US1973982A - Advertising exhibitor - Google Patents

Description

Filed.April 11. 1932 3 Sheets-Sheet l In venian.y

llomeys 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fi led April ll 1932 z o Z @o 7 6 new o 6 M6 0 O 9 M n Z 0U/ Z7 f` ,w1/x @s rnrrnm Jl/m/ /1 .1/9 a 7 .J N 4Z ZZ@ D11/enfers VMM. Zz/Lw Sept. 18, 1934. w. D. HAWK AL 1,973,982-

ADVERTISING EXHIBITOR Filed April 1l, 1952 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 MAMMUT Inventors fil/army.;

Patented Sept. 18, 1934 1,973,982 PATENT oFFlc UNITED STATES Hawk- Applicatio April 11, 193-2, Serial No. 604,388i

2 claims. (oi. io- 42) ur invention relatesv to advertising exhibitors that has particular reference to a device for displaying changeable advertising upon a moving Vehicle such as a taxicab. It is well known in the art of advertising that one of the most eective forms of advertisingis that of producing a changeable exhibition in view of persons who may view the same, particularly in places where the attention of the person is not distracted by other sights or sounds.

The object of our invention, therefore, is to provide a changeable exhibitor which may be readily placed on a vehicle in View of the persons who may be riding in the vehicle, and to present diierent advertisements as the vehicle progresses.

Another objectV of our invention is to provide an advertising exhibitor, particularly adapted for taxicabs, the movement oi the taxicab being employed for the purpose of changing the exhibition of advertisements.

A furthe-r object of our invention is to provide a simple compact projector which may be employed for projecting a series of different advertisements, the motor power for which may be driven from the drive of the taxicab.

A still further object of our invention is to provide an exhibitor as set forth in the preceding paragraph in which a novel means for taking power from the taxi mete-r drive may be employed to drive the exhibit-or. p y

Other objects of our invention will be apparent from a study of the following specications, read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an elevation View of the interior of a taxicab, illustrating our exhibitor associated with the taxi meter;

Figure 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the exhibitor taken along the line II-II of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line III-III of Figure 2; l

Figure 4 is a detailed sectional View of a power take off device which may be employed in connection with our exhibitor;

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional View taken along the line V--V of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a detailed elevation View, partly in section, of a light controlling switch which may be employed in connection with our invention;

Figure 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the wiring for supplying power to the exhibitor lamp;

Figure 8 is a detailed view of a modified form of power take `oil device which may be employed with our exhibitor; and

Figure 9 is a vertical sectional View taken along the line IX-IX of Figure 8.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 illustrates the rear wall of a drivers compartiment of a taxicab, as viewed from the position of an occupant of the cab.l This wall is composed of a lower solid section 1 immediately beneath a sill 2 upon which rests suitable glass panels 3 and 4 constituting a window through which the front portion of the cab may be viewed. The glass panel 4 which covers the righthand side of the window opening is usually slid back to the position shown in Figure 1, leaving the righthand section of the window open. The usual arrangement in taxicabs is that a taxi meter 5 is secured in the drivers compartment immediately in front of the sill 2 and below the righthand section of the window so that the fare registering device 6 of the meter may be viewed through a suitable opening 7 in the sill 2. The meter 5 may be of any suitable type such as any of those in common service, and includes a drive device 8 obtaining power from the wheels of the cab and transmitting the same to the operating device of the meter.

By referring particularly to Figures 1, 2, and 3, it will be observed that our advertising exhibitor consists essentially of a box-like housing 9, preferably rectangular in horizontal cross section to provide a rear wall l, end walls 11 and 12, and a front wall 13. The front wall 13 is provided with a pair of openings 14 and 15 formed by suitable frames 16 and 17.

` Immediately in the rear of the opening 15 is a screen 18 which may be formed of any suitable material, though we prefer to employ a plate of ground glass secured to the housing 9 by means of suitable brackets 19 and 20, the screen 18 being spaced inwardly of the housing to provide the Aeiect of a dark box, permitting images projected upon thescreen to be more clearly viewed during daylight.

The advertising 'matter to be projected upon the screen is preferably printed upon a transparent film 21, which may be of the character commonly employed in the motion picture art, a short length of which permits the printing of a large number of images advertising the same or different products, services, etc., to be exhibited by our device. The lm 21 is illustrated as comprising an endless belt, or strip of lm extending over and Aengaging a suitable drive sprocket 22 forming a part of an intermittent drive mechanism such as that commonly employed in motion picture projectors and comprising an intermittent gear 23 which may be of the star and wheel or Genevatype or any other suitable gearing which will produce an intermittent rotation of the sprocket 22.

The sprocket 22 and gear 23 are illustrated as being rotatably mounted upon a frame 24 which also supports a drive shaft 25 connected to the wheel 26 of the intermittent gearing 23 and receiving power through a beveled gear 27 which is in turn driven by bevel gear 28 mounted upon and rotatable with a shaft 29.

The frame 24 also constitutes the mounting for an aperture plate past which the lm 21 is moved and immediately in front of which a projector lens system 31 is mounted. j

A lamp 32 is illustrated as being mounted within the housing 9 immediately behind the frae 24 to project light through a suitable `-opening in the frame, and thence through the 21, ap'- erture plate 30 and lens system 31 t'o project the images from the lm to the screen 18. If desirecl, a suitable reflector 33 may be mounted upon a bracket 34 immediatelybehind the lamp 32 to assist in focusing the light 'from the lamp upon the film. The reflector 33 may be secured to ,the bracket 34 by means of a screw 35 passing through a slot 36 in the bracket so that the re'- flector may be moved to various positions upon the bracket to properly focus the light upon the lm.

In order to permit the considerablelength of throw of the projector lenssystem to the screen, the lens system "is mounted so as to project the light substantially longitudinally 'of the housing 9 and a mirror 37 may be interposed to reflect the light toward the screen 18. Preferably the mirror 37 is mounted upon a suitable backing or base 38 which is supported by means :of Aa bracket 39 attached at one end thereof so that a space 40 is provided between the lower ledge 'of the mirror 37 and the bottom 41 ofthe housingl?.

Similarly a space 42 'is provided between the mirror and the top i3` of thehdusin'g 9 so that the endless belt or strip-of lm 21 may pass over and under the mirror, thus adapting the projector for a vconsiderable length of hlm 'and insure it that the film will not interfere 'with the images projected from the lens system.

By referring particularly to Figures 1, A4, and 5, lt will be robserved that the drive device 8 lfor the operation of the taxi meter 'consists of a flexible tube 44 Within which hperates a flexible shaft 45, the end of the 'shaft 115` being provided :with a detachable connector 46 'to engage a shaft 47 projecting 'from the taxi meter, 'and connected within the meter to the `driven portions 'of the fare registering device. ,y A

We have illustrated a power take orf `'device 48, which may be employed with the usual drive d'evice 8 for the taxi meter so that a drive "for our projector may be taken from the normal ydrive devide 8 of the meter. The power take olf device illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 comprises afbcx-like housing 49 having a bottom plate 50, and `a top plate 51 between which a. pair of ' gears 52 and 5 3 maybe journaled. The gear j5`2 "is preferably provided with a shank k54` extending downwardly `from its hun 55, the shank being foi-'meu kof suitable configurationto rengage the Ydetachabl:e conhector 46 of the flexible 'drive shaft '45 so that the drive Shaftv '45 may be disconnected from its normal shaft 47 and be connected to the shank 54 merely'by removing the' end vflange 56 ofthe exible tube 44 from the bottom of the 'taxi meter, securing the top plate 51 'of the power take olf l'device 48 to the bottom of the meter in place thereof, and then 'securing the flange 56 to Vthe bottom of the 'power take off device.

By the employment of this cciistruc'tomho alteration of the taxi meter, nor newer different parts are requiredfor `the meter "andthe take oif of power is 'accomplished ina very simple manner.

The gearV 53 'is illustrated as being secured to and rotatable with its shaft 57, the upper e'nd 58 of the shaft being -formed of' suitable cong'uration to engage 'a `detachable"c'onhe'ctor 59iof'a short section of flexible drive shaft which may be housed Within a section of flexibleY tube 61 secured to the top plate 51 by means of a flange 62. The opposite end of the flexible shaft 60 is also provided with a detachable connector 63 which 'mas7 engage a suitably formed end 64 of a vertical shaft 65 mounted in bearings 66 and 67 and vexteildiig'vertically through the bottom 41 of the v projector housing 9, The shaft 65 is preferably connected through miter gearing 68 to drive the shaft 29 supplying power to the projector drive apparatus.

With the construction thus far described, our projector `equipped with the lamp 32 and our projector drive mechanism and lm 2l mayl be i'nsertedupon the taxi meter already in use upon a taxcab, and may be secured in place in any suitable manner as by attaching a bracket 69 between the projector housing 9 and the sill 2 `of the cab structure. The power take off device 48 may then be inserted in place upon the taxi meter 5 and the flexible drive connection 6061 may be connected `to Vthe power take-off device.

Thus, as the taxicab is operated, the movement of the cabrcauses intermittent rotation of the drive sprocket 22 to successively pass the por-- tions of the film 21 past the aperture plate 30 and lens 'system 31 vto successively project the images of the film upon the screen.

In order to permit movement of the sprocket v22 to kchange the image without exhibiting the film during the movement of the film, we may employ a cam 79 mounted upon and rotatable with the shaft 25 lto engage and 'operate a switch 71 interposed inthe circuit to the lamp 32 so that during the operation of the intermittent gearing 23, the lamp is'extinguished, but is immediately relighted when the movementof the ufilm is completed. Y

Thus, as long as the taxicab is in motion, successiveadvertisements will be displayed upon the screen 18.

A The opening 14 in the front Wall of the housing 9 is preferably closed by means of an opaque plate 72`secured to the frame 16 by engagement in slots 73 therein, so that the plate 7-2 may be removed from the opening to permit access to the intermittent driving mechanism and lamp to vpermit adjustment thereof, and to` permit Ychanging the lm Vwhen desired. The plate 72 'preferably abuts the outer edge of the frame 24, and a suitable packing 74.- may be interposed between thernto prevent light passing from the lamp to the remaining portion of the housing 9,

thus providinga substantially light-proof chamber 75 for containing the lamp.

Since it is desirable that the exhibition of 'advertisements occur only when the cab is 4occupied by persons who may view the same, the

lamp 32 may be arranged to be extinguished-f whenever the cab is vacant or not in service, and also while lthe cab is waiting, even though the cab is 'in the service of a patron during such waiting period. For this reason, we have illustrated the circuit 'for the lamp 32 in Figure '7, j

as extending from the usual battery 76, which supplies current to the lights and to the motor 'of the cab by way of a circuit-extending through conductor 77, ignition switch 78, to ajunction itc vpoint 79, whence one branch 80 extends to the i:

ignition system of the cab, while the other branch extendsY by way'of -conductor 81 to a iiagjoperated switch `82 (to be described in detail here,- inafter), and thence through conductor 83, cam operated switch 71, conductor 84, nlamp 32, and

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conductor 85, to ground at 86, it being understood that one terminal of the battery 76 is grounded as at 87 after the practice of grounding the electrical systems of automobiles now in general use.

It will thus be observed that during any such periods the cab is waiting with the engine stopped, as by turning off the ignition switch 78, no current will be supplied to the lamp 37.

By referring particularly to Figures 1 and 6, it will be observed that the flag operated switch 82 comprises a suitable housing 88 to which is secured a pair of contact members 89 and 90 arranged to be bridged by a contact piece 91 secured to and movable with a rod or bar 92 arranged to reciprocate through the housing 88. The housing 88 is illustrated as being secured to a relatively thin mounting plate 93 which is arranged to be interposed between the bearing flange 94 constituting the bearing for the ag shaft 95 of the usual cab meter construction upon which is mounted the in or out service flag 96 operated by the taxi driver whenever his cab is placed in service or is taken out of service.

Thus, the switch 82 may be mounted upon the usual taxi meter construction by removing the flag 96 and flange 94, placing the plate 93 upon the shaft 95 and replacing the flange 94 at the flag 96.

It will be observed that a portion of the hub 97 of the flag 96 is cut away as at 98 to form a flattened surface thereon, the flattened surface being arranged at any suitable position such that when the cab is vacant and the flag in the proper position, the normal thickness of material of the hub 97 will be presented to the rod or bar 92 to hold the contact piece 91 out of engagement with the contacts 89 and 90, while when the flag is moved to indicate that the cab is in service and (as is usual) to start the operation of the fare registering mechanism of the meter, the flattened surface 98 will be presented to the bar 92 permitting the bar 92 to move upwardly under the influence of a compression spring 99 to thus bring the contact piece into engagement with its contacts. Therefore, the lamp 32 will not be lighted unless the cab is in service which usually means there is a passenger in the cab to View the advertisements which may be exhibited. It will be observed that we provide a device for automatically exhibiting a changeable series of advertisements during the normal operation of the cab whenever a passenger is within the cab, but which automatically cuts out the effect of the operation of the exhibitor when there is no passenger within the cab to view the same.

The flag-operated switch 82 may also be employed for operating or controlling an independent driving means 110 for the nlm-feeding mechanism, if it is desired to drive this mechanism independent of the movement of the vehicle.

By referring to Figure 7, it will be observed that an independent driving means 110 may comprise an electric motor having a eld winding 111, and an armature 112 connected in oircuit with the switch 82 so that the motor may drive the film-feeding mechanism whenever the flag 96 is in a position to cause operation of the meter elements.

By referring particularly to Figures 8 and 9, it will be observed that a modified form of power take-off device 48a is illustrated as comprising a housing 49a, a top plate 51a, and a bottom plate 50a, constituting the mounting for spur gears 100,

101, and 102. The top plate 51a is illustrated as having an extending portion 103 thereof, arranged to be secured immediately between the bottom of the meter 5 and the normal ange 56 which connects the taxi meter drive 8 to the bottom of the meter 5. The usual arrangement of gearing within the taxi meter 5 includes a gear 104 mounted upon and rotated by the shaft 47 which connects to the detachable connector 46 of the taxi meter drive, and the gear 104 meshes with other gears such as 105, arranged to drive the fare registering device of the meter. In this form of power take-olf device, one of the gears within the meter 5 (such as the gear 105) is removed and a slot 106 cut in the shaft thereof to receive the extending tongue 107 of the shaft 108 upon which the gear 102 of the power take-off device is secured, it being understood that the shaft 108 extends through the plate 51a. Thus, in this modiiication, the power for driving the exhibitor is taken not directly from the exible drive shaft 45, but from one of the intermediately driven gears of the fare registering device.

By employing the power take-off disclosed in Figures 8 and 9, the driving mechanism of the exhibitor will not be in operation except when the meter is in operation for the purpose of measuring the service of the cab. That is, the operation of the flag which sets the meter into operation will, by reason of the usual connections of the gearing within the meter, cause an operation of the gear 105 so that driving power may be applied to the power take-off gear 102 only when the meter is in operation, a condition which exists only when there is a person within the cab.

By referring to Figure 8, it will be observed that the configuration of the housing 49a is such that the shaft 109 for the gear 100 is disposed to the side of the taxi meter construction 5, and is formed of such configuration as will permit the attachment of the short flexible shaft 60 to permit driving of the shaft 60 from the power takeoff device.

While we have shown and described the preferred embodiment of our invention, we do not wish to be limited to any 0f the details of construction shown or described herein except as defined in the appended claims.

We claim:

1. In a device for exhibiting advertising upon a vehicle having a meter for measuring service of said vehicle, means for driving said meter and a meter control means for controlling the operation of said meter by said driving means, a changeable exhibitor including a plurality of advertising indicia elements and means for moving said elements to successively exhibit the same; power take-off means for connection with said meter driving means for driving said indicia moving means; and means for illuminating said indicia, and means opel-ably responsive to the actuation of said meter control means for controlling said illuminating means.

2. In a device for exhibiting advertising on a motor driven taxicab having a taxi-meter thereon a changeable exhibitor including a plurality of advertising indicia elements, and means for moving said elements to successively exhibit the same, an electric lamp for said indicia elements, and a circuit for controlling said lamp, including in series relation the ignition switch for the taxicab motor, and a switch operable by actuation of the flag of the taxi meter.

WALTER D. HAWK. ROWLAND S. CARTER.

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