Abstract:
A multiprojection device comprising a housing having a first end and an interior, a battery-powered light source held in the interior of the housing such that light from the battery-powered light source travels axially along the interior of the housing towards the first end, a transparency bearing an image and axially aligned with the battery-powered light source in the housing such that light from the battery-powered light source travels axially along the interior of the housing towards the first end through the transparency, and a lens disposed at the first end such that light from the battery-powered light source travels axially along the interior of the housing towards the first end through the transparency and out of the lens, wherein multiple simultaneous instances of the image are projected from the multiprojection device.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    The present disclosure relates generally to the field of projection devices. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a device that projects multiple simultaneous instances of an image. The device may be combined with a writing device. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0002]    Marketers often display their names, characters or trademarks on writing devices such as pencils, pens and markers as advertising. Writing devices marketed to adults and children also often bear cartoons or other characters. Conventionally marketers simply printed or impressed these images onto the writing device. Later, marketers developed writing devices that displayed these images by projecting the images onto a nearby surface. These writing devices with image projection capabilities, however, were limited at least in that they projected a single image or a single instance of an image. A single image projected onto a nearby surface has limited appeal. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    The invention relates to an image projecting device that projects multiple simultaneous instances of an image. In one embodiment, the image projecting device includes a projecting multifaceted lens. Because the lens is multi-faceted, light carrying the image travels through each of the multiple facets and projects multiple instances (one instance for every facet) of the image onto nearby surfaces. In one embodiment, the image projecting device is combined with a writing device (e.g., a marker). 
         [0004]    These and further features of the present invention will be described with reference to the attached drawings. In the description and drawings, particular embodiments of the invention have been disclosed in detail as being indicative of some of the ways in which the principles of the invention may be employed, but it is understood that the invention is not limited correspondingly in scope. Rather, the invention includes all changes, modifications and equivalents coming within the terms of the appended claims. 
         [0005]    In the present disclosure, embodiments are described primarily in the context of a writing device—a marker. It should be appreciated, however, that the exemplary context of a writing device is not the only operational environment in which aspects of the disclosed invention may be used. Therefore, the projection techniques described in this disclosure may be applied to devices other than writing devices. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate various example systems, methods, and so on, that illustrate various example embodiments of aspects of the invention. It will be appreciated that the illustrated element boundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in the figures represent one example of the boundaries. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that one element may be designed as multiple elements or that multiple elements may be designed as one element. An element shown as an internal component of another element may be implemented as an external component and vice versa. Furthermore, elements may not be drawn to scale. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary projection device. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of the exemplary projection device of  FIG. 1  writing or marking on a surface. 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  illustrates exemplary details of the internals of the exemplary projection device of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary projection device of  FIG. 1  projecting multiple instances of an image. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary projection device of  FIG. 1  projecting and performing rotation of its projection of multiple instances of an image. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]      FIG. 1  illustrates a perspective view of an exemplary projection device  1 . The projection device  1  includes a housing  2  that has a writing or marker end  2   a  and a projection end  2   b.    
         [0013]    The projection device  1  includes a writing or marker nib  3  that is operably attached to the marker end  2   a  and may be covered by a cap  4 . The cap  4  is releasably attachable to the marker end  2   a  to, when attached, cover the marker nib  3 . The end  4   a  of the cap  4  is substantially flat such that, when the cap  4  is attached to the housing  2  and the end  4   a  rests on a horizontally flat surface S, the projection device  1  stands stably upright on the surface S. This feature becomes particularly relevant in the context of projecting the image as discussed in more detail below. The flat marker cap end  4   a  allows for the display or storing of the marker  1  in an upright position. In one embodiment, the projection device  1  used as a projector may be set to project the image while resting on the surface S via the cap  4  in an unassisted manner. 
         [0014]    The projection device  1  also includes a projection lens  5  that is operably attached to the projection end  2   b  and a power switch  6  that will be described in more detail below. 
         [0015]      FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of the exemplary projection device of  FIG. 1  writing or marking on a surface S (e.g., paper, etc.) In  FIG. 2 , the cap  4  has been removed and the marker nib  3  is therefore exposed. The marker nib  3  receives a colored fluid F such as ink, paint, etc. from within the interior of the housing  2  and transfers the fluid F to the surface S external to the projection device  1 . When finished writing, a user may once again cover the marker nib  3  with the cap  4 . 
         [0016]      FIG. 3  illustrates exemplary details of the internals of the exemplary projection device  1 . Inside the housing  2 , the projection device  1  includes and ink reservoir or filament  7  from which the fluid ink F is transferred to the marker nib  3 . 
         [0017]    The projection device  1  also includes a battery or batteries  8 , a light source  9  and the power switch  6  (not shown in  FIG. 3 ), which are electrically connected. Operation of the power switch  6  controls operation of the light source  9 . The light source  9  is held in the interior of the housing  2  such that light from the light source  9  travels axially along the interior of the housing  2  towards the projection end  2   b . The projection device  1  also includes an image carrier or transparency  10  that carries (i.e., has impressed upon) an image (shown in  FIG. 4  as instances  11   a - e ). The image carrier  10  is held axially aligned with the light source  9  in the housing  2  such that light from the light source  9  travels axially along the interior of the housing  2  towards the projection end  2   b  through the image carrier  10 . In the illustrated embodiment, the projection device  1  also includes the internal lens  12  (as shown in  FIG. 3 ) through which the light from the light source  9  may travel before reaching the projection lens  5 . In other embodiments, the projection device  1  does not include the lens  12 . 
         [0018]      FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of the exemplary projection device  1  projecting multiple simultaneous instances of the image  11 . As described above, the projection device  1  includes the projection lens  5 . The projection lens  5  is multifaceted, meaning that it has multiple non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. The projection lens  5  is operably attached to the projection end  2   b  such that light from the light source  9  travels axially along the interior of the housing  2  towards the projection end  2   b  through the image carrier  10  and out of the multiple surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. of the lens  5 . 
         [0019]    The multiple surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. of the lens  5  divide the light from the light source into multiple portions, each corresponding to a respective one of the non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. of the lens  5 . This way the projection device  1  projects multiple simultaneous instances of the image  11  onto nearby surfaces. In the illustrated embodiment of  FIG. 4 , the lens  5  has five non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. and therefore the projection device  1  projects five instances  11   a ,  11   b ,  11   c ,  11   d , and  11   e  of the image  11 . In other embodiments, the lens  5  has more (e.g., 6-20) or fewer (e.g., 2-4) than five non-parallel surfaces and therefore the projection device  1  projects a corresponding number of instances of the image  11 . 
         [0020]    In one embodiment, the non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. of the lens  5  are internal to the lens  5 . In this embodiment, the exterior or the exposed portion of the lens  5  may be a single or smooth surface. In another embodiment, the non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. of the lens  5  may be external to the lens  5  or the non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. may be internal and external to the lens  5 . This means that, in this embodiment, the exterior or the exposed portion of the lens  5  may be formed by the non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. The non-parallel surfaces  5   a ,  5   b ,  5   c ,  5   d , etc. may create an effect (e.g., fisheye, etc.) on the instances of the image  11  or may simply pass or redirect the light (i.e., the instance of the image  11 ) in particular directions towards nearby surfaces. 
         [0021]      FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the exemplary projection device  1 . In the illustrated embodiment, the projection lens  5  is rotatably attached to the housing  2  so that the lens  5  may be rotated about the longitudinal axis of the projection device  1 . When the power switch  6  is on and the projection device  1  is projecting the multiple instances  11   a ,  11   b ,  11   c ,  11   d , and  11   e  of the image  11 , the projection lens  5  may be rotated which causes its projection of the multiple instances  11   a ,  11   b ,  11   c ,  11   d , and  11   e  of the image  11  to also rotate. In the illustrated embodiment, rotation of the projection lens  5  is accomplished by manually rotating the projection lens  5  about the longitudinal axis of the projection device  1 . In another embodiment, rotation of the projection lens  5  may be accomplished by motorized (e.g., electrical motor connected to the power switch  6  and the battery  8 ) rotating the projection lens  5  about the longitudinal axis of the projection device  1 . 
         [0022]    In one embodiment (not shown), the projection lens  5  of the projection device  1  has a single surface instead of multiple surfaces. In this embodiment, the image carrier  10  has impressed thereon the multiple instances of the image  11 . The image carrier  10  is held axially aligned with the light source  9  in the housing  2  such that light from the light source  9  travels axially along the interior of the housing  2  towards the projection end  2   b  through the image carrier  10  and projects out of the lens  5 . In this alternative way, the projection device  1  projects multiple simultaneous instances of the image  11  onto nearby surfaces. 
         [0023]    While example systems, methods, and so on, have been illustrated by describing examples, and while the examples have been described in considerable detail, it is not the intention to restrict or in any way limit the scope of the appended claims to such detail. It is, of course, not possible to describe every conceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes of describing the systems, methods, and so on, described herein. Additional advantages and modifications will readily appear to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention is not limited to the specific details, and illustrative examples shown or described. Thus, this application is intended to embrace alterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, the preceding description is not meant to limit the scope of the invention. Rather, the scope of the invention is to be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents. 
         [0024]    To the extent that the terms “in” or “into” are used in the specification or the claims, it is intended to additionally mean “on” or “onto.” Furthermore, to the extent the term “connect” is used in the specification or claims, it is intended to mean not only “directly connected to,” but also “indirectly connected to” such as connected through another component or components. An “operable connection,” or a connection by which entities are “operably connected,” is one by which the operably connected entities or the operable connection perform its intended purpose. For example, two entities may be operably connected to each other directly or through one or more intermediate entities. 
         [0025]    To the extent that the term “includes” or “including” is employed in the detailed description or the claims, it is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term “comprising” as that term is interpreted when employed as a transitional word in a claim. Furthermore, to the extent that the term “or” is employed in the detailed description or claims (e.g., A or B) it is intended to mean “A or B or both”. When the applicants intend to indicate “only A or B but not both” then the term “only A or B but not both” will be employed. Thus, use of the term “or” herein is the inclusive, and not the exclusive use. See, Bryan A. Garner, A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage 624 (3D. Ed. 1995).