US1461047A - Advertising sign - Google Patents

Description

Jug-'Y w, 11923.

J. L. RAY

ADVERTISING vSIGN Filed May 25 \the surface of which carries a poster o r isv Patented July 10, nni'rso STATI-:s

I'OSEPH L. B'A'Y, OF SOUTH @RANGE NEW nnvnarisrne sieri.

application mea my as, ieee. senti no. etnica To all whom it may concern:

Be it lrnown that I, Josnrn L. RAY, a citizen of the United States,' residing in the town 'of South Orange, in the State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Advertising Signs, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, forming] a part hereof. I

Advertising signs, as developed to date are generally of one of two types. The most usual type, of course, is the billboard,

painted. More recent developments in advertisi signs /have led to the electric sign which is made up of many bulbs, usually adapted to vbe ashed on or off selectivelA to attract theeye of the observer. Bot

of these usual types of signs are permanent inthe sense that the posted or painted mattei', puton at great expense, is intended to remain in place `until entirely and permal 4iiently obliterated and new matter applied to the board by a ysign poster or painter. The electric signA is alsoof a permanent character in the sense that -the'electric connections'andcontrols for the various bulbs areso coordinated as to carry the desired messagel and when once so co-ordinated, carry the repeated message until a complete ment lof connections and controls is estab ished by a skilled electrician. The billboard system of advertising is open to the objection of initial expense with no latitudefor change until such expense is duplicated by a posting or painting of new matten lit is open to the further objection that, being stationary, it does'not catch the eyeoi the casual observer as do the animated or moving siis. Again, the message carried is limited y th by reason of the skill required in properly installing and eonnectingthe electrical units proper co-ordinatio'n to the controller,

and to the further objection that when once so wired up, they are intended` to remain of a permanent character repeat' message indefinitely until a furt er great expense is gone to in `entirely chanv g the vii'istallation accordin to the new a vertise-y ment to be resente Again, electric signs have this advantage as compared toa billboard eign, that they will' not catch the e available space and the necessary size of the lettering.

the same -rying other advertising matter.

,Ject is to provide a si eye in daylight since the advertising matter 1s intended to be entirely delineated by illuminated bulbs.

`'llhe present invention has for its principal object to provide in practical form an advertising sign which shall have embodied therein all of the advantages of billboard and electric signs without having an of the limitations thereof. A further object is to provide an advertising sign which shall be made u of a series ot movable units which can e readily mound ina permanv ent trame constructed to receive them and readily removed from that' frame for the purpose of replacement by other units car- A new method of changing advertising s i is provided for in accordance with the 1nven. tion in that a permanent frame with all ci? the actuating elements may be erected at a desired point and a multi-tace sign provided therein by the insertion oi the several component pri'smatic units, By the rotation of these units three solid raced display boards may be created. rlhe method goes further and provides tor advertising service in the changing ot the advertising matter in any 'ven frame by the ready removal and rep acement of one set Ofcomponent units` by another set. A further vob-K of the character described which shall include a plurality of units movable in. any desired sequence to build up or to move2 before the eye, the advertisement to bef-displayed. Still another object is to associate with such sign a prime mover adaptedv to be connected operatively at time intervals' with the component units of the sign and ,in predetermined re- @5 igure 2 isa view in vertical section throughthe sign shownin Fi rel,- talren alon 'the plane indicated by t e line 2 2., and ooking Vin the direction ci the arrows.

Figure 3 is a-'detail Vview in 'erspettive of one ot the-com onent unita oi? t e sign..

Figure t is' a ragmentary detailv view or a series of a vertis y ice the adjustable interrupted driving gear for the component units.

In the preferred embodiment it is proposed to erect, at any point where anuadvertising sign is desired, a permanent frame indicated at a, supported on suitable standards b and preferably carrying at suitable points illuminating devices c of any approved character. In the supporting standards b for the frame, or in any other desired relation thereto, is supported a rotatable shaft d on which may be keyed a series of gear wheels e on each of which is bolted a gear segment f. The segmentv f may be carried by a bolt f adapted to be moved adjustably in a segmental slot e cut in each of the wheels e. The shaft d is geared operatively to a. prime mover g by which rotation is imparted to eachl of the gear wheels e.

ln one of the rail members of the frame a (in the illustrated embodiment the lower rail a) there are journaled a plurality of stub shafts h, the lower ends of each of which-have keyed thereon bevel pinions h. The upper ends of each ofv the shafts h extends above the upper edge of the rail member a and is of irregular cross-sectional form as indicated in section in Figure 3.

ln the proposed sign it is contemplated, according to the illustrated embodiment. to set up all of the parts thus far described in substantially the relationship pointed out and then mount removably Within the frame a plurality of revoluble prismatoidal sections z' on the three faces of each of whichwill be displayed a portion of the advertisements. The invention is not to be limited to the particular construction of such section, but as shown in Figures 2 and-3 it will be convenient to form in one end thereof a recess z" to receive the upper end of the stub shaft h, this recess being of the same irregular cross-sectional form as the shaft so as to bring the section z' into driving relation thereto when the shaft is Within the recess. The other end of the' section z' may carry thereon a trunnion i2 which may pass carrying out 'the inventive thought.

through a bearing piece a2 carried with the frame a when the section is mounted within the frame.

The description thus far given has been of the illustrated form only and has been made with some brevity, but it is to be understood that the invention is in no sense limited to the particular construction and' relation of the parts described. A description of the character of the sign when in use will serve to emphasize the degree of latitude possible in the construction of the elements without losing the effects to be produced by It is proposed that a series of sections i of prismatic form andl preferably of convenient size for shipping and handling, will be painted or posted on their three faces with such matter as will carry the desired message when the proper faces of such a group of sections are exposed to view. `Such a group of sections will be mounted in a frame. such as a, by passing each of the trunnions 2 through the bearing piece a2 and then dropping the recess z" of each section on to the corresponding stub shaft h providedfor it. When'a co-related group are thus brought together it is proposed that their exposed faces will lie in the same plane and the matter thereon will bring to view" The sections are so one complete message. mounted on the shafts t that when the exposed faces are in this relation the edges of the sections will be in close proximity so as to give the appearance of a'n unbroken billboard. With the parts in this relation the segmental rack f of each of the wheels e will be adjusted angularly on the wheel so as to engage the corresponding bevel pinion k' on the corresponding stub shaft h at the desired instant upon rotation of the shaft d and thereby rotate the engaged pinion L to the desired extent and revolve 'its section z' through a predetermined number of degrees, a movement of 120o serving to bring another face of the section into display position. lf desired, the racks f maybe so adjusted on all of the wheels e ask to rotate all of the sections simultaneously, therebybringing new faces of the sections into display position simultaneously and changing the display sign. from onemessage to another. On the other hand, if desired7 the racks f on the different wheels e may be adjusted so as to engage the respective bevel pinions it in any desired sequence, so as to revolve the different sections vi in predetermined sequence and give a fade-away effect in dissolving one message and building up another message before the eyes ofthe observer.

From the description given it will be evident that the improved sign has allof the advantages of an ordinary billboardsign in that it is effective both day and ni ht. It also has greater advantages than the e ectric sign in that it gives animated or moving effects not only in vt-he night when illuminated, but in the day as. well. It is more satisfactory than either of these types of sign in that the component sections can be readily removed and replaced by other sections thereby permitting the advertising matter to be changed readily with great fre uency 'and at little expense. The met od proposed enables advertising service tobe furnished for billboard -signs through the ready replacement in a permanent frame of one set of units with another set of units having different advertisingmatter thereon.

It also has the advantages of an electric MBO the Ychanging of which will, of course, at.

tract the eye.

So far as concerns the mechanical details it will he evident that the sections e' which are mounted in parallel relationship may he either disposed vertically or horizontall It is also evident that other means, not on y mechanical but electrical as well might be employed to bring about the es1red se quential rotation of the prismatic sections 'and presenting them in a Hat surface over the entire sign,

tions, means to support the sections with one i set of faces lying in a plane and the proximate eet of such faces in' juxtaposition,

Meneer May, A.

means to rotate sai sections periodically in predetermined sequence with respect to each other to bring other eet of faces into said plane, and means to vary the sequential rotation of said sections to produce a fadeaway eect. 2. As an article of manufacture, a display unit of prismatic form having three one o rectangular display faceseaeh which constitutes a component part of a complete advertising si? and carries display matter, the faces of t el unit beingy all of substantially the same area, and means carried on the opposite endso' the unit to support it removably in driving engagement with a shaft.

This se ification signed this 21st day of JSEPH L. RAY.

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