US3110976A

US3110976A - Changeable card exhibitor

Info

Publication number: US3110976A
Application number: US133849A
Authority: US
Inventors: William W Wells; Edward D Bunnell
Original assignee: Monitor Corp
Current assignee: Monitor Corp
Priority date: 1961-08-25
Filing date: 1961-08-25
Publication date: 1963-11-19
Anticipated expiration: 1980-11-19

Description

Nov. 19, 1963 W. W. WELLS ETAL CHANGEABLE CARD EXHIBITOR Filed Aug. 25, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 19, 1963 w, w. WELLS ETAL 3,110,976

CHANGEABLE CARD EXHIBITOR Filed Aug. 25, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 W gw@ m MATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,llll,976 CHANGEABLE CARD EXHEBHQR William W. Wells, Springfield, and Edward D. Eunnell, Fairfax, Va., assignors to The Monitor Corporation, Washington, D.C., a corporation of the District oi'- Columbia naar Aug. 2s, isst, ser. Ne. rasata s Claims. (er. ni-7s) This invention relates to a changeable card exhibitor'.

One well known class of card exhibitor includes a rectangular cabinet somewhat taller than wide, having a viewing opening in the upper portion of the front face. Commonly7 cards are ybrought into View in the viewing opening, held there for a suihcient period of time for the viewer to comprehend the message contained upon the card whereupon the exposed card disappears from View into the lorwer part of the cabinet and another card is brought into view.

Such exhibiting devices are normally mechanically operated and are well suited for relatively iixed positioning in store windows, convention booths and other locations Where there is a constantly renewed supply of observers. Howvever, these devices are relatively heavy, lacking ease of portability; they are not sufficiently economical to be freely used and they are not well adapted to rapid change of one or more cards of the set being exhibited. Usually too, the number of cards -to be shown is limited by the depth from front to back of the equipment, since these devices usually employ guides for controlling the vertical movement of the cards.

Another type of card exhibitor, widely used before small audiences is the easel presentation. Here the cards are simply supported upon 1a ledge on an easel, with the speaker or an assistant manually moving the cards into view .by any one of several manipulative techniques. This arrangement is cheap and relatively more portable than the previous named device although the large size of the easel requires that some previous arrangement be made for setting it in place. in shitting the cards into view, strict Iattention must be paid by the operator to exhibit them in proper order. It has been noted that the movement of the cards during the changing operation, tends to distract the attention of the audience.

The subject matter of the present invention pai-takes somewhat of the nature of both of the named devices, including certain novel features not found in either. The exhibitor' of this invention is light in weight and neat in appearance so that it may be carried about the street as readily `as a piece of fine luggage. lt may be produced at low cost, thus broadening the field of utility of such devices and, because it is hand operated, its use is not dependent upon access to electricity.

The apparatus is completely self contained and requires no adjustment for use so that the operator may begin the exhibition of cards without having had previous access to the room where the exhibition takes place. When the cards are changed there is no diversion of the interest of the audience. The cards disappear from view upon only a small `movement of the operators hand.

An important advantage possessed by the exhibitor of this invention is that it requires only a very small expenditure of time and eifort to replace one or all of the cards being shown or to otherwise change the programing of the exhibition.

For a fuller understanding of the invention, reference should be had to the specification that follows together with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE l is an isometric view of the complete device, seen principally from the front;

FIGURE 2 is a :front elevation in section with the front face of the cabinet structure removed;

JCC

FIGURE 3 is an end elevation in section along the section lines 3 3 of FlGURE 2;

FiGURE 4 is an enlarged partial View of FlGURE 2, portions being shown in section;

FEGURE 5 is another enlarged sectional view taken along the lines 5 5 or FiGURE 4;

FiGURE 6 is still another enlarged view taken along the lines 6 6 of FIGURE 5; and

FGURES 7 to 9 are a series of sequential views, showing the manner in which a card is changed.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral it) designates generally the exhibitor, being made up of a front panel 12, left and right side walls liland it, a rear panel and a bottom l. Access to the interior is afforded by means of a removable top member 2t? about which more Iwill be said later.

Located in the front panel l2, in the upper half thereof is exhibit opening 22 through which may be seen an exhibit card 24. The cards and exhibiting device have sizes that complement each other. The width of the cabinet, internally, amounts tothe width of the card 24 plus the two spaces 216 and 28 at the sides, which are substantially equal. Strictly speaking, the width of the cabinet is approximately equal to the width of the cards plus only one of the spaces, since, 'as will be explained, the cards occupy one or the other of the spaces. The exhibit opening 22 is just sufficiently smaller than the dimensions of the card 24 to provide tasteful concealment of the card edges. Obviously, the opening might be smaller or its shape might not conform to the shape of the card, but generally, in order to obtain maximum visibiiity of the entire card area, the opening will not be materially' smaller Ithan required `for goed appeanance. The height of the space Btl, extending from the lower card edge as it is viewed is selected Kso that a card resting upon cushion 32, will slightly Voverlap `a card seen lthrough the exhibiting opening. The reason for this will appear below. A small clear space 34 which need not be as great as the spaces 26 and 2S extends below the cushion 35 on the underside of closure Ztl.

A strip 3S extends along the left side of storage space 35i terminating in a rectangular ledge 39 upon which a lower corner of the cards 2d rests, while the cards are in exhibit position. On the right hand side of the upper space, diagonally across corner of the card 24 member e@ projects outwardly from the right hand Wall lr6 to provide a short vertical component 42, against which the upper right hand corner of the card 24 may rest.

rhe ledge 39 and the vertical component 42 ailord the principal support or the cards in exhibit position. lt has been found that, when a cabinet accommodating about 2O to 30 cards is employed, there is not too serious a tendency for cards 14 or 17 inches wide to buckle along a vertical axis. Further, when the cabinet size is arranged to provide the slight overlap between cards in the lower storage space and other cards in exhibit position, an additional reinforcement against buckling is provided.

lt will be seen that the transfer of cards from exhibit position to lower storage position and vice versa is very simple. It will be noted that the position behind the exhibit opening is referred to as the exhibit position; actualiy, only the forward-most card is being exhibited, While the remaining cards are being stored for subsequent exhibit but, since each of the cards will be ultimately exhibited while in this position, as soon as the cards before it are removed, such terminology is deemed to be justified. As shown in FIGURE 2, the normal, exhibit position of a card is shown in solid lines while the position of the card about to make its descent into the storage space is shown in FIGURE S.

A complete sequence of positions is found in FIG- andere URES 7 to 9. At rst, the card is supported on ledge 39, leaning against vertical component In this position, the left edge of the card closely abuts the left wall of the cabinet ld, leaving no space S, whereas there is a full space at 23. lt will be seen that by tilting the card 24 in a counter clockwise direction, the lower left corner of the card will be removed from its supporting ledge, leaving the card 24 to slide down into space 3d, coming to rest on the cushion device 32. To assist the card in following the proper path in its initial descent, the projecting member dit) has a downwardly slanting surface 4d on its underside.

FIGURE 7 shows the exhibiting position. FlGURE 8 shows the cards d about to descend and FGURE 9 shows the card in the lower storage position. Although only a small ledge 39 is needed to support the cards in raised position, it is desirable to have it extended continuously down the side ld, to snugly guide the cards to the bottom of their lower position. lf the entire exhibitor cabinet is inverted, with the cards coming to rest on the upper cushion 36, the cards will be guided by the angular face 44 of the projecting member d@ to what is normally the left hand side of the cabinet and a sharp blow with the hand on the side of the cabinet will jog what is normally the lower left hand corner of the cards into proper position, so that, when the cabinet is returned to its normal position, the cards will remain in the upper exhibit space.

A suitable device for shifting the cards, one at a time, is shown to enlarged scale in FIGURES 4 to 6 inclusive. A bearing block member 46 is ixed to the side wall le in the upper portion thereof and toward the front of the casing. Through this bearing block passes a short shaft d8, to which is attached on the outside, the hub of handle t). Within the cabinet, a crank collar 52 iixes the shaft against aidal movement and provides an attachment point for the bias spring 54, secured at its other end to the element 56, suitably xed on the side Wall 16. The spring is arranged to hold the handle 5t? in a generally upright position while yieldingly permitting such handle to be rotated forwardly and downwardly about one quarter turn. At the innermost end of the shaft 48 is the wiping foot 58. This foot may desirably consist of a leaf spring faced with sott trictional material such as a slightly tacky rubber or a iinely porous sponge rubber. Normally, the foot hangs free as shown in the solid lines. When it is desired to lower a card, the handle 50 is depressed, bringing the foot into contact with the front card 24 of the card stack and further depression of the handle 5t) will cause the card to be raised while it slips over the face of the card behind, urged by the frictional engagement of the foot 5S. When the card has been raised Sulliciently, the handle is released, the bias spring returns the foot to inoperative position and the card falls of its own weight.

As shown in FIGURE 7, it is suilicient to use a cushion 37 in the center of the top 20, and in such case, the cushion may extend downwardly almost touching the cards. In this way, the cushion 37 acts as a fulcrum about which the card 24 may pivot when being raised.

The removable top member 2t) may be held in place by any suitable means not shown. By its removable nature, it provides ready access to the cards when they are in exhibit position. As desired, the cards may be removed as a unit and replaced by another set. As required by the needs or" a particular audience, individual cards may be removed or added or the order of the cards may be changed. Any ot' these operations may be completed in the space of one to three minutes time, making the device especially attractive for those fields wherein flexible presentations are important.

The exhibitor may be finished in leather or an imitation thereof and provided with a suitable carrying handle. When iitted with a closure panel for lling up the exhibit opening, the device has the appearance and convenience of a piece of luggage so that it may easily be carried about for sales, training, briefing and conferences in general. For small conferences, classes and other educational activities, the device has great advantages over blackboard and optically projected presentations. All of the subject matter may be prepared before class, avoiding wastage of class time and the material can be prepared quickly and easily without the delay involved in processing photographic presentations. Added to this, its low cost of manufacture facilitates the use of visual aid in the class room. The disadvantage of exhibiting devices using separate guides for vertically movable cards has been the space, in depth, of the exhibit case, taken up by the guides. In turn, this has limited the number of cards that may be shown, since the rear cards of any given set, sufler from lack of illumination, being enclosed on all four sides. Production models of the herein disclosed invention measure only one and one-half inches thick, with a holding capacity of twenty to thirty cards.

We claim:

l. A card exhibitor `for showing a plurality of rectangular cards each of the same face `dimensions comprising, a shallow cabinet somewhat wider than the lateral dimension Kof said cards and about twice the height of the vertical dimension of the cards having: a front panel having, in the upper portion thereof an exhibit opening framing the face of the cards being exhibited; the space within the cabinet being allocated to an upper storage space behind the exhibit opening and a lower storage space behind the closed portion of said front panel; a cushion device on the floor of the Ilower storage space for cushioning the fall of cards thereupon; a ledge upon a first side wall of the cabinet, in the lower space and below the exhibit opening, the outer lip of said ledge being .spaced horizontally from the second, opposite side wall, slightly more than the lateral `dimension of the cards, `a projecting mem-ber having a vertical face, extending toward the first side wall a distance substantially equal to the width of the ledge and located on the second side wall with the lower edge yof its vertical face above the upper surface o-f the ledge slightly less than the vertical dimension of the cards; a iirst clear space in the upper storage space extending from the projecting member on the second side wall, extending along said sidewall downwardly into the lower storage space; said cards ibeing held in exhibit position behind the exhibit opening with the lower face of a lower corner resting upon said ledge and the side -face of the diagonally opposite corner resting against the vertical face of said projecting member; a second clear space above the cards in exhibit position; and a card shifting member associated with said cabinet, said shifting member including an operator vfoot element movable into and out of engagement with the face of the frontmost card, an operating handle and an yoperating shaft connecting said handle and said foot element whereby actuation of said handle causes said `foot element to engage the frontmost card and move it upwardly and sidewardly toward said rst and second clear spaces and off said ledge and whereby release of engagement of said foot element releases said card to enable said yfrontmost card to fa'll into the lower storage space, thereby exposing a following card; said cabinet being invertable whereby cards located in the normally lower storage compartment may slide into the normally upper storage compartment and, upon tilting of said cabinet, come to rest upon said ledge and said projecting member for subsequent exhibition.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein the vertical 'distance from the cushion on the door of the storage space to the ledge on the side wall, yis less than the vertical dimension of the cards, whereby there will `be an overlap between `cards in the lower storage space and cards in the exhibit position.

3. The structure'of claim l wherein the projecting member located on the second side wall slopes downwardly from its lower, exposed vertical face, toward the side wall, said sloping portion serving to guide the cards in their vertical movement,

4. The structure of claim 1 including `a member projecting downwardly into the second clear space, spaced between the two side walls, to serve as a lfulcrum in the shifting of the cards.

5. The structure of claim 4 wherein the downwardly projecting member is of cushion material to cushion the cards `as they are returned to exhibit position.

6. The structure of claim l including a cushion in the upper part of the cabinet to cushion the cards as they are returned to exhibit position.

7. A card exhibitor for showing a plurality of rectangular cands each of the same face dimensions comprising, a shallow cabinet some-what wider than the lateral dimension or said cards and Vabout twice the height of the vertical dimension of the cards having: a front panel having, in the upper portion thereof an exhibit opening framing the yface of the cards being exhibited; the space within the cabinet `being allocated to an upper storage space behind the exhibit opening and a lower storage space 'behind the closed portion of said -front panel; a cushion device on the lloor of the lower storage space for cushioning the fall of cards thereupon; a iiller striA upon a lrst side wall of the cabinet, in the lower space yand below the exhibit opening, said tiller strip terminating in a ledge, the outer lip of said ledge being spaced horizontally yfrom the second, opposite side wall, slightly more than the lateral dimension of the cands; a projecting member, having a vertical face extending toward the lirst side wall a distance substantially equal to the width of the ledge and located on the second side wall with the lower edge of its vertical face above the upper surface of the ledge slightly less than the vertical dimension of the cards; `a drst clear space in the upper storage space extending 'from the projecting member on the second side wall, extending along said side wall downwardly into the lower storage space; said cards being held in exhibit position behind the exhibit opening with the lower face of v.a Ilower corner resting upon said ledge and the side face of the diagonally opposite corner resting against the vertical face of said projecting member; a second clear space above the cards in exhibit position; and a card shifting member associated with said cabinet, said shifting member including an operator foot element movable into and out of engagement with the face of the frontmost card, an operating handle and an operating shaft connecting said handle and said foot element whereby actuation of said handle causes sai-d foot element to engage the trontrnost card and move `it )upwandly and sidewardly toward said first and sec-ond clear spaces and oft said ledge and whereby release of engagement of said foot element releases said cand to enable said frontmost card to afll into the lower storage space, thereby exposing a following card; said cabinet being invertable whereby cards located in the normally lower storage compartment may slide into the normally upper storage compartment and, upon tilting of isaid cabinet, come to rest upon said ledge and said projecting member for subsequent exhibition.

8. A card exhibitor `for showing a plurality of 'rectangular cards each of the same face dimensions comprising, a shallow cabinet somewhat wider than the lateral dimension of said cards and about twice the height of the vertical dimension of the cards having: a front panel having, in the `upper portion thereof an exhibit opening framing the face of the car-ds being exhibited; the space within the cabinet being `allocated to an upper storage space lbehind the exhibit opening and a lower storage space Ibehind the closed portion of said ifront panel; a cushion device on the oor of the lower storage space for cushioning the 4fall of cards thereupon; a ledge upon a first side wall of the cabinet, in the lower space and Ibelow the exhibit opening, the outer lip of said ledge being spaced Ifrom the second, opposite side wall, slightly more than the lateral dimension of the cards; a projecting member, having a vertical `face extending toward the first side wall a distance substantially equal to the width of the ledge and located on the second side wall with the lower edge of its vertical face above the upper surface of the ledge slightly less than the vertical dimension of the cards; a iirst clear space in the upper storage space extending yfrom the projecting member on the second side wall, extending along said side wall downwardly into the lower storage space; said cards being ield in exhibit position behind the exhibit opening with the lower face of a lower corner resting upon `said ledge and the side face of the diagonally opposite corner `resting against the verticall `face of said projecting member; a second clear space above the cards in exhibit position; and means associated with said cabinet, for shifting said cards from a position before said exhibit opening to said lower storage space, thereby exposing =a ifoilowing card; said cabinet being invertable whereby cards `located in the non mally lower storage compartment may slide into the normally upper storage compartment and, upon tilting of said cabinet, come to rest upon said ledge and said projecting member for subsequent exhibition.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,239,324 Vehb` Sept. 4, 1917 1,728,900 Madsen Sept. 17, 1929 2,707,345 Swank May 3, 1955 2,848,827 Kiker Aug. 26, 1958

Claims

1. A CARD EXHIBITOR FOR SHOWING A PLURALITY OF RECTANGULAR CARDS EACH OF THE SAME FACE DIMENSIONS COMPRISING, A SHALLOW CABINET SOMEWHAT WIDER THAN THE LATERAL DIMENSION OF SAID CARDS AND ABOUT TWICE THE HEIGHT OF THE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE CARDS HAVING: A FRONT PANEL HAVING, IN THE UPPER PORTION THEREOF AN EXHIBIT OPENING FRAMING THE FACE OF THE CARDS BEING EXHIBITED; THE SPACE WITHIN THE CABINET BEING ALLOCATED TO AN UPPER STORAGE SPACE BEHIND THE EXHIBIT OPENING AND A LOWER STORAGE SPACE BEHIND THE CLOSED PORTION OF SAID FRONT PANEL; A CUSHION DEVICE ON THE FLOOR OF THE LOWER STORAGE SPACE FOR CUSHIONING THE FALL OF CARDS THEREUPON; A LEDGE UPON A FIRST SIDE WALL OF THE CABINET, IN THE LOWER SPACE AND BELOW THE EXHIBIT OPENING, THE OUTER LIP OF SAID LEDGE BEING SPACED HORIZONTALLY FROM THE SECOND, OPPOSITE SIDE WALL, SLIGHTLY MORE THAN THE LATERAL DIMENSION OF THE CARDS, A PROJECTING MEMBER HAVING A VERTICAL FACE, EXTENDING TOWARD THE FIRST SIDE WALL A DISTANCE SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO THE WIDTH OF THE LEDGE AND LOCATED ON THE SECOND SIDE WALL WITH THE LOWER EDGE OF ITS VERTICAL FACE ABOVE THE UPPER SURFACE OF THE LEDGE SLIGHTLY LESS THAN THE VERTICAL DIMENSION OF THE CARDS; A FIRST CLEAR SPACE IN THE UPPER STORAGE SPACE EXTENDING FROM THE PROJECTING MEMBER ON THE SECOND SIDE WALL, EXTENDING ALONG SAID SIDEWALL DOWNWARDLY INTO THE LOWER STORAGE SPACE; SAID CARDS BEING HELD IN EXHIBIT POSITION BEHIND THE EXHIBIT OPENING WITH THE LOWER FACE OF A LOWER CORNER RESTING UPON SAID LEDGE AND THE SIDE FACE OF THE DIAGONALLY OPPOSITE CORNER RESTING AGAINST THE VERTICAL FACE OF SAID PROJECTING MEMBER; A SECOND CLEAR SPACE ABOVE THE CARDS IN EXHIBIT POSITION; AND A CARD SHIFTING MEMBER ASSOCIATED WITH SAID CABINET, SAID SHIFTING MEMBER INCLUDING AN OPERATOR FOOT ELEMENT MOVABLE INTO AND OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH THE FACE OF THE FRONTMOST CARD, AN OPERATING HANDLE AND AN OPERATING SHAFT CONNECTING SAID HANDLE AND SAID FOOT ELEMENT WHEREBY ACTUATION OF SAID HANDLE CAUSES SAID FOOT ELEMENT TO ENGAGE THE FRONTMOST CARD AND MOVE IT UPWARDLY AND SIDEWARDLY TOWARD SAID FIRST AND SECOND CLEAR SPACES AND OFF SAID LEDGE AND WHEREBY RELEASE OF ENGAGEMENT OF SAID FOOT ELEMENT RELEASES SAID CARD TO ENABLE SAID FRONTMOST CARD TO FALL INTO THE LOWER STORAGE SPACE, THEREBY EXPOSING A FOLLOWING CARD; SAID CABINET BEING INVERTABLE WHEREBY CARDS LOCATED IN THE NORMALLY LOWER STORAGE COMPARTMENT MAY SLIDE INTO THE NORMALLY UPPER STORAGE COMPARTMENT AND, UPON TILTING OF SAID CABINET, COME TO REST UPON SAID LEDGE AND SAID PROJECTING MEMBER FOR SUBSEQUENT EXHIBITION.