Patent Document

This application is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/023,140, filed Feb. 24, 1993 entitled: A WEARABLE MOVING DISPLAY, now abandoned which is a continuation application of Ser. No. 07/939,845, filed Sep. 2, 1992, now abandonded, which is a continuation application of Ser. No. 07/636,312, filed Dec. 31, 1990 now abandoned. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to alphanumeric displays and more particularly to moving message displays. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Lapel buttons for promotional purposes that are worn by sales, clerical or other personnel are known. For example, AVIS′ “We Try Harder” button is well known. There is presently no known device that can be similarly worn, is light emissive so as to attract attention from a distance, provides a moving display so that significant information is presented while the attention is naturally drawn to word motion, and can be programmed to allow short term change of the promotional message. 
     Moving message displays are included in vending machines, are used for displaying rapidly changing stock and bond prices, and are supported high above street level to announce events, for example. Such displays are commonly large to enhance readability, and consequently, are also quite bulky. 
     Wearable displays are known for amusement purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,602,191 discloses a jacket with programmable lights in which apertures are provided over the surface of the jacket that allow tri-color light emitting diodes to protrude. The lights are programmable as to both their color and pattern of activation. The patterns of activation are abstract and cannot convey a message. Another example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,906,982 wherein a wristwatch includes a preprogrammed stationary message display which is activated unpredictably on some, but not all of the occasions when a wearer&#39;s arm is raised to check the time. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     A programmable, wearable moving display is disclosed that includes a wearable display portion with a clip to facilitate attachment of the display portion to a shirt pocket or coat lapel. A concealable battery portion is preferably connected to the display portion via an unobtrusive thin wire. Moving alphanumeric messages can be programmed by manipulating only five buttons which allow a user to scroll forward through an alphanumeric character table, scroll backward through that table, enter a chosen character at a display position and then advance to a neighboring display position, delete characters, and modify the rate at which the characters move across the display. 
     The programmable, wearable moving display of the invention allows a wearer to program any message up to, for example,  96  characters long. As the message scrolls through the display, a number of characters at a time can be seen in the display window, eight being the number used in the present embodiment. The message cycles, returning to the beginning after the last characters have been displayed. The rate of scrolling and cycling is controllable by the wearer. The device includes a memory that retains the message that was most recently programmed, even when the display is off. 
     Preferably, to facilitate attachment of the display to a variety of points on a wearer&#39;s garments, the clip can be detached from the display portion, rotated by 90° or 180°, and be reattached to the display portion to provide a choice of four orthogonal clip orientations. Alternatively, nylon hook and loop fabric, such as VELCRO® can be used for attaching the display to a wearer&#39;s garment. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING 
     The invention will be more fully understood from the following detailed description, in conjunction with the accompanying figures, in which: 
     FIG. 1 is an oblique view of a display portion of the invention; 
     FIG. 2 is an oblique view of a battery portion of the invention, along with its clip; 
     FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the electronics of the display portion; 
     FIG. 4 is a side view of the display portion with an alternate embodiment of an attachment clip; 
     FIG. 5 is a view of the invention in use on a person; 
     FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating scrolling and programming using the five buttons shown in FIG. 1; and 
     FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the logic unit and push buttons of FIG.  3 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The wearable moving display of the invention, in a preferred embodiment, is a programmable alphanumeric display adapted for attachment to a jacket lapel or shirt pocket. It is a self-contained battery-powered promotional reinforcement item which allows the user to program any message up to  96  characters long, scrolling  8  characters at a time across the display. 
     In the preferred embodiment, shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a display portion  10  is connected to a battery portion  12  via a battery cable  14 . An attachment clip  16  is insertable into a recess  34  on the rear of the display portion  10 . 
     With reference to FIG. 1, the display portion  10  has an on/off switch  18  for controlling power to the overall unit. When the unit is turned on, it will flash an introductory message on its display window  30 , such as “LITESIGN” (a Trademark of the Applicant), and then it displays the previously programmed message, or “Enter your message” if none has been previously programmed. 
     The display portion  10  has five buttons  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28  that control programming, and scroll rate, i.e., the rate at which characters are scrolled or moved across the display window  30 . The display window  30  includes eight alphanumeric character display units  32 , which may be light emitting diodes (LEDs) or liquid crystal display units (LCDs). 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the display window  30  with the display unit  32  is driven by a display unit driver  33  from scroll circuitry  35  for moving a message consisting of a plurality of characters across the display window  30 . The display unit driver  33  is responsive to a memory unit  37  that provides character information to the display unit driver  33 . An input unit  39  includes a ROM that maintains a table  41  of alphanumeric characters from which a message can be assembled using the buttons  22 ,  24 ,  26 , and  28  via switches  23 ,  25 ,  27 , and  29  through logic  43 . The table can include characters required for forming words in English, Spanish, French, German, or Italian, as well as the entire ASCII character set, for example. Logic  43  interrupts simultaneous activation of the scroll rate button  20  with any of the other four buttons as a memory  37  clear. This action will clear the screen  30  of prior messages and load into memory  32  from ROM  41 , a user prompt consisting of, for example, “LITESIGN Enter your message.” The memory unit  37  maintains its contents even after the unit has been turned off using the on/off switch  18 . This is accomplished by switch  18  that disconnects power from a battery unit  47  to all parts except memory  37 . 
     With reference to FIG. 7, a preferred embodiment of the logic of FIG. 3 is shown, wherein two programmable logic arrays  51  and  53  are connected to a microprocessor  55 , and are each programmed to perform the logic and processing functions of the elements shown in FIG.  3 . The external port  19  is provided to allow messages to be downloaded into the microprocessor  55  from a personal computer (PC). Alternatively, the buttons  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28  allow a user to enter a message without using a PC in conjunction with the port  19 . The switch  18  controls power to the units  51  and  53 , which in the preferred embodiment is a 4.5 volt power source  57 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 3 and 6, where reference numbers from the flow chart of FIG. 6 are indicated by parentheses, logic  43  responds to activation ( 50 ) of button  26  to load from memory  41  into memory  37 , and thus scroll ( 52 ) through the display  30  a table of possible alphanumeric characters stored, including for example, all the letters of the alphabet, the digits 0-9, and commonly used punctuation, until the desired character is displayed. A single activation ( 50 ) of the button  26  causes letters to appear in the far right module of the display, one at a time. As long as the button  26  is pressed, the unit will automatically cycle through the table of letters, numbers, and symbols in the ROM  41 . Button  26  is released when the desired symbol appears. If the desired symbol passes out of the display unit  32 , it may be recalled by pressing ( 54 ) the BACKWARDS button  24  to scroll ( 56 ) the characters backwards through the table of symbols until the desired symbol reappears. 
     Upon reaching the desired symbol, activation ( 58 ) of the ENTER button  24  will load ( 60 ) the selected letter in the memory  37  in a location where it is caused to be displayed in the second display unit  32  of the display  30 . All of the characters are shifted left ( 60 ). Repeated operation of buttons  24 ,  26  and  28  allows entry of an entire message. Pressing ( 62 ) the DELETE button  22  via switch  23 , causes the symbols to back up, erasing the message character-by-character ( 64 ). 
     It is advisable to insert at the end of a message a few “spaces” to insure that the last word and first word don&#39;t run into each other. Activation ( 66 ) of the SCROLL RATE button  20  via switch  21  causes the message to start scrolling ( 68 ). 
     In the preferred embodiment, the scroll unit  36  is capable of three scroll rates. By activation ( 70 ) of the SCROLL RATE button  20 , the rate of scrolling can be increased ( 72 ). To accomplish this, a signal is sent from logic  43  to unit  35 . 
     To edit the existing message from the end of the message, a sequence of two pushes ( 70 ,  74 ) of the SCROLL RATE button  20  is interpreted by logic  43  to cause memory  37  and scroll  35  to flash ( 76 ) “Edit” on the screen and scroll to the end of the stored message. Each activation ( 54 ) of the BACKWARDS button  24  causes memory displayed by scroll  35  to step backwards ( 56 ) through the message, sequentially erasing letters at the leftmost position. The buttons  20 - 28  are activated to enter new characters at any point as described above. 
     It is also possible to scroll backwards without erasure. The SCROLL RATE button  20  is pushed twice ( 70 ,  74 ). The screen will flash ( 76 ) “Edit” and go to the end of the message. The SCROLL RATE button  20  is again pushed twice ( 66 ,  78 ). The memory  37  and scroll  35  will send to the screen a flashing “Slide” message ( 80 ). Pressing ( 82 ) the BACKWARDS button  26  allows stepping backwards ( 84 ) through the message, and pressing ( 86 ) the FORWARDS button  28  allows stepping forward ( 88 ) through the message. Pressing ( 90 ) the SCROLL RATE button  20  twice again ( 90 ,  92 ) causes the previous described flashing of “Edit”. Editing then proceeds from this point as described above. 
     To erase any message completely ( 94 ) and return to the rightmost position of the display  30  at any time during the above procedure, the SCROLL RATE button  20  is pressed simultaneously ( 96 ) with any of the other buttons  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28 . 
     The display portion  10  can also be programmed without using any of the buttons  20 ,  22 ,  24 ,  26 ,  28  by using a personal computer (PC) connected ( 98 ) to the display portion  10  via an external port  19 . Once the text is downloaded ( 100 ) into the memory  37 , the display portion  10  enters the scrolling mode ( 68 ). 
     With reference to FIG. 2, an attachment clip  16  has a square back panel  17  that is adapted to slide into and be retained in a recess  34  in the back of the battery portion  12 , as well as the back of the display portion  10  (not shown). The walls of the recess  34  are beveled inward to create a track within which matching bevels of the panel  17  of the clip  16  can slide. The clip  16  can be removed, the panel  17  rotated by 90 or 180 degrees in either direction, and can be placed back into the recess  34  to allow placement of the unit in a desired orientation on a coat lapel, shirt pocket, hat or any other convenient place that is amenable for both showing and supporting the invention, as shown in FIG.  5 . For example, with the clip  16  oriented such that its opening faces downward, the unit neatly slips over the top of a coat pocket. Alternatively, by rotating the clip  16  by 90 degrees, the display portion  10  can be attached to a coat lapel. The battery portion  12  can be placed in an inside coat or shirt pocket. Power is conducted over a preferably thin, unobtrusive cable connecting the display portion  10  and the battery portion  12 . In an alternate embodiment, a clip  16  can be affixed to the back of the display portion  10  by way of any releasable adhesive, such as VELCRO®. 
     It is also contemplated that the display of the invention can be placed on a shelf next to small items for advertising purposes. In this embodiment, an adaptor can be used to provide electrical power from a standard 110 V AC outlet, or if no outlet is accessible, the batter portion  12  can be used. 
     Other modifications and implementations will occur to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as claimed. Accordingly, the above description is not intended to limit the invention except as indicated in the following claims.

Technology Category: g