GB2023504A - A Modular Unit-composed Panel Construction for Forming Programming and Statistical Boards and for the Application of Card Indexes - Google Patents

Abstract

An information or diagram display board having a front panel 1 formed with square protrusions 2 in vertical columns and horizontal rows. The protrusions define square cells which are open at the front and back. The back openings allow electric light bulbs 6 mounted on a backing plate 4 to be located in the cells when the backing plate is fitted to the panel 1. These bulbs are used to illuminate light transmitting cover plates 9 mounted over the fronts of the cells. The cover plates can bear indicia or information which can thus be illuminated as desired. The cover plates can have projections 9a which are a push fit into the cells, or the cover plates may have ribs which are a push fit into the grooves between the rows and columns of the protrusions 2. Some cover plates may be formed by elongate strips carrying sliding cursors, whilst other components fittable in the cells or grooves may have cut outs to hold wires or strings forming parts of diagrams. One or more card indexes 25 may also be supported on the panel using card index holders provided with rear ribs 22 push fitted into the grooves between protrusions 2. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A Modular Unit-composed Panel Construction for Forming Programming and Statistical Boards and for the Application of Card Indexes This invention relates to a modular unitcomposed panel construction for forming programming and statistical boards and for the application of card indexes.

The modular unit-composed panel construction is a type comprising a plate-shaped base provided on its front surface with a plurality of hollow prismatic protrusions distributed in a regular manner and lined up mutually according to two directions which are perpendicualr one with the other.

The main object of the invention is to provide the aforementioned plate-shaped base with components which may be easily fitted to it to obtain indicating surfaces having configurations which may be varied as desired and which may be lit in diverse manners, in order to give special clearness to programming, statistical data etc.

Another important object of the invention is that of providing a modular unit-composed panel construction suitable for a variety of signalling, providing it with components which may be applied easily and handily in order to realize continuous surfaces of various shapes, diagrams, daters, and warning panels, and to support card index constructions easily within limited overall dimensions.

The constructions which are presently used for the formation of card indexes which are to be arranged on panels, comprise vertical side units arranged in the manner of overlapping cells, in which are fitted short rod ends of stems of various cards comprising the card indexes. The known constructions have a drawback in so far as they require considerable space overhead, since the stems which carry the cards are left at a certain distance between one another determined by the walls of the cells in which the stems are fitted.

According to the invention there is provided a modular unit-composed panel construction for forming programming and statistical boards and for the application of card indexes, comprising a plate-shaped base having a front surface provided with a plurality of hollow prismatic protrusions distributed regularly and mutually aligned according to two directions which are substantially perpendicular one with the other, a backing plate provided with a plurality of seats to receive respective light bulbs, said seats being distributed at regular spacings over the backing plate and being mutually aligned according to two directions which are substantially perpendicular one with the other in a fashion analogous to that of the prismatic protrusions, said backing plate being adapted for mounting on the rear surface of the base, said base having a plurality of openings coinciding with rear ends of cells defined by the prismatic protrusions, through which openings one or more of the cells can be illuminated by the bulbs, a plurality of transparent or semitransparent cover plates being provided for mounting over any desired said prismatic protrusions so that the cover plates can be illuminated by said bulbs, said cover plates being in any desired colour or colours and/or bearing indicia or capable of having indicia applied thereto and being for use in providing information, programmes, diagrams, statistical data and similar items, at least one card index being provided, said card index having at least one pair of sections of substantially H-shape in crosssection provided on one side with components for mounting the sections on the base, said sections being arranged for mounting on the base parallelly in respect of one another with open sides of the sections facing each other for housing ends of stems of various cards comprising the card index, with said stems disposed side by side one above the other In order to exploit more fully the whole height of the panel, at least one of the sections may be provided at least one of the sections is provided on its front side with markings starting from the bottom edge of the uppermost card, such markings corresponding to other markings provided on a strip which is either to be mounted at a side of the card index or is integral with the section, the markings on the strip starting from adjacent the upper end of the strip, in order to utilize space available at a side of the uppermost card.

The modular panel function as a support for a card index is altarnative to the formation of luminous signalling panels, since it would be inappropriate to light up the rear of a card index.

Further features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the subsequent description of embodiments, given by way of example, of modular unit-composed panel constructions formed according to the invention and iliustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:: Fig. 1 is a perspective exploded view of basic components of a construction formed according to the invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross-section of a construction formed according to the invention, showing a particular example of employment; Figs 3, 4 and 5 are perspective views of various components which may be mounted on the base in a construction formed according to the invention; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a component, equipped with a cursor, which may be mounted on the base in a construction formed according to the invention; Fig. 7 is a side view of the cursor in Fig. 6; Fig. 8 is a perspective view of another component which may be mounted on the base of a construction formed according to the invention, the component being arranged to receive a sliding cursor;; Figs. 9 and 10 are perspective views of two components, which may be mounted on a base of a construction formed according to the invention, for holding elastic wires or strings or similar items for use in forming diagrams.

Fig. 11 is a front view of another component which may be mounted on a base of a construction formed according to the invention; Fig. 12 is a perspective exploded view of a card index arrangement for mounting on the base of a construction formed according to the invention; Fig. 13 is a vertical cross-section of the upper end of the card index arrangement in Fig. 12; Fig. 14 is a perspective view of a fragment of the card index arrangement in Fig. 12 provided with a clamping holdfast component for supporting cards in a raised attitude in order to simplify examination and filling in of the cards; and Fig. 1 5 is a top view, partly fragmented, of the card index arrangement and clamping holdfast component shown in Fig. 14 in a construction formed according to the invention.

Referring particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the modular unit-composed panel construction comprises a plate-shaped base 1 made, for example, of plastics material, provided on its front surface with a number of hollow prismatic protrusions 2 forming cells which are open at their front and rear ends. The protrusions are distributed regularly along the whole of the plateshaped base 1 and are mutually aligned according to two directions which are perpendicular one with the other.

The external side surfaces of the protrusions 2, are slightly sloped so that grooves 3 between the protrusions (Fig. 2) progressively widen from the front towards the rear of the protrusions. Such configuration of grooves 3 favours the securing of components which are applicable to the base as will be further described below.

A backing plate 4 is mounted on the rear surface of the base 1. the plate 4 is preferably made of plastics, and is provided with a number of holes or seats 5 for holding lamp bulbs 6.

These holes are distributed at regular spacings along the full surface of the plate 4, and are mutually aligned according to two directions which are perpendicular one with the other. The holes 5 are so arranged that each coincides with a corresponding cell defined by the respective protrusion 2. Any system may be used to attach the plate 4 to the base 1. For instance, it is possible to provide a number of peripheral projections 7 on two opposed edges of the plate 4. The projections 7 are at right angles to the plane of the plate 4 and are arranged for partial penetration of the cells defined by the prismatic protrusions 2, as shown in Fig. 2, so as to grip the base 1.After the plate 4 is fixed to the base 1, the position of the plate is adjusted to locate the holes 5 on the axes of the cells defined by the various prismatic protrusions 2, so that the bulbs 6 mounted on the plate are located approximately at the centre of the various cells. There may be a bulb 6 in each hole 5 or only bulbs in certain ones of the holes, for example the bulbs may be arranged in horizontal or vertical bands or in quadrangular areas.

Electric leads 8 protrude from the rear of the plate 4, and they are connected to a power source by means of respective switches, which may be operated manually on a keyboard, or automatically by means of a computer, for the permanent or temporary illumination of the various bulbs 6.

On the front side, the prismatic protrusions 2 may be covered by special cover plates of transparent, semitransparent or opaque material, in various colours, which may bear markings or various indications, and/or on which various inscriptions may be made, with felt tip pens or similar instruments.

In one form, the cover plate may be of a simple type indicated at 9 in Figs. 1 and 2, provided on its rear with a protrusion 9a suitable for press fitting into the cells or hollows defined by the prismatic protrusions 2. The plates go beyond the outlines of the protrusions 2, in such a manner that adjacent plates provide a continuous surface.

(In the example in Fig. 1 , the plates 9 bear some letters, but it is possible to mark the plates with numerals or other indicia).

Another form of cover plate of a multiple type is indicated at 10 in Figs. 2 and 1 provided with a plurality of protrusions 1 Oa on its rear, which are suitable for press fitting into the hollows of the prismatic protrusions 2. This multiple cover plate may be of any desired size so that it may cover a plurality of the prismatic protrusions.

Thus, employing cover plates 9 and 10 of transparent or semitransparent material, it is possible to produce variously outlined surfaces which may be lit in full or in part by mean of bulbs 6.

The uses may be quite diverse. For example it is possible to produce luminous inscriptions, panels for the signalling of engaged or free car places in garages, statistical panels, programming boards and similar items. The edges of the plates 9 and 10 may be cut at 900 to the plane of the plates or sloped, so that the plates transmit the light in a desired manner. Furthermore, the front surface of the aforementioned plates may have indicia printed thereon by the silk-screen process to give transparency to the various indicia. The plates may be shifted easily from one position on the panel to another as desired, for example, to mark due dates, the situation in respect of minimum stocks or other factors. Some plates may be made in opaque material, in order to introduce a further variation to the composition of the signalling panels.

It is possible to arrange several plate-shaped bases 1 next to one another, to obtain panels of any size desired.

In another embodiment of the cover plates, they may be arranged for mounting on the panel using the grooves 3. An example of such cover plates is shown at 11 in Fig. 4. The plates 11 are formed by a strip provided with a rib 1 a at 900 to the strip. This rib is arranged for press fitting into the aforementioned grooves 3. To achieve a secure fixing of the rib 1 a in a said groove 3, the rib is provided with side enlargements 11 b which engage the sloping walls of the grooves 3. In a somewhat similar way, wider cover plates, such as those indicated at 12 in Fig. 5 can be provided.

Each plate 12 has two ribs 1 2a provided with side enlargements 1 2b for insertion into the grooves 3. The plates 11 or 1 2 are separated from one another by transverse incisions 1 c or 1 2c, so that the strip of plates can be provided into shorter lengths of one or more plates as desired.

The grooves 3 may be occupied by mobile units, of the type indicated at 13 in Figs. 2 and 3.

These units may be composed of bars with side enlargements 1 3a suitable for engagement with the walls of the grooves 3 and may be provided with transverse cuts 1 3b by which the bars can be sub-divided into shorter lengths. As shown in Fig. 2, after the component 13 is mounted on the board, the component is almost entirely contained in the groove 3. However the bar may be so formed that each unit 1 3 can protrude from the groove 3 to a greater extent than that shown in Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 shows a strip of components 14, similar to the strip of component 11 in Fig. 4, supporting a knurled cursor 1 5 in sliding fashion. As shown in Fig. 7, the cursor has two legs which can engage the edges of the strip of components 14.

Transverse incisions 1 4a have the function of making it easier to cut the strip of components t4 into shorter lengths consisting of one or more of the components 14. The cursor component is particularly-suitable in the representation of job card cost accounts and similar operations.

Fig. 8 shows another component 16 with two ribs on its rear for location in the grooves 3. The component 1 6 has sloping side flanges 1 6a at two opposite edges and can be used in the formation of cursor-equipped daters (not shown in Fig. 8), in which the cursor slides between the flanges.

Fig. 9 shows a further component 1 7 which may be fitted in the grooves 3, in a similar manner to component 13 of Fig. 3. The component 17 has a cut-out or flute 1 8 for holding elastic wires or strings or similar for forming diagrams.

Fig. 10 shows another component 1 9 for the securing of elastic wires or strings for diagrams, having a somewhat similar configuration to the plate 9, but with the addition of an external protrusion 20 provided with a cut-out or flute.

From the foregoing, it will he understood that the construction according to the invention allows the production of illuminated diagrams for a very wide range of applications, from the composition of illuminated inscriptions to the arrangement of statistical and programming boards with diagrams and luminous sectors in various colours or signals.

In accordance with another manner of employing the unit-composed panel, especially in the case of the application of a card index, which will now be described with reference to Figs. 12 to 1 5, the structure of said card index should comprise at least a pair of structural sections 21 having a cross-section which is substantially Hshaped, each provided on its rear with a longitudinal rib 22 formed with side enlargements 22a. The ribs 22 are suitable for press fitting onto the panel, between two adjacent vertical rows of prismatic protrusions 2. The sections 21 are assembled parallelly to one another on the panel (possibly with screws without restrained shanks) with open sides of the sections facing each other, as shown in Figs. 12, 14 and 15.

The structional sections 21 house the ends of stems 24 of cards or card holders 25, the groove of the structural section being slightly wider than the diameter of the ends of the stems themselves.

The stems 24 may thus be arranged directly one above the other, as shown in Fig.13, enabling a card index to be formed with a high number of cards but with a greatly reduced overall height compared with some known card indexes.

At the ends of the sections 21 are covers 26 which may be detachable, and which complete the side components of the card index. At least one of the sections 21 is equipped, on its frontal side, with superimposed markings, for example the numerals 1,2, 3, 4, 5, 6 etc. shown in Fig. 12.

Such markings are arranged, starting from the bottom edge of the first card or card holder indicated at 25a, immediately below a cover 25b (in the example shown in Fig. 12 marking "1" corresponds to the edge of the first card 25a).

Similar numerical markings are provided, in a vertical column, on at least one strip 27, provided with a rib 28 (Fig. 12), similar to the aforementioned rib 22, for the fitting into the grooves of the panels (like rib 22, also rib 28 is provided with side enlargements 28a).

The numerical markings on the strip 27 are arranged in increasing numerical order starting from the upper end of the strip which is either adjacent to one of the sections 21 or as shown in Fig. 12, is formed integrally with the section.

The height of the markings on strip 27 is approximately double that of the markings on the sections 21. It is thus also possible to exploit in a useful way, by applying markings or similar equipment, the space at the side of the first card 25a; it being space which could not be employed in known card indexes (numeral 1 on strip 27 refers to card 25a, numeral 2 to the card which follows, and so on). Naturally the height of the bottom edges of the cards and the height of the pigeon-holes bearing the markings shall be proportional to that of the panel lines, so that the above correspond exactly.

In order to simplify the examination and filling in of the cards, a clamping component indicated at 28 in Figs. 14 and 15 can be used. This clamping component has a spring holdfast which is to be set horizontally in order to position it side by side with the sections 21. More precisely, component 28 comprises a tube 29 which has a U-bent end 30 which can be hooked to a section 21. Slidably fitted into the other end of the tube is a rod 30a mounted on a handle 31 bearing a protrusion 32 which can be hooked to the other section 21.The tube 29 contains a spring 33 having one end attached to the tube and its other end attached to the rod 30a (Fig. 1 5). This spring acts to pull the protrusion 32 and the end 30 towards one another such that, once the protrusion 32 and end 30 parts have been hooked to sections 21 , the whole of the component 28 remains clamped in a horizontal position to the sections. Any desired number of cards can then be maintained in a lifted attitude by the clamping component 28 as shown in Fig. 14. It is thus possible to have one's hands free when consulting the cards or transcribing data thereon.

The card index construction as described above with reference to the drawings is capable of exploiting rationally and in a complete manner the space available on the panels, both vertically and at the side of the cards, thus enabling a high number of cards to be arranged within limited vertical dimensions. A further advantage is that the card index construction can be assembled and dismantled rapidly and easily, which allows convenient transformations or alterations in the programming and statistical boards.

Claims (14)

Claims

1. A modular unit-composed panel construction for forming programming and statistical boards and for the application of card indexes, comprising a plate-shaped base having a front surface provided with a plurality of hollow prismatic protrusions distributed regularly and mutually aligned according to two directions which are substantially perpendicular one with the other, a backing plate provided with a plurality of seats to receive respective light bulbs, said seats being distributed at regular spacings over the backing plate and being mutually aligned according to two directions which are substantially perpendicular one with the other in a fashion analogous to that of the prismatic protrusions, said backing plate being adapted for mounting on the rear surface of the base, said base having a plurality of openings coinciding with rear ends of cells defined by the prismatic protrusions, through which openings one or more of the cells can be illuminated by the bulbs, a plurality of transparent or semitransparent cover plates being provided for mounting over any desired said prismatic protrusions so that the cover plates can be illuminated by said bulbs, said cover plates being in any desired colour or colours and/or bearing indicia or capable of having indicia applied thereto and being for use in providing information, programmes, diagrams, statistical data and similar items, at least one card index being provided, said card index having at least one pair of sections of substantially H-shape in cross-section provided on one side with components for mounting the sections on the base, said sections being arranged for mounting on the base parallelly in respect of one another with open sides of the sections facing each other for housing ends of stems of various cards comprising the card index with said stems disposed side by side one above the other.

2. A construction as claimed in claim 1, in which the backing plate is provided at its periphery with projections for insertion into said cells defined by said prismatic protrusions to hold the said backing plate to the base by pressure.

3. A construction as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2 in which the cover plates are provided on their rear with at least one projection for press fitting into the cells defined by the prismatic protrusions.

4. A construction as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, in which the cover plates are provided on their rear with at least one rib for press fitting into grooves between the prismatic protrusions.

5. A construction as claimed in claim 3 or claim 4, in which a plurality of cover plates are formed adhered together to provide a contiguous extended surface.

6. A construction as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, in which opposite edges of each of at least one cover plate are sloping with respect to the plane of the plate.

7. A construction as claimed in any of claims 4 and 6 in which the grooves have a width which increases as one progresses along a direction towards the rear of the base, and each rib is formed with enlargements along sides of the rib for insertion in a said groove.

8. A construction according to any of claims 4 to 7, having bar components provided with side enlargements for fitment in the grooves.

9. A construction as claimed in claim 1 in which a number of said plates are formed in combination as a strip provided with a rib for insertion into grooves between the prismatic protrusions, and a cursor is provided to slide along the strip.

10. A construction as claimed in claim 9, in which the strip is divided into the plates by incisions extending transversely of the strip.

11. A construction as claimed in claim 1, including at least one strip component having flanges along opposite edges to receive a sliding cursor therebetween, and at least one rib on the strip for insertion into grooves between the prismatic protrusions.

12. A construction as claimed in any preceding claim including components arranged for press fitting to the base, each formed with a cut-out for holding elastic wires or strings or similar for use in forming diagrams.

13. A construction as claimed in claim 1, in which the sections are each provided on its rear side with at least one rib extending longitudinally of the section, said ribs being for fitment into respective grooves between the prismatic protrusions to hold the sections to the base, and each section has a cover at at least one end of the section.

14. A construction as claimed in claim 13, in which at least one of the sections is provided on its front side with markings starting from the bottom edge of the uppermost card, such markings corresponding to other markings provided on a strip which is either to be mounted at a side of the card index or is integral with the section, the markings on the strip starting from adjacent the upper end of the strip in order to utilize space available at a side of the uppermost card.

1 5. A construction as claimed in claim 13, in which the card index is provided with a holdfast component arranged to be mounted transversally to the sections so that desired cards may be held in a raised attitude, said holdfast component comprises a tube with a U-shaped bend at one end and a rod with a handle at the other end, said rod is slidable in the tube and is urged towards the U-shaped end by a spring, said handle is provided with a protrusion, and said U-shaped end and protrusion being arranged for engagement with the sections to clamp the hold fast component thereto under the action of the spring.

1 6. A unit-composed panel construction for forming programming and statistical boards and for the application of card indexes in combination with components for fitment to the board to provide diagrams, information and card indexes, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.