Earth planet model

An earth planet model as illustrated in the drawings having a base supporting a globe cradle 28. The globe cradle supports a glove 40 at a north pole bearing 48 and at a south pole bearing 50 with the polar axis of the globe being inclined. The model 10 has a polar shaft 66 with a north pole shaft end 68 extending upward through the north pole bearing 48 and a south pole bearing end 70 extending downward through the south pole bearing 50. A light illuminating means is tiltably mounted on the polar shaft 66 for tilting movement and for rotation with the shaft for illuminating the interior of the globe. The model 10 has a manual adjusting means associated with the north pole bearing 48 for manually adjusting the inclination of the illuminating means in response to the setting of a manual knob. A timer drive is detachably coupled to the south pole shaft end 70 for rotating the polar shaft with respect to the globe. The timer is removably mounted on the base. A dimmer circuit 128 is provided to adjust the magnitude of the illumination within the globe.

Technical Field 
This invention relates to earth planet models or globes that are internally 
illuminated to display the rotation of the earth with respect to the sun. 
Background of the Invention 
Numerous rather complicated earth planet models have been developed that 
include an internal illumination system for illuminating an internal 
portion of a translucent globe to represent the rotation of the earth with 
respect to the sun to provide a display of the relative movement of the 
earth with respect to the sun in a twenty-four hour period. 
Such previous attempts have been quite complicated rendering such systems 
quite expensive for the vast majority of the population. Thus the 
educational benefits of such a system have been unavailable to those with 
more limited means. 
Examples of such previous devices are illustrated in the following U.S. 
Pat. Nos: 
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Patent No. Inventor Issue Date 
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2,907,166 Baccara October 6, 1959 
3,197,893 Mariotti August 3, 1965 
4,102,121 Veazey July 25, 1978 
4,666,310 Snapka May 19, 1987 
4,761,138 Niesyn August 2, 1988 
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Of the principal objects of this invention is to provide a new earth planet 
model that is considerably less expensive than previous models having the 
capability of displaying movement of the earth with respect to the sun 
utilizing an internal illumination system. 
The further object of this invention is to provide a unique earth planet 
model having the capability of illuminating at least half of the globe in 
which the intensity of the illumination can be varied in response to the 
level of the ambient light. 
A further object of this invention is to provide a unique earth planet 
model having a globe that may be readily removed from a base to readily 
install new bulbs. 
These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become 
apparent upon reading the following detailed description of a preferred 
embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
The following disclosure of the invention is submitted in furtherance with 
the constitutional purpose of the Patent Laws "to promote the progress of 
science and useful arts" (Article 1, Section 8). 
Referring more specific to the drawings, as illustrated in FIG. 1 an earth 
planet model generally designated with the numeral 10 that has a 
supporting base 12. Base 12 includes a front wall 14, a rear wall 16, and 
side walls 18 and 20. A top wall 24 is provided with an indentation 26. 
The model 10 includes a cradle assembly 28 that is supported on the base. 
The cradle assembly 28 includes a cradle pedestal 30 affixed to the base 
12 spaced from the indentation 26. The assembly 28 includes a curved 
cradle arm 32 that extends upward to a forked north pole end 34 in one 
direction and to a forked south pole end 36 in the opposite direction. 
A cradle assembly 28 is intended to support a globe 40. The globe 40 is 
made of a translucent material having an outer surface 42 imprinted to 
represent the surface of the earth. Longitudinal lines extend between the 
north and south poles at 15.degree. intervals and parallel latitude 
markings are situated at intervals between the north pole and the south 
pole. For ease of maintenance and dissemblement, the globe 40 comprises a 
upper section or northern half 44 and a lower section or southern half 46. 
The globe is preferably split at the equator. 
Further the globe 40 includes a north pole bearing 48 that is supported by 
the forked north pole end 34 of the cradle arm 32 and a south pole bearing 
50 supported by the forked south pole end 36 of the cradle arm 32. The 
north pole bearing 48 includes a circular groove 52 formed therein for 
frictionally receiving the forked north pole end 34 as illustrated in FIG. 
2. Furthermore the north pole bearing 48 includes a bore 54 formed 
therethrough. An additional circular groove 56 is formed in the north pole 
bearing 48 for receiving an upper end of a movable longitudinal marker 
140. 
The south pole bearing 50 includes a circular groove 58 formed therein for 
receiving the forked south pole end 36 for supporting the globe at the 
south pole bearing 50. The south pole bearing 50 includes a bore 60 
extending therethrough. Additionally a circular groove 62 is formed in the 
south pole bearing 50 for receiving a lower end of movable longitudinal 
marker 140 as illustrated in FIG. 2. Additionally the south pole bearing 
50 has electrical commutation brushes 64 for transmitting electrical 
energy from the bearing to complimentary slip rings 96. 
The model 10 includes a polar shaft 66 within the globe 40, with a north 
pole shaft end 68 extending outward along the polar axis through the bore 
54 in the north pole bearing 48. The polar shaft further includes a south 
pole shaft end 70 that extends through the south pole bearing bore 60. The 
polar shaft includes an offset intermediate tubular section 72 that 
extends between the north pole shaft end 68 and the south pole shaft end 
70. Preferably a portion of the shaft 72 is hollow. The polar shaft 66 has 
a supporting bracket 74 mounted thereon for supporting a hemisphere 
illuminating means 76. The polar shaft 66 is adapted for rotation about 
the polar axis of the globe for rotating the hemisphere illuminating means 
within the globe to simulate the rotation of the earth with respect to the 
sun. 
The hemisphere illuminating means 76 is mounted for tilting movement about 
a horizontal tilt axis 78 (appearing in end view as a point in FIG. 2 and 
as a center line in FIG. 5). The hemisphere illuminating means 76 includes 
a light socket 80 for supporting a bulb 82. A shade 84 in the form of a 
disk (illustrated specifically in FIG. 5) is provided to reflect light 
from the bulb 82 against and illuminate substantially one-half of the 
interior of the globe to represent that portion of the globe being 
illuminated by the sun. The disk also shades substantially the other half 
of the globe interior to represent that area of the globe not illuminated 
by the sun. 
The earth planet model 10 further includes a tilt adjusting means generally 
designated with the numeral 86 for tilting the hemisphere illuminating 
means 76 particularly to tilt the shade 84 to various inclinations 
corresponding to various seasons of the year. The tilt adjusting means 86 
includes a flexible cable 88 that extends through an upper portion of the 
tubular shaft section 72. The lower end of the flexible cable 88 extends 
downward of the support bracket 74 to a cam 90 mounted on the bottom cable 
end. The upper end of the flexible cable 88 is attached to a dial or knob 
92 by set screw 93 (FIG. 2). As the dial or knob 92 is turned, it causes 
the cam 90 to rotate in response to such turning. A circular month scale 
94 is frictionally mounted to the north pole shaft end 68 for rotation 
therewith. The circular month scale 94 has angularly spaced demarcations 
indicating the various months of the year as illustrated in FIG. 1. 
The dial 92 is manually operated to rotate the cam 90 against the lower 
portion of the shade 84 to pivot the shade 84 about the tilt axis 78 to 
adjust the inclination of the shade to a desired orientation indicated by 
the month pointed to by the dial or knob 92. 
The south pole shaft end 70 includes slip rings 96 formed thereon for 
mating with the electrical brushes 64 to transfer electrical current 
through an electrical cord 98 to the light socket 80. 
The planet model 10 further includes a day timer or 24-hour drive 100 that 
is removably mounted on the base 12 within the indentation 26 as 
illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 4. The day timer 100 is a conventional unit 
that may be purchased from many sources and will not be described in any 
specific detail other than the output timer shaft (not shown) rotates one 
revolution each twenty-four hours. The day timer 100 includes its own 
separate housing 102 that contains the necessary motor and mechanism for 
rotating the output shaft. The day timer 100 is modified to include an 
hour ring 104 on the top thereon for indicating the time of day along its 
periphery. The hour ring 104 is frictionally positioned on the housing 102 
for rotation with the output shaft. Day timer 100 includes a daylight 
saving adjustment feature 106 that includes a notch 108 with a lever 110 
for moving the hour ring forward or rearward one hour depending upon 
whether the observer is on standard time or daylight saving time. Standard 
time or daylight saving time indicia 112 is formed on the circular hour 
ring 104 as illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7. 
The model 10 further includes a detachable coupling 114 that is connected 
to the output shaft (not shown) of the day timer for detachably coupling 
the output shaft to the south pole shaft end 70. A detachable coupling 114 
includes a blade 116 mounted on the output shaft of the day timer 100 for 
projecting into a female slot 118 formed in the south pole shaft end 70 as 
illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 4. 
When it is desired to remove the globe 40 from the cradle assembly 28, one 
merely turns the hour ring to the 12 o'clock position and then 
frictionally slides the north pole bearing and the south pole bearing 48 
and 50 from their respective forked ends 34 and 36. Furthermore the south 
pole shaft end 70 merely slides off the blade 116. Consequently it is very 
easy to replace bulbs within the globe 40 or to make necessary repairs. 
The model 10 includes an electrical circuit generally referred to with the 
numeral 120. The electrical circuit 120 includes a wall socket plug 122 as 
electrically connected to the day timer motor 124. The circuit has an 
on/off switch 126 that is included within a light dimmer circuit 128. The 
light dimmer circuit 128 includes a rheostat 130 that is operated by a 
rheostat knob 132 mounted on the front wall 14 (FIGS. 1 and 4). When the 
rheostat knob 132 is initially rotated, it closes the on/off switch 126. 
Further rotation of the knob adjusts the rheostat 130 to adjust the 
magnitude of the illumination of the bulb within the globe 40. 
Consequently the rheostat 130 sets the minimum illumination level within 
the globe 40. 
The electrical system 120 further includes a photocell 134 that is mounted 
in side wall 20 for sensing the magnitude or intensity of the ambient 
light within the room. The photocell 134 is connected electrically in 
parallel with the rheostat 130 to increase the illumination within the 
globe in proportion of the ambient light. For example if the room is in 
very bright light, the photocell will increase the current to the bulb 
causing the intensity of the light within the bulb to increase so that the 
visual display is more noticeable. If the ambient light is at a very low 
level or in a dark room, then the magnitude of the illuminating light 
within the globe 40 will be at the minimum value set by the rheostat 130. 
The photocell 134 serves as a variable sensor for not only sensing the 
ambient light but for adjusting the resistance between the power source 
and the light to adjust the light in the globe proportionally to the 
ambient light. 
It should be noted that the day timer 100 is merely plugged in to a socket 
138 as illustrated in FIG. 4. If the day timer 100 becomes defective, one 
merely disconnects the day timer from the socket 138 and removes the day 
timer when the day timer is in the 12 o'clock position. Furthermore, since 
the day timer is a very commercially available item, it is quite 
inexpensive to provide a low cost illuminated earth planet model. 
To set the inclination or tilt of the shade 84 one merely rotates the dial 
92 to the desired month. Consequently as the polar shaft 66 is rotated, 
that portion of the earth that is illuminated during that particular month 
will be circumscribed as the polar shaft rotates through one revolution in 
a twenty-four hour period. To determine the time in any particular place 
on the globe, one merely moves the movable marker 140 about the globe 40 
to the particular location and then visually notices the time indicated at 
that position on the hour scale 104. For example if a person wants to 
determine what time it is in Tokyo, Japan, one merely moves the movable 
marker 140 to the longitudinal position of Tokyo and immediately looks at 
the hour scale 104 to indicate the time of day in Tokyo. 
In compliance with the statute, the invention has been described in 
language more or less specific as to structural features. It is to be 
understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the specific 
features shown, since the means and construction herein disclosed comprise 
a preferred form of putting the invention into effect. The invention is, 
therefore, claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the proper 
scope of the appended claims appropriately interpreted in accordance with 
the doctrine of equivalents.