Tide and time clock
OwnerMatthew D. Arnoldinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A tide circle is provided as one form of tide indicator which rotates about a pivot point which is spaced from a center of the tide circle. An hour hand also pivots about this pivot point. The tide circle and hour hand are geared together so that the tide circle moves slower than the hour hand an amount correlating with tide change. The tide circle includes high and low tide indicators thereon which align with the hour hand at high or low tide. A window in the hour hand can be provided as a tide scale which aligns with these indicators at high and low tide. A portion of the tide circle within the window indicates whether the tide is increasing or decreasing and current tide magnitude. A face of the clock includes markings and indicia to facilitate reading of time with the hour hand.
Claims14
A clock for reading time and tide status, comprising in combination:
- a face with a series of indicia encircling a pivot point and fixed upon said face;
- an hour hand configured to rotate about said pivot point and point toward certain ones of said indicia at different times, correlating with passage of time;
- a tide indicator configured to rotate about said pivot point at a first angular velocity different from a second angular velocity of said hour hand;
- said tide indicator rotating at said first angular velocity about said pivot point at a ratio relative to said second angular velocity of said hour hand in accordance with natural changing of Earth's tides;
- conjunction of a portion of said tide indicator with a portion of said hour hand indicating tide status;
- wherein said tide indicator has a high tide point thereon which is visibly different from other portions of the tide indicator, and with high tide occurring when said high tide point intersects with said hour hand;
- wherein said tide indicator includes a tide circle, and wherein said high tide point is a point on a perimeter of said tide circle, said tide circle being pivoted about said pivot point of said clock at an eccentric point of said circle;
- wherein said hour hand includes a tide scale therein, with a portion of said tide circle that is adjacent to said tide scale indicative of a current magnitude of the tide;
- wherein said tide scale includes an indicator window within said hour hand, with said high tide point indicating high tide when said high tide point is visible within said indicator window of said hour hand;
- wherein a low tide point is located upon said tide circle on a portion of said tide circle opposite said high tide point;
- and
- wherein said high tide point is a circular protrusion and said low tide point is a circular cutout, said protrusion and said cutout each being on said perimeter of said tide circle.
A method for displaying status of tides, including the steps of:
- displaying a clock face with a series of indicia encircling a pivot point and fixed upon the face, an hour hand configured to rotate about the pivot point and pointed toward certain ones of said indicia at different times correlating with passage of time, and a tide indicator configured to rotate about the pivot point, the tide indicator rotating slower than the hour hand by a differential within one percent of matching a degree to which Earth's tides change slower than hours pass;
- reading a current status of the tide by noting which portion of the tide indicator is aligned with a portion of the hour hand;
- wherein said tide indicator includes a high tide point thereon which is visibly different from other portions of the tide indicator, and with high tide occurring when the high tide point intersects with a portion of the hour hand;
- wherein the tide indicator includes a tide circle, and wherein the high tide point is a point on a perimeter of the tide circle, the tide circle being pivoted about said pivot point of said clock at an eccentric point of said circle;
- wherein the hour hand includes a tide scale thereon, with a portion of the tide circle that is adjacent to the tide scale being indicative of a current magnitude of the tide;
- wherein the tide scale includes an indicator window within the hour hand, with the high tide point indicating high tide when the high tide point is visible within the indicator window of the hour hand;
- wherein a low tide point is located upon the tide circle on a portion of the tide circle opposite the high tide point;
- and
- wherein the high tide point is a circular protrusion and the low tide point is a circular cutout, the protrusion and the cutout each being on the perimeter of the tide circle.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.