US2262183A - Display apparatus - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 11, 1941. u. Hu-rcHlNsoN DISPLAY APPARATUS Filed May 17, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet l VII/A Nov. l1, 1941. u. Hu-rcHlNsoN DISPLAY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 17, 1940 3mm z/@ f,

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U. HUTCHINSON DISPLAY' APPARATUS 4 sheets-sheet s Filed May 17, 1940 No v. 11, 1941. u. HuTcHlNsoN DISPLAY APPARATUS 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed May 17, 1940 Patented Nov. 11, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE l1 Claims.

This invention relates to display apparatus, and more particularly to apparatus for continuously and successively displaying a group of separate, independent cards.

The general object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which shall be exceedingly simple in construction and eiiicient and reliable in operation.

To this end, I have devised mechanism comprising a single roller only for elevating the rear card of the group, curving and moving it toward the back of the cabinet, and then reversing its movement and depositing it at the front of the group.

A specific object of the invention is to provide improved cushion means for supporting the cards, so that the impact of the cards upon this cushion means, as they successively drop into position at the front of the group, produces practically no noise or vibration.

In order that the invention may be readily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings forming part of this specication, and in Which- Figure 1 is a perspective View of my improved display apparatus as it appears when in use;

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof on an enlarged scale, with the sides of the cabinet removed to show the mechanism, the cards being omitted for the sake of clearness;

Figures 3 and 4 are elevations, respectively, of the two end frames which support the mechanism;

Figure 5 is a transverse section substantially on the line 5--5 of Figure 2 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 6 is a similar view showing the parts in different positions;

Figure 7 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through my improved operating roller; and

Figure 8 is a transverse section substantially on the line 8 8 of Figure 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

Referring to the drawings in detail, my improved apparatus comprises a casing or cabinet having a base plate I supported on suitable feet 2. To the ends of this base plate are secured similar upstanding end frames 3 and 4, preferably formed of sheet metal and provided with peripheral fiange. The upper end of these end rames is curved or arcuate as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Secured to the outside of the end frames 3 and 4 and resting against the flanges thereof are cover plates 5 as clearly shown in Fig. l. these cover plates being omitted from Fig. 2. The space between the end frames and cover plates and within the flanges of the end frames constitutes a chamber or housing Within which parts of the mechanism hereinafter described are enclosed.

Conforming with the contour of the cover plates 5 is a plate 6 having an arcuate or cylindrical portion .at the top and extending down at the rear to constitute the back wall of the casing or cabinet as shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

At the front of the cabinet, this cover plate 6, which terminates at the end of the curved or arcuate portion is secured in position by means of studs engaging keyhole slots 6a in the ilanges in position by inserting its upper edge under the strip 8 and lifting it to a sufiicient extent to cause its lower edge to clear the strip 9, Whereupon it is dropped in behind the strip 9. A notch l)a (Fig. 2) is provided into which a tool may be inserted to raise the glass when it is desired to remove the same.

In order to prevent the glass from rattling, I provide a pair of plungers II operating `through openings in the anges of the end plates and pressed against the rear surface of the glass by means of leaf springs I2 secured to said flanges.

A chamber is provided Within the cabinet for supporting the cards to be displayed, such chamber comprising an inclined rear wall I3 (Figs. 5 and 6) and a pair of supporting bars I5 extending between the end frames. At the bottom of this card chamber is .a cushion or resilient support on which the group of cards rests, this support being shown as comprising a heavy rubber band I4, held in position by pins I4, looped therethrough at each end and engaging the strip 9 and rear Wall I3, respectively.

Mounted in bearings I6 in the end frames and extending between the same is a shaft Il carrying at one end a relatively large belt wheel I8. An electric motor I9, of any suitable type, is mounted on the base I of the cabinet with its shaft projectingthrough an opening in the end plate, and on such shaft is secured a pulley 20. A belt 2I passes around the wheel I8 and pulley 20 as shown in Fig. 3.

At its other end, the shaft I'I carries a pinion 22 meshing with a gear wheel 23 secured to a shaft 24 journalled in bearings 25 supported by the end frames.

Pivoted to a Wrist pin 26 carried by the gear 23 is a link or connecting rod 2'I, the other end of which is pivoted to a pin 28 carried by a toothed segment 29 journalled upon a stud 30.

Meshing with the toothed segment or rack 29 is a pinion 3| secured to a shaft 32 mounted in suitable bearings and extending between the end frames.

Secured to the shaft 24 is a plurality of pushers or elevating devices, each comprising a disk 33 rigidly united with a segment 33a having marginal flanges 33b (see Figs. 2 and 8) which parts constitute a pocket in which is secured a segmental block 34 of resilient material such as sponge rubber, the edge of which projects a substantial distance beyond the periphery of the disk 33.

Rigidly secured to the shaft 32 as by means of heads 35, is a roller 36, preferably hollow as shown in Fig. '1, and fitted over the outside of this roller are a series of annular friction members 31, preferably formed of resilient material such as sponge rubber and spaced apart by means of spacing rings 38. It may be noted in passing that it is not necessary to positively secure the annular members 31 to the surface of the roller 36, because the friction due to the pressure upon them, as hereinafter described, will cause them to adhere to the roller.

The cards to be displayed are indicated at :6, and, as shown in Figs. and 6, are disposed on edge in a pack in an upright, slightly inclined position. In order to assist in guiding the cards as they are successively deposited at the front of the pack or group as hereinafter described, I provide a pair of guide fingers 39 pivoted at 40 to the end frame, and connected by a rod or bar 4I. As clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6, this rod or bar is eccentric to the pivots 40 and thus constitutes a weight tending to rotate the guide fingers 39 counter-clockwise about the pivots 40 so as to cause their lower ends to yieldngly bear against the pack of cards. In order to facilitate placing the group of cards in position in the' cabinet, I preferably provide a friction device in the nature of a lift spring 4I)a adapted to engage one of the guide fingers 39 when swung forwardly and upwardly, and to temporarily retain it in such inoperative position.

As will be seen by reference to Figs. 5 and 6, the roller carrying the friction elements 31 is disposed adjacent the upper end of the group or pack of cards, and also relatively close to the rear wall of the cabinet.

Cooperating with the friction elements 31 is a stationary guide element 42 in the nature of a piece of sheet metal extending between and supported by the end frames. This guide element is arranged in close proximity to the periphery of the friction elements 31 so as to form a bite between itself and the surface of said elements. A portion of the guide element 42 is concentric with the roller 36 as indicated at 42a, while another portion of said element is substantially tangential to said concentric portion as indicated at 42h, said tangential portion overhanging the upper end of the card group and extending substantially in the direction of the pivots 40. 1

A suitable stop device 43 is preferably secured to the inner side of the rear wall or back of the cabinet in order to limit the downward movement of the cards as hereinafter described.

A suitable bracket 44 projects inwardly from one of the end frames near the top of the casing (see Fig. 2) and carries a lamp 45 for illuminating the display cards, current beingsupplied to said lamp by means of the conductor 46 (Fig. 3)

The operation of the mechanism will noviT be 5 the briefly described. Current being supplied to the motor I9, it drives the shaft I1 at reduced speed and, through the gears 22 and 23, rotates the shaft 24 at still further reduced speed. As the gear 23 revolves, it operates through the connecting rod 21 to oscillate the segmental toothed rack 29, and this, in turn, results in rotating the pinion 3| and the roller 36, first in one direction and then in the other. In the construction shown, each stroke of the toothed rack serves to rotate the roller somewhat more than two revolutions in each direction, although the extent of movement can, of course, be pre-determined as desired by varying the relative sizes of the rack and pinion.

As shown in Figs. 5 and 6, the group or pack of cards is disposed so close to the shaft 24 that as this shaft revolves the friction shoe or pusher 34 will engage the rear card of the group and will elevate it as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5 until its upper edge enters the bite between the friction elements 31 and the guide element 42. (For convenience, the series of friction elements 31 themselves will hereinafter be referred to as ro11er.) Thereupon, the card will be grasped between the roller 31 and guide element 42 and curved over and propelled toward and along the back or rear wall of the casing, as indicated by the dotted arrows in Fig. 5, the roller at this time rotating in the direction indicated by the full-line arrow.

After the roller has rotated sufficiently to cause the lower edge of the card to clear the upper end of the group, as shown, for example, in full lines in Fig. 6, the direction of rotation of the roller is automatically reversed, while the card still remains in contact therewith. This results in reversing the movement of the card and causing it to travel in the direction of the dotted arrow in Fig. 6. It Will be understood that the cards employed are of a resilient nature, so that the lower end of the card after leaving the pack lies closely against the under surface of the guide element 42 as shown in Fig. 6. Consequently, when the roller is reversed and begins to rotate in the direction of the full-line arrow in Fig. 6, the lower edge of the card follows the guide 42 and is projected down between the guide fingers 39 and the upper edge of the pack, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6. The guide fingers 39 urge the card toward and against the pack, so that the card lies flat thereagainst when it reaches its final position at the front of the group. The card is propelled downwardly at considerable speed by the roller 31 but its impact with the bottom of the chamber is cushioned by the resilient support I4 so that the operation of the device is extremely quiet.

It will, of course, be understood that, as the machine operates continuously, each rearmost card of the group is successively carried up, over and around the roller 31 and deposited at the front of the pack or group, the front card, of course, being visible through the transparent panel I0.

By automatically reversing the roller 31 while the card is still grasped thereby, I am enabled to move the card in both directions by means of a single roller, and this results in an extremely simple construction.

The cards do not ordinarily engage the stop 43, but if, for any reason, the card should tend to move too far, it will be arrested by this stop.

It will be noted that the cards are perfectly plain, free from any notches, lugs, etc. They may be of any suitable material provided they are, on the one hand, sti enough to stand on edge, and on the other hand, flexible and resilient enough to withstand curving without being permanently deformed.

What I claim is:

1. A display device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, means for elevating the rear card, means including a single roller only for curving and propelling said rear card toward the back of the casing until its lower end has cleared the card group and for then reversing the movement of said card, and means for guiding said card into said chamber at the front of said card group.

2. A display device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, means for elevating the rear card, and a single roller and stationary guide means cooperating therewith for curving and propelling said rear card toward and along the back of the casing until its lower end has cleared the card group and for then reversing the movement of said card and depositing it in said chamber at the front of said card group.

3. A display device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, a roller mounted adjacent the upper end of said card group, an element cooperating with said roller to form a bite between itself and said roller, means for elevating the rear card into said bite, and means for causing said roller and element to first propel said card toward and along the back of the casing until its lower end has cleared the card group, and then reverse the movement of said card and deposit it in said chamber at the front of said card group.

4. A display device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, a roller mounted adjacent the upper end of said card group, a stationary guide element disposed in close proximity to the surface of said roller, means for elevating the rear card into the space between said element and roller, and means for causing said roller, in cooperation with said guide element, to rst curve and propel said card toward and along the back of the casing until its lower end has cleared the card group. and then reverse the movement of said card and deposit it in said chamber at the front of said card group.

5. A display device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, a roller mounted adjacent the upper end of said card group, a stationary guide element having a portion concentric with said roller and in close proximity to the surface thereof, and a portion tangential to roller and overhanging said card group, means for elevating the rear card into the space between said element and roller, and means for causing said roller, in cooperation with said guide element, to rst curve and propel said card toward and along the back of the casing until its lower end has cleared the card group, and then reverse the movement of said card and deposit it in said chamber at the front of said card group.

6. A display device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, a roller mounted adjacent the upper end of said card group, an element cooperating with said roller to form a bite between itself and said roller, means for elevating the rear card into said bite, means for first rotating said roller in one direction to cause it to propel said card up and over toward the back of the casing until after the lower edge has cleared said card group, and then automatically reversing its direction of rotation so as to cause it to move said card forwardly and downwardly, and means for guiding said card into said chamber at the front of said card group.

7. A display` device for continuously and successively exhibiting individual members of a group of display cards disposed in upright position, comprising a casing having a chamber for the cards, means for elevating the rear card, means including a roller and means for driving it in one direction for curving and propelling said rear card toward the back of the casing until its lower end has cleared the card group, means for then automatically reversing the direction of rotation of said roller to reverse the movement of said card, and means for guiding said card into said chamber at the front of said card group.

8. A display device having a chamber for a group of independent display cards supported on edge in an upright position whereby the front card of said group is exhibited, a fixed guiding element and a single roller cooperating therewith, card elevating means, and means for causing said elevating means and roller to successively and continuously raise the rear card, reverse its movement, and deposit the same in said chamber at the front of said group.

9. The combination with a pack of cards supported on edge in an upright position, of means for continuously and successively transferring individual cards from one side of the pack to the other, said means including a friction roller and a cooperating guide element and means for automatically driving said roller irst in one direction and then in the other.

10. Card-feeding means comprising a friction roller and a cooperating guide element, means for bringing a card from one position into contact with said roller and guide element and simultaneously rotating said roller, to move the card in one direction a pre-determined distance, means for then automatically reversing the rotation of said roller while the card is still in contact therewith, so as to move the card in the other direction, and means for guiding the card into another position.

11. Means for continuously transferring cards, one at a time, from one side of a pack tothe other, said means comprising a friction roller and a stationary element cooperating therewith, means for successively bringing the carols from one side of the pack into contact with said roller, means for automatically driving said roller a denite number of revolutions alternately in opposite directions, so as to move each card first away from the pack and then toward it, and means for guiding the cards to the iront of the pack as they move toward it.

'URIAH HUTCHINSON.

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