontroller (102), wherein a light animation process up to a target event with emitted light of increasing wavelength, coupled to the remaining time until the target result and optical and/or acoustic information for the user upon reaching the target event, is programmed and runs in microcontroller control.