EDUCATIONAL AND GAME APPARATUS PARTICULARLY USEFUL FOR TEACHING SPELLING AND WORD RECOGNITION AND FOR PROVIDING ENTERTAINMENT

摘要

1356129 Educational device P A MERCORELLI and J M MERCORELLI 19 Nov 1971 [16 Feb 1971] 53737/71 Heading G5G An educational device comprises a cylinder 40 mounted rotatably in a housing and having rows of first indicia, e.g. words, exposable respectively through windows 22 in the housing, a plurality of rotatably mounted discs 50, 52, 54, 56 operable in response to rotation of a finger wheel 30 and bearing a plurality of second indicia related to the first indicia (e.g. pictures illustrating the words), and means 80 for concealing said discs during operation of the finger wheel and operable thereafter to expose a predetermined one of said second indicia. In use, a word appearing in one of the windows 22 is spelt by dialling letters on the finger wheel; if the spelling is correct, a picture illustrating the word appears when the relevant flap 80 is lifted. The finger wheel and discs are linked by gearwheels. The gear-wheel 68 of one disc 56 is provided with a bevelled portion 85 having a stop surface 86 which upon clockwise rotation of the gear 68 engages a pivotally mounted member 88, whilst allowing unlimited counterclockwise rotation. By these means, the finger wheel can be rotated counterclockwise to a predetermined position before each spelling operation. Each disc is splined to the axle of its respective gearwheel by a distinctive shape 58-61, which may be a numeral corresponding to the numbered windows 22. A plurality of discs may be provided for each axle. The lower surface of the main gear 36 may have a series of depressions 90 in which spring-mounted ball detents 92 engage, thereby imparting stepwise movement to the rotation of the finger wheel.