AU2015252123A1

AU2015252123A1 - Digital Clock

Info

Publication number: AU2015252123A1
Application number: AU2015252123A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Emily Duffell; Nathaniel Duffell
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2015-11-05
Filing date: 2015-11-05
Publication date: 2017-05-25
Also published as: AU2015101639B4; AU2015101639A4

Abstract

A digital clock is disclosed which includes a memory, a processor, and a clock display. The memory stores at least one series of first sets of images and at least one second set of images. The at least one first set of images includes objects with closed eyes indicative of night time. The at least one second set of images includes objects with open eyes indicative of day time. Further, the processor selects one series of images from the at least one first set of images and the at least one second set of images which are displayed on the clock based on actual timing. INPUT DEVICE FIRST SET OF IMAGES 108 SECOND SET OF IMAGES PROCESSOR 104 |BRIGHTNESS CONTROLLER AUDIO DEVICE 116 CLOCK DISPLAY

Description

2015252123 05 Nov 2015 1

TITLE

DIGITAL CLOCK TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure generally relates to the field of clocks. More particularly, the present invention relates to a digital clock.

BACKGROUND

[0002] As babies grow into toddlers, they need to learn that there is a certain time in the morning at which they should be rising from bed and certain times in which they should be sleeping. Generally, toddlers have difficulty understanding what time they need to go to sleep and what time they should be awake as a result of not being able to understand a clock. Children can be taught about sleep and wake times using the day sky and night sky. Unfortunately, due to weather changes, daylight savings and a toddler’s inability to understand a clock, their sleep and wake times may not coincide with the rising of the sun which serves to confuse children, affect their sleeping patterns and cause disturbed sleep.

[0003] Several efforts have been made in the past to construct clocks for determining the time of day and/or night. Such clocks, however, generally do not provide any direct information to an observer, especially a child, as to whether it is daylight (wake time) or night time (sleep time) as well as how long it is before they can wake. A child using such a clock is unable to determine whether it is time to get up or whether they need to remain in the bed. 2015252123 05 Nov 2015 2

SUMMARY

[0004] In one embodiment, a digital clock is disclosed which includes a memory, a processor, and a clock display. The memory stores at least one first set of images and at least one second set of images. The at least one first set of images includes objects with closed eyes indicative of night time. The at least one second set of images includes objects with open eyes indicative of day time. Further, the processor selects one of the images from the first set of images and one of the images from the second set of images which the clock then displays at predefined intervals based on actual timing.

[0005] In one embodiment, the first set of images further comprises images of the moon and of the stars.

[0006] The second set of images comprises images of the sun.

[0007] The clock display is controlled by buttons or by a touch screen.

[0008] In one embodiment, the digital clock further includes a brightness controller to control brightness of the clock display.

[0009] The clock display also displays a pre-loaded story book.

[0010] Furthermore, the clock display includes an input device for enabling a user to set an alarm time.

[0011] The clock display includes an audio device for producing an alarm at the set alarm time.

[0012] The digital clock disclosed herein may be implemented in any means for achieving various aspects and may be implemented to perform in various ways. Other features will be apparent from the accompanying drawings and from the detailed description that follow. 3 2015252123 05 Nov 2015

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] Various embodiments are described herein with reference to the drawings, wherein: [0014] FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a digital clock, according to an embodiment of the present subject matter; [0015] FIG. 2 to 6 illustrates a set of images corresponding to different times of the night, in accordance with an embodiment; and [0016] FIG. 7 illustrates an image of a first set of images, in accordance with an embodiment; and [0017] FIG. 8 illustrates an image corresponding to day time, according to an embodiment.

[0018] The drawings described herein are for illustration purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure in any way.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0019] In the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present subject matter, references are made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the present subject matter may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the present subject matter, and it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and that changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present subject matter. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be 2015252123 05 Nov 2015 4 taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of the present subject matter is defined by the appended claims.

[0020] Some embodiments of this disclosure, illustrating all its features, will now be discussed in detail. The words "comprising," "having," "containing," and "including," and other forms thereof, are intended to be equivalent in meaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one of these words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item or items, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items.

[0021] It must also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Although any systems and methods similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the present disclosure, the preferred, systems and methods are now described.

[0022] Fig. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a digital clock 100, in accordance with an example. In one example, the digital clock may be provided on a digital photo frame. The digital clock 100 includes a memory 102, a processor 104, and a clock display 106. The memory 102 stores one or more first sets of images 108 and one or more second sets of images 110. The first set of images 108 includes objects with closed eyes indicative of night time. The second set of images 110 includes objects with open eyes indicative of day time. Further, the processor 104 selects one image from the first set of images 108 and one from the second set of images 110 after a predefined interval based on actual timing. For example, if the actual timing is a specific time during the night, the processor 104 selects an image from the first set of images 108. Similarly, if the actual timing is a specific time during the 5 2015252123 05 Nov 2015 day, the processor 104 selects an image from the second set of images 110. Furthermore, the clock display 106 displays the selected image.

[0023] The clock display 106 may be a touch screen or controlled by buttons which enables a user to input various commands to control the display; for example a control for selecting an image set from a first set of images 108 and/or an image set from the second set of images 110. In addition, the digital clock 100 may include a brightness controller 112 which communicates with the processor 104 to control brightness of the clock display 106. In one example, the brightness controller 112 may be disposed inside the processor 104. In some embodiments, the clock display may display a pre-loaded story book stored in the memory 102. The digital clock 100 may also include an input device 114 for enabling the user to set an alarm time. The digital clock 100 may also include an audio device 116 for producing an alarm at a set alarm time. For example, if the alarm time is set at 6 AM, the audio device 116 produces an alarm sound at 6 AM.

[0024] The first set of images 108 corresponding to different times of the night and the second set of images 110 corresponding to day time is explained with reference to Fig. 2 to Fig. 8. Fig. 2 illustrates one image from the first set of images 108 which shows several animals as objects 202 with closed eyes (e.g. sleeping) along with a moon 204 and/or multiple stars 206 (e.g. seven numbers of stars 206) in the sky. As the time passes in the night, the moon position is changed in the image of the first set of images 108, as compared to Fig.2, for example, as shown in Figs 3 to 6. In one example, the number of stars 206 may also vary depending upon the actual night time. For example, the number of stars 206 may be 6 referring to a certain time of night, the number of stars 206 may be 2 for another time of the night and so on. It is appreciated that any number of stars may be illustrated in the image of the first set of images 108 for a particular actual night time. Furthermore, it is appreciated that 2015252123 05 Nov 2015 6 the moon can be illustrated at any position of the sky in a series of first sets of images 204 for a particular actual time of night. In one example, cloud 702 (as shown in Fig 7) may also be shown in the sky along with the moon 204 and/or multiple stars 206.

[0025] Referring now to Fig. 8 which illustrates an image from the second set of images 110 that includes several animals as objects 202 with open eyes. An image from the second set of images 110 may include an image of the sun 802. In one example, the sun position may be changed in the image of the second set of images 110 depending upon the actual day time. In one example, cloud 702 may also be shown in the sky along with sun 802.

[0026] In the example shown in Fig. 2 to Fig. 8, the objects 202 are horse, sheep, and birds; however, any object can be present in the images. For example, the object 202 may be a car, lion, rabbit, teddy bear, unicorn, girl, boy and the like. In some examples, the background scene may also be changed. For example, the first set of images 108 and the second set of images 110 may include a jungle scene, a house scene, a garage scene, a bedroom scene, and the like.

[0027] In use, a home screen is displayed on the clock display 106. The home screen may include multiple options to choose from including a settings option, go to bed option, book option, and instructions option for operation of the digital clock 100. In one example, within the settings option the user can choose the scenes/backgrounds to be displayed, there may be a wake up time for the day image to be displayed, an option to adjust the brightness of the clock display 106, as well as an option for setting the actual time. The setting option may also enable the user to lock the screen so that the child cannot change any settings. The setting option may include a reset option which enables the user to reset all the above explained 2015252123 05 Nov 2015 7 settings. The reset can be enabled using a security credential, such as a password, pin, phone number or an email id.

[0028] In the foregoing description, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding. No unnecessary limitations are to be implied there from beyond the requirement of the prior art because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. Therefore, the disclosure is not limited to the specific details, the representative embodiments, and illustrative examples shown and described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims.

[0029] Moreover, although the present disclosure and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the disclosure as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process, machine, manufacture, means, methods and steps described in the specification. As one will readily appreciate from the disclosure, processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include within their scope such processes, machines, manufacture, compositions of matter, means, methods, or steps.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A digital clock comprising: a memory for storing at least one first set of images and at least one second set of images, wherein the at least one first set of images comprises objects with closed eyes indicative of night time, and wherein the at least one second set of images comprises objects with open eyes indicative of day time; a processor for selecting one of the images from the at least one first set of images and the at least one second set of images after a predefined interval based on actual timing; and a clock display for displaying the selected image.
2. The digital clock of claim 1, wherein the at least one first set of images further comprises images of the moon and the stars.
3. The digital clock of claim 1, wherein the at least one second set of images further comprises image of the sun.
4. The digital clock of claim 1, wherein the clock display is a touch screen or controlled by buttons.
5. The digital clock of claim 1, further comprising a brightness controller to control brightness of the clock display.
6. The digital clock of claim 1, wherein the clock display displays a pre-loaded story book stored in the memory.
7. The digital clock of claim 1, further comprising an input device for enabling a user to set an alarm time.
8. The digital clock of claim 7, further comprising an audio device for producing an alarm at the set alarm time.
9. The digital clock of claim 7, wherein the at least one first set of images and the at least one second set of images comprising different scenes/backgrounds, which is selectable by a user.