US1617126A

US1617126A - Advertising device and the like

Info

Publication number: US1617126A
Application number: US25208A
Authority: US
Inventors: Peter J Kurten
Original assignee: RALPH L FORD
Current assignee: RALPH L FORD
Priority date: 1925-04-23
Filing date: 1925-04-23
Publication date: 1927-02-08
Anticipated expiration: 1944-02-08

Description

'Feb. 8, 1927. 1,617,126

P. J. KURTEN ADVERTISING DEVICE AND THE LIKE Filed Aprii 23, 1925 rerun. J. KURTEN, or ALHAMBRA, cALIronNIa, ASSIG-NOR. BY DIRECT AND MESNE Patented Feb. 8, 1927.

T UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 1

I ASSIGNMENTS,OZE NE-I IALF TO BALI II L. roan, or PASADENA, CALIFORNIA,

HAND ONE-HALFTO GEORGE E. LEE, O F PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

') ADVERTISING DEVICE AND THE LIKE.

I Application filed Apri1,23, 1925. .Se ria1 No. 25,308.

'This invention relates to improvements in advertising. devices. i

Anfobject. of this invention is to provide I adevice which is of simple construction and whichcan be cheaply operated.

- It is a we'll known feature in advertising that order: toobtaingood results, it is necessary tofirst attract the attention, of .thep assing public. One of the most satisfactory methods for attracting attention is to stimulate curiosity.

. It is thereforeanother object of this invention" toupro videi a device which is so Y constructed ,as'to have some moving parts which are so arranged that-it is not apparent what causes these parts to move. thus is operated.

stimulating curiosity as to'how the device [With the foregoing and other objects in view which will be made manifest in the following detailed descriptionand specifically f pointed out in the appended claims, reterence is' had to the accompanying drawings for an illustrative embodiment of the inventionwherein: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved advertising. device, I

N Fig. 2 is a vertical section taken upon the line2 2 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section taken on the line of Fig. 1. v

- Referring to the. accompanying drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts throughout, the device consists of a container 10 having a cover 11 in which there is an aperture 12. Within the container 10 there is disposed a solenoid 1 3 whichinay be of any conventional construction and which is connected by-wires to suitable binding posts 14:. A U-shaiped yoke 15 has one end secured upon the bottom of the container 1.0 as by bolts 16. The opposite end is'disposed in approximately horizontal porod-like support 18 there are one or more clamps or hooks 19,'upon which indicia hearing elements 20 are mounted. These indicia bearing elements may be of any size or configuration and may bear any type of indicia desired. Theyare shown as provided with rubber. bushings 21 whichengage the hooks 19. Upon the under side of the cover 11 there is a spring 22 secured as by screws 23 and the spring has a pointed end 24 adapted to engage the upper end of the U-shaped yoke 15. A nut 25 is mounted in the cover 11 and a threaded bolt or stud 26 is threaded into the nut and is adapted to engage the top have thereon a dial 28.

The operation of the device is as follows: In the preferred form of construction an alternating electric current supply is connected to the binding posts 14, so that the solenoid 13 will be energized by an alternating current. The solenoid being so energized causes the upper end of the U-shaped yoke 15 which acts as a spring to be attracted and 'repelled quickly, thus vibrating the spring provided by the yoke 15 and also the rodlike support 18. These vibrations imparted to the support 18 cause the elements 20 mounted thereon to rotate. It will be appreciated that the vibrations of the end of the yoke 15 depend upon the frequency of the current supplied to the solenoid 13. Usually the vibrations are of such a frequency that to the ordinary eye, the rod-like support 18 does not appear to vibrate in any manner. but appears to be perfectly stationary. The vibrations imparted to it, however, cause the discs or elements 20 to rotate.

A-peculiar feature oil the construction resides in the fact that certain of the discs 20 will rotate in one direction, whereas other discs will rotate in the opposite direction The direction in which the discs or elements 20 rotate depends upon their location along the rod-like support 18. In this manner the lowermost disc 20 can be caused to rotate in one direction, and the uppermost disc 20 can be caused to rotate in the opposite direction.

If more than two discs or elements 20 are placed upon the rod-like support 18, which may be made considerably longer, a third rise, which is disposed above the uppermost disc shown, can be caused to rotate in the same direction as the lowermost disc. In this manner by placing a large number of elements upon the support, some of the elements will be caused to rotate in one direction and others will be caused to rotate in the opposite direction by the vibrations imparted to the support 18. The support 18 can be made of practically any material, but'is preferably formed of glass, being'in the form of a hollow glass tube. In obtaining the best results, a vacuum is formed within the tube, enabling the support 18 to be freely influenced by the vibrations imparted to it When the device is in operation, the upper horizontal portion of the spring tends to vibrate about the point where the upper horizontal portion joins the vertical portion of the U-shaped spring. Also the vertical portion tends to vibrate and swing about the point where the vertical portion joins the lower horizontal portion of the U-shaped spring. Consequently, the end of the spring which is above the solenoid is influenced by two vibrations at right angles to each other, so that it vibrates on an arcuate path. This tends to set up a whip in the rod 18 so that this rod tends to bend at several point-s. It the clips 19 are positioned on the rod intermediate these points of bend, they will cause the discs to rotate. On the other hand, it the clips 19 are positioned at the points of bend, the discs 20 will not rotate. By having a long rod and properly positioning the clips, the discs can be caused to rotate in opposite directions. The spring 22, when pressed against the spring 15, serves to deepen the vibrations of this spring, de creasing their magnitude and accordingly causing a variation of speed of the discs.

Making the tube of glass has another ad vantage in that it further tends to mystify the manner-in which the elements 20 are caused to rotate. A person seeing the device in a show window, without knowing the construction of it, will usually attempt to lind wires or the like infthe support; A glass support clearly discloses that there are no wires or magnets which cause the discs or elements 20 to rotate.

If the discs 20 are made of various sizes, the larger sized discs may have their speed of rotation decreased slightly because of the slight increase of air resistance. This variation of speed, however, is usually very small. The speed of the discs, however, can be varied considerably by varying the sizes of the apertures through them or varying the size of the aperture through the rubber bushing 21. Discs having a small aperture through them rotate much faster than the discs having the larger apertures or rubber bushings. Preferably in using the device as an advertising device a large disc is used which has a larger aperture through it, and this disc carries indicia advertising various articles of merchandise or other information, it being understood that its rotation is slow enough so that the indicia can be read upon it. The other discs which may be smaller or have smaller apertures, causing higher speeds, may have suitable designs upon them which will serve to attract attention during their higher speeds of retation. The handle 27 can be employed for increasing and decreasing the speeds of the discs on the support 18. By screwing down the stud 26, causing the spring 22 to have its point 24 engage or bear upon the upper end ot' the spring 17, the amplitude of the vibrations imparted to the support 18 can be varied. Such a variation in the amplitude in the vibrations imparted to the support 18 varies with the speed of rotation of the discs 20 thereon.

It will be understood that the specific manner of imparting vibrations to the support 18 is immaterial. AlthoughI preferably employ the construction as shown which enables the use of alternating current, permitting the device to be used a considerable length of time for a small amount of cost, this means for vibrating the support 18 is not essential. If desired, the spring 22 and the spring 15 may be used as contacts forming a make and break contact for the solenoid 13, enabling direct current to be used. Other means for vibrating the support 18 can also be employed.

The advantage of this device in advertising resides in the fact that all parts with the exception of the discs 20, the hooks 19 and the support 18, are disposed within the container 10; and, as there is no apparent means for causing the elements 20 to rotate, the construction stimulates curiosity.

It will be understood that the device as disclosed is not limited to be used for advertising purposes, but may also be used as a toy 01' as agame and is adapted for other uses as well.

It will be understood that various changes in the detail of construction may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An advertising device cinn n'ising a support, an element mounted upon said support so as to be rotatable thereon, a s 'iring upon which said support is inoui'ited, and means for vibrating said sln'ing-so as to viirate said support and cause said element to move relatively to said support.

2. An advertising device comprising a support, an indicia bearing element mounted lupoii said-support so as to be rotatable :thereon, a=nd elect-ro-magnetic means for vibrat ng said support so as to CELHSGSZLld in dicial zbearing' feleinent to i rotate thereon.

' a-An advertising I'dEViCB comprising a support, an indicia bearing element mounted upon; said support so as to be rotatable thereon, a spring upon which said support is mounted, and electro-inagnetic means for vibrating said spring so as to vibrate. said support and cause said element to rotate thereon;

' 4. An advertising support, an'indicia bearing element mounted upon said support so as to be rotatable therea on, ,a spring upon which said support is mounted, electro-magnetic means for V1- ."brating said spring so as to vibrate said support and cause said element to rotate thereon, and means for varying the amplietude of the vibrations so as to vary the speed of rotation of said element.

'5. 'An advertising device comprising a support, an indicia bearing-element mounted upon said support so as to be rotatable thereon, and. electric means for vibrating said support so as to cause said indicia hearing element to rotatethereon.

' .An, advertising device comprising a support, an indicla bearing element mounted upon said support so as to be rotatable thereon, electric means for vibrating said support so as to cause said indicia bearing element to rotate thereon, and means for varying the amplitude of the vibrations so as to vary the speed of rotation of said element.

,7. An advertising device comprising a rod-likesupport, a spring upon which said sprin means support is mounted, a solenoid adjacent said 'for supplying an alternating ciii"i'ent to said solenoid, and an indicia bearing element mounted upon said support so as to berotatable thereon, said solenoid being adapted to vibrate said spring and support andcause said element to rotate thereon.

8. A device of the class described comprising an upright support, a horizontal arm adjustably mounted upon said support, an

element having an aperture theretiirough through which said arm loosely extends, and means for vibrating said support so as to cause said element to rotate on said arm.

9.-A device of the class'described comprising an upright support, a horizontal arm adjustably' mounted upon said support, an element having an aperture therethrough through which said arin loosely extends, and electro-magnetio means for vibrating said support so as to cause said element to rotate upon said arm.

101 A device of the class described comprising an angular spring having an upright portion and a substantially horizontal portion, an upright support mounted 011 the horizontal portion, an arm carried by the device comprising a extends, and means for vibrating the lio'i'ki zontalportion of the spring so as to vibrate the support and cause the element torotate upon said" arm. 1

'11. A levice of the class described comprising an angular spring having an upright portion and a substantially horizontal portion, an upright support mounted on the horizontal portion, an arm carried by the support, an element having an aperture therethrough through which'the arm loosely extends, and a solenoid disposed adjacent the horizontal portion of the spring, said solenoid being adapted when energized to vibrate the spring and support and cause said elementto rotate on said arm.

12. A device of the class described coinprising a U-shaped spring, a solenoid arranged between the tree ends of the spring, a support mounted upon one of the free ends of the spring, an arm carried thereby, and an element having an aperture therethrough through which the arm loosely extends, said solenoid being adapted to vibrate said spring and support when energized to cause said element to rotate on said arm.

13. A device of the class described comprising a U-shaped spring, a solenoid arranged between the free ends of the spring, a support mounted upon one of the free ends of the spring, an arm carried thereby, an element having an aperture therethrough through which the arm loosely extends, said solenoid being adapted to vibrate said spring and support when energized to cause said element to rotate on said arm, a resilient part bearing upon that arm of the spring on which the support is mounted, and means for varying the pressure at which the re- 'silient part bears on the spring so as to vary the speed of rotation of said element.

14. A device of the class described com prising a U-shaped spring, a solenoid arranged between the free ends of the spring, a support mounted upon one of the free ends of the spring, an arm adjustably mounted upon said support, an element having an aperture therethrough through which the arm loosely extends, said solenoid being adapted to vibrate said spring and support when energized to cause said element to 1'0- tate on said arm.

15. A device or the class described comprising a U-shaped spring, a solenoid arranged between the free ends of the spring, a support mounted upon oneof the free ends of the spring, a plurality of arms carried thereby, and a plurality of elements each having an aperture therethrough throu h which the arms loosel extend said 16. A device of the class described 0on1- prising a solenoid, means providing an armatuie adapted to be actuated by the solenoid, a support mounted upon the arma- 5 mm, an arm carried by said support, and an element having an aperture therethrough through which the arm loosely extends, said element being adapted to rotate upon said arm when said support and armature are vibrated. 10

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

PETER J. KURTEN.