GB2032671A

GB2032671A - Visual display means

Info

Publication number: GB2032671A
Application number: GB7911387A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: POOK H
Current assignee: POOK H
Priority date: 1978-10-30
Filing date: 1979-04-02
Publication date: 1980-05-08
Also published as: NL7907814A; DE2942762A1; FR2440590A1; GB2032671B

Abstract

Visual display means comprise a display board (1), an adaptor sheet (2) laid on the board (1) and an array of display elements (3) on the sheet (2). The board (1) is a laminate comprising a rubber sheet (4) adhering to a rigid backing (5) and containing magnetised ferrous material producing closely spaced lines of magnetic field over the whole of the front of the display surface of the board (1). The board surface is provided by a bonded-on vinyl layer (10) providing a "write- on" surface. The adaptor sheet (2) of plastics material adheres magnetically to the surface of the board (1) by means of a border (11), and/or other background format, printed on the sheet (2) with an ink incorporating ferrous material. The sheet (2) may have an alternative "write- on" surface compatible with a different writing medium, and the elements (3) have display characters (12) printed thereon in the ferrous ink so that they also are retained magnetically in position on the sheet (2). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Visual display means This invention relates to display means for use in a system of visual communication, for example for the purposes of education, information, planning or amusement. It is particularly concerned with arrangements comprising a display board on which display characters, for example letters or symbols, can be placed in a desired array in which they are retained by a force of magnetic attraction.

The existing art, in addition to display boards on which one can write or draw, employs a variety of mechanical structures and arrangements to attach cards or moulded characters to display boards. One system in common use employs a display board having a covering of a sheet of iron or steel with a white surface on which are placed magnets which support the display characters and which are themselves retained in position by magnetic attraction to the metal sheet. As each individual letter or character requires its own associated support magnet or magnets production costs are relatively high, and the characters are of substantial thickness.

Some known arrangements employ characters cut from magnetic material, so that each character is in effect its own support magnet, but this is particularly expensive as each character and size thereof requires its own individual die for cutting out. These dies are not only costly but impose size limitations as it is not practicable to produce them in small intricate sizes.

The prior display boards either have a plain surface or a surface which is permanently marked with a given background format to suit a particular type of display. A primary object of the invention is to provide display means which achieve the advantages of the prior magnetically held characters, such as ease and changeability of display, without the enumerated disadvantages thereof, with which a skeleton or background format when used can also readily be changed to suit a different type of display. A secondary object is to provide such display means which can be designed with a surface for alternative "write on" use allowing the display to be written or drawn with a felt-tip pen or chalk, for exam ple, the surface being choosable to suit the specific writing medium to be used.

According to one aspect of the invention display means comprise, in combination, a display board which is magnetized to provide a display surface with an overall magnetic field over an area on which the display can be accommodated, an adaptor sheet which is attachable to the face of the display board so as to be retained thereon by magnetic attraction between the sheet and the board, and a plurality of display elements providing characters which can be arranged on the surface of the adaptor sheet to provide the required display and which are coated with or at least in part formed from ferromagnetic material such that when placed on the adaptor sheet the display elements are held in position by magnetic attraction.

The term "character" as used herein is intended to include any symbol or pictorial representation to form part of a display, in addition to letters and numerals as such, and the invention provides a versatile display system in which a large variety of characters can be used which are capable of being produced very simply and cheaply.

The display elements may be produced from thin sheet material, for example plastics material as thin as .025 mm coated, preferably on the side which contacts the adaptor sheet, with a substance containing a sufficiency of ferrous material to be adequately attracted by the magnetic field so as reliably to be retained in position when the display board is mounted vertically. The display characters may thus be easily and cheaply printed on pieces of thin film or paper, or other suitable material, with an ink into which is incorporated a ferrous material and the resultant printed sheet providing a display element.

A plurality of interchangeable adaptor sheets may be printed with different background formats, so that a large variety of displays and arrangements can readily be produced by selecting appropriate combinations of adaptor sheets and characters. A display can be changed and rearranged for the purpose of correction or instruction, and when used for the playing of games the adaptor sheet background format may be a representation of the games board and the type or position of the characters can be altered with the progress of a game. Each adaptor sheet may have a surface suitable to be written or drawn on; thus different adaptor sheets may respectively have a so-called "dry-wipe" surface and a surface compatible with chalk writing, whereas for example the board itself might have a surface to suit use of a waterbased ink.

According to another aspect of the invention, display means comprise the combination of a display board which is magnetized over a display area providing a "write-on" surface compatible with one writing medium, and an adaptor sheet which can be placed on said surface and is then retained thereon by magnetic attraction between the sheet and the board, the adaptor sheet providing an alternative "write-on" surface compatible with a different writing medium.

The adaptor sheet may be made from a transparent or opaque material and is preferably thin so as to provide the maximum effect for the magnetic field of the board on display elements applied to the adaptor sheet. A portion of the adaptor sheet may for the purpose of magnetic retention have a thin covering of a preparation containing a ferrous material which is attracted by the magnetic surface of the board, and this preparation may be in the form of an ink which is printed to define all or part of a skeleton or background format on to which the characters of the intended display are to be placed.

The display board is preferably of laminated construction with a rigid backing sheet to which is laminated a magnetic sheet of moulded plastics or rubber. The latter sheet has ferrous material mixed into its mass in such manner as to permit magnetization thereof in the form of linear poles whereby closely spaced lines of magnetic field are produced over the whole of the front surface of the board. This surface may be provided by a covering layer which provides a suitable "write-on" surface, for example a bonded-on thin layer of a heat-treated vinyl material which can be written on with water-based inks.

According to a further aspect of the invention, display means comprise a display board with a magnetized "write-on" display surface, and a plurality of display elements which can be independently arranged an the surface to which they adhere by virtue of magnetic attraction to the board.

The invention will now be further described with reference to the accompanying drawings which illustrate, by way of example, one preferred embodiment of the invention In the drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the display means af the embodiment, showing a typical display; Figure 2 is a front view of a display board of the embodiment; Figures 3 and 4 are respectively partial sectional views to a larger scale on the lines A-A and B-B in Fig. 2; Figure 5 illustrates a typical display element of the embodiment; and Figure 6 illustrates an alternative form of display element.

The display means of the invention, as illustrated in the drawings, comprise a display board 1 which as shown is normally mounted in a vertical display position, an adaptor sheet of comparable dimensions placed on the display surface of the board 1, and display elements such as 3 positioned in turn on the adaptor sheet 2 in the desired array.

In the embodiment illustrated the board 1 is af laminated construction and comprises a sheet 4 of moulded plastics or rubber mounted on a rigid backing sheet 5. The sheet 5 can be of any desired rigid material, but in this case it is of metal with turned-over marginal edges 6, 7, 8 and 9 which frame the surrounded display surface area of the board 1. The sheet 4 is held to the backing sheet 5 by adhesion, and it has ferrous material mixed in its mass and magnetized in the form of linear poles whereby closely spaced lines of magnetic field are produced over said display surface of the board 1. This surface is provided by a thin covering layer 10 of heattreated vinyl material which provides a "write on surface compatible with water-based inks, for example using a felt-tip pen. The vinyl layer 10 is bonded on to the magnetised sheet 4.

The adaptor sheet 2 is a transparent or opaque sheet of thin plastics film, and it is retained magnetically on the display surface of the board 1. To this end the sheet is printed on one surface, preferably on the back surface, with a border 11 of a magnetic ink containing ferrous material so that it is attracted and held to the magnetised board surface. In this embodiment the front surface of the adaptor sheet 2 provides an alternative write-on" surface. For example, it may have asurface which provides a "key" to make it compatible with writing using a stick of chalk; or it may be a polyester film providing a socalled "dry wipe" surface for use with acetone and ketone based inks, again conveniently applied by means of a felt-tip pen.

The display shown in Fig. 1 consists of six alphabetical letters such as 1 2 spelling the word "DISPLAY". As shown in Fig. 5 each letter such as 12, the letter "I" in that figure, is printed in ferrous ink on a thin paper or plastics sheet 1 3 of the corresponding element 3. As an alternative to the described printing of the displayed character with ferrous ink, the surface of the display elements 3 may be treated with a surface coating of ferrous particles to provide the required magnetic attraction to the display board 1. It will be appreciated that the printing of the displayed characters may then be other than in ferrous ink. For example, the rear face of an element 3 may be coated with ferrous material, and the front face printed with the display character in a normal ink.

Each element 3 may comprise an extremely thin film 13, and it has been found that the ferrous ink can be formulated so that a deposit of about 0.025 mm in thickness is capabie of ensuring secure magnetic retention of an element 3 in display position on the board 1.

However in some circumstances it may be advantageous in order to facilitate the handling of the various elements such as 3 to produce them (as shown in Fig. 6) from individual blocks 14 of a light-weight material such as expanded polystyrene with a substantial thickness. In this case the rear side 1 5 of an element 3 which contacts the adaptor sheet 2 is coated with a ferrous ink or particle layer, and the outward facing opposite front face has printed thereon the individual display letter or character.

In addition to, or instead of, the border 11 the sheet 2 may be printed with a background format for the display, again using a ferrous ink so that the printing provides the magnetic adherence of the adaptor sheet 2 to the board 1. For example the sheet 2 may be printed with horizontal lines representing staff lines of music, for use with display elements displaying characters in the form of symbols representing musical notes. These are placed on the adaptor sheet 2 in the required positions to represent the musical phrases, and such an arrangement has educational uses. Alternatively, and again by way of example, the adaptor sheet 2 may be printed to represent the board of a game, the elements 3 then being representative of the game pieces, for example chessmen.Other suitable games are checkers and bingo, and a smaller board 1 will normally be suitable for the playing of such board games.

A range of interchangeable adaptor sheets such as 2 may be provided, so that one has available a selection of "write-on" surfaces and/or printed display background formats. A further example of the latter is an instructional crossword puzzle, the adaptor sheet 2 having printed thereon with ferrous ink the required clear and black squares plus the appropriate "across" and "down" numbering and clues, the display characters then used being alphabetical letters. As the clues are answered by the class the instructor can fill in the corresponding squares with the appropriate letters, and an incorrect answer to a clue can readily be removed or changed. The larger elements 3 shown in Fig. 6 are particularly suitable for such crossword displays.Yet another example, again of educational merit, is an adaptor sheet 2 ruled for use in graphical illustration during a lecture. In this case the adaptor sheet has printed thereon in ferrous ink a grid, and the display elements can take the form of thin threads or filaments of suitable diameter and colour which have been impregnated with a ferrous-containing liquid and dried. Such a thread can be laid on the surface of the adaptor sheet and adjusted to provide the required curve or plot, being magnetically selfretaining in the adjusted position. Annotation and numerals may be spelt out as required by the assembly of individual letters and numeral characters on the graphical display.

In the display board 1 illustrated the bottom margin 6 is is considerably wider than the other three 7, 8 and 9 which are identical.

The wider bottom margin has two spaced pressed-out lugs 1 7 on to which can be hooked a detachable tray 18, shown fitted in Fig. 1 and having two apertures which fit over the lugs 1 7. A supply of display elements 3 can be placed in the tray 18, and/or a rolledup adaptor sheet 2 ready for use in assembling a display.

It will be appreciated that although adaptor sheets such as 2 will more normally be used singly, either to provide the desired "write on" surface or background format, a plurality of sheets 2 may be overlaid on the board 1.

This allows a composite background format to be built up using printed transparent sheets 2.

Claims

1. Display means comprising, in combination, a display board which is magnetized to provide a display surface with an overall magnetic field over an area on which the display can be accommodated, an adaptor sheet which is attachable to the face of the display board so as to be retained thereon by magnetic attraction between the sheet and the board, and a plurality of display elements providing characters which can be arranged on the surface of the adaptor sheet to provide the required display and which are coated with or at least in part formed from ferromagnetic material such that when placed on the adaptor sheet the display elements are held in position by magnetic attraction.

2. Display means according to claim 1, wherein said display elements are produced from thin sheet material printed with an ink into which is incorporated a ferrous material.

3. Display means according to either one of the preceding claims, wherein the adaptor sheet is of thin plastics material coated or printed with an ink incorporating ferrous material.

4. Display means according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said adaptor sheet is one of a plurality of interchangeable adaptor sheets printed with different background formats.

5. Display means according to any one of the preceding claims and for use in playing a game, wherein the adaptor sheet has a background format which is a representation of the games board and the display characters represent the pieces used in playing the game.

6. Display means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the adaptor sheet has a background format representing staff lines of music and said display elements display characters in the form of symbols representing musical notes.

7. Display means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the adaptor sheet is a background format in the form of a grid for use in a graphical display and the display elements are in the form of thin threads or filaments.

8. Display means according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the adaptor sheet has a background format providing an instructional crossword puzzle, having printed thereon the required clear and black squares plus numbering and clues, and the display elements provide characters in the form of alphabetical letters.

9. Display means according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the adaptor sheet has a "write-on" surface compatible with a writing medium.

10. Display means according to claim 9, wherein the adaptor sheet is one of a plurality of such adaptor sheets with surfaces respectively compatible with different writing media.

11. Display means according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display board has a "write-on" display surface compatible with a writing medium.

1 2. Display means comprising the combination of a display board which is magnetized over a display area providing a "write-on" surface compatible with one writing medium, and an adaptor sheet which can be placed on said surface and is then retained thereon by magnetic attraction between the sheet and the board, the adaptor sheet providing an alternative "write-on" surface compatible with a different writing medium.

1 3. Display means comprising a display board with a magnetized "write-on" display surface, and a plurality of display elements which can be independently arranged on the surface to which they adhere by virtue of magnetic attraction to the board.

14. Display means according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the display board is of laminated construction with a rigid backing sheet to which is laminated a magnetic sheet of plastics or rubber having ferrous material mixed in its mass and magnetized in the form of linear poles to produce lines of magnetic field over the front display surface of the board.

1 5. Display means according to claim 14, wherein the front display surface of the board is provided by a layer of vinyl material bonded-on to said magnetic sheet and compatible with a water-based ink.

1 6. Display means constructed and arranged substantially as herein particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings.