US3126862A - Destination selector - Google Patents

Description

March 31, 1964 F. A. HANLEY DESTINATION SELECTOR Filed July 11, 1962 INVENTOR United States Patent 3,126,862 DESTINATION SELECTOR Frank A. Hanley, 37 Dechert Road, Conshohocken, Pa. Filed July 11, 1962, Ser. No. 209,153 1 Claim. (Cl. 116-419) This invention relates to an improved device for facilitating the reading of travel timetables and schedules such as are distributed to travel agents and the public by air carriers and railroads.

In accordance with the invention, the device is composed of two pieces of colored plastic which are slidably connected together to enable them to be expanded from a completely superposed relation to cover an area approximating the total of their two areas. By adjustment of the two pieces, the data in a timetable or schedule relating to the two places of interest to the reader are exposed along two opposed edges of the device, while the listed places and data relating thereto which are located between the two places of interest are blocked by such plastic pieces. It is preferred that the two plastic pieces be made sufficiently transparent so that the blocked intermediate listed places and the data relating thereto are not wholly hidden from view, but are only rendered less prornient than the two places of interest.

It is believed that a better understanding of the device of this invention will be obtained from the following detailed description thereof when considered with the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device shown placed on an airplane schedule page to compare flights between New York and Caracas;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view looking along the line 2-2 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view of the device taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1.

In the drawings, the numeral indicates generally an airplane schedule page in an ofiicial airline guideof the type usually furnished to travel agents and listing thereon in column form the places 11 at which the planes will stop in their scheduled flights, and the times 12 at which the planes will arrive and leave such places. As indicated, the device of this invention is placed on the schedule page 10 to facilitate a comparison of the data relating to New York and Caracas.

The device comprises two pieces of plastic sheet material 15 and 16 superimposed on one another in slidable relation. The sheets are made of any suitable, known transparent plastic material, and are preferably colored with a suitable transparent coloring material so that the data on the schedule page 10 covered by the device although shaded by the coloring of such pieces, still can be read through both thicknesses of the sheets. The thickness of the sheets is such that their transparency is substantially unaffected thereby, but sufiicient to give the device weight enough to stay in position upon the sheet of paper on which it is placed. The dimensions of the sheets 15 and '16 will vary in accordance with the intended use of the device and will depend on the area of the timetable or schedule sheets on which is provided the data with which the device is to be used. Thus, with an ofiicial airline guide page, such as the illustrated page 10, it has been found that sheets 15 and 16 four inches high and eight inches wide, to enable them to cover areas 3,126,862 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 in the range of approximately thirty-two square inches to sixty square inches, are satisfactory.

The two plastic reading sheets 15, 16 are held in sliding relation by two side guide members 17, 17 which may be in the form of metal clips or made of any other suitable material. In order that the sheets and guide members may be maintained in assembled relation, the guide members may be provided with upper flanges 18, 18 engaging in sliding relation the slots 19, 19 provided in the upper, outer surface of the sheet 16 adjacent to the end edges of such sheet, and with lower flanges 20, 20 engaging in sliding relation the slots 21, 21 provided in the lower, outer surface of the sheet 15 adjacent to the end edges thereof. The slots 19 and 21 preferably terminate short of the top and bottom edges so that the material of the sheet beyond the ends of such slots function in the manner of stops 22 to limit the range of expansion of the pieces and to prevent such sheets from being pulled apart.

The manipulation of the sheets 15 and 16 is facilitated by finger tabs 23, 24 provided on the top edge of the sheet 15 and the bottom edge of the sheet 16, respectively. Both of the finger tabs project upwardly from the upper surfaces of the two sheets so that they can both be manually manipulated from one side of the device and enable the device to lie substantially flat on the page 16. The tab 23 may be utilized to coact with the top stop members 22, 22 on the sheet 15 to limit the closing movement of the two sheets. Thus, by providing the finger tab 23 with a thickness at least as great as the dimension of such top stop members 22, 22 between the upper ends of the slots 21 and the top edge of the sheet 15, the finger tab 23 is enabled to coact with the top edge of the sheet 16 to limit movement of the sheets 15 and 16 in the collapsing direction. By making the thickness of tab 23, and the said dimension of the top stop members 22, 22, the same, all of such members will cooperate simultaneously in such limiting action.

It is believed that the use of the device will be readily understood from the foregoing explanation. It is believed advisable, however, to point out briefly that the device may be placed on the page 10 with the top edge of sheet 15 immediately under the place of start of a trip (New York) and then while holding such edge in such position by firmly gripping finger tab 23, pushing down on finger tab 24 to expand the deivce until the bottom edge of sheet 16 immediately overlies the place of destination (Caracas). The data on the page relating to the arrival and departure times of planes at the two places may then be readily observed without distraction by the data of intervening places on the page. It will be noted, however, that while the data on all intervening places are shaded out by the coloring of the device, such data will not be completely obscured and will be observable therefore, in the event questions arise in regard to the arrival and departure times of a plane at any of such intervening places.

While I have hereinabove described and illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that modifications thereof may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A destination selector for readily ascertaining the departure and arrival times of a public carrier between two places listed on a schedule of such carrier, comprising two sheets of colored transparent material superimposed on one another in sliding relation so that such sheets may be expanded and contracted in the direction of the list of places on the schedule to enable the opposite end edges of the devices to be positioned adjacent to two selected places spaced apart in such list a distance greater than the dimension in such direction of the device in the contracted condition of such sheets and to block larger and smaller areas, respectively, of the schedule between any such two selected places of such list, the coloring of such sheets being such that the data on an area of the schedule blocked by such two sheets is sufiiciently shade to make References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,336,900 Galloway Apr. 13, 1920 1,658,499 Stevens Feb. 7, 1928 2,179,531 Trapnell Nov. 14, 1939 2,319,436 Bailie May 18, 1943

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