US1859755A - Signboard outfit - Google Patents

Description

May 24, 1932. A. THOMPSON SIGNBOARD OUTFIT Filed Sept. 16, 1951 Z1 l Y N T U E? ISMJQNE a INVENTOR HndrfWZJ/ma 9 BY Y ATTQRNEYS Patented May 24, 1932 UNITED STATES PATE NT OFFICE 'ANDREW THOMPSON, OF NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, .ASSIGNOR TO THE EMBOSSING COMPANY, F ALBANY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION 0F NEW YORK SIGNBOARD OUTFIT Application led September 16, 1931. Serial. No. 563,010.

This invention relates'to signboards or display outfitsV having letters and otherv cha-racters which may be variously arranged so that different spacings of the letters and" words may be had in accordance with the needs of any particular signboard.

My invention involves the use ofV letter blocks whichare provided with a plurality of projections for aiiixing the same to a board 1G having recesses therein.

separated byV two series of raised strips, one series of strips being angularly related toV the other and intersecting the same whereby a plurality of polygonal. re- 16 cesses are formed intermediate the strips.

There are a plurality of projections on the un-V der side of eachA letter block and these are sof proportioned as to engage the four boardering strips of a single recess orthe intersecting 20 strips between four recesses or both. sides of a single horizontal strip between-two recesses or both sides of a single vertical strip between two recesses, thus providing a plurality of possible positions of a single block for each grouping of four recesses, the number ot such positions being dependent upon thenuinb'er of projections which each block has. The recesses in the board enable the accurate. alinementofwords-which are made up. by the in- 36 dividual letter blocks.

Thesize of a letter block is such that the edges of adjacent letter blocks` abut when the blocks are held by adjacent4 recesses, and words may be spaced or the spacing of letters may be increased fractionally depending upon.

i showing-itsupperside.

The recesses arev Fig.A -3 is aperspectiveview of a letter block. f

Fig. 4 is ay perspective view of a letter block showing its underside.

Fig. 5Y is a diagrammatic showing of the` manner in which the spacing andi placing of letters andwords may be varied.

The signboard outfit illustrated in Figs. l and 2 includes: a base or background 9` having a multiplicity of rectangular recesses I0 arranged in horizontalV and vertical alinement. These recesses are defined byv a series of horizontal stripsll and a series of vertical strips l2 which extend throughout the surtace of the base or background.

Ordinarily itis preferable to mount the base Within a.l box similar to that show-n in Figs. lf and' 2. This box has a bottom 13 toI which. the board. is attached, and a coverlli, hinged to thebottom` 13, carries-a coverglass` l5 through which the sign maybe viewed. Since signs are usually: mounted' inI a vertical positiomit is desirable to keepfthe letter bloclis fromshi-ftingtheir positionsand for this purpose the cover glass is soypositioned as--to extend over thetops-of the letterblocks.

Theletter blocks, of which one is shownin. Figs. 3 andz- 4,. are` of the same shape as the rectangular recesses in the base, in. the priesent instance square, andtheir areais` such as to contact their edges when adjacent'blocks are similarly secured in the base. The upper sides, of the latter blocks carry letters, preferably embossed and contrastingly colored on top,. as shown in Fig. 3, andi some may bear different indicia. as. well.` as punctuationmarks.. '.Ilhe under side of each` letter block hasl foul-"projections as illustrated inFig; 4Q.. These projections are sospaced in respect to one another that the projections in a vertical line may-lie at oppositesidesof a-hor-iwzo'ntal strip 1L andi the projections-in a horizontal line may: lie at opposite sides of a vertical nstrip l2. As maybe understood trom Fig'. 5,

the. projections 11.18;@ and 20er-e' soplo# portioned as tosnugly engage a4 single recess lOf or' a singlehorizontallstrip IlI or a single vertical strip 1Q; or both` ai horizontal and' vertical strip,A as'. illustrated by' the letter blocks 21%,-, 22,.. Q31 and.f 241,.. respectively.

The letter blocks may be made.; im any manner which. is productive ofi asn'iootl-isnr'- face and attractive lettering. In view of the excellent results that may be obtained by embossing, I prefer to use this method and the blocks may be made by the embossing process described in the patent of Charles M. Hyatt No. 1,322,792, issued November 25, 1919. In this process a wooden blank, cut with the grain perpendicular to the square faces is forced down into a tubular die by means of an upper plunger die which forces the blank with great pressure upon a Ilower die at the bottom. The side walls of the tubular die compress the Wood radially inwardly and impart a high finish to the sides of the block and the upper and lower dies shape and impart a high finish to the faces of the block. The operation is rapid and uniform in results and has the further advantage that the powerful compression of the wood strengthens the blank very substantially. With a rather tough wood, for eX- ample, well seasoned maple, the additional strength imparted by the compression in-y sures virtually complete freedom from breakage of even thin letter blocks, inV spite of the fact that they are made endwise of the grain.

In use the letter blocks are selected to make up the desired wording for the sign. I-Iaving reference to Fig. 1, it will be noticed that the word Notice7 appears at the head of the sign. The letters in this word are held in place by the projections straddling the vertical strips 12. A dash appears at either end of the word. This dash is spaced onehalf a letter from the end of the word and the projections of the dash block engage the inner edges of the strips of a single recess. The word Notice appears as a caption and the first line of the remaining words of the sign is spaced one full line space below. It is apparent that this spacing may be any multiple of a half-letter spacing. Each of the letters appearing in the line bearing the words This sign is is bisected by a single strip 12, and the spacing of the words is one full letter space.

Each of the letters of the word Flexible is directly above intersecting horizontal and vertical strips and the projections engage these strips in the manner illustrated by letter block 24 in Fig. 5. The words of the line of words It can be used are so positioned as to balance the line with the second line This sign is, and this is made possible by varying the spacing at either side of the word Be. The letter blocks of the line Many ways7 are aiiixed to the base in a manner similar to the letter block 22 in Fig. 5. It is proposed to nish the projections and the recesses in such a manner as to have uniformity in dimensions, and because of this all of the letter blocks will snugly engageY the strips and recesses in the base howsoever placed in respect thereto:

In the interest of convenience, a base of an appropriate size similar to the base of the sign may be provided as al letterholder or rack for the letter blocks which are not in use.

It is apparent that while I have shown the strips in the hase intersecting each other at right angles, a different angular relation o f these strips is possible and I do not desire 1t to be understood that the invention is limited t'o the form herein specifically described for it is apparent that it is susceptible of embodiment in other forms Without departing from the spirit of the invention and coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. A letter block for a sign outfit comprising a board having a plurality of square recesses which are separated by raised strips and letter blocks to be engaged by said strips, said block having four projections on its under surface arranged in a square whose dimensions correspond with those of a recess, the projections being spaced from each other a distance corresponding to the width of the raised strips on the board.

2. A sign outit comprising a board having a plurality of polygonal recesses separated by two series of strips, the strips in one series being parallel to each other and running at an angle to the strips of the other series, and a plurality of letter blocks, each having a` letter on its upper surface and a plurality of projections on its lower surface, said projections being arranged to t within a single recess in the board when in one position on the board or to blank both sides of a strip when the block is in another position on the board.

3. A sign outfit comprising a board background having a plurality of polygonal recesses separated by two series of strips, the strips in one series being parallel to each other and running in a direction at right angles with the strips of the other series, a plurality of letter blocks, each having a letter on its upper surface and a plurality of projections on its lower surface for engaging the sides of any one strip or of two adjacent strips depending upon the position of the letter block upon the board and means for holding the letter blocks in predetermined positions with their propections engaging the strips of said board.

4. The combination set forth in claim 3 in which the means for holding the letter blocks in predetermined positions comprises the glass cover of a box which overlies the surf face of the board.

5. In combination, a base for supporting letter blocks, said base having in its upper surface a plurality of uniformly disposed recesses separated by strips, and a plurality of letter blocks adapted to be located in different positions in respect tosaid strips, each of said letter blocks having on its under side a plurality of projections so spaced that adjacent projections may be disposed in recesses on the opposite sides of a strip or in a sin le recess, depending upon the position it is esired that the block remain in respect to the surface of the base.

6. In combination, a base for supporting letter blocks, said base having in its upper surface two series of raised strips, at right angles to each other and forming a plurality of rectangular recesses in the base, and letter blocks arrangeable in different positions upon said base, each of said blocks being provided on its under side with a plurality of propections so proportioned as to lie Within a single recess of the base or at opposite sides of a single strip, depending upon the position it is desired that the block remain in respect to the surface of the base.

In testimony whereof I hereto aix my signature. Y

ANDREW THOMPSON.

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