US2138888A - Changeable light advertising device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 6, 1938. w. w. SHIGLEY I CHANGEABLE LIGHT ADVERTISING DEVICE Filed Sept. 29', 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l W/wm W256 INVENI OR.

ATTORNEY Dec. 6, 1938.

w. w. SHIGLEY ,*13'8n88% CHANGEABLE LIGHT ADVERTISING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 29, 1957 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY.

Y Wm Wsm /e Patented Dec. 6, 1938 UNITED STATES CHANGEABLE LIGHT ADVERTISING DEVICE William W. Shigley, Bellcville, N. J., assignor, by direct and mesne assignments, of one-half to E. Daniel Bush and one-half to 0. Abbott Bush, both of Brooklyn, N. Y.

Application September 29, 1937, Serial No. 166,330

2 Claims. (Cl. 240-101) The purpose of this invention is to provide improvements in the mechanism of a device having a plurality of lights rotating on a rotating member by regulating the speed between the two members, and holding the two members in relation to each other to produce substantially any design desired.

The invention is a plurality of lights in the ends of arms rotatably mounted in the end of a bar also rotatably mounted, in which the lights are positively driven, and the movement thereof drags the bar in which they are mounted around, and means is provided between the driving means and the mounting means of the bars for positively regulating the diiference in speed-.between the bar and arm, and means is also provided in the regulating means for holding the members at substantially any point so that the rotating lights will produce one design instead of continually changing to different designs.

This device is an improvement over the devices shown in my prior Patent Number 2,055,777, and application with the Serial Number 99,043, in that friction discs are provided at the rear of the motor which drives the device, and means is provided for moving one friction disc across the other to vary the speed of the respective members, and means is also provided for holding said disc at any point to maintain a constant speed between the members.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to provide means in the machine of my prior patent and application for positively controlling the different designs produced by the lights thereof.

Another object is to provide means for controlling the designs by controlling the speed of one member in relation to the other in order to produce a greater variety .of designs.

Another object is to provide means for controlling the speed of the two rotating members, in which the controlling means may be set at any point to cause the said rotating members to produce any design or any group of designs.

A further object is to provide an improvement in the mounting of the parts of these devices to insure continuous operation, and also to prolong the life thereof.

And a still further object is to provide improved mechanism for mounting and controlling the operating parts of changeable light devices which is relatively simple, and which makes it possible to produce a device of a simple and economical construction.

With these ends in View the invention embodies a device having a plurality of lights mounted in the ends of arms of a spider, with the arms mounted on the end of an arm, in which the arm is mounted upon a shaft in independent bearings, with the spider positively driven from a motor, and with a disc also driven by the opposite end of the motor frictionally engaging a disc on said shaft, and having a cam driven by the motor controlling the operation of the disc on the shaft in order to engage the motor driven disc at different points from the center to readily change the speed of the operating parts.

Other features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection With the drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a front view of the device with the front plate omitted.

Figure 2 is a cross section through the case showing the parts in elevation.

Figure 3 is a sectional plan with the casing omitted, and with the parts shown in'elevation.

Figure 4 is a detail on line Q-fl of Figure 3, showing the friction disc operating means with parts omitted.

Figure 5 is a section through the casing showing the mechanism in elevation on an enlarged scale, and in this view parts are omitted in order to illustrate the device more clearly, as the electrical contacts and the hubs of the gears are not shown, thereby illustrating an alternate design in which the electrical contacts and gear bearings may be built into the respective parts.

In the drawings the device is shown as it may be made, wherein numeral l indicates the small rotating member or spider, numeral 2, the larger rotating member or arm, and numeral 3, the

motor.

In this design the arm 2is rotatably mounted in bearings 4 and 5 upon a base 6, and the motor is also mounted upon the base and geared to a shaft 1 through which the arm 2 is rotatably mounted in the bearings t and 5, and, although the arm is fixedly mounted on the shaft l, the gears are freely mounted upon the shaft, and the shaft 1 is, therefore, not directly connected to or driven by the motor.

The motor shaft 8 extends outward at both ends of the motor, and on one end a gear 9 is fixedly mounted, and this gear meshes with a gear iilfreely mounted on the shaft 1, and connected by the hub H of the gear to another gear l2 which meshes with a gear IS on the spider shaft I 4 which is rotatably mounted in the outer end of the arm 2. The spider l is, therefore,

positively driven from the motor through the gears 9, I 0, I2 and I3, and, therefore, starts to rotate as soon as the motor is started, and as this spider rotates the friction of the parts thereof contacting with the air cause it to drag the arm 2 around, thereby rotating the shaft 1, and, as the shaft 1 rotates, it rotates a disc l5 which is in frictional engagement with the surface of another disc l6 fixedly mounted on a shaft IT and positively driven from the motor through worm gears l8 and I9. It will be noted that, with the disc I 5 engaging the periphery of the disc I6, the shaft 1 will be driven at the highest speed, and as the disc 15 moves backward to-.- ward the center of the disc Hi the speed will decrease, and substantially stop with the disc at the center. The position of the disc I5 is controlled by a cam 20 which engages a sliding block 2! slidably mounted on a square shaft 22, as shown in Figure 4, and this block is provided with an extending member 23 that extends upward into a groove 24 of a collar 25 on the disc l5, and, with the collar and disc keyed to the shaft 1 through a key 26, it will rotate with the shaft in any position. It will be noted that the cam 28 engages a plate 2! at the opposite end of the member 2|, and it will also be noted that the member 2| is resiliently held against the cam by a spring 28 positioned on the square shaft 22. The periphery of the cam, as shown in Figure 5, is preferably of an odd shape, however, this may be shaped to obtain any desired movement of'the member 2| so that any combination of speeds of the rotating parts may be obtained, and, as different designs are produced by the rotating lights 29 in the ends of the arms of the spider l as the center of the spider is rotated about the shaft 1 at different speeds in proportion to the speed of the spider, it will be noted that the periphery of the cam may be shaped to obtain any design or any combination of designs desired.

The cam 20 is fixedly mounted on the end of a shaft 30, and this shaft is also positively driven from the motor 3 by a worm gear 3| on the motor shaft which meshes with a gear 32 on a vertical shaft 33, and on the lower part of the shaft 33 is another gear 34 that meshes with a gear 35 keyed to the shaft 30. This is only a typical arrangement of the gears, and, therefore, these parts are not shown in detail, as it will be understood that any gear reduction now in use, such as is ordinarily built into the end of a motor, may be used. In this design, however, the gear 35 is provided with a sleeve 36 that extends along the shaft 30, and the outer end of the sleeve is provided with a set collar 31 which engages the end of a bushing 38 threaded into the housing 39 at the end of the motor in which the gears are mounted, and, as the bushing is screwed outward by a knurled collar 40 thereon, it will draw the sleeve and gear 35 outward so that the gear is not in mesh with the gear 34, and, therefore, the cam 2|] is disconnected from the motor. The bushing 38 is provided with a lock nut 4| to hold it in the inner or outer position, and the outer end of the bushing is also provided with a lock nut 42 on a split threaded portion 43 thereof, which may look the sleeve 36 in the bushing so that the sleeve 36 may be turned to set the cam 20 in any desired position, and then locked so that it is stationary, thereby holding the device with the parts operating to produce any desired design.

The electrical contacts have been omitted in Figure 5, and are only illustrated in Figure 3, as it will be understood that these parts will be incorporated in the different members, and individual complete circuits may be used or they may be grounded as shown. In Figure 3 one terminal of the light bulbs is grounded to the machine, and the other terminal is connected by a wire 44 to a contact 45, which extends through the arm to a ring 46 on the inside thereof, and insulated therefrom by an insulating ring 41, and the ring 46 is in brush contact with a contact member 48 on the arm 2, which contact extends toward the center and engages an inner insulated rod 49 which extends through and is insulated from the shaft 1, and the other end thereof engages a contact 50 which may be connected by a wire 5| to any suitable source of electric current, the opposite terminal of which is grounded to the frame.

In the design shown, this device is incorporated in a casing 52 mounted on a base 53 and provided with a transparent window 54, however, it will be understood that the casing may be of any type or design, and may be arranged in any manner.

It will also be understood that other changes may be made in the construction without departing from the spirit of the invention. One of which changes may be in the use of other means for controlling the different speeds between the two operating parts, another may be in the use of other means for setting the speed of the large rotating arm to obtain any suitable design, and still another may be in the use of other means for operating or controlling the proportionate speeds of these parts to produce a greater number of designs.

The construction will be readily understood from the foregoing description. In use the device may be provided as shown and described, and it will be noted that, as the motor is started, the spider I will rotate, spinning the lights 29 around in a circle, and, with lights of different colors, a stationary ring would be obtained if the spider were held in one position, however, as the shaft 7 starts to rotate, and permits the spider to be rotated about the center, these lights will produce a relatively large number of different designs, and the number of designs, and also the designs produced, may be controlled by the cam and friction discs.

The advantage of this arrangement, as compared with that of my prior patent and application, is in the fact that a relatively small ratio of speed of the small rotating member to the large rotating member may be obtained, and this increases the life of the wearing parts of the device.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a display device of the type having lights mounted in the ends of the arms of a spider, in which the spider is rotatably mounted in the end of a freely rotatable arm and adapted to be driven directly by rotating means; a shaft upon which said arm is mounted, a friction disc slidable on said shaft connected therethrough to said arm and providing the rotating means for said arm, another friction disc rotatably mounted and driven by said rotating means, said latter disc engaging the former friction disc, means changing the position of one disc in relation to 75 the other to adjust the speed of rotation of the respective parts, and means adapted to hold the said first mentioned disc at different points of contact with said latter disk whereby the lights may be controlled to produce one design 2. A device, as described in claim 1, in which.

the means changing the position of one disc in WILLIAM W. SHIGLEY.

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