US3081569A - Sign letters in script - Google Patents

Description

March 19, 1963 c. OWNBEY 3,081,569

' SIGN LETTERS IN SCRIPT Filed Jan. 23, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet l L YD C- CWNBEY INVENTOR.

m g Mam/4W MATTORNEY S United States Patent 3,081,569 SIGN LETTERS IN SCRIPT Lloyd C. GWnhe I313 Collingwood Place, Los Angeles 46, Calif. Filed Jan. 23, 19b2, Ser. No. 163,059 7 Claims. (Cl. 49-449) The invention relates to changeable signs wherein sepa rate letters are so designed and constructed that they can be placed upon supporting rails in any desired order of arrangement so as to spell out words. For the most part changeable sign letters such as those here under consideration are constructed of black or colored translucent material, usually some synthetic plastic resin, and mounted upon uniformly spaced supporting rails which carry the letters in a position forward of, and in some instances, spaced slightly from a bright and ofttimes lighted background.

Sign letters of this general nature have heretofore been usually constructed of block letters or, in any event, letters which can be mounted spaced from each and every other letter of the sign, the spacing being adjustable :at will and, moreover, the character of letters being such that they have a printed effect, not needing to be joined one with another.

Signs of this kind have had some unwanted defects in that since each lettering job is a hand spacing proposition, the spacing may not be uniform or perhaps may be too crowded or too widely separated to produce a desired attractive effect when left to the discretion of unskilled persons. Also, because of the printed or block-like character of the letters, the finished effect of all signs has a de gree of monotony, all signs looking essentially alike, the inherent mechanics being such as to prohibit much variation in appearance.

It is therefore among the objects of the invention to provide new and improved sign characters in script and constructed so that the characters can be joined one to another, spelling out words and other expressions, giving the appearance of being written in script.

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved bank of script-type individual sign letters constructed in such fashion that when mounted upon support ing rails and moved together into contact with each other, the areas of contact will be in precise alignment and will establish a means of precisely spacing the letters one from another without prospect of misalignment.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved bank of script-type individual sign letters having junction areas at the end of the final stroke of each letter so constructed and oriented as to engage junction areas on the initialside of the next adjacent letter with portions of the letter in each instance immediately adjacent the junction area of such slope and direction that the adjacent portions match when letters are brought together, thereby to minimize the effect of the junction and to produce a smooth-flowing script appearance when words are constructed of the individual letters.

Still further among the objects of the invention is to provide a bank of scrip characters compacted vertically and balanced laterally so that when prearranged and slid together on a supporting rail to spell out words and expressions, the letters on all lines will fall into the well-spaced automatically neat appearing arrangement, the proportioning being such that virtually all types of letters,

whether having strokes extending below a normal line or above a normal line, will effectively clear corresponding letters on lines immediately above and below whereby to facilitate shifting of groups of letters horizontally without due need for removing letters from the supporting rails in order to facilitate to the greatest degree possible application of letters to a sign with substantially a minimum of time and effort.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects con templated are attained, as hereinafter set forth, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a detailed presentation of the face portion of two typical characters, one of which has strokes both above and below a normal writing line and the other of which has strokes confined to a normal writing line.

FIGURE la is a fragmentary end elevational view on the line 1a1a of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1b is a cross-section through a narrow stroke of one of the letters, namely, on the line lbib of FIG- URE 1.

FIGURE 10 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a modified form of junction between adjacent letters.

FIGURE 2 is a bank of characters showing the design of all twenty-six letters of the alphabet in front elevation.

FIGURE 2a is a fragmentary side elevational view taken on the line 2a2a of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of a typical sign structure showing individual letters initially applied to the ign on two different vertically spaced lines and with letters in indiscriminate positions prior to being joined together.

FIGURE 4 is a front elevational view of four letters in position upon supporting rails wherein the letters of one of the words of FIGURE 3 have been moved together to form a word giving the appearance of continuous script.

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary end elevational View of a letter showing one of the supporting rails in cross-section and a portion of the sign board area behind the rail.

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary, cross-sectional view through a portion of one of the letters revealing a clip by means of which the letter may be attached to a rail.

In an embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration, there is shown a bank of lower case script letters, all of which are shown in FIGURE 2. They consist in this instance of all of the twenty-six letters of the alphabet, each of which is somewhat specially and individually designed so as to meet the concept of the invention.

To illustrate the structural essentials needed of each letter in turn, the letter J and the letter a have been selected, as shown in FIGURE 1. The letter is one having its upper portion lying above a common line occupied by the mid-portions of all of the letters and also has a portion lying below that line. In contrast the letter a has all portions of it lying within such common line.

Having reference to the letter 1, there is a body portion 19 wherein the stroke of the letter is relatively wide, the body portion being struck at an angle about 36 degrees from vertical, although the precise angle is not critical.

A mid-point or mid-area ii in this particular example lies substantially mid-way between upper and lower ends of the letter and represents a point roughly at the middle or significant central area of the letter. The mid-area li lies substantially on the center line of the common line occupied by all of the letters when they are arranged in their normal fashion. The reference character 12 has been applied to a center line passing through the midarea ll and which is substantially at the center line of the path of all the letters referred to.

At the left side of the body It} there is a junction area 13 which extends in a vertical direction. The junction area is a vertical face having a lower edge 14 at a horizontal line of junction with the body Iii. A fillet surface 15 slopes at an angle of substantially 45 degrees in the oneness chosen embodiment and is joined at its lower end to an upper edge 16 of the junction area. The other end of the fillet surface, namely, the horizontally extending edge 17, is at the junction of the fillet surface with the upper portion of the body iii.

A body ill of the letter a, as shown in FIGURE 1, has the same junction area 13 in the same relative position, namely, on the center line 32, and is joined to the body It? in a similar fashion along the lower edge 14. Moreover, the same fillet 15 connected to the edge 16 joins the body lit at an edge 17. The same structure is repeated on all those letters which at the left-hand side have either a rounded body portion or an oblique straight stroke.

There are, however, some letters which begin with an upward stroke as, for example, the letters j, m, n, r, s, v, y and z. In these cases a junction area in of the same size as the junction area 13 is vertically disposed at the beginning of the stroke. In this instance a lower edge 21 of the junction area joins a portion 22 of a body 23. An upper edge 24 adjoins what for uniformity in terminology is described as a fillet area 25. The fillet area for a moderate distance obliquely upwardly and toward the right from the edge 24 has a slope of substantially 45 degrees, this being the same slope as the fillet area 15 heretofore described. The fillet area in this instance, however, is tangent to the exterior upper curve of the body of the letter so that the fillet area blends gradually into the body of the letter. A similar relationship exists in the case of the letters m, n, y and z. In the case of the letters 1' and s, however, the transition is slightly different but in essence the structure is the same in that the fillet area immediately above and to the right of the junction area lies at an angle of about 45 degrees so as to be consistent in the case of all of the letters or characters as the case may be.

Although the fillet area is here suggested as having an angle of 45 degrees, what is important is to have the fillet area at substantially the same angle as the top side of the final or terminal stroke of all letters which may be used at a location to the left of the letter in question.

On the right side of virtually all of the letters there is in effect a terminal stroke comprising a portion 28 of the body in each instance. At the right-most end of this body portion there is another junction area 3% which is vertically disposed and which is of the same height and breadth as the junction area 13 and the junction area 26. A lower edge 21 of the junction area joins the lower wall of the portion 28 of the body and at least for a limited distance this portion slopes obliquely downwardly toward the left at an angle of substantially 45 degrees. An upper edge 32 is at the line of connection between the junction area as and a fillet surface 33. The fillet surface is also at an angle of about 45 degrees or a limited distance below the upper edge 32 and in consequence for that limited distance is parallel to the opposite side of the body portion Clearly from an examination of all of the letters involved, this 45 degree parallel relationship is maintained for only a limited distance which varies considerably with the type of the final stroke. For example, in the case of the letter 0, it will be very short, whereas, in the case or" the letter 0 it will be of relatively maximum length. In other letters the length of this final stroke will vary between maximum and minimum limits.

It is further suggested that the center of the junction area 7 3b lies on the center line 12 as does the center of the junction areas 13 and 2t).

As has been previously suggested, the characters here comprising letters are customarily constructed of some translucent synthetic plastic material in most instances which may be colored suitably to make an attractive sign. Clips 35 of substantially conventional construction are located at appropriate points such as the points 36, 37, 38 and 3% for the letter p, as suggested in FIGURES 3 and 4. The clips are adapted to engage one or another of the supporting rails 40 whereby the letter in each instance may be hun on the rails in one line or another, as

shown in FIGURE 3. The rails are ordinarily attached by appropriate means to a sign face 41 which may, if desired, be illuminated from behind by means not shown, thereby to light up the character and letters when they are attached. Although only two rails 46 are shown, three or more rails may be used for letters of relatively larger size.

When letters are to be attached to the rails to spell out some word or expression, the practice as indicated in FIGURE 3 is preferably to hang respective letters indiscriminately in positions of proper order upon upper and lower rails 4s by use of the clips 35. The upper line of FIGURE 3 shows letters spelling the word pact. After the successive letters are hung in the order desired, they are merely moved together horizontally until the junction areas of adjacent letters are moved into face to face contact as shown in FIGURE 4.

Inasmuch as all of the junction areas lie on the same longitudinal center line 12 they match precisely, final strokes of the letters blended into left-hand sides of each succeeding letter so that there is a continuity of the stroke during the transition from letter to letter. This effect is achieved by providing the fillets heretofore described having at least initially the same oblique direction as the final stroke of the immediately succeeding letter. Exactly the same relationship is maintained also where the letter to the right may begin with a stroke as, for example, tte letter s in its zsrangement in FIGURE 3, where the word hips is spelled out.

It is also appropriate to call attention to the fact that a lower portion 45 of the letter for example, as well as for letters like the letter p, g and y, to mention some, extends below the path of the script. In the back of letters herein shown, the lower portions are kept at substantially a uniform distance below the line and to this end the lower portions are compressed upwardly and worked into the body of the letter. If need be, the width of the lower portion may be varied, making itwider or narrower, in order to provide an overall symmetry and balance to each individual letter while at the same time preserving its individual character so that it can be easily identified. Good practice suggests that the lower portion be slightly longer than an upper portion 46. It is further advantageous to have the distance which the lower portion extends below the rail when added to the distance which the upper portion extends above the rail equal to the distance between the rails minus a'very slight clearance of a fraction of an inch. When this'rel-ationship is adhered to, it will be possible to shift the letters pa ct, for example, as shown in FlGURE 3, horizontally to any position without the lower portion 45 of the le er p interfering with an upper portion 46 of the letter h.

Good practice also suggests that for letters like the letters a and c, for example, the upper edge of the letter in each instance be at a position above the upper rail 40 and that the lower portion of the letter in each instance be slightly below the lower rail 40.

Although the sundry letters are designed primarily in the interest of good balanced appearance when placed together to form words, phrases and sentences, it will be appreciated that when the overall central area of each letter in turn is taken into consideration the mid-point 11 in each instance will be a point approximately at the middle of the integrated area. Moreover, in designing the letters the initial strokes and final strokes should be positioned in such a relationship that the junction areas on opposite sides place the letters at such distance from every other letter so that spaces between the letters will be approximately the same in all instances. This approximation, however, will be made up in a different fashion in many instances because of the fact that some letters end in a long final stroke like the letters i and t and other letters end in a rounded portion like the letters 0 and 11.

By properly designing the letters, giving attention to the length of the final stroke in each instance, spacing will be assured so that when letters in any relationship are placed side by side and pushed together until the junction areas are in contact, the resulting word will be in good balance automatically.

Further still, by having the junction areas vertical and on the same horizontal center line when letters are pushed together from open position, as shown in FIGURE 3, to closed position, as shown in FIGURE 4, should the force pushing them together be excessive, the letters will merely be forced into proper position by reason of the fact that the pressure is in a horizontal direction against junction areas which are vertical and hence there will be no tendency to cam out of position, thereby to tilt some of the letters out of proper alignment or perhaps even to throw them ofi their positions on the rails. This feature makes is possible to quickly apply the letters in proper sequence in virtually any spread-out relationship and then with equal facility shift them together into contact with proper spacing with a minimum expenditure of time and also by making use of persons Who may have no familiarity with the technique of proper spacing and arrangement.

In a modified form of the invention as shown in FIG- URE lc junction areas 48 and 49 respectively on the preceding character or letter 50 and the succeeding letter or character 51 have a direction other than vertical. In the example they are complementary angular configurations which match and nest one within the other when adjacent letters are pushed together. When interlocked they prevent the letters from becoming misaligned. Other matching areas may also be used.

To further assist in an understanding of the practical aspects of the invention, attention is called to the fact that signs of this general character have largely standardized on the spacing on the rails so that the rails are ordinarily spaced seven inches apart throughout the face of a sign. Letters such as lower case letters of the type here involved when they are to be used with rails having seven inch spacing are best when constructed so that the lower portion 45 is slightly less than four inches below the lower rail and the upper portion 46 is slightly less than three inches above the upper rail. For those letters such as the letters a and c or, for example, i and s the letter is of such size that the upper portion appears best when it extends about one inch above the upper rail and the lower portion extends about one inch below the lower rail.

While the invention has herein been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new in support of Letters Patent is:

1. An individual sign character for mounting in a changeable sign, said character comprising a body, junction areas respectively at the left side and at the right side of the body in substantial horizontal alignment, the junction area at the left side having a face joined at its lower edge to the left side of the letter, and a fillet surface sloping upwardly at a selected angle and joining the junction area at its upper edge to the adjacent left side of the letter, the junction area at the right side having a face of height equal to the height of the first identified face and joined at its lower edge to the right side of the letter, and a fillet surface sloping downwardly and toward the left at about the same angle as the first iden tified fillet surface joining the last identified junction area at its upper edge to the adjacent right side of the letter.

2. An individual script alphabet letter for mounting in a changeable sign, said letter comprising a body having a right and left side and a script stroke on at least one of said sides, junction areas respectively at the left side and at the right side of the body in substantial alignment with each other, the junction area at one side having an upright face joined at its lower edge to the corresponding side of the letter and a fillet surface sloping upwardly at a selected angle from the vertical and joining the upright face at its upper edge to the adjacent side of the letter, the other of said junction areas being at the end of the script stroke and having an upright face of height equal to the height of the first identified upright face and joined at'its lower edge to the corresponding side of the letter, and a surface of the stroke sloping downwardly and toward the body at about the same angle as the fillet and joining the last identified upright face at its upper edge to the adjacent side of the letter.

3. An individual script alphabet letter for mounting in a changeable sign, said letter comprising a body of molded material in the shape of a line which is a trace of the letter from an initial to a final stroke, attachment means at the rear of the letter adapted to mount the letter on the sign, junction areas respectively at the left side and at the right side of the body in substantial alignment with a horizontal mid-line of said central area, the junction area at the left side having a vertical face joined at its lower edge to the left side of the letter and a fillet surface sloping upwardly at a selected angle from the vertical joining the vertical face at its upper edge to the adjacent left side of the letter, the junction area at the right side having a vertical face of height equal to the height of the first identified vertical face and joined at its lower edge to the right side of the letter, and a fillet surface sloping downwardly and toward the left at about the same angle as the first identified fillet and joining the vertical face on the right side at its upper edge to the adjacent right side of the letter.

4. An individual script alphabet letter for mounting in a changeable sign having horizontal supporting rails at a vertically spaced interval, said letter comprising a body 'of molded material in the shape of a line which is a trace of the letter from an initial to a final stroke, attachment means at the rear of the letter adapted to mount the letter on said rails with the central area of the letter outline substantially midway between the rails, junction areas respectively at the left side and at the right side of the body in substantial alignment with a horizontal midline through said central area, the junction area at the left side having a vertical face joined at its lower edge to the left side of the letter, and a fillet surface sloping upwardly at a selected angle from the vertical and joining the junction area at its upper edge to the adjacent left side of the letter, the junction area at the right side having a vertical face of height equal to the height of the first identified vertical face and joined at its lower edge to the right side of the letter, and a fillet surface sloping downwardly and toward the left at about the same angle as the first identified fillet joining the last identified junction area at its upper edge to the adjacent right side of the letter.

5. A set of individual script characters for mounting in a changeable sign in selected sequence, said characters comprising some with initial and final stroke portions respectively on left and right sides intermediate the top and bottom and others with initial side wall portions on the left intermediate the top and bottom, said characters comprising script lines, substantially flat junction areas at ends of the stroke portions and at the initial side wall portions, said junction areas being all at the same level and extending substantially vertically, each junction area at the left having an edge joined to the adjacent portion of the letter and a fillet surface sloping upwardly and toward the right at a selected angle from the vertical into engagement with the adjacent portion of the letter, each junction area at the right having an edge joined to the adjacent portion of the letter and a fillet surface sloping downwardly and toward the left at the same angle as said first identified fillet portion into engagement with the adjacent portion of the letter, said letters when mounted side by side having said junction areas of adarr-areas 7 jacent letters in face to face engagement whereby to present a continuous script effect.

6. A set of individual script alphabetical letters for mounting in a changeable sign to spell out words wherein said sign has a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal rails, said letters comprising some with initial and final stroke portions respectively on left and right sides intermediate the top and bottom and others with initial side wall portions on the left intermediate the top and bottom, said letters comprising script tracing lines, substantially fiat junction areas at ends of the stroke portions and at the initial side wall portions, said junction areas being all at the same level and extending substantially upright, each junction area at the left having a lower edge joined to the adjacent portion of the letter and a fillet surface sloping upwardly and toward the right at a selected angle from the vertical into engagement with the adjacent portion of the letter, each junction area at the right having a lower edge joined to the adjacent portion of the letter and a fillet surface sloping downwardly and toward the left at about the same angle from the vertical as said first identified fillet into engagement with the adjacent portion of the letter, said letters when attached to said rails having said junction areas of adjacent letters in face to face engagement whereby to present a continuous script eitect.

7. A set of individual script alphabetical letters for mounting in a changeable sign to spell out words wherein said sign has a plurality of vertically spaced horizontal rails for a plurality of lines of words, said letters comprising some with initial and final stroke portions respectively on left and right sides intermediate the top and bottom and others with initial side Wall portions on the left intermediate the top and bottom, said letters comprising script tracing lines of varying width and height with upper and lower sections compressed centrally forrning a relatively compact letter area, substantially flat junction areas at ends of the stroke portions and at the initial side wall portions, said junction areas being all at the same level and extending substantially vertically, each junction area at the left having a lower edge joined to the adjacent portion of the letter and a fillet surface slopirn upwardly and toward the right at a selected angle from the vertical into engagement with the adjacent portion of the letter, each junction area at the right having a lower edge joined to the adjacent portion of the letter and a fillet surface sloping downwardly and toward the left at about the same angle from the vertical as said first identified fillet into engagement with the adjacent portion of the letter, said letters when attached to said rails having said junction areas of adjacent letters in face to face engagement whereby to present a continuous script effect, and lower and upper parts of letters on one line being spaced respectively from upper and lower parts of letters on adjacent parallel lines whereby to permit lines of words to be shifted on the rails horizontally with respect to each other.

References Qited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 274,993 Thorp Apr. 3, 1883 947,377 De Puy Jan. 25, 19 .10

FOREIGN PATENTS 4,508 Great Britain Feb. 22, 1902

Claims (1)

1. AN INDIVIDUAL SIGN CHARACTER FOR MOUNTING IN A CHANGEABLE SIGN, SAID CHARACTER COMPRISING A BODY, JUNCTION AREAS RESPECTIVELY AT THE LEFT SIDE AND AT THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BODY IN SUBSTANTIAL HORIZONTAL ALIGNMENT, THE JUNCTION AREA AT THE LEFT SIDE HAVING A FACE JOINED AT ITS LOWER EDGE TO THE LEFT SIDE OF THE LETTER, AND A FILLET SURFACE SLOPING UPWARDLY AT A SELECTED ANGLE AND JOINING THE JUNCTION AREA AT ITS UPPER EDGE TO THE ADJACENT LEFT SIDE OF THE LETTER, THE JUNCTION AREA AT THE RIGHT SIDE HAVING A FACE OF HEIGHT EQUAL TO THE HEIGHT OF THE FIRST IDENTIFIED FACE AND JOINED AT ITS LOWER EDGE TO THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LETTER, AND A FILLET SURFACE SLOPING DOWNWARDLY AND TOWARD THE LEFT AT ABOUT THE SAME ANGLE AS THE FIRST IDENTIFIED FILLET SURFACE JOINING THE LAST IDENTIFIED JUNCTION AREA AT ITS UPPER EDGE TO THE ADJACENT RIGHT SIDE OF THE LETTER.

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