GB2588078A

GB2588078A - Display system

Info

Publication number: GB2588078A
Application number: GB1909861.5A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Hinton Richard
Original assignee: Locomocean Ltd
Current assignee: Locomocean Ltd
Priority date: 2019-07-09
Filing date: 2019-07-09
Publication date: 2021-04-21
Also published as: GB201909861D0

Abstract

A changeable message board comprises a board 110 and character blocks 120 receivable in cavities 140 provided in the board and opening to a front surface 111 of the board. Each cavity 140 receives one of the character blocks 120, and the character blocks 120 are held in the cavities 140. Guiding elements may be provided to align the blocks with the cavities. The guiding elements preferably comprise a pair of projections on opposite walls of the cavity engaging with channels provided on opposite sides of the block. The projections may have a tapered protrusion aligning with the channels to guide the blocks into place. Each character block may have a groove or line extending between the channels. Raised pips may be provided for frictionally holding the blocks in the cavities. Alternatively the blocks may be held in place by magnetic means. The message board may resemble a split-flap display board.

Description

Display System

Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to message display systems, and more particularly to a display system arranged to display messages via character blocks held on a board.

Background

io Display boards are popular across various commercial and private events, for instance restaurants, weddings, baby announcements or anniversaries to display versatile messages in a fashionable way. Conventionally, messages can be created manually for instance by hand-writing a message on a chalkboard easel.

To be able to create various messages with a particular and consistent design, one solution provides a series of tiles with letters or emojis thereon. The tiles can be freely combined on the display board by sliding them along pre-defined character rows. The sliding mechanism holds the individual messaging characters in place while the display board is stationary; however, the characters may slide along the rows if the display board is moved.

Furthermore, changing already placed characters in the middle of a message can be time consuming as all the succeeding or preceding tiles have to be removed as well.

Magnetic lettering characters are also known that will attach to a ferromagnetic board. Using magnetic characters, the magnetic force between the board and the characters is usually not strong enough to fix an exact position of the characters and the characters are typically still able to slide across the board. Also, it is difficult to align the magnetic characters in regularly spaced rows or columns, as the board allows free placement of characters without alignment.

It would be desirable to provide a display board with individual character blocks that can be easily aligned with a desired spacing and that will hold the character blocks securely in place to maintain a consistent presentation of various massages. It would also be desirable if the character blocks can easily be removed and re-arranged to create individual messages.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display system comprising a board and character blocks, wherein the board has a plurality of cavities defining openings in a front surface of the board, with each cavity being configured to receive one of the character blocks, such that the character blocks are held in the cavities.

In preferred embodiments, a shape of the inside walls of each of the plurality of cavities and a shape of the outside walls of the individual character blocks counter fit each other. Each of the plurality of cavities may have substantially the same shape and each of the character blocks may have substantially the same shape such that the character blocks are interchangeable between the cavities io In preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the board holds the character blocks removably in place when the character blocks are received in the cavities.

In preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, each of the plurality of cavities and each of the character blocks has one or more guiding elements arranged to align each character block with one of the plurality of cavities as the character block is received in that cavity. The guiding elements may include a projection on the character blocks or in the cavities and a channel for receiving the projection in the other of the cavities or the character blocks. The guiding elements may include a pair of projections on the character blocks or in the cavities and a pair of channels for receiving the pair of projections in the other of the cavities or the character blocks. The character blocks may include a groove or line on a front face of each character block extending between the pair of projections on each block or the pair of channels in each block. Each projection may have at least one end formed as a tapered protrusion arranged to extend perpendicularly outward from the front surface of the board, the protrusion preferably having the form in cross-section of a part circle or semi-circle. One or more of the channels may include a raised pip or nodule arranged to form a friction fit with the projection received in the channel.

In preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the character blocks are arranged to be held in place by friction between the character blocks and inner walls of the cavities. The character blocks and/or inner walls of the cavities may include one or more raised pips or nodules arranged to form a friction fit with the other of the inner walls of the cavities and/or the character blocks.

In other preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the character blocks are held in the cavities by magnets. The display system may further include a ferromagnetic plate removably attachable to a back side of the board to extend across backs of the cavities, wherein each character block is formed from or includes a magnet. With the ferromagnetic plate attached to a back side of the board and the character blocks inserted in the cavities, the ferromagnetic plate may be removable from the back side of the board with the character blocks attached to it so as to remove the character blocks from the cavities. Alternatively, with the ferromagnetic plate attached to a back side of the board and the character blocks inserted in the cavities, the ferromagnetic plate may be removable from the back side of the board by being slid out through a slit, such that the character blocks are released from the cavities.

In still other preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the character blocks are arranged to snap-fit into the cavities.

In preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the cavities extend entirely through the board. The character blocks may be able to be pushed in or out of the cavities from both the front and the back of the board. A step or ridge inside the cavities may prevent the character blocks from being pushed entirely through the cavities. A step or ridge on the character blocks may prevent the character blocks from being pushed entirely through the cavities.

In preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the cavities may each have an opening in the front surface of the board that is larger than the size of the zo smallest cross-sectional area defined between the inner walls of the cavities in a plane parallel to the front surface of the board.

In preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the plurality of cavities are regularly spaced in one or more rows and/or columns, preferably wherein the cavities are arranged in an array of two or more rows.

In other preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, one or more of the character blocks are reversible, with a character on both a front face and a back face of each reversible character block.

In other preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the character blocks are hollow and present an open back face exposing an interior volume of the character block.

In other preferred embodiments, including any of the foregoing embodiments, the board has a handle and/or a stand and/or a hook. When the board has a stand, the stand may be arranged to support the board substantially vertically or at an angle to the vertical.

Brief Description of the Drawings

To enable a better understanding of the present invention, and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. la shows a perspective view of an embodiment of a display system, with character blocks inserted in the cavities.

Fig. lb shows an enlarged front perspective of the display system of Fig. la, with a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 2a shows a similar front perspective of the display system of Fig. lb, without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 2b shows a plane view in direction of the front face of the display system of Fig. 2a, without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 3a shows an enlarged perspective view of another embodiment of a display system, zo without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 3b shows a plane view in direction of the front face of the display system Figs. 3a, without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 4a shows an enlarged perspective view of another embodiment of a display system, without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 4b shows a plane view in direction of the front face of the display system Figs. 4a, without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 5 shows a cross section of another embodiment of a display system, without a character block inserted in the cavity.

Fig. 6a shows a front view of a character block according to the embodiments of Fig. 1-Fig. 3 and Fig. 5.

Fig. 6b shows a perspective view of a character block according to the embodiments of Fig. 1 -Fig. 3 and Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 shows a perspective view of a character block according to the embodiment of Fig. 4.

Fig. 8 shows an enlarged perspective view of a fifth embodiment of a display system, with several cavities having character blocks inserted therein and one cavity having no character block in it.

Fig. 9 shows a character block or tile of the fifth embodiment.

Fig. 10 shows a perspective view of a ferromagnetic plate of the fifth embodiment removed io from the display board and having the magnetic character blocks attached to it.

Fig. 11 shows a perspective view of the back of the display board of the fifth and sixth embodiments with the ferromagnetic plate removably mounted therein.

Fig. 12 shows an enlarged perspective view of a sixth embodiment of a display system, with several cavities having character blocks inserted therein and one cavity having no character block in it.

Fig. 13 shows a perspective view of a ferromagnetic plate of the sixth embodiment removed zo from the display board and having the magnetic character blocks attached to it.

Fig. 14 shows an enlarged perspective view of a seventh embodiment of a display system from the front, with several cavities having no character blocks inserted therein and one cavity having a character block inserted in it.

Fig. 15 shows an enlarged perspective view of a seventh embodiment of a display system from the back, with several cavities having no character blocks inserted therein and one cavity having a character block inserted in it.

Figure 16 shows a perspective cross-sectional view through a character block inserted in the display board of the seventh embodiment.

Figure 17 shows a planar cross-sectional view through a long side wall of the character block of the seventh embodiment inserted in a cavity of the display board, including through the recess and a guiding element.

Figure 18 shows a front perspective view of the hollow character block of the seventh embodiment.

Figure 19 shows a rear perspective view of the hollow character block of the seventh embodiment.

Figure 20 shows a front perspective view of the hollow character block of an eighth embodiment.

Detailed Description

A first embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures la, lb, 2a, 2b, 6a and 6b.

Figure la shows a display system 100 for displaying various messages. The board 110 has a front face 111 that is substantially rectangular, but may also be square or round or any other shape. Within the board 110 are several cavities 140, in which character blocks 120 are or may be inserted. In this embodiment, the cavities exhibit substantially rectangular openings in the front face 111 and extend at least partly through the board from the front face 111 towards an opposed back face. Whilst cavities having rectangular openings may be preferred in the present embodiment, the shape of the openings is not limited, and openings of any shape may in principle be employed. The cavities 140 may be regularly spaced and/or arranged in several columns and rows. In this embodiment, the cavities form a regular matrix of 6 rows and 16 columns, but the particular number of rows and columns in such a matrix is not limited.

The character blocks 120 may each include a character or symbol on a front face 121a thereof, and can be interchanged between the cavities 140 to create various sequences of characters, e.g. messages. The front face 111 of the board 110 is intended to face the reader to present the message. The character blocks 120 are preferably sized to fit within cavities 140 such that their front faces 121a are arranged substantially flush with the front face 111 of the display board 110. It is also possible for the front faces 121a of the character blocks 120 to be arranged to stand proud from or be recessed relative to the front face 111 of the board 110, if desired.

Figure lb shows in greater detail a cavity 140 with an inserted character block 120. The cavity includes two guiding elements 130a, 130b formed or otherwise arranged inside the cavity 140 to assist in the correct alignment of the character block 120 when inserted into the cavity 140. The two guiding elements 130a, 130b are placed opposite to each other at a central position along the longer inner side walls 141a, 141b of the cavity 140. Front ends of the guiding elements 130a, 130b arranged towards the front of the board 110 are tapered towards the front of the board 110 and may be formed to be fully or partially projecting forward from the front face 111 of the board.

The tapered front ends of the guiding elements 130a, 130b are preferably rounded and extend perpendicularly outwardly from the front face 111, at least in part. In the present embodiment, the front ends of the guiding elements 130a, 130b are semi-circular in cross-section in the plane parallel to the long sides 141a, 141b of the cavity 140. Each semi-circularly shaped end starts inside cavity 140 but extends forward to project outwardly of the front face 111. As shown, the character block 120 matches the cavity 140 in size and shape. In particular, the character block 120 has recesses 122a, 122b formed in the long sides 123a, 123b thereof and arranged to receive the guiding elements 130a, 130b. The io character blocks 120 are described below in greater detail.

Figure 2a shows an empty cavity 140 without a character block 120 inserted in it. The cavity 140 comprises two longer inner side walls 141a, 141b and two shorter inner side walls 142a, 142b, each being substantially smooth and planar. The guiding elements 130a, 130b are substantially rectangular in a plane parallel to the front face 111 of the board 110 and extend along the entire depth of the longer inside walls 141a, 141b of the cavity 140. It will be apparent that the guiding elements need not extend to the full depth of the cavity 140 to provide the desired function of guiding the blocks 120 into, and aligning the blocks 120 within, the cavity 140. However, such an arrangement may be preferable to provide additional rotational alignment of the front faces 121a of the character blocks 120 with the front face 111 of the board 110 and also to increase the security with which the blocks 120 are held within the cavity 140 due to increased engagement.

The shape of the guiding elements 131a, 131b can be seen more clearly in this view, with the semi-circular front ends of the guiding elements 131a, 131b extending from a position recessed within the cavity 140 to a position projecting forwardly outward from the front face 111. This allows the tapered front ends 131a, 131b to engage into the recesses 122a, 122b formed in the long sides 123 of the blocks 120 and so align the blocks 120 with cavity 140 as they are advanced towards and into the opening of cavity 140.

It is notable, that in this embodiment, the guiding elements 131a, 131b are located centrally along long sides 141a, 141b of the cavity 140. This permits the character blocks 120 to be inserted into the cavity 140 both forwards (so that the front face 121a of character block 120 is displayed at front face 111 of board 110), backwards (so that back face 121b of character block 120 is displayed at front face 111 of block 110), and both upside-up and upside-down in either case. This allows the blocks 120 to be double-sided and to exhibit a character or symbol on both the front face and the back face, which can be displayed in an upright or inverted orientation, thus allowing increased flexibility and variability in the choice of message displayable with a given set of character blocks. Blank faces of character blocks are nevertheless envisaged so that blank spaces can be left in the message being displayed.

If preferred, the guiding elements could be formed offset, so that only forward facing and/or upright blocks could be inserted into the cavities 140. It can also be seen that, in this embodiment, the cavity 140 extends entirely through the board 110 and the character blocks 120 may be pushed in and out from the front or back side. In further embodiments, the guiding elements 130a, 13013 may have tapered ends at both the front and back sides of the board 110 and respectively extending outwardly from the front face 111 and back face io (not shown) to assist in the alignment of the character blocks 120 when inserted from both the front and the back.

In this embodiment, the character blocks are held in place by frictional engagement around all or part of the outer perimeter of each block 120. In other embodiments, the character blocks 120 may be held in place by magnets, for example by magnets within or on each block and arranged to be magnetically coupled to ferromagnetic elements within the board 110 or to a ferromagnetic backboard.

Figure 2b shows the front face 111 of the board 110, showing the empty cavity 140 without a character block 120 inserted. As described, the guiding elements 130a, 130b are located at a central position along each long side 141a, 141b and no further projections extend into the cavity 140. The character block 120 is held in the cavity by friction between all or parts of the inner sidewalls of the cavity 140, the guiding elements 130a, 130b, and the side walls 123a, 123b, 124a, 124b and recesses 122a, 122b of character block 120.

A second embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 3a and 3b, illustrating the features of the display system that differ over the first embodiment. In particular, in this embodiment, the general arrangement of the display system 200 and the board 210 are similar as for system 100 and board 110, but cavities 240 have means for limiting the depth of insertion of blocks 120 therein. Blocks 120 may be identically formed as for the first embodiment.

Figure 3a shows an empty cavity 240 of a board 210 without a character block 120 inserted therein. In this embodiment, the inner side walls 241a, 241b, 242a, 242b of the cavity 240 comprise a step 235 that extends into the cavity to form a ledge that acts as a backstop for limiting insertion of character block 120. In this example, the step 235 extends inwardly from the sidewalls 241a, 241b, 242a, 242b by a distance equal to the inward projection of the guiding elements 230a, 230b, although the size of step 235 may be greater or smaller than the inward projection of the guiding elements 230a, 230b as long as it will engage and limit insertion of blocks 120. Equally, the step 235 need only extend inwardly from one of the sidewalls 241a, 241b, 242a, 242b in order to limit the degree of insertion of the character block 120, although by preference the step 235 would extend along at least two opposed sidewalls to assist in aligning the front face 121a of character block 120 with the front face 211 of board 210 when fully inserted.

In this embodiment, the character block 120 can only be inserted from the front face 211 of the board 2111 The step 235 prevents the character block 120 from being pushed entirely through the cavity 240 and the character block 120 is held in the cavity 240 at a pre-io depth of insertion that is limited by the step 235. In this embodiment, the depth of the character block 120 matches the depth of the cavity 240 from the front face 211 to the front of the step 235, such that the surface of the character block 120 is flush with the front face 211 of the board 210 when full inserted. As noted above, it is also possible in alternative embodiments for the front faces 121a of the character blocks 120 to be arranged to stand proud from or be recessed relative to the front face 211 of the board 210, if desired.

Figures 6a and 6b show a character block 120 of the first and second embodiments. The character block 120 has a substantially rectangular front face 121a, with longer sides 123a and 123b and shorter sides 124a and 124b. Although a rectangular front face 121a is presently preferred, the front face may instead be round, square or any other shape. The character block 120 comprises recesses 122a and 122b located substantially centrally along the longer side edges 123a, 123b of the block 120. The recesses 122a, 122b match the positions of the guiding elements 130a, 130b and 230a, 230b, respectively. As noted above, the guiding elements 130a, 130b and 230a, 230b may be positioned off-centre with respect to the inner side walls 141a, 141b, 241a, 241b of the cavity 140, 240.

When both recesses 122a, 122b are located centrally along side edges 123a, 123b, or are otherwise opposed to one another, this creates a narrowed "waist'' section the rebetween in the front face 121a of the block 120, giving the character block a distinct shape. In the present embodiment, back faces 121b of the character blocks 120 are identical to the front faces. Characters may therefore be printed engraved or stuck on both front and back faces 121a, 121b of the character blocks 120, so as to make the character blocks reversible.

The character block front face 121a may display various characters. These can be pictures, emojis, symbols, and/or alphanumeric or other text or punctuation characters being printed, engraved, embossed or stuck on. In the preferred embodiment, as described above, the character blocks are reversible. Even so, it is typical to wish to leave blank spaces on the board 110 when composing a message, and therefore not every character block 120 will have a character printed on both sides.

A third embodiment of the invention is depicted in Figures 4a, 4b and 7. This embodiment is identical to the first embodiment except that each of the guiding elements 330a, 330b includes a protrusion 336 and each of the recesses 322a, 322b includes a dimple arranged to receive the protrusion 336 when the block 320 is inserted in the cavity 340.

Figure 4a shows an empty cavity 340 of a board 310 without the character block 320 io inserted. In this embodiment, each guiding element 330a, 330b comprises a protrusion 336 projecting into the cavity 340. Each protrusion 336a, 336b is based in the top third of the guiding element 330a, 330b near or within the rounded part of the guiding elements 330a, 330b. Preferably, the centre of the protrusion 336 is aligned with the centre of the semicircle defining the tapered end of each guiding element 330a, 330b. Matching the position of the protrusions 336a, 336b, the character blocks 320 have a dimples 325a, 325b (see figure 7) in each recess 322a, 322b. The character block 320 may then be held in position by one or both of a snap-fit between the protrusions 336a, 336b and the dimples 325, and friction as described above.

In another embodiment, the dimple 325 may be placed in the guiding elements 330a, 330b and the protrusions 336a, 336b may be placed in the recesses 322a, 322b of the character block 320. In a preferred implementation, regardless of which component has the protrusion or the dimple, the character block 320 has a relatively loose fit within cavity 340 and may therefore exhibit a limited degree of rotation about an axis extending through the two protrusions 336a, 336b. This may facilitate introducing the character blocks 320 into and removing them from the cavities 340 without becoming jammed or lodged fast due to an over-tight frictional fit. It may also permit a degree of free movement of the multiple character blocks 320 within cavities 340, which may generate a desired audible "clacking" sound to draw attention to the display system 300 when shaken or otherwise moved.

A fourth embodiment of the invention is depicted in Figure 5. This embodiment is identical to the first embodiment, and uses the same character blocks 120, with the exception that the inner walls (i.e., the longer inner side walls 441a, 441b and the shorter inner side walls 442a and 442b of the cavity 440) are tapered towards the front and rear openings of the cavity, such that the inside of the cavity 440 is wider at the front and rear openings of cavity 440 and narrower around a waist 445 located within the cavity. In this embodiment, a front portion of each inner wall 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b is tapered at an angle a relative to a plane perpendicular to the front face 411 of the board 410, and a rear portion of each inner wall 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b is tapered at an angle p to the same plane. The angles a and p may be the same as one another or they may be different. In preferred embodiments such as that of figure 5, the angle a of the front portion of each inner wall is greater than the angle p of the rear portion of each inner wall. Preferably, the angle a of the front portion of each inner wall is less than 5° and is preferably between 1.5° and 2.5°, and the angle p is also less than 5° and is preferably between 0.8° and 1.2°. The waist 445 between the front and rear portions of each inner wall 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b can be a point of inflection between the respective taper angles a and 0, as illustrated in Figure 5, or may be a wider band across which there is an intermediate non-tapered portion of each inner wall 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b.

As shown in Figure 5, the front and rear portions of the inner walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity 440 need not be of equal extent/depth. In this embodiment, the front portion of each inner wall is shorter than the rear portion, with the waist point or band 445 located approximately between a sixth and a third of the distance from the front face 411 to the back face of the board 410. As illustrated in Figure 5, the wait point 445 is located at about a fifth of the depth of the cavity, i.e., a fifth of the distance from the front face 411 to the back face of the board 410.

In this embodiment, the cross-sectional size and shape of the character block 120 essentially corresponds to the inner dimensions of the cavity 440 at the waist point or band 445. The waist point or band 445 provides a pinch point at which an interference or friction fit is created between the inner walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity 440 and the outer walls 123a, 123b, 124a and 124b of the character block 120, such that the character block 120 is held by friction inside the cavity 440 when the character block 420 is inserted therein.

In other words, although there is a tight fit at the waist 445 sufficient to hold the character block in place, there will be a certain space between the character block 120 and the front and rear portions of the inner side walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity 440, at least in the region adjacent to the front opening and the rear opening of each cavity. Compared to the first embodiment, the frictional or interference interface between the inserted character block 120 and the inner side walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity 440 is reduced to a narrower waist at point or band 445. This has a double benefit, since the wider openings formed by the taper angles a and p make it easier to introduce the character block 120 into the openings in the front or rear faces of cavity 440, and at the same time it will require less force to push the character block 120 into the cavity 440 while still ensuring that enough friction is generated at the waist point or band 445 to hold the character block 120 in place.

Stated alternatively, a frictional or interference fit between the inner side walls of the cavity and the outer walls of the character block across substantially the full depth of each block can result in high frictional forces that make the character block difficult to push in or out of the cavity, depending on the materials from which the board and blocks are made and also the dimensional manufacturing tolerances. This can lead to the character blocks getting stuck in the cavities or to undesirable frictional wear of the character blocks and/or cavities.

In the embodiment of Figure 5, the inward-facing surface of each of the guiding elements 430a, 430b is also tapered to define upper and lower portions and a waist point 455a, 455b matching the upper and lower portions of the inner walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity 440. In the illustrated embodiment of Figure 5, the upper and lower portions of the inward-facing surfaces of the guiding elements 430a, 430b have the same taper angles a and [3 as the upper and lower portions of the inner walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity io 440. Of course, the upper and lower portions of the inward-facing surfaces of the guiding elements 430a, 430b could have taper angles different from those of the upper and lower portions of the inner walls 441a, 441b, 442a, 442b of the cavity 440 A fifth embodiment of the invention is disclosed in Figures 8 to 11. This embodiment of the display system 500 is similar to that of Figures la, lb, 2a, 2b, 6a and 6b, but employs magnetic attraction to hold the character blocks, or tiles, 520 in the cavities 540 of the display board 510.

As in the first embodiment, cavities 540 have identical, substantially rectangular openings in the front face 511 of the display board 510. Each cavity defines longer inner side walls 541a, 541b and shorter inner side walls 542a, 542b. Guiding elements 530a, 530b are located centrally with respect to the longer inner side walls 541a and 541b, respectively, extend along the full depth of the cavities 540, and include rounded front ends projecting forwards of the front face 511 and functioning in the same way as guiding elements 130a, 130b described above. As noted above, the invention is not limited to rectangular cavities 540 and character blocks 520, and other regular or irregular shapes are possible.

Although only a portion of the display board 500 is shown in Figure 8, as with the first embodiment, the display board 510 has an array of cavities 540 arranged in a plurality of regular rows and columns, in this case also 6 rows and 16 columns. Again, the invention is not limited in this respect and may be arranged with any desired pattern of cavities 540.

As can be appreciated from Figure 8, the display board 510 has a certain depth, which is greater than the depth of the cavities 540. As shown in Figure 11, a ferromagnetic plate 560 is mounted to the back of the display board 510 to extend across the back of all cavities 540.

The plate 560 is mounted so as to be disposed at the base of each cavity 540, as shown in Figure 8. The plate 560 may be made of any suitable ferromagnetic material such as iron or steel.

With reference to Figure 9, each of the character blocks 520 has substantially the same cross-sectional shape at its front face 521a as the character blocks 120 of the first and second embodiments, but is of reduced thickness to match the reduced cavity depth of the cavities 540 so as to present the front faces 521a of the character blocks 520 substantially flush with the front face 511 of the display board 510. These character blocks 520 may also be referred to as character tiles 520 in view of the reduced thickness. The tiles 520 have corresponding longer side edges 523a, 523b and shorter side edges 524a, 524b, with recesses 522a, 522b formed in the longer side edges 523a, 523b, respectively, to match the position of and receive the guiding elements 530a, 530b in the cavities 540 of the display io board 510.

Each of the character tiles 520 includes a magnet, or more preferably simply is formed from a magnet (or a magnetic or magnetized material) suitably coated or otherwise decorated to provide the desired finish and to display suitable characters on its front face 521a. Magnetic or magnetized materials may include flexible magnetic compositions, such as those produced by mixing a powdered ferrite with a liquid binding agent of plastic or rubber. The same characters provided on the character blocks 120, 320 of the earlier embodiments may be provided to character tiles 520 of this embodiment. Blank tiles may also be included, of course. Although both front and back faces of the tiles may again in principle be provided with characters, it is envisaged to provide characters only to the front faces 521a of magnetic tiles 520, since the back faces will come into contact with the ferromagnetic plate 560 and may get scratched or worn.

Advantageously, the ferromagnetic plate 560 is configured to be removably mounted in the display board 510. As a result, when it is desired to change the message configured by the tiles 520 arranged on the display board 510, the plate 560 can be detached from the display board 510, as shown in Figure 10, with all of the character tiles 520 remaining attached to it. The character tiles 520 can then easily be slid off the ferromagnetic plate 560, whereafter the ferromagnetic plate 560 is re-attached to the back of the display board 510 and a new message can be composed by inserting the desired character tiles 520 into the cavities 540.

It will be appreciated that the ferromagnetic plate could be substituted for a magnetic plate and that the magnetic tiles 520 could be replaced by ferromagnetic tiles, if preferred.

Turning to Figures 12 and 13, a sixth embodiment of the invention is shown, which display system 600 is a modified version of the fifth embodiment.

The display system 600 includes a display board 610 with a ferromagnetic plate 660 removably mounted to the back of the display board 610 in the same manner as shown in Figure 11. The difference from the fifth embodiment is that the cavities 640 do not include any guiding elements and merely present rectangular openings in the front face 611 of display board 610, having longer inner side walls 641a, 641b and shorter inner side walls 642a, 642b without further internally projecting elements.

Figure 13 shows the ferromagnetic plate 660 detached from the back of display board 610 with the character tiles 620 still held thereon and arranged according to the array of rows and columns defined by the cavities 640 in display board 610. It can be seen that the character tiles in this example have a simple rectangular shape in cross-section, but are otherwise the same as character tiles 520 in the fifth embodiment.

In an alternative arrangement to that shown in Figures 10 and 13, and which is not illustrated, the ferromagnetic plate 560, 660 may instead be removed by sliding it sideways through a slot formed in a side of the board, whereupon the character blocks or tiles 520, 620 will be held in place by the cavities 540, 640 such that the sliding action will wipe the character blocks or tiles 520, 620 from the ferromagnetic plate 560, 660 as it is removed, thereby simultaneously releasing the character blocks or tiles 520, 620 and wiping them from the ferromagnetic plate 560, 660.

A seventh embodiment of the invention is shown in Figures 14 to 19. This embodiment is substantially the same as the fourth embodiment, such that only differences from that embodiment will be described.

Only a portion of the display system 700 is shown in Figure 14, but the display board 710 has the same general construction and array of regular rows and columns of cavities 740 as the display system 100, which is true of all of the embodiments illustrated herein.

The cavities 740 of display board 710 are formed with the inner walls 741a, 741b, 742a and 742b having tapered front and rear portions meeting at a waist 745, as described for the fourth embodiment. The inward facing side surfaces of the guiding elements 730a, 730b may again also be tapered, if desired.

With reference to Figure 15 to 19, the main difference in this embodiment is that the character blocks 740 are configured only to be inserted into the cavities from the openings in the back face 712 of the display board 710. The character blocks 720 are also formed to be hollow in construction, and in this embodiment each character block presents an open back face exposing an interior volume of the character block.

Figure 15 shows several cavities 740, with a single character block 720 inserted into one of the cavities 740. This and related Figures 16 to 17 illustrate how the base of each character block 720 is provided with an sideways outwardly extending lip or step 735 that acts to limit the extent of insertion of each character block 720 into the cavities 740, and serves to align the front faces 721a of the character blocks 720 with the front face 711 of the display board 710.

The guiding elements 730a, 730b are received in recesses 722a, 722b, respectively, of the character blocks 720 and serve to guide insertion of the character blocks 720 into the cavities and to align the character blocks correctly, as described above.

io As shown in Figure 17, the side surfaces 731b, 732b of the guiding elements 730b (as well as for the guiding elements 730a) may be formed to be tapered towards the back face of the display board, at an angle 181 to the plane perpendicular to the front face 711 of the display board. This assists in the guiding function, but is also beneficial in this embodiment as these side surfaces provide the main frictional or interference fit with the corresponding inner side surfaces of the recesses 722a, 722b of the character blocks 720 for holding the character blocks 720 in the cavities 740. As shown in Figure 17, the inner side surfaces of the recesses 722a, 722b of the character blocks 720 are also preferably tapered at the same angle (3 to match. This interference fit allows a gap to be maintained between the inner side walls 741a, 741b, 742a, 742b of the cavities 740 and the outer side walls 723a, 723b, 724a, 724b of the character blocks 720, facilitating insertion and ejection of the character blocks 720 into and out of the cavities 740 but still holding them securely in place. If preferred, a frictional or interference fit may also be maintained around parts or all of the outer side walls 723a, 723b, 724a, 724b of the character blocks 720, in particular at the waist point or band 745.

Turning to Figures 18 and 19, a hollow character block 720 is shown in more detail, illustrating the formation of the longer outer side walls 723a, 723b, shorter outer side walls 724a, 724b, and the surrounding lip 735, as well as the recesses 722a and 722b for receiving the guiding elements 730a and 730b, respectively.

In this embodiment, the outer side walls 723a, 723b, 724a, 724b of the character block 720 are tapered along their length towards the front face 721a of the character block, which aids in insertion of the character blocks 720 into the cavities 740. This may also facilitate a desirable frictional or interference fit with the inner side walls 741a, 741b, 742a, 742b of the cavities 740, as further insertion of the character blocks into the cavities brings the side walls into gradual engagement in particular towards the base or back side of each character block 720, without requiring frictional engagement along the full depth of the cavities 740 that might result in the character block 720 getting jammed or stuck in the cavity 740.

As in the earlier embodiments, the guiding elements 730a, 730b are centrally located with respect to longer inner side walls 741a, 741b of the cavities 740, with the recesses 722a, 722b being correspondingly centrally located along longer outer side walls 723a, 723b. This again allows the character blocks 720 to be inserted into cavities 740 both upside-up and upside-down, giving greater freedom to the user in terms of message content and variation.

It is also conceived to print or otherwise indicate the character that appears on the front face 721a of each character block 720 somewhere on the rear of each character block 722 This is to aid in correctly selecting and positioning the character blocks 720 when inserting io them into the cavities 740 from the back side of the board 710, as some users may find it easier to turn the back face 712 of the display board 710 towards them in order to push the character blocks 720 into the cavities 740, at which point the message on the front face 711 of the display board 710 cannot be seen as the message is being created without continually turning the display board 710 back and forth, which may be undesirable.

Figure 20 shows an eighth embodiment of the invention, which is substantially identical to the seventh embodiment except that the character block 820 additionally includes a raised pip or nodule 825a, 825b located in each of the recesses 820a, 820b. The raised pips or nodules are arranged to create a friction fit with the guiding elements 730a, 730b in the zo cavities 740 of the board 710 when the character block 820 is inserted therein from the back side of the board 710. In this embodiment, the pip or nodule 825a, 825b in each recess 822a, 822b is elongate in the direction of insertion. The pips or nodules 825a, 825b facilitate easy insertion and extraction of the character blocks 820 into the cavities 740 while ensuring that there is a reliable engagement between the guiding elements 730a, 730b and the inner walls of the recesses 822a, 822b to hold the character blocks 820 in the cavities 740. This arrangement also reduces the need for highly accurate manufacturing tolerances when producing the character blocks 820 and board 710, as there is no need for an accurate interference fit around the perimeter of the blocks 820 and the inner walls of the cavities 740, since the pips or nodules 825a, 825b ensure the necessary engagement to hold the character blocks 820 in place.

In alternative embodiments, such pips or nodules may be provided on the outer side walls of the character blocks and/or the inner side walls of the cavities to form similar friction fits with the other of the inner side walls of the cavities and/or the outer side walls of the character blocks as well as or instead of in the channels. They may of course also be provided on the inner side faces of the guiding elements as well as or instead of being provided in the channels.

With reference to Figures 6a, 6b, 7, 9, 18 and 20, in particular, it will be noted that the character blocks 120, 320, 520 and 720, 820 include a line or groove 126, 326, 526, 726, 826 extending across the front face 121a, 321a, 521a, 721a, 821a of each character block 120, 320, 520, 720 and 820, and located centrally extending between the recesses 122a, 122b, 322a, 322b, 522a, 522b, 722a, 722b, 822a and 822b. The line or groove 126, 326, 526, 726, 826 assists in visually delimiting upper and lower halves of the front face 121a, 321a, 521a, 721a, 821a of each character block 120, 320, 520, 720 and 820 and may assist in aligning the character blocks 120, 320, 520, 720 and 820 with the openings when inserting the character blocks 120, 320, 520, 720 and 820 in the cavities 140, 240, 340, 440, 540, 740.

In any of the foregoing embodiments, the board may be provided with a stand to enable the board to stand up in order to display a message arranged by the character blocks on the front face of the board. The stand may support the board in a vertical position or at an angle to the vertical, for example at an angle of 5 degrees or more to the vertical, at 30 degrees to the vertical, at 45 degrees to the vertical, or at 60 degrees to the vertical, or at any intermediate angle therebetween.

The display system may also be provided with a handle (not shown) to facilitate displaying a message displayed on the board while holding the board, without obscuring the message due to holding the board directly in the vicinity of the front surface of the board.

Claims

CLAIMS: 1. A display system comprising a board and character blocks, wherein the board has a plurality of cavities defining openings in a front surface of the board, with each cavity being configured to receive one of the character blocks, such that the character blocks are held in the cavities.
2. The display system of claim 1, wherein a shape of the inside walls of each of the plurality of cavities and a shape of the outside walls of the individual character blocks counter fit each other.
3. The display system of claim 2, wherein each of the plurality of cavities has substantially the same shape and each of the character blocks has substantially the same shape such that the character blocks are interchangeable between the cavities.
4. The display system of claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the board holds the character blocks removably in place when the character blocks are received in the cavities.
5. The display system of claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein each of the plurality of cavities and each of the character blocks has one or more guiding elements arranged to align each character block with one of the plurality of cavities as the character block is received in that cavity.
6. The display system of claim 5, wherein the guiding elements include a projection on the character blocks or in the cavities and a channel for receiving the projection in the other of zo the cavities or the character blocks.
7. The display system of claim 6, wherein the guiding elements include a pair of projections on the character blocks or in the cavities and a pair of channels for receiving the pair of projections in the other of the cavities or the character blocks.
8. The display system of claim 7, wherein the character blocks include a groove or line on a front face of each character block extending between the pair of projections on each block or the pair of channels in each block.
9. The display system of claim 6, 7 or 8, wherein each projection has at least one end formed as a tapered protrusion arranged to extend perpendicularly outward from the front surface of the board, the protrusion preferably having the form in cross-section of a part circle or semi-circle.
10. The display system of claim 6, 7, 8 or 9, wherein one or more of the channels includes a raised pip or nodule arranged to form a friction fit with the projection received in the channel.
11. The display system of any preceding claim, wherein the character blocks are arranged to be held in place by friction between the character blocks and inner walls of the cavities.
12. The display system of claim 11, wherein the character blocks and/or inner walls of the cavities include one or more raised pips or nodules arranged to form a friction fit with the other of the inner walls of the cavities and/or the character blocks.
13. The display system of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the character blocks are held in the cavities by magnets.
14. The display system of claim 13, wherein the display system further includes a ferromagnetic plate removably attachable to a back side of the board to extend across backs ao of the cavities, and wherein each character block is formed from or includes a magnet.
15. The display system of claim 14, wherein, with the ferromagnetic plate attached to a back side of the board and the character blocks inserted in the cavities, the ferromagnetic plate is removable from the back side of the board with the character blocks attached to it so as to remove the character blocks from the cavities.
16. The display system of claim 14, wherein, with the ferromagnetic plate attached to a back side of the board and the character blocks inserted in the cavities, the ferromagnetic plate is removable from the back side of the board by being slid out through a slit, such that the character blocks are released from the cavities.
17. The display system of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the character blocks are arranged to snap-fit into the cavities.
18. The display system of any preceding claim, wherein the cavities extend entirely through the board.
19. The display system of claim 18, wherein the character blocks can be pushed in or out of the cavities from both the front and the back of the board.
20. The display system of claim 18, wherein a step or ridge inside the cavities prevents the character blocks from being pushed entirely through the cavities.
21. The display system of claim 18, wherein a step or ridge on the character blocks prevents the character blocks from being pushed entirely through the cavities.
22. The display system of any preceding claim, wherein the cavities each have an opening in the front surface of the board that is larger than the size of the smallest cross-sectional area defined between the inner walls of the cavities in a plane parallel to the front surface of the board.
23. The display system of any preceding claim, wherein the plurality of cavities are regularly spaced in one or more rows and/or columns, preferably wherein the cavities are arranged in an array of two or more rows.
24. The display system of any preceding claim, wherein one or more of the character blocks are reversible, with a character on both a front face and a back face of each reversible character block.
25. The display system of any one of claims 1 to 23, wherein the character blocks are hollow and present an open back face exposing an interior volume of the character block.
26. The display system of any preceding claim, wherein the board has a handle and/or a stand and/or a hook.
27. The display system of claim 25, wherein the board has a stand, and wherein the stand is arranged to support the board substantially vertically or at an angle to the vertical.