Tide display device
View Patent ↗A tide display device comprises a storage mechanism that stores tide information by surf spot. The device has a microprocessor that is programmed to display the tide height both graphically and numerically.
1. A tide display device, comprising:
a storage mechanism that stores tide information including a tide height and an associated time of day for each of a plurality of surf spots;
a display area that simultaneously displays the tide height for a selected geographic location using both a graph and a numeric value;
a heat timer that tracks a heat time that is displayed in the display area; and
a wave counter that tracks a wave count that is displayed in the display area.
2. The device of claim 1 , wherein the digital numeric value for the tide height can be displayed in feet, meters, or as a coefficient.
3. The device of claim 1 , further comprising a third tide height indication displayed on the display area.
4. The device of claim 3 , wherein the third tide height indication is a moon phase.
5. The device of claim 1 , wherein the tide information includes up to two highs and two lows for each surf spot.
6. The device of claim 1 , wherein the tide information further includes a continent.
7. The device of claim 6 , wherein the tide information further includes a country.
8. The device of claim 1 , wherein the tide information is calculated by an oceanographer for exclusive use in the tide display device before being loaded into the storage mechanism.
9. The device of claim 1 , wherein the tide information is downloaded from a web server.
10. The device of claim 9 , further comprising a 1394 port for downloading the tide information.
11. The device of claim 9 , configured to use wireless technology for downloading the tide information.
12. The device of claim 1 , wherein the graph is displayed as a series of waves with the peaks representing high tides and the valleys representing low tides.
13. The device of claim 1 , wherein the graph comprises approximately 6 hours of past tide heights and approximately 18 hours of future tide heights.
14. The device of claim 13 , wherein the graph updates every 30 minutes.
15. The device of claim 1 , comprising a microprocessor programmed to alternately display tide heights for up to four beaches.
16. The device of claim 1 , comprising a microprocessor programmed to accept an adjustment for a custom beach and to display tide height for the custom beach.
17. The device of claim 1 , wherein the storage mechanism is a removable flash memory card.
18. The device of claim 1 , comprising a first attachment mechanism that is adapted to attach to a wrist band.
19. The device of claim 18 , further comprising a second attachment mechanism comprising Velcro™.
20. The device of claim 18 , further comprising a second attachment mechanism comprising an adhesive.
21. A tide display device, comprising:
a microprocessor programmed to change a display of information in response to a change of mode initiated by a user of the device, wherein the modes include a time display mode that simultaneously displays a tide height graph and a current time, a tide selection mode that allows the user to select a beach, and a wave counter mode that allows the user to track and increment a wave count.
22. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the display of information includes a numeric value representing a tide height.
23. The tide display device of claim 22 , wherein the numeric value for the tide height can be displayed in feet, meters, or as a coefficient.
24. The tide display device of claim 23 , wherein the coefficient is a value that represents a change between high tide and low tide.
25. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the time display mode simultaneously displays a numeric value representing a tide height with the tide height graph and the current time.
26. The tide display device of claim 25 , wherein the numeric value for the tide height can be displayed in feet, meters, or as a coefficient.
27. The tide display device of claim 26 , wherein the coefficient is a value that represents a change between high tide and low tide.
28. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the tide height graph comprises past tide heights and future tide heights and wherein a ratio of a number of hours of the past tide heights over a number of hours of the future tide heights is 1/3.
29. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the tide height graph has a current time line that separates past tide heights and future tide heights.
30. The tide display device of claim 29 , wherein the tide height graph moves relative to the current time line.
31. The tide display device of claim 29 , wherein the tide height graph is updated every 30 minutes.
32. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the tide height graph is displayed as a series of waves with the peaks representing high tides and the valleys representing low tides.
33. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the tide height graph is displayed as a number of bars with the peaks representing high tides and the valleys representing low tides.
34. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the microprocessor is further programmed to accept an offset for a custom beach and to display tide height for the custom beach.
35. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the time display mode simultaneously displays tide information using a moon phase indicator with the tide height graph and the current time.
36. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the microprocessor is further programmed to alternately display tide heights for up to four beaches.
37. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the modes further includes a heat timer mode that displays a heat time.
38. The tide display device of claim 21 , wherein the tide height graph is updated every 30 minutes or less.