US3010233A - Sequential chart display device - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 28, 1961 Filed July 50. 1958 W. W. WELLS EI'AL SEQUENTIAL CHART DISPLAY DEVICE f I/I m Tner l H L 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INV EN TORS ATTORNEYS Nov. 28, 1961 w. w. WELLS ErAL 3,010,233

SEQUENTIAL CHART DISPLAY DEVICE Filed July 30. 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 45 @i if l'l I/ 7&/6

7//27 /fveaver el,

ATTORNEYS Nov. 28, 1961 w. w. WELLS Em. $010,233

SEQUENTIAL CHART DISPLAY DEVICE 3 Sheets-Shel. 3

Filled July 50, 1958 INVENToRs P71! lian ZV." VeZf ATTORNEYS United States Filed July 30, 1958, Ser. No. 752,041 4 Claims. (Cl. 40-36) lThis invention relates to a chart display device, and more particularly to a device which displays a plurality of charts sequentially, either automatically or semi-automatically. The term chart is used generically to denote any type of display in the form of a lcard or sheet, such as pictures, maps, diagrams, or advertising material.

Sequential chart display devices are well known, but the machines employed heretofore have not had the desired reliability and versatility. The apparatus of the present invention permits the display of a series of charts, advancing the charts one-by-one to a display position and returning each chart to the end of the series after it has been displayed. It is accordingly a principal object of the invention to provide an improved device of this type.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the aforesaid type which employs a unique chart advancing or transferring mechanism that is positive acting and reliable.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unique and improved mechanism for lowering, guiding, and lifting display charts.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing type which may be readily operated automatically or semi-automatically.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing type which may be readily operated by remote control.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of the foregoing type which affords audiov accompaniment of the chart display.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention and the manner in which the same are accomplished will become more readily apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate a preferred and exemplary embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

FIGURE l is a perspective view illustrating the overall appearance of the device of the invention in its cabinet;

FIGURE 2 is a vertical sectional view of the device of the invention;

FIGURE 3 is a vertical sectional view taken along line 3 3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIGURE 3;

. FIGURES 5a through 5d are truncated vertical sectional views similar to FIGURE 2 illustrating the manner of operation of the invention;

FIGURE 6 is a perspective view of a detail of the inyention; and

FIGURE 7 is a diagram of a circuit which may be employed in the invention.

Briefly stated, the device ofthe invention comprises arent O apparatus for supporting, displaying and advancing a Y 3,010,233 Patented Nov. 28, 1961 ice series of charts. This apparatus is housed in a cabinet having an opening through which the charts are viewed, and in the preferred form the cabinet also contains an audio tape repeater, a timer, and electrical components including switches for controlling the energization of a motor which drives the mechanism for advancing the charts.

Referring to the drawings, the device of the invention is preferably housed in and includes a cabinet 10 of generally rectangular shape, the cabinet having an opening 12 through its front wall 13 to permit the viewing of a plurality of charts 14 in sequence. The device of the invention is preferably a self-contained unit which may be powered from a conventional volt A.C. outlet and is preferably made mobile through the provision of suitable rollers or casters (not shown). As illustrated in FIGURE l, the cabinet may be provided with suitable handles 16 to aid in the movement of the invention from place to place, and the cabinet may have a conventional ventilating grill 18 as shown.

Referring now to FIGURES 2, 3, and 4, the charts 14, whichY preferably are placed in individual metal frames, are supported on an upper track 20 which may be in the form of a pair of rails mounted adjacent Vthe front Wall of the cabinet at'its respective sides. As shown in FIGURE 2, the track is generally inclined downwardly and forwardly, has an upwardly extending forward lip 22, and a downwardly extending terminal portion 24 Terminal portion 24 curves smoothly around from the rear extremity of the major portion of the track rails and ends in a short forwardly extending lip as shown, The charts 14 are arranged in a rising series from the front to the rear of the upper track 20, and the first chart in the series is held back at its bottom by the lip 22 and at its top by a projection 26 which extends rearwardly from an inner front wall 28 having an opening 30 aligned with opening 12. The main front wall 15 may be hinged as at 32 to permit access to the apparatus at the front of the cabinet. of the fluorescent type, are mounted along the upper and lower extremities of the openings 12 and 30, being supported on the inner frontwall 28. These lamps provide the necessary illumination for viewing the charts 14.

Charts 14 are urged forwardly by a follower arm 38 pivotally supported by a rod 40 on brackets 42 mounted on horizontal supports 44 attached to the sides of the cabinet. The follower arm 38 is biased against the rearmost chart 14 by a torsion spring 46 which is wound about the pivot rod 4t) and has its extremities attached, respectively, to the follower arm and a transverse framing member 45.

Near the bottom of the cabinet is a lower track 48 in the form of a pair of guide rails which extend from the inner front wall 28 and curve rearwardly and downwardly. As will be seen hereinafter, the lower track serves to guide the lower edge of the chart which has just been displayed to the rear of an elevator generally designated 50. l

In the form shown, the elevator comprises a generally U-shaped vertical plate 52 (FIG. 3) which supports a pair of spaced forwardly extending trays 54 adjacent its lower extremity. The plate l52 may have a forward lip 56 (FIG. 2) to aid in the support of the trays 54 in cantilever fashion, Vand the trays are preferably positioned Lamps 34 and 36, preferably slightly inward from the side walls of the cabinet as shown in FIGURE 3L Each tray may have a rear wall attached to the plate 52, a bottom wall supported by the lip 56, and a pair of side walls 58 which slope downwardly and forwardly as shown in FIGURE 2. The side walls have a horizontal plateau 60 at their rear extremities and an upwardly extending projection 62 at their forward extremities. The upper edge of projections 52 slopes downwardly and forwardly as shown.

The elevator plate 52 has angular side members 64 as shown in FIGURE 4. These members are nested within angular vertical guide rails 66 supported on the side walls of the cabinet and are guided by the mating sides of these rails as well as the rear edges of vertical guide plates 68, which are attached to the sides of the cabinet andthe exposed side surfaces of which serve to guide and position the charts 14 by engagement with their corresponding side edges.

To the rear surface of elevator plate 52 is attached a U-shaped bracket 70. Bracket 70 has a horizontal slot 72 (FIG. 3) which receives a pin 74 movable along the slot. The pin is of such diameter as to move freely within the slot `and yet is suitably headed to prevent withdrawal of the pin from the slot. As shown in FIG- URE 4, the pin is attached to a lug,76 which is in turn afxed to a link of an endless chain 78. Chain 78 passes over an upper sprocket wheel 80 and a lower sprocketwheel y82, the plane of the wheel and chain unit being vertical andrparallel to the front and rear walls of the cabinet. Sprocket wheel 80 is rotatably supported on a bracket 84 mounted on the framing member 45 as shown in FIGURE 2, and sprocket wheel 82 is rotatably Vmounted on a bracket 86which is supported on the bottom of thecabinet as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3. Bracket 86 may form a part of the mounting for an electric motor 88'best seen in FIGURE 2. Motor 88 drives the lower sprocket wheel 82, which in turn drives the chain 78 and the upper sprocket wheel 80. The chain carries the pin 74 as described above, and the pin follows the path of the chain. Inmoving upwardly or downwardly, the pin carries with it the bracket 70, and of course the attached plate 52 as well as the trays A54, all of which constitute the elevator. The lateral movement of the pin in passing over the sprocket wheels is accommodated by the slot 72 and is not transmitted to the elevator.

Supported on the rear surface of the Yelevator plate 52'isa pair of levers 90, one of which is illustrated in FIGURE 6.' Each of the levers has a horizontal portion 92 which serves to mount the lever pivotally in a journal block 94 fixed to the plate 52, a rearwardly extending Voperating arm 96, and a forward extension 98 which supports a bumper 100. The bumpers 100 extend'fo-rwardly through slots102 in plate 52 as shown in FIG- URE 3. The operating arms 96 are adapted to engage pins'104 which are fixed to and extend inwardly from the side walls of the cabinet at appropriate locations as shown in FIGURES 2 and 3.

Two additional levers 106 are supported at the bottom of the cabinet adjacent the inner front wall 28. levers extend upwardly from journal blocks 108 in which they are pivotally mounted and are biased against the front wall 28 by torsion springs 110, which extend from the journal blocks 108 and engage the levers as shown. Each leverhas an upwardly extending rearwardly curved operating arm 112 (see FIGS. 2 and 3) which is adapted to engage the bottom of the corresponding tray 54 of the elevator.V Each lever also has a chart-engaging portion 114, which may be horizontally directed as shown in FIGURE 3. Portions 114 Vmay be accommodated in appropriate receptacles 116 in the front wall 28.

A typical energization circuit for the motor 88 is shown in FIGURE 7. The motor is arranged to be supplied from a conventionalrpower outlet at terminals 118, one

minal is connected to a main single pole single throw switch 120 which leads to the blade of a single pole double throw switch 122. As shown, the upper contact of switch 122 may be designated the Vmanual contact and the lower contact may be designated the automatic contact. The manual contact is connected to a manual switch 124, which may be a simple push button switch as shown. Switch 124 is connected -to terminal 88h of the motor.

The automatic terminal of the switch 122 is connected to a micro-switch 126 which is arranged to be operated by a timer 128.' Timer 128 is preferably of the conventional electrically driven clock type and may have a cycle adjustable from 6 to 28 seconds, for example. The timer may be located in an upper portion of the cabinet as shown in FIGURE 3. Micro-switch 126 is also con nected to terminal 88h of the motor. This terminal of the motor is connected through another micro-switch 130 and through main switch 120 to one side of the power supply. Micro-switch 130 is arranged to be actuated by pin 74 on the chain and may be supported on the framing member 45 as shown in FIGURES 3 and 4.

In the operation of the device of the invention, the charts 14 are stacked on the upper track 20 as shown in FIGURE 2. Follower arm 38 may be pushed back against the bias of its spring to permit the placement of the charts. The track may beV reached by opening the front of the cabinet, `which may have portions of the side walls of the cabinet movable therewith. The rear wall of the cabinet may also be divided and hinged at 132. When the charts have been stacked on the upper track and the follower arm 38 released, the chartsland follower arm will assume the positions illustrated in'FIG- URE 2. The frontmost chart will be visible through the aligned openings 12 and 30 and will be illuminated by the light from lamps 34 and 36. Y

These y of which may be directly connected to one terminal 88a To advance the charts manually (actually semiautomatically), switch 124 may be closed I(the main line sm'tch 120 being closed first). Assuming that switch 122 is in its manual position, an energization circuit for the motor 88 will be completed from one terminal of the power supply 118 through switches 120 and 122, switch 124, the motor 88 and back to the power supply. A previous cycle of operation will have left the elevator in such position that the pin 74 engages the switch 130, causing the switch to open. In this condition the trays 54 are located well below the level of the upper track 20 as shown in FIGURE 5a. When the motor is energized, it will turn the chain 78 so as to'move the trays 54 upwardly, releasing switch Y and permitting it to close. The closure of switch 130 will complete a holding circuit for the motor 88, and switch 124 may be released. During the time that the trays 54 are moving toward the track 20, the motor 88 will reach full operating speed. When the trays are near the upper limits of Vtheir travel, the projections `62 will engage the lower edge of the chart 14 in display position and will raise this chart above the lip 22 of the upper track as shown in FIGURE 5b. Due to the forward force exerted by the follower arm 38 and due to the slope of the upper edges of the projections 62, the chart will be lifted over the lip 22, and when through continued operation of the chain 78, the trays 54 start to descend, the chart will descend with them, being supported on the projections 62 as shown by the dash lines in FIGURE 5b. The 'chart carried by the trays is substantially vertical, being guided by the forward extremity of the track 20 and the mating surface of the front wall 28. The projection 26 at the top of the cabinet l('FIG. 2) and the lip 22 of the track 20 permit the first chart to be withdrawn from the series without withdrawal of the subsequent charts. Follower arm 38 urges the charts forwardly so that the next chart in the series moves against the projection 26 and the lip 22, but the force exerted by the follower and the successive charts is not suicient to prevent withdrawalof the rst chart.

When the trays 54 have descended far enough, the lower edge of the chart carried by the elevator will engage the lower track 58, the trays 54 passing between the rails of this track as can be seen from FIGURE 3. As shown in FIGURE 5c, the chart will then slide along the lower track and be guided to the rear of the elevator, and the lower edges of the chart will then rest on the plateaus 60 of the tray side Walls. As the trays descend below the level of the lower track, as shown by the dash lines in FIGURE 5c, the bottom walls of the trays engage operating arms 112 of levers v106. This causes pivotal movement of the levers and causes their upper extremities to engage the front surface of the chart on the elevator and force the chart to a vertical position at the rear of the elevator. lt will be noted from FIGURE 5c that when the chart is forced against the back of the elevator, it displaces the levers 90 which are supported on the plate 52 of the elevator.

Now the elevator reaches the limit of its descent and commences to rise, carrying the chart with it. When the chart rises, it passes behind the rear of the upper track 20, and the rear of the track prevents the chart from falling forward when the levers 106 are released and returned to their forward positions under their spring bias. An additional member 134, which may be termed a safety catch, is preferably suspended from the bottom of track 20 and extends toward the plane of the rising chart so as to prevent the chart from tilting forward and becoming caught under the track.

When the elevator reaches the position illustrated in FIGURE 5d, the pin 74 engages the micro-switch 130, opening this switch and breaking the motor circuit. The elevator remains in this position until the motor is next energized, as by closure of switch 124. When this occurs, the elevator rises past the position illustrated in FIGURE 5d, and the operating arms 96 of the levers 90 engage the pins 104, causing pivotal movement of the levers and urging the bumpers 100 against the rear surface of the chart carried by the elevator. By now the upper portion of the chart has passed between the follower arm 38 and the rearmost chart in the series stacked on the upper track 20, and the movement of the levers 90 forces the chart from the trays onto the rear extremity of the upper track. At the same time, as the elevator rises it lifts the first chart of the series, and the cycle then repeats.

The sequence of operations just described may be termed semi-automatic, requiring the operation of switch 124 for each change of a chart. Switch 124 may be attached to the end of a control cable which may be located at a suitable distance from the cabinet 10.

The apparatus may also be operated automatically. This is accomplished by moving switch 122 to the automatic position and by energizing the timer 128. When the timer is energized, it permits switch 126 to close, thereby completing a circuit for motor 88 from one side of the power supply at 118, through switches 120 and 122, switch 126, the motor 88, and back to the other side of the power supply. Themotor will now cycle in the manner previously described, closing switch 130 at rst so that switch 126 may be opened by the timer and yet the motor energization circuit will be maintained. When switch 130 is reopened by the pin 74 on the chain driven by the motor, the motor circuit will be broken, switch 126 having opened previously. The display will remain the same until such time as the timer re-closes switch 126 and commences a new cycle. If the timer is made adjustable, the display time for each chart may be adjusted accordingly. It will be noted, however, that the time required to move a chart from vthe beginning of the series to a position adjacent the end is fixed by the parameters of the elevator mechanism, and this transfer time is preferably made as short as possible commensurate with reliable operation. v

The visual display provided by the invention as described above may be accompanied by an automatic sound program. This accompaniment may Ibe' provided by a conventional cartridge type tape repeater indicated by the block 136 in FIGURE 3, which may include a suitable t-ape transport mechanism, amplier, and loud speaker. The tape repeater is normally used when the operation of the invention is automatic, and the length of time required for a complete tape cycle may be chosen so that the tape repeater is synchronized with the operation of the timer, to permit a complete tape cycle within the time required to display all of the charts. When semiautomatic operation is employed, the chart display may be accompanied by the voice of the operator.

From the foregoing it is apparent that the invention provides a unique land improved sequential display device. While a preferred embodiment has been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes can be made in this embodiment without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the appended claims. Accordingly, the foregoing embodiment is to be consdered illustrative, rather than restrictive of the invention, and those modifications which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be included there.

The invention claimed is:

l. A sequential chart display device, comprising a cabinet having a display opening therein, an upper track in said cabine-t sloping downwardly and forwardly toward said opening, said upper track having an abutment at its forward extremity to hold the irst of a series of charts placed on said track, said abutment being spaced from said opening to permit the first chart to move vertically therebetween, vertically movable elevator means including chart support means extending along said upper track when said elevator is near its upper point of travel, upward projections on said support lmeans for lifting the rst chart over said abutment for causing it to descend between said abutment and said opening,'a lower track spaced from the upper track and sloping downwardly and rearwardly in said cabinet for engaging and guiding a chart to move to a rearward position on Said chart support, a lever operated by said elevator for urging the upper portion of said first chart to the rear of said elevator means when the lower portion of said chart moves to the rear of the elevator means on said lower track, said elevator means including means for conveying said chart upwardly and to the rear of said upper track.

2. A sequential chart display device, comprising a cabinet having a display opening therein, an upper track in said cabinet sloping downwardly and forwardly toward l said opening, said upper track having an abutment at its forward extremity to hold the first of a series of charts placed on said track, said abutment being spaced from said opening to permit the rst chart to move vertically therebetween, vertically movable elevator means including chart support means extending along said upper track when said elevator is near its upper point of travel, said elevator means being driven by an electric motor, automatic means for energizing said motor at predetermined times, means responsive to the position of said elevator means for deenergizing said electric motor before said elevator means reaches the position at which said first chart is at the rear of said upper track, upward projections on said support means for lifting the first chart over said abutment for causing it to descend between said abutment and said opening, a lower track spaced from the upper track and sloping downwardly and rearwardly in said cabinet for engaging and guiding a chart to move to a rearward position on said chart support, said elevator means including means for conveying said chart upwardly and to the rear of said upper track.

3. The invention of claim 2, further comprising manual means for energizing said motor, and means rendering said manual means or said automatic means operable to control said motor selectively.

. placed on said track, said abutment being spaced from said openingV to permit the rst chart to move vertically therebetween, vertically movable elevator means including chart support means extending along said upper track when said elevator is near its upper point of travel, upward projections on said support means for lifting the first chart over said abutment for causing it to descend Vbetween said abutment and said opening, a lower track spaced from the upper track vand sloping downwardly and rearwardly in said cabinet for engaging and guiding a chart to move to a rearward position on said chart support, said elevator means including means for conveying said chart upwardly and to the rear of said upper track, said upper t-rack and 'saidlower track each supporting and guiding the charts upon the lower edges of said charts, said chart supports supporting the under edge of said charts.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS i 1,179,490 Yaw Apr. 18, 1916 1,258,750 Davis Mar. 12, 1918 1,540,830 Davis June 9, 1925 1,818,538 VDavis Aug. 11, 1931 2,102,798 JerabeliY Dec. 21, 1937 2,122,782 Sandor July 5, 1938 2,131,168 EitzenA Sept. 27, 1938 2,323,638 Wise July 6, 1943

Images