Abstract:
A scale with a transiently visible display includes: an enclosure having an upper surface; a measurement device disposed in the enclosure; and a display coupled to the measurement device and attached to the enclosure beneath the upper surface, the display displaying a measurement value only when the display is an active state. Activation of the measurement device places the display in the active state whereas deactivation removes the display from the active state. The enclosure obscures the display from visibility when the display is not in the active state. Optionally, the scale may include a facade beneath the upper surface and a shutter adjacent the facade and covering the display, the shutter being coupled to the measurement device. The shutter opens to reveal the display during activation. The enclosure obscures the facade and the shutter from recognition when the measurement device is not in the active state.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    The present invention relates to weight scales, and more specifically to a scale having a display that appears only when the scale is in use.  
         BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
         [0002]    Weight scales are well-known in the art. A scale may use one of a variety of weighing mechanisms to measure weight, but most commonly-used weighing mechanisms require placement of the scale on a hard, flat surface such as a bathroom floor. A typical scale is kept flat on a bathroom floor. A scale is a common accessory to a bathroom, and many people weigh themselves in the privacy of their bathrooms before or after bathing. A pervasive feature of personal weight scales is a display or dial which indicates the weight information sought by the user.  
           [0003]    Many people consider a scale to be unattractive and unsightly, but nonetheless a necessary bathroom appliance. While many people would prefer not to have a scale be visible in their bathrooms, these people simply may tolerate having a scale be visible for the lack of a better alternative. If the scale is visible, users may prefer that the scale not be identifiable as such. Instead, the scale preferably blends in with the surrounding decor.  
           [0004]    It is therefore desirable to create a scale that does not exhibit the visibly identifiable features of a typical scale, thereby avoiding the unsightly appearance of a scale when not in use.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0005]    The present invention provides a weight scale void of visibly identifiable features characteristic of common weight scales, and in particular a weight scale having a display which vanishes when the scale deactivates. By obscuring the display when not in use, a scale in accordance with the present invention does not immediately appear to be a scale, thereby improving its appearance and enhancing its ability to blend with the surroundings. Conceptually, a scale according to the present invention may make the display invisible by matching the display background color with the color of the surrounding surface, and by providing a translucent surface that allows light from an active display to be visible through the translucent surface.  
           [0006]    A scale according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a substantially rectangular enclosure with an upper surface upon which a user can stand, a display which is viewable by the user while standing on the scale, a weight measurement mechanism, and circuitry contained within the enclosure. During operation, as when a user is standing on the scale, the display emits a visible indication of the weight measured. In an exemplary embodiment, the display comprises an alphanumeric, multi-segment light emitting diode (LED) display or a back-lighted liquid crystal display (LCD). When not in use, the display is dark and preferably indistinguishable from the portion of the upper surface surrounding the display. In an exemplary embodiment, the upper surface is formed of a darkly tinted translucent plastic, behind which the display is arranged and masked when inactive. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]    [0007]FIG. 1A is a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a weight scale according to the present invention.  
         [0008]    [0008]FIGS. 1B and 1C are plan views of the exemplary weight scale of FIG. 1A in inactive and active states, respectively.  
         [0009]    [0009]FIGS. 1D and 1E are plan views of an another exemplary embodiment of a weight scale according to the present invention, shown in inactive and active states, respectively.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1F is a plan view of an ornamentally patterned exemplary embodiment of a weight scale according to the present invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of the circuitry for an exemplary weight scale in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0012]    [0012]FIG. 1A shows a perspective view of an exemplary embodiment of a weight scale  100  in accordance with the present invention. The scale  100  comprises an enclosure  150  having a substantially planar upper surface  155  upon which a user can stand. The upper surface  155  preferably is uniformly styled and textured, such as smooth tinted plastic, so as not to be readily identifiable as a scale. However, the upper surface  155  also may be patterned in a way so as to draw attention away from the function of the scale  100  (see FIG. 1F). Note that while the scales  100  shown in FIGS.  1 A- 1 F are rectangular, the scales  100  may well be circular, ovular, hexagonal, or any shape and size reasonably suited to operate as a scale.  
         [0013]    The enclosure  150  may rest on four feet  160   a - 160   d  ( 160   d  not shown) and is coupled in known ways to weight sensing devices (not shown) such as load cells, strain gauges or the like. In an exemplary embodiment, the weight sensing devices generate electrical signals indicative of the weight applied thereto. Conventional load cells and strain gauges known to those skilled in the art can be used in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. The signals from the weight sensing devices are then processed to generate an indication of the applied weight. Exemplary circuitry for accomplishing this is described more fully below in connection with FIG. 2. The weight sensing devices also may include any other suitable weighing mechanism known in the art, including mechanical implementations.  
         [0014]    The feet  160  may be adjustable for leveling purposes. The feet  160  may be simple pads, if using, for example, strain gauges, or they may be load cells if using electronic sensors.  
         [0015]    The scale  100  includes a display  170  that preferably is placed on the scale at a location of which the user has an unobstructed view, such as centered on the upper surface  155  of the enclosure  150 . The display  170  may have a digital or analog format and may be electrical or mechanical. An electrical implementation of the display  170  may include, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD) with back-lighting or a multi-segment light-emitting diode (LED) display. The characteristics of an LCD may be varied, such as having white lettering against a black background, black lettering against a white background, or black lettering against a color-tinted background (e.g., green, blue). Reversing the contrast on an LCD or varying the back-lighting may create additional desirable effects.  
         [0016]    Preferably, the upper surface  155  is formed of a darkly tinted translucent plastic, behind which the display  170  is arranged and masked when inactive. In such a situation, the display  170  appears hidden because insufficient ambient light passes through the upper surface to illuminate the display  170  when the display (or its back-lighting) is off. By contrast, when the display  170  is on, the display  170  can be seen because the light from the display  170  is emanating from immediately behind the upper surface  155 , contrasting against a dark interior (not shown) of the scale  100 . To the extent reasonably feasibly, the enclosure  150  preferably is self-contained and sealed against light entering from underneath, which might then partially illuminate the display  170  in the inactive state. As such, when the display  170  is inactive, the display  170  can neither be seen nor identified as a display, as shown in FIG. 1B, yet when the display  170  is active, the display  170  can be clearly seen, as shown in FIG. 1C.  
         [0017]    In the event that a lighter shade of translucent material is desired for the enclosure  150  or the upper surface  155 , based on personal decor choices, more ambient light may pass through the upper surface  155  above the display  170 , potentially illuminating it and undesirably revealing it. This may be minimized by camouflaging the interior of the enclosure  150 , such as painting it the same color as the material chosen for the enclosure  150 . As such, even directly transparent materials may be used as well.  
         [0018]    While the use of lighter-shaded translucent materials above the display  170  is possible, the material may need to be smoked, fogged or clouded if one wishes to avoid direct transparency, which may reveal the display  170 . While this may work for individually illuminated LED displays  170 , such as shown in FIG. 1C, materials that are both tinted and smoked may not be suitable for use with mechanical scales  100  using dials  175  (shown in FIG. 1E) because the material may blur the appearance of numbers  176  on the dials, which typically will not be individually illuminated. A separate backlight (not shown) may be necessary to illuminate the dial  175  through the upper surface  155 .  
         [0019]    Mechanical scales  100  may need to use almost transparent materials above the displays  170  so that the numbers  176  on the dials  175  are clear and discernable when actively lighted. The use of such transparent materials may reveal, however, the display  170  below it, unless other means are used to obscure the display  170  when inactive. Because this situation is more apt to occur the context of mechanical scales  100 , the solution preferably also is tailored to the nature of a mechanical scale  100 , which includes a weighing mechanism (not shown) having a system of moving parts that adjust the dial  175  as the user puts weight on the scale  100 . In particular, the initial pounds of weight applied to the weighing mechanism may cause an internal shutter  177  (shown in FIG. 1D in a closed position) to open, revealing the dial  175  beneath the shutter  177  (shown in FIG. 1E in an open position). The shutter  177  may blend into a facade  178  that masks the presence of the shutter  177  in the closed position.  
         [0020]    Numerous variations on the shape, size, and mechanics of the shutter  177  and facade  178  are conceivable and choice of the shutter  177  and facade  178  characteristics would be within the skill of one of ordinary skill in the art. Preferably, the shutter  177 , the facade  178  and the intersection of them would be indiscernible through the transparent material used for the upper surface  155 , while permitting the upper surface  155  to remain uniformly colored, blended, or tinted. For example, the facade  178  may include a thick layer of paint beneath the upper surface  155 , and the shutter  177  may include a thin plastic sheet painted with the same paint as the facade  178 .  
         [0021]    The use of a facade  178  or the shutter  177  may also be implemented with a digital display  170 . For example, a facade  178  that has an identical color as the LED or LCD display  170  may be used in conjunction with one of a clear upper surface  155 , a smoked upper surface  155 , and a frosted semi-transparent upper surface  155 . As with the mechanical scale  100  embodiments, the facade  178  may take a variety of forms, such as an interior coat of paint, paint on the underside of the upper surface  155 , or an inner sheet or plate below the underside of the upper surface  155 .  
         [0022]    [0022]FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a circuit  200  for use in the scale  100 . The circuit  200  is contained within the enclosure  150  and may be implemented on a printed circuit board or the like. The circuit  200  comprises, for example, a microcontroller  210  coupled to weight sensors  265 , via circuitry  260 , a display  250  and a power supply  220 . The microcontroller  210 , which may be implemented on an individual integrated circuit, includes a central processing unit (CPU)  211 , input and output (I/O) ports  213 , read-only memory (ROM)  215 , random-access memory (RAM)  217 , and non-volatile memory (NVM)  219 , such as electrically-erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM). The ROM  215  contains program instructions that the CPU  211  executes to effectuate the operation of the circuit  200 . The RAM  217  is used to temporarily store intermediate results used by the CPU in the execution of the program instructions. The NVM  219  is used to store data that is to be retained even when power is removed from the circuit. Such data may include user-related information such as a history of weight measurements, and/or user-identifying information.  
         [0023]    The weight sensors  265  may be arranged, in a known way, adjacent to or in the feet  160  of the scale. The circuitry  260  is coupled to the weight sensors  265  and generates one or more signals that can be processed by the I/O apparatus of the microcontroller  210 . Although the circuitry  260  can be implemented in a variety of ways, the implementation of this circuitry is conventional. For example, in an exemplary embodiment, the circuitry  260  generates an analog signal indicative of the weight sensed by the sensors  265  and the I/O block  213  of the microcontroller includes an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter. In an another embodiment, the circuitry  260  may include the A/D converter.  
         [0024]    The microcontroller  210  is coupled to and controls the display device  250  in a known way. The microcontroller  210  may also control the activation of any back-lighting that the display  250  may have, as in the case of an LCD implementation. The microcontroller  210  may control each segment of the display  250  individually or may provide the display device  250  with a three-digit number. The details of the interface between the microcontroller  210  and the display device  250  are an implementational choice.  
         [0025]    In operation, the CPU  211  periodically samples the I/O block  213  to determine whether a weight has been sensed by the sensors  265 . If the CPU determines that a weight has been sensed, it will convert the detected signal into a weight measurement which it provides to the display device  250  for display. The CPU  211  will also cause the display device  250  (and/or its back-lighting) to be activated so that it can be seen.  
         [0026]    In an alternative embodiment, the microcontroller  210  can be placed initially in a sleep mode, so as to preserve power. The presence of a signal from the circuitry  260  can generate a wake-up signal that causes the microcontroller  210  to be activated. The microcontroller  210  may then activate the display device  250 .  
         [0027]    Once the user has stepped off the scale, the microcontroller  210  may then de-activate the display device  250 , thereby causing it to become invisible. Such deactivation can occur, for example, an interval of time (e.g., 1-30 seconds) after the user has stepped off the scale.  
         [0028]    The power supply  220  which may include, for example, batteries, a power outlet, solar cells  179  (shown in FIG. 1F), or the like. Batteries may be recharged by connection to, for example, a power outlet or by the solar cells. To add a stylish effect, the solar cells  178 , which often appear bluish, shiny, and silvery, may be arranged within the upper surface  155  in a mosaic pattern or the like, as shown in FIG. 1F, to mask their functionality with ornamentality, while likewise disguising the display  170 .  
         [0029]    A number of embodiments of the present invention have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, other embodiments may be within the scope of the following claims. It is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense. It is also understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention, expressed or implied.