Patent ID: 8177443

Claim:
A handheld pattern creating device, comprising: a housing having an opening at a bottom side thereof, the housing being sized for handheld operation of the handheld pattern creating device; a rotational member, including a substantially circular body having a radius r, rotatably positioned within the housing, the rotational member, under the power of a first drive mechanism, being adapted to angularly traverse an x-y plane relative to the housing; a rail track disposed on a surface of the rotational member, the rail track being adapted to provide a radial path; a guide track disposed on the surface of the rotational member, the guide track including a curved portion that provides a non-linear path; a carriage slidably mounted to the rail track, the carriage including a tool tip extending therefrom that is adapted to traverse a z-axis relative to the housing; and a second drive mechanism for driving the carriage transversely along the radial path of the rail track, the second drive mechanism including a flexible rack gear adapted to travel along the guide track, the flexible rack gear having a continuous length along the guide track which is greater than the radius r, such that the rack gear can flexibly travel through the curved portion of the guide track and provide the tool tip with a travel distance greater than the twice the radius of the circular body.