SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING A PHOSPHORESCENT LIQUID WRITING SURFACE

Abstract

A phosphorescence and liquid toy comprising a pad having a first substrate and a second substrate wherein a first coating is applied to the first substrate. A second coating applied to the first coating and the first substrate wherein the second substrate is attached to the back side of the first substrate. The first coating having a liquid reactive material and the second coating having a phosphorescent reactive material. A pen having a cylindrical tube terminating in a tip on one end and opening on the other end creating a refillable reservoir wherein the reservoir is filled with liquid and a cap is removably attached to the opening.

Claims

1. A system providing a phosphorescent liquid writing surface, the system comprising: a pad comprising at least one substrate wherein a first coating is applied on at least one of the at least one substrates; a second coating applied to the first coating; and a pen comprising a cylindrical tube with a tip on one end and an opening on the other end defining a refillable reservoir wherein the reservoir may be filled with a liquid and a cap is removably attached to the opening; wherein one of the coatings is a phosphorescent coating and one of the coatings alternates between transparent and opaque depending on the presence of a liquid.

2. The phosphorescence and liquid toy according to claim 1, wherein the second coating is phosphorescent.

3. The phosphorescence and liquid toy according to claim 1, wherein the first coating is liquid reactive material which includes silica and resin and is transparent when wet.

4. The phosphorescence and liquid toy according to claim 1, wherein the pen has a light removably attached to it.

5. The phosphorescence and liquid toy according to claim 2, wherein the liquid is water, tonic or luminous ink.

6. The phosphorescence and liquid toy according to claim 4, wherein the light is ultraviolet light or black light.

7. A method of manufacturing a phosphorescence liquid writing surface, the method comprising, attaching a first substrate onto a second substrate with an attachment piece; applying a first coating onto the first substrate; allowing the first coating to cure; applying a second coating onto the first coating allowing the second coating to cure; and providing a pen comprising a cylindrical tube with a tip on a tip end and an opening on an opening end defining a refillable reservoir wherein the reservoir may be filled with a liquid and a cap that is removably attached to the opening; and tightening a light source onto one end of the pen.

8. A method of manufacturing according to claim 9, wherein the first substrate is woven material polyester.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present specification will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

[0018] FIG. 1 is a side view of the luminescent and liquid writing toy in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a exploded isometric view of the luminescent and liquid writing toy in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0020] FIG. 3 is a side view of an example embodiment of a luminescent and liquid writing toy in accordance to one, or more embodiments;

[0021] FIG. 4 is a side view of an example of a pen for a luminescent and liquid writing toy in accordance to one, or more embodiments; and

[0022] FIG. 5 is a manufacturing process for the luminescent and liquid writing toy in accordance to one, or more embodiments.

[0023] Elements and acts in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and have not necessarily been rendered according to any particular sequence or embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] In the following description, and for the purposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the invention. It will be understood, however, by those skilled in the relevant arts, that the present invention may be practiced without these specific details. In other instances, known structures and devices are shown or discussed more generally in order to avoid obscuring the invention. In many cases, a description of the operation is sufficient to enable one to implement the various forms of the invention, particularly when the operation is to be implemented in software. It should be noted that there are many different and alternative configurations, devices and technologies to which the disclosed inventions may be applied. The full scope of the inventions is not limited to the examples that are described below.

[0025] Referring initially to FIGS. 1-3 a front view of a luminescent and liquid writing or drawing system is shown generally at 10. The luminescent and liquid writing toy can comprise a pad 20 having a first substrate 26 with a first coating 22 overlaying the substrate and a second coating 24 overlaying the first coating. The first substrate 26 can have a second substrate 28 attached to its back side by any suitable attachment methods such as sewing, gluing, buttoning, fusible adhesive, or the like, or it can have a seem 30 around its outside border connecting the two together. The first substrate 26 and the second substrate 28 can be non-woven polyester, watertight peach polyester, transfer paper, vinyl, nylon, cotton, satin, denim, or the like. The first substrate 26 and second substrate 28 can vary in thickness wherein the thickness can be, for example, between 0.005 inches and 0.125 inches, more preferably a width of between 0.008 inches and 0.100 inches, and still more preferably a width of approximately 0.010 inches or the like.

[0026] The first coating 22 can be a liquid reactive material such as a sublimation ink, water changeable ink, water-abased polyurethane ink, or the like. The second coating 24 can be a phosphorescent material, phosphors zinc sulphide, strontium aluminate, luminous ink, luminous crystal, or the like. Phosphorescent material can be energized by shining a light on the phosphorescent material. Atoms inside phosphors are excited by the external light energy and they then emit light when the atoms return from their excited state to the ground state. When the phosphorescent material returns to its ground state, the glowing effect stops.

[0027] The second coating 24 can allow the liquid to penetrate to the first coating 22 allowing for a reaction between the liquid and the first coating 22 wherein the first coating 22 can change from opaque to transparent when the liquid is applied. As the first coating 22 dries, it reverts back to opaque. The first coating 22 and second coating 24 can be opaque when dry and transparent when wet. In other embodiments the second coating 24 can be applied to the first substrate and the first coating 22 can be applied to the second coating. The first coating 22 and the second coating 24 can be applied over the whole surface of the first substrate 26 or it can be applied on varying sections or sizes on the first substrate 26, or in different shapes on the first substrate 26. The portion of the first substrate 26 that is visible through the first coating 22 and the second coating 24 when the coatings 22, 44 are wet can be a solid color, a pattern, or different sections of the substrate 26 can be different colors.

[0028] When a liquid is applied to the second coating 24, the second coating can glow in the dark when the second coating 24 is energized with light energy. The second coating 24 can glow in the dark without a light being shined on the coating when a liquid is applied allowing the user to write and draw figures in the dark without the need of an external light source. The energizing light source can be, for example, ultraviolet light, black light, sun light, indoor lighting, or the like. The second coating 24 can be applied to the first coating 22 in layers wherein there can be one or more layers applied to the first coating. In certain embodiments, the second coating 24 can be omitted, or it can be integrated within the first coating 22 wherein the first coating can react when water is applied or when a light is applied to the surface.

[0029] The luminescent and liquid writing toy 20 can further comprise a pen 50 having a cylindrical tube 56 terminating in a tip on one end 52 and opening on the other end creating a refillable reservoir 56 wherein the reservoir is filled with liquid and a cap 58 that can be removably attached to the opening keeping the liquid from escaping the reservoir. The pen 50 can be circular, square, rectangular, or the like in shape and can have a reservoir that can be any suitable size to hold liquid. The liquid (not shown) can be for example, luminous ink, luminous crystal, tonic water, chlorophyll, glow powder, vitamin B12, or the like. The liquid (not shown) can be applied to the first coating 22 and can soak into the second coating 24 and the first substrate wherein when applied in lighted conditions the liquid can change the first coating, the second coating and the first substrate 26 transparent and when dry it becomes opaque. In the dark the first coating and/or second coating can glow when the liquid is applied.

[0030] In embodiments when a UV light is applied to the second coating 24 it charges the particles within the ink so that particles are in an excited state resulting in a light being released from the second coating. The light emitted from the second coating can last from for example, 1 second, 1 minute, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or the like. In other embodiments, the pen 50 can be combined with a light 60 wherein the light can be either removable attached to the cap 58 end or in place of the cap as shown in FIG. 4. The light 60 can vary in size and shape to fit the user's needs and the light can be, for example, ultraviolet light, black light, sunlight, indoor light or the like allowing for the particles to be excited when the light is pushed against the second coating. The light 60 can be screwed on, pushed on, snapped on, or the like, to the cap end of the pen 50. In other embodiments the light 60 and the pen 50 can be one or more pieces and can be manufactured from the same type of material such as plastic or metals. In certain embodiments the user may employ any suitable accessory or instrument to write on the first coating and the second coating.

[0031] In a particular embodiment a graphic image in a shape or pattern is revealed when the liquid is applied to the system by a user, the coatings 22, 24 become transparent and the unique pattern or shape drawn by the user. Other drawing and writing stencils may be used with the phosphorescence and liquid toy or different stencils can be embossed on the surface of the substrate 26 or one of the coatings 22, 24 allowing the user to trace the different shapes and characters.

[0032] A method of manufacturing a phosphorescence and liquid toy is also contemplated comprising attaching a first substrate 26 onto a second substrate 28 with an attachment piece 100. A first coating 22 is applied to the first substrate 26 and allowed to cure 102. A second coating 24 is applied to the first coating and is also allowed to cure 104. A pen 50 with a reservoir 56 is provided and the reservoir 56 is filled with a liquid that is in fluid contact with a tip 52 for writing. A cap 58 is provided for the pen 50 that may include a light 60 coupled to the cap 58. The light 60 may be screwed onto a threaded portion of the cap 58 or may be integrally contained in the cap or removably contained in the cap. The second substrate 28 can be omitted in certain embodiments. In other embodiments the second coating can be applied first and the first coating can be applied second. In other embodiments more than two coatings can be applied to the first substrate or second substrate and the first coating 22 is applied to another coating rather than directly to the first substrate. Other coatings can be layered onto the first coating and the second coating allowing for transparency when wet, glow in the dark when charged or glow in the dark liquid is applied, or different shapes and letters can appear if a liquid or light is applied. In certain embodiments the liquid can dry within a certain time or the liquid can sit on the coating and can be wiped off to make the coatings opaque.

[0033] In closing, it is to be understood that although aspects of the present specification are highlighted by referring to specific embodiments, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that these disclosed embodiments are only illustrative of the principles of the subject matter disclosed herein. Therefore, it should be understood that the disclosed subject matter is in no way limited to a particular methodology, protocol, and/or reagent, etc., described herein. As such, various modifications or changes to or alternative configurations of the disclosed subject matter can be made in accordance with the teachings herein without departing from the spirit of the present specification. Lastly, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined solely by the claims. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to those precisely as shown and described.

[0034] Certain embodiments are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the methods and devices described herein. Of course, variations on these described embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described embodiments in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context.