US2181889A - Decorative illuminating system - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 5, 1939. E c HANSON 2,181,889

DECORATIVE ILLUMINATING SYSTEM Filed March 23, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 fnuenfi IarZ Cflanson Dec.'5, 1939. E. c. HANSON 2,131,389

DECORATIVE ILLUMINATI NG SYSTEM Filed March 23, 1936 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 7 [zzuezzi'fir ZT'arZ C Hanson new so craz WM @3 Patented Dec. 5, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application March 23,

4 Claims.

This invention relates to display devices and more particularly to a system of utilizing gas .filled envelopes free of any electrical connection to an exterior source in conjunction with a base or background device carrying means for transmitting high frequency wave energy to the gas in the envelope when the envelope is placed in close proximity to the base.

In carrying out the present invention, the gas filled envelopes may take any desired shape or design, utilitarian or otherwise. However, it is preferred to utilize envelopes which are so shaped as to perform some useful function as for example glass tubes bent to form letters or receptacles having in a portion thereof a sealed chamber containing the gas.

The invention contemplates filling the gas chamber of the envelopes with any one of many gaseous combinations such for example'as plain neon gas for giving its characteristic color, a neon and mercury vapor combination, argon gas, helium and argon in combination to produce a blue and white effect, and, of course, either of these gases may be combined with any one of the other, as is well understood in this art, and with other gases such as xenon and krypton and carbon dioxide. The gaseous fillings may be either pure or contain a certain amount of impurities which in many instances enhance the variations in color displayed.

It is the principal purpose of this invention to provide a combination with the above mentioned envelopes of a supporting base or table having therein conducting elements charged with 35 high frequency electric energy capable of being transmitted to the gas in the envelopes when the envelopes are placed in various positions on the table. In connection with the table, it is preferable that the envelopes take the form of some device normally used on the table such for example as ash trays, drinking glasses, goblets, stirring rods, etc. The high frequency energy source is so conducted to the table or other base member as to make the high frequency energy available only at certain well defined portions of the surface of the base member.

The invention also contemplates the construction of a device of this character wherein the gas which is made luminous by the high frequency energy transmitted thereto can be made to vary in color as the envelope is moved with respect to the base which carries the high frequency radiating mechanism. It has been found that, by varying the position of the gas envelopes between two capacity areas, the design in the gas changes,

1936, Serial N0. 70,489

and the color also varies with the change in position of the envelope.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description, reference being had to the accompanying draw- 8 ings wherein the preferred form of the invention is shown. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by 30 the claims.

In the drawings- Fig. 1 is a small perspective view of a pedestal table embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view with a part of the top broken away of the top of the table shown in Fig.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Figs. 4 is a sectional view on. the line 4-4 of Fig.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of one of the parts shown in Fig. 3;

Fig. '7 is a view of front elevation of a sign embodying the invention;

Fig. 8 is a view on the line 8-8 of Fig.7;

Fig. 9 is an enlarged view taken on the line 9-9. of Fig. 7; Fig. 10 is a diagrammatic view of the circuit employed; and

Figs. 11 and 2 are diagrammatic views of the energized capacity elements for radiating the high frequency energy.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, I show the invention as applied to a table of the pedestal type and to a sign of the panel type. Three different forms of gas filled envelopes are disclosed. For example, in Fig. 1 an ash tray 5 and a cen- 40 tral ornamental figure 6 are provided. The showing in Figs. 7 to 9 includes a gas filled tube 1 which contains any one of the suitable gases and which may be bent into any desired shape.

The central ornament 6 as well as the ash tray 5 is provided with a gas chamber. These ornaments are preferably constructed of a suitable glass of the Pyrex type. The particular glass being used is that made at Coming and which 60 has beenused for the construction of the huge telescope lens that is to be installed in California. The gas filled envelopes 5, 6, and 'l are applied to any suitable base which separates them by means of a dielectric sheet from a pair of capacity elements which are energized from a suitable source of high frequency current.

In Fig. 1, the envelopes 5 and 6 are shown as resting upon a table top I9 which is supported by a pedestal ii upon a base l2. The table top I 9 is preferably a laminated structure which has a top layer l3 made of a suitable dielectric such as glass, one of the synthetic resin compounds, or other suitable dielectric. Backing up the dielectric sheet I 3, there may be a second layer 14 also of dielectric, or insulating material such as wood, and a third and fourth layer l5 and I6 may be provided to give a substantial body to the table top. Between the layers 13 and I4, I provide a capacity element l1, theform of which is shown in Fig. 11. This capacity element is preferably made of metal foil laid between the sheets l3 and I4. Directly beneath the sheet 14 and resting upon the layer I5 is a second capacity element l8 which is shaped substantially like the element 11 and is composed of the same material, namely metal foil. There is one variation made from the element l8. It has one section l9 laid between the sheets l3 and I4 so as to be in line with the element 1. This portion 19, however, is spaced horizontally from a central portion 29 of the element I 1 and does not connect with the element 11 at any point. The two elements 11 and I8 have terminal members 2| and 22, respectively, which terminal members project through the layer 15 and are adapted to contact a pair of contact pins 23 and 24.

High frequency oscillations such as are applied to the capacity elements l1 and I6 tend to produce disturbance on radio receiving sets in the near vicinity unless proper precautions are taken to prevent this trouble. In the present instance, this dimculty is prevented by providing a metal band 25 around the table top 19 which metal band is grounded by means of a conductor 26, connected, by means of a contact pin 21, to the pedestal ll of the table which pedestal is in turn grounded upon the base l2 as will be readily understood. The table top I9 is secured by gluing or screws or other suitable means to a mounting disk 28 which mounting disk is secured to a metal plate 29 carried by the top of the pedestal ll.

The plate 29 has a pair of insulating bushings 39 and 3| in which the contact pins 23 and 24 are mounted. This plate and the pedestal II are secured to the disk 28 by screw bolts 32. The pedestal ,II is in the form of a cylindrical metal sleeve that is clamped between the plate 29 and the base l2 by means of a pair of rods 33 and 34. The base l2 consists of a casting 35 and a shell 36. The shell 36 has an annular flanged opening 31 at the center, and this opening is covered by a ring 38 which has a curved rim portion 39 hooking over the flange around the opening and serving to position the lower end of the pedestal II. The rods 33 and 34 go through the ring 38 and through the casting 35 and, are secured by means of a pair of nuts 49 and 4|. A foraminated screen 42 is secured to the ends of the rods 33 and 34 by a pair of nuts 43 and 44.

The rods 33 and 34 serve as a supporting means for an oscillator tube 45, fuse elements 46, a transformer 41, a condenser 48, and a primary coil 49 with its secondary 59. These elements 45 to 59 constitute the means for transmitting suitable high frequency oscillations to the contact pins 23 and 24 as will be readily understood in connection with the description of the circuit to be made hereinafter.

The oscillator tube 45 is mounted in a suitable base 51 which is carried by a plate 52 of insulating material. The plate 52 is threaded on the rods 33 and 34 and is held in proper position by a pair of spacing sleeves 53 and 54 of insulating material which sleeves are threaded on the rods 33 and 34. The tube 45 is prevented from working out of its socket by a spring support 55 carried by screen 42. This screen permits air to circle around the tube and prevents overheating. The fuse elements 46 are supported upon a. plate 56 which is spaced from the plate 52 by a pair of sleeves 51 and 56 threaded on the rods 33 and 34. The transformer 41 is carried by a suitable frame 59 which is also properly located on the rods 33 and 34 by means of spacer sleeves 69 and 6| of insulating material and a pair of sleeves 62 and 63 interposed between the top and bottom flanges of the frame 59. The condenser 48 is carried by a'plate 64 which is threaded on the rods 33 and 34 and spaced from the transformer 41 by spacer sleeves 65 and 66. Similarly, the primary 49 is supported on the rods 33 and 34 above the condenser 48 by means of a plate 61' and spacer sleeves 68 and 69. The secondary coil 59 extends down inside the primary coil 49 and has a flange 19 which rests on a plate 1| threaded on the rods 33 and 34 above a pair of spacer sleeves 12 and 13. A pair of spacing sleeves 14 and 15 space the plate 1| from the metal plate 29, and the-metal plate is held in place by a pair of nuts 16 and 11 screw threaded on the upper ends of the rods 33 and 34. The terminals of the secondary coil 59 lead to the contact pins 23 and 24 as shown in Fig. 3.

As shown best by Figs. 1 and 5, the condenser 49 may be adjusted by inserting a tool through an opening 18 provided in the pedestal II to engage with a shaft 19 of the condenser 48. Any suitable means such as the ordinary flexible cord may be used to connect ordinary 110 volt 60 cycle alternating current to the transformer 41. Suitable condensers and choke coils may, of course, be supplied in the input circuit of the transformer 41 to prevent the high frequency oscillations from being fed back into the 60 cycle line.

Referring now to Fig. 10 which is a diagrammatic showing-of the circuit employed, the transformer 41 is shown as receiving its current from a suitable source of alternating current at 110 volts and 60 cycles through the fuse 46. A pair of filter circuits 89 and 8| including choke coils 82 and 83, condensers 84 and 85, and a grounded plate 86 are connected in the primary of the transformer 41. The transformer 41 supplies the oscillator tube 45 through its secondary, and this oscillator tube in turn supplies current to the primary coil 49 with the condenser 48 connected across the primary coil 49, as will be readily understood. The secondary 59, as shown, leads directly to the contact pins 23 and 24 which contact the capacity elements I 1 and I 8, respectively.

Referring now to Figs. 7, 8, and 9, the capacity elements 11' and I8 correspond to the elements 11 and I8 described inconnection with the table and may be supplied from a circuit like that shown in Fig. 10. In this case, the display device is supported on a block 99 which may be placed upon a show case or any other suitable support for display devices.

On the block so 7 there is mounted a panel or base member 9| against which the tubes 1 are mounted. The base member 9| may be constructed of any suitable dielectric such for example as an opaque glass. On the back of this base 9| are located the elongated capacity elements I1 and I8, and these elements are covered by a backing 92 of a suitable dielectric material.

In order to support the envelopes 1, these envelopes are provided with tips 93 which are also utilized in sealing off the envelopes when they are pumped and filled with the desired type of gas. The tips 93 project through suitable holes 94 provided in a metal strip 95 that is mounted on the block and at its top is provided with a flange 96 in which the holes 94 are located. The strip is also provided with a raised bead 91 in front of the holes 94 which is utilized to hide the holes 94 from the observer.

In order to line up the envelopes l by pressing them against the base member 9|, a resilient backing member 98 is inserted on top of the block 99 in position to engage against the tips 93 when they are shoved down into the openings 94. This backing member 98 may be constructed of any suitable material such as sponge rubber, and its front face 99 is preferably made sloping so as to have a tendency to tilt the envelopes 1 against the base member 9|.

Referring now more particularly to the device shown in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive, this device may be used in a great number of places and, of course, is only given as a specific example of the means of utilizing a supporting surface as a source of illumination for utilitarian objects such as glasses, ash trays, and the like which have chambers therein containing a gas which can be made to glow when subjected to high frequency oscillations.

With the circuit plugged into an alternating current source, the table is ready for operation with the capacity elements I! and I8 receiving energy from the current source. Now, if a device such as the ash tray 5 be placed over any part of the elements H, the gas therein will be energized by high frequency radiations and will produce light of a characteristic color depending upon the type of gas used. The light follows rather closely the shape of the elements l1, and I have found that, by making these elements such as H in the shape of any desired character, letter, or figure, this character letter or figure will be reproduced in the gas so as to be visible in the bottom of the device 5 or a similar device. Thus it is possible to have any letter or series of letters that are not visible on the top of the table become visible by merely passing a gas envelope such as 5 over them.

I find also that different lighting effects can be obtained in the gas as the envelope is moved away from a position directly over the parallel elements l1 and I9. As the envelope 5 is moved along the table in a horizontal direction, that part of the gas in the envelope which is directly over the element I! will be most intensely lighted while that part which is spaced from the horizontal element I1 will have a different and less intense illumination up to a point where the illumination ceases entirely. Similarly, in the case where the portion IQ of the member I8 is at the same level, but horizontally spaced from the element l'l, an envelope placed over either the portion l9 or the element II will be caused to glow brilliantly with the characteristic color of the gas predominating in the envelope, and movement of the envelope from its position over one of the elements toward the other will cause changes in the color of the illumination due to changes in intensity of the field between the elements. In this fashion, it is possible to get an infinite number of combinations of lighting effects by varying the shapes of the envelopes and their contents and by varying the shapes of the capacity elements i1 and I9.

The features and advantages of the presentinvention will, it is believed, be readily apparent from the foregoing description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings. While the vessels to be illuminated are preferably made of glass it is to be understood that they may be made of glass substitutes or material similar to glass and the word glass as used in the appended claims is intended to mean either glass or similar material.

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

1. A display combination for illuminating glass vessels having sealed chambers filled with a gas capable of being made luminous by a high frequency wave transmitted thereto by a radiator, a table comprising a pedestal and top, said top being made up of a plurality of layers of dielectric material, and interposed therebetween, two layers of metal foil extending over only a portion of the table top, said two layers of foil being of substantially the same shape, one directly above the other and separated by one of the layers of dielectric material, said pedestal supporting the top and having means therein for translating ordinary low frequency current into high frequency current which is connected to one of the layers of metal foil and whereby a high frequency wave is emitted for illuminating the gas filled chambers when placed directly over the foil.

2. A display combination for illuminating glass vessels having sealed chambers filled with a gas capable of being made luminous by a high frequency wave transmitted thereto by a radiator, a support for said vessels comprising a top, a sup-- porting structure for said top, said top being made up of a plurality of layers of dielectric material and, interposed therebetween, two layers of metal extending over only a portion of the top, said two metal layers being arranged one directly above the other and being separated by one of the layers of dielectric material, said supporting structure having means therein for translating ordinary low frequency current into high frequency current which is connected to one of the layers of metal whereby a high frequency wave is emitted for illuminating the gas filled chambers when placed directly over the metal.

3. A display combination for illuminating glass vessels having sealed chambers filled with a gas capable of being made luminous by a high frequency wave transmitted thereto by a radiator, a support for the glass vessels comprising a supporting structure and a top, said top being made up of a plurality of layers of dielectric material and, interposed therebetween, two layers of metal extending over only a portion of the table top, said two layers of metal being separated by the dielectric material, said supporting structure supporting the top and having means therein for translating ordinary low frequency current into high frequency current and conducting the high frequency current to the metal layers whereby a high frequency wave is emitted for illuminating the gas filled chambers when said vessels are placed directly over the metal.

4. A display combination for illuminating movable glass vessels having sealed chambers filled 5 with a gas capable of being made luminous by a high frequency wave transmitted thereto by aradiator, an article of furniture forming a support for the glass vessels comprising a supporting structure and a horizontal top made of dielectric ma- 19 terial, a plurality of spaced metal members within said top underneath the top surfaces thereof w aromas and extending underneath only a portion of said surface, said support having means therein for translating ordinary low frequency current into high frequency current, and means for conducting the high frequency current to the metal members whereby a high frequency wave is emitted for variably illuminating the gas filled chambers when moved about on said .top adjacent to said metal members.

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