Photo-chromic material application apparatus
In one embodiment of the invention, photo-chromic applicators are disclosed. The photo-chromic applicator may include a liquid photo-chromic material such as a photo-chromic ink or paint. The photo-chromic material is applied to a surface of a toy, a page, or other object by a child user. The photo-chromic material may be activated in various ways with various light activating devices that can generate the activating light with appropriate wavelengths.
1. A photo-chromic application set comprising:
a substrate provided on a three dimensional structure or a portion thereof;
a writing instrument including photo-chromic material, the writing instrument to apply one or more layers of the photo-chromic material on the substrate; and
wherein shining an activating light on a portion of the one or more layers of photo-chromic material temporarily changes the activated portion.
2. The photo-chromic application set of claim 1 , further comprising:
a light pen to selectively shine the activating light on a portion of the one or more layers of photo-chromic material.
3. The photo-chromic application set of claim 2 , further comprising:
a stencil having opaque areas and openings or transparent areas, the stencil to mask out portions of the activating light.
4. The photo-chromic application set of claim 1 , wherein
the activated portion of the photo-chromic material appears to change from a first color to a second color for a period of time before gradually decaying back to the first color.
5. The photo-chromic application set of claim 1 , wherein
the activating light is an ultraviolet light source.
6. The photo-chromic application set of claim 1 , wherein
the substrate is a solid formed out of plastics, papers, woods, metals, vinyl, fabric, combinations thereof, or other known solids.
7. A method of applying photo-chromic material comprising:
moving a tip of a writing instrument on a surface to apply a photo-chromic material, the photo-chromic material having an initial state;
shining an activating light to activate the photo-chromic ink applied to the surface; and
viewing the surface including the photo-chromic ink applied thereto to detect a change in the initial state of the photo-chromic ink.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the activating light has a wavelength substantially in or near a range of wavelengths of an ultraviolet spectrum.
9. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the initial state of the photo-chromic material is translucent that changes to an opaque color upon activation.
10. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the surface is part of a substrate of a toy, and
the photo-chromic material is applied onto the toy.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the surface is part of a page, and
the photo-chromic material is applied onto the page.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein
the photo-chromic material is a photo-chromic ink in liquid or colloidal form,
and the method further comprises
waiting for the photo-chromic ink applied to the surface to dry.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein
the writing instrument is a pen including a reservoir of photo-chromic ink.
14. A combined activating light and photo-chromic applicator comprising:
a photo-chromic material applicator to apply a photo-chromic material on a surface;
a housing coupled to the photo-chromic material applicator, the housing having a first end and a second end opposite the first end, the housing to receive one or more batteries as a power source;
an ultraviolet light emitting diode (UVLED) mounted in the housing at the first end, the UVLED to generate a wide angle activation light around an optical axis in response to receiving power from the one or more batteries; and
a switch mounted to the housing, the switch to switch the power from the one or more batteries ON and OFF to the UVLED.
15. The combined activating light and photo-chromic applicator of claim 14 , wherein
the photo-chromic material applicator is a photo-chromic ink pen, a photo-chromic marker, a photo-chromic pencil, or a photo-chromic crayon.
16. The combined activating light and photo-chromic applicator of claim 14 , wherein
the switch is a momentary push button switch, a user to press and hold a button of the momentary push button switch to turn ON the UVLED to generate the activation light.
17. The combined activating light and photo-chromic applicator of claim 14 , wherein
the second end of the housing is coupled to an end of the photo-chromic material applicator.
18. The combined activating light and photo-chromic applicator of claim 14 , wherein
the photo-chromic material applicator is a photo-chromic ink pen and the photo-chromic material is a photo-chromic ink,
the housing is mounted to the photo-chromic ink pen near the applicating end of the photo-chromic ink pen, and
the UVLED to generate the activating light in response to the switch to coincidentally activate the photo-chromic ink as it is applied to the surface.