Abstract:
A random selection spinner including a backboard and a spinner wheel having a front side and a backside and having one or more holes in the backside thereof. The random selection spinner may also include an axle coupled to the backboard which passes into at least portion of the spinner wheel and that couples the spinner wheel to the backboard in that allows for rotation of the spinner wheel relative to the backboard and a spacer located between the backboard and the spinner wheel that keeps at least a portion of the spinner wheel a substantially constant distance from the backboard. The ransom selection spinner may also include a detent mechanism located between the backboard and the backside of the spinner that is arranged to contact the one or more holes in the backside of the spinner.

Description:
PRIORITY  
       [0001]     This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S. Provisional Application 60/836,358, filed Aug. 8, 2006 and which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The invention is related to random selection spinner wheel and, in particular, to a random selection spinner wheel having a low profile.  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     A random selection spinner is a device designed to make a random selection among several options. In general, a random selection spinner consists of a rotating wheel or arrow mounted on a central axle so that the wheel or arrow can be spun around the axle by a person or machine. The wheel or arrow has sufficient inertia that it will continue spinning after the initial force has been exerted. Markings on or around the wheel, or on a surface behind the arrow, indicate the various possible selections. The final stopping position of the wheel or arrow indicates the random selection among the options.  
         [0004]     To reduce the ambiguity of the stopping position of the random selection spinner, devices have been added that prevent the wheel or arrow from stopping on the line between two selections. The device typically used is a flexible pointer that is fastened to the end of the rotating arrow, or to a fixed indicator pointer that engages the edge of a spinner wheel. The flexible pointer engages detents on the selections and snaps from one to the next as the spinner turns. Thus, the flexible pointer is always pointing to a specific selection, and not the line between them.  
         [0005]     As the spinner rotates and the flexible pointer advances from one detent to the next a slapping sound is typically generated. For many applications, this sound is considered beneficial. At the beginning of each spin, the repetition rate of the slapping sound is high, and it gradually slows as the spinner slows until it stops on the final selection.  
         [0006]     The present designs of random selection spinners work well for their intended applications, however, their complexity of fabrication makes them relatively large, heavy, and expensive to fabricate. In addition, the flexible pointer is often thin and delicate and subject to damage when transporting or handling the unit. The traditional designs are not well suited for applications where the random selection spinner must be portable or frequently handled or stored without damage. Also, the cost of unit of the traditional design is higher than is appropriate for some potential applications. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0007]     While the appended claims set forth the features of the present invention with particularity, the invention, together with its objects and advantages, may be best understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0008]      FIG. 1  is an example of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention;  
         [0009]      FIG. 2  is a side view of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention;  
         [0010]      FIG. 3   a  is an example of a detent mechanism utilized in of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention;  
         [0011]      FIG. 3   b  is a side view of an example of a detent mechanism utilized in of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention attached to a backboard;  
         [0012]      FIG. 3   c  is a is a side view of an example of a detent mechanism utilized in of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention attached to a backboard and contacting a hole in the spinning disk;  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is an example of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention;  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is an example of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention; and  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is an example of one embodiment of a random selection spinner according to the present invention. 
     
    
     SUMMARY  
       [0016]     In view of the above deficiencies, the present invention, in some or all of its embodiments, may achieve at least one of the following objects. A first such object is the creation of a random selection spinner with a very thin profile that is large enough to be seen across a large room and that provides a satisfyingly long spin (e.g. greater than 6 revolutions) with a typical operator push. A further object is the creation of a random selection spinner that includes a detent to prevent it from stopping on the line between two selections. A further object of this invention is a random selection spinner that provides a satisfying sound that can be heard across a large room as the detent moves from one selection to the next. A further object of this invention is a thin profile random selection spinner that has no exposed delicate mechanisms that are subject to damage with rough handling, storage, and/or transportation.  
         [0017]     In one embodiment there is provided a random selection spinner. The ransom selection spinner of this embodiment includes a backboard and a spinner wheel having a front side and a backside and having one or more holes in the backside thereof. The random selection spinner of this embodiment may also include an axle coupled to the backboard which passes into at least portion of the spinner wheel and that couples the spinner wheel to the backboard in that allows for rotation of the spinner wheel relative to the backboard and a spacer located between the backboard and the spinner wheel that keeps at least a portion of the spinner wheel a substantially constant distance from the backboard. The random selection spinner of this embodiment may also include a detent mechanism located between the backboard and the backside of the spinner that is arranged to contact the one or more holes in the backside of the spinner.  
       DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0018]      FIG. 1  shows an example of one embodiment of a random selection spinner  100  according to the present invention. The random selection spinner  100  of this embodiment includes a backing support member  102 . As shown, the backing support  102  is a rectangular board. However, this is by way of illustration only and the backing support  102  may be of any shape or size and may actually be a fixed object such as a wall.  
         [0019]     In one embodiment, the random selection spinner  100  may also include rotating disc  104 . The rotating disk, when in operation, may rotate with respect to the backing support  102 . In one embodiment, an axle  106  that passes through the center of the rotating disc  104  is mounted to the backboard  102 , such that the disc can freely rotate about the axle  106 .  
         [0020]     In one embodiment, the axle  106  is securely attached to the backboard  102  and extends perpendicular to the surface of the backboard  102 . In one embodiment, a spacer  202  ( FIG. 2 ) may be placed between the rotating disk  104  and the back board  102  to hold the rotating disc  104  a short distance from the backboard  102 . This spacer keeps the edges of the rotating disc  104  from touching the backboard  102  and causing excessive drag that will reduce the spinning time of the disc  104  when it is started with a push from the user. In one embodiment the spacer  202  may be placed around the axle  106  but, of course, the spacer(s) could be placed in other locations.  
         [0021]     As described in greater detail below, the space created between the disc  104  and backboard  102  created by the spacer  202  may contain detent mechanism  204  ( FIG. 2 ) which serves to cause the random selection spinner  100  to click as the disk  104  is rotated and to cause the disk  104  to reduce speed and eventually stop at a particular location. One example of a detent mechanism is a spring.  
         [0022]     The back board  102  may also include a selection pointer  108 . This pointer  108  may be printed or otherwise made to appear on the backboard  102  and serves to identify the selection zone  110  which has been selected when the rotating disk  104  stops rotating.  
         [0023]     In one embodiment, the backboard  102  may be made from a rigid material that is 0.25 inches thick. The material of the backboard can be plastic, wood, cardboard, metal, etc. One embodiment uses a plastic panel made of expanded rigid PVC for stiffness, light weight, and low cost. This material is available in a bright white color and the indicator pointer can also be easily printed on it.  
         [0024]     The body of the rotating disc  104  in this embodiment can also be made from plastic, wood, cardboard, metal, etc. In the preferred embodiment the body of the rotating disc is made from solid rigid PVC plastic that is 0.125″ thick. The PVC plastic is low cost, rigid and dense (as compared to other plastics, wood or cardboard). This density provides enough mass for an appropriately long spin time with a disc that is not overly thick thus minimizing the overall thickness of the device. As shown, the rotating disc  104  is circular in shape but one of ordinary skill in the art will realize that other shapes could be used for the rotating disc  104 .  
         [0025]     The body of the rotating disc  104  has a number of holes  112  through it that correspond to the positions of the selections zones  110  marked on the surface of the disc  104 . In one embodiment, these holes are at an approximately constant radius from the center of the disc. The only requirement for the location of the holes is that they do not cross a boundary  116  between any two adjacent selection zones  110 . The holes can be of any of a variety of different shapes, such as round, square, rectangular, rectangular with rounded corners, oval, etc. The holes  112  may go all the way through the disc  104  or may only go partly through the backside of the disk  104 .  
         [0026]     In one embodiment, round holes are used for their simplicity in manufacture. If in the holes  112  pass all the way through the disk  104 , the front surface of the rotating disc  104 , including the holes  112 , is covered with a decorative thin sheet of plastic or other material (not shown). This plastic sheet also acts like a drumhead to enhance the sound created as the disc rotates. Plastics such as vinyl, polyester, polycarbonate, polypropylene, polyethylene, PETG, etc. can be used. The preferred embodiment uses a vinyl sheet with a coating that allows the use of dry erase markers on the surface. In some embodiments, the plastic sheet covers only the holes  112  in the body of the disc  104 , but the overall appearance is enhanced when the plastic sheet covers the entire front surface of the rotating disc  104 .  
         [0027]      FIG. 2  shows a side view of one embodiment of a random selection spinner  100 . This embodiment includes a backboard  102 , a spinner wheel  104 , and a spacer  202 , which separates the backboard  102  from the spinner wheel  104 . The axle  106  may be a screw or other fastener surrounded by a sleeve bearing that securely fastens to the backboard  102 . The spacer  202  may be installed around the axle  106  to hold the rotating disc  104  a short distance (0.25″ in the preferred embodiment) away from the backboard  102  and to provide a space for the detent spring. In one embodiment, the spacer  202  is a disk that surrounds the axle  106 . Of course, other types of spacers may be used.  
         [0028]     In one embodiment, the spacer  202  has a large enough diameter to minimize the tilting of the rotating disc  104  with respect to the backboard  102 . If the axle  106  is a screw it may be surrounded by a bearing sleeve and tightened against the stack-up of the bearing sleeve and spacer  202  to hold them securely in position. A metal washer may be positioned under the head of the screw along with an optional spring washer to apply pressure against the rotating disc  104  to hold it against the spacer  202  and prevent it from tilting.  
         [0029]     One embodiment of the present invention includes a detent mechanism (round wire spring  114  is one possible configuration) that is cantilever mounted to the backboard  104  and protrudes approximately radially outward from the axle  106  as shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0030]     The shape and mounting of the wire spring used in the preferred embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 3   a - 3   c.  The spring  114  is mounted such that the spring force pushes the end of the spring  302  into the holes in the rotating disc body and then presses against the back side of the membrane that covers the holes if such membrane is present. In one embodiment ( FIG. 3   b ), the end of the spring  114  is shaped such that it can slide into and out of the holes with some resistance due to the spring action, but with smooth enough edges to prevent damage to the membrane, disc or spring. As the disc is rotated, the spring end moves into and out of each of the holes  112  as they pass the mounting location of the spring ( FIG. 3   c ). The spring mounted in this location is completely protected from abuse of handling and transport because all delicate parts of the mechanism are between the rotating disc and the backboard. The detent mechanism may be attached to the back board in any manner.  
         [0000]     Operation of Random Selection Spinner  
         [0031]     When the disc  104  of the random selection spinner  100  is not rotating, the movable end  302  of the detent spring  114  will typically be positioned somewhere in one of the holes  102  in the rotating disc as shown in  FIG. 4 . The movable end  302  of the spring  114  is pressing lightly against the back side of the membrane covering the hole  112  in the rotating disc  104 .  
         [0032]     When the disc  104  is rotated, the edge of the hole  112  in the disc  104  contacts the edge of the movable end  302  of the spring  114 . Further rotation of the disc  104  causes the spring  114  to bend sideways because of the pressure applied to the spring  114  by the edge of the hole  112  as shown in  FIG. 5 . In particular,  FIG. 5  shows the disc  104  rotating counterclockwise and the right edge of a hole is in contact with the movable end of the detent spring.  
         [0033]     As the disc continues to rotate, the movable end  302  of the spring  114  is moved further from the rest position, until the return spring force is high enough to cause the spring  114  end to “pop” out of the hole  112  in the disc  104 . When the spring end  302  pops out of the hole  112 , the stored energy in the spring  114  causes it to quickly move across the divider region between the holes and drop into the next hole as is shown in  FIG. 6 . When the spring end drops into the next hole it strikes the back surface of the membrane across the hole or the base of the hole if it does not go all the way through the disc. The membrane acts as a drumhead across the hole and creates an audible sound when it is struck by the spring end. As the disc  104  continues to rotate, this operation is repeated for each hole that passes the spring location to create a continuous sequence of “popping” sounds from each drumhead as it is struck by the end of the detent spring. When the disc  104  is spun by the user, the sounds occur rapidly at first and then slow and stop as the disc rotation slows and stops.  
         [0034]     For proper operation, the width of the divider area between the holes in the disc body may be chosen to be less than the sideways deflection of the spring end caused by the wheel rotation. For example, in the preferred embodiment described here, the distance between the edges of adjacent holes is approximately 0.45″. When the disc is rotated the engagement between the spring end and the edge of the hole causes the end of the spring to be deflected approximately 0.65″ from the normal rest position. This assures that when the spring end pops out of the detent hole, the return spring force will slide the spring end completely across the divider and into the next hole. This condition assures that as the wheel slows to a stop, the spring end will never rest between the holes when the disc stops rotating. The wheel will continue rotating until it does not have sufficient inertia to pop the spring end out of a hole. At this point the wheel may reverse direction and bounce back and forth with the spring end within one hole. This effect assures that the wheel rotation will never stop with the selection pointer pointing to the line between two selection areas on the disc. The spring wire must also provide sufficient restoration force back to the rest position, such that it can overcome the rotational friction of the disc to push it off the dividing line if the disc rotation stops with the spring partially bent.  
         [0035]     The operating characteristics of the spinner wheel can be selected over a wide range by choosing the size, shape, and spring characteristics of the detent spring. For example, the movable end of the spring shown in the preferred embodiment is bent into a circle that is bent at angle to extend into the hole in the disc body. The amount of force required to make the spring end pop out of a hole (retention resistance) is determined by the slope of the spring wire where it contacts the edge of the hole, and the amount of spring force that is applied perpendicular to the disc to hold the spring end in the hole. The slope of the spring wire at the edge of the hole is determined by the diameter of the circle and by the tilt of the circle. A larger diameter circle has a shallower slope where it contacts the edge of the hole, and therefore requires less side force to cause it to pop out of the hole. Greater perpendicular spring force would increase the required side force to make the spring pop out of the hole.  
         [0036]     A number of variations on the basic design of the random selection spinner wheel are possible to provide operating characteristics that are slightly different from those of the preferred embodiment described above. For example, the detent spring described shown in  FIG. 3  uses a circular shape on the movable end. This shape is symmetrical and provides the same operation whether the wheel is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise. The movable end of the spring wire can be made asymmetrical with a different slope presented to the opposite edges of the hole in the disc body. This can cause a greater drag with rotation in one direction as compared to the other and therefore a differential run time depending on the direction of rotation.  
         [0037]     Another variation on the design is to use multiple detent holes in the disc body for each of the selection zones. This variation is useful when a small number of larger selection zones are used, or if smaller drum heads are desired to produce a higher pitched sound. This variation also provides more dividers between the holes, so each individual divider can be narrower without compromising the structural strength of the disc. The narrower dividers make the required spring deflection less, so less strain is placed on the spring. The higher number of holes in the disc increases the repetition rate of the sounds produced as the wheel rotates, which may be considered an advantage in some applications. Whether one or more holes are used per selection zone, it is important that the dividing lines between the selection zones always fall on the dividers between the holes, so the wheel will never stop with the selection pointer on a dividing line.  
         [0038]     The shape of the holes in the disc body does not have to be round as shown in the preferred embodiment. Other shapes can be chosen, particularly to control the type of sound produced when the spring wire strikes the drumhead. For example, a small wheel or one with a large number of selection zones may not have enough room for large round holes to produce a deeper pitched sound. Holes with a triangular or pie slice shape can be fit closer together and still have a larger surface area for a deeper pitched sound.  
         [0039]     While a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been shown and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects. The claims that follow are therefore intended to cover all such changes and modifications as are permitted by the patent laws of the respective countries in which this patent is granted.