US3199239A

US3199239A - Rotatable indicia-bearing vanes for signboards

Info

Publication number: US3199239A
Application number: US287050A
Authority: US
Inventors: Theodore M Reed
Original assignee: PACIFIC OUTDOOR ADVERTISING CO
Current assignee: PACIFIC OUTDOOR ADVERTISING CO
Priority date: 1963-06-11
Filing date: 1963-06-11
Publication date: 1965-08-10
Anticipated expiration: 1982-08-10

Description

United States Patent 0 The invention relates to multi-vaned, plural message signboards, and more particularly to rotatable vanes with removable indicia-bearing panels.

The rotatable prism-like vanes utilized in plural message signboards such as that described in my co-pending US. patent application, Serial No. 125,541, now abancloned, filed July 20, 1961 and entitled Advertising Display Boards," impose many problems on designers. Hollow vanes, conventionally triangular in cross section, have been employed in signboards of this type for many years. T he vanes are synchronously turned and halted. When a multiplicity of such prismatic vanes is to be turned, the motive force necessary is considerable. Additionally, registration of the vanes so that the outward facets of all vanes are parallel is hindered by the inertia of the vanes when turned. The inertia problem is of course increased by added vane weight. I have invented a rotatable plural facet vane that is light in wei ht and therefore requires less turning power, is weather resistant, and has removable indicia-bcaring panels. The panels may be detached from the signboard and the messages thereon changed at the location most convenient and then later restored to the signboard.

The invention contemplates a rotatable plural-faceted vane for use in plural message signboards with each vane comprising a rotatable core have a plurality of core faces or panels that define an elongate prism. A plurality of securing means releasably hold a plurality of indiciabearing facet panels adjacent a core face. There are as many facet panels as there are core faces. The securing means orient the facet panels so that they abut edge to edge to define a hollow prism about the elongate core prism that is geometrically similar to the core prism. conventionally the prisms defined are triangular in transverse cross section.

lreferably, the core faces and the facet panels are of high impact plastic material. Many such materials are now available that are relatively light in weight and highly resistant to sunlight and other weather factors. Preferably the elongate core prism comprises three core faces or panels, each of which has one long bifurcated edge and a parallel opposite angular tongue. The tongue of each core face fits into the bifurcated edge of an adjacent panel and is preferably adhered thereto. A tri angular prismatic core may thus be formed by three elongate core panels. Each of the exterior core faces has a plurality of spaced fastening means. The outer facet panels, each of which carries a part of the display mes sage, have longitudinal stiifeners with spaced engagements that coordinate with the position of the fastening means on the core face exterior. A facet panel may be releasably engaged with the core prism by sliding the facet panel downwardly until the engagements register with the fastening means on the core prism. Such a combination of elements permits rapid placement and removal of indicia-bearing facet panels to effect a change in the 3,l99,239 Patented Aug. 10, 1965 message displayed by a signboard including a multiplicity of rotatable vanes of the character described. These and other advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of a plural message signboard utilizing the apparatus of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly broken away, of the rotatable vanes of the signboard of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan section taken along line 33 of FIG. 2 showing a transverse section of the preferred vane of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of a core prism face;

PEG. 5 is a fragmentary elevation of a preferred facet panel with stiileners;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary elevational view, partly broken away, of an assembled rotatable vane, and

FIG. 7 is a transverse sectional view of a facet panel.

In FIG. 1 a signboard base 11 supports a static display board 12 and a plural or changing message display unit 13. Display unit 13 comprises a multiplicity of rotatable vanes 15. Each vane extends from top to bottom of display unit 13 and is mounted top and bottom to rotate about its central vertical axis. conventionally, the vanes r are triangular in transverse cross section and thus give the appearance of a triangular prism.

In BIG. 2 a plurality of rotatable vanes 15A through 15D are shown in turning position. Each vane, such as the vane 1155, has a journalled axle 17 that supports and turns the vane. A miter gear 19 at the bottom of the axle is driven by a second miter gear 21 fixed to a drive shaft 22-. Each vane is similarly linked to the drive shaft. The drive shaft is turned by a suitable power unit (not shown). As can be seen from FIGS. 2 and 3, each vane comprises an inner core prism 25 and an outer facet prism 2s. The

facet panels

27, 28, 29 of the outer facet prism are preferably removably mounted to the core prism.

The core prism 25 comprises three

core faces

31, 32, 33, each of which has a long bifurcated edge 35.

Blades

37, 38 of each bifurcated edge extend for substantially the length of the elongate panel. The blades are spaced apart the thickness of an angular tongue 39 on the opposite edge of each core face. The bifurcated blades and the angular tongue of each core face make an obtuse angle with the core face. Thus, when the core faces are erected and the tongue of each core face is inserted into the bifurcation of the adjacent face, the core faces form a prism that is triangular in cross section. Preferably the bifurcation and the tongue are bonded together with a solvent bonding agent. When, as is preferable, the core faces are made of a high impact plastic, such as lmplex A (a proprietary product of the Rohm & Haas Company), a bonding solvent such as ethylene dichloride may be used.

Top and bottom spiders, such as the bottom spider ll, may be fixed to the inner walls of the core faces to provide rotation attachments for the core prism. As can be seen from FIG. 6, each of the core faces, such as the face 32, has a plurality of fasteners 43 fixed to its outer surface at horizontally and vertically spaced intervals. Each fastener 43 comprises an outwardly protruding base 44 and an upwardly extending hook 45. The fasteners may be spaced apart two to four feet vertically, depending upon the longitudinal extent of the core prism and the thickness of the material used for the core faces and facet panels.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 7, a facet panel such as the panel 28 has greater width than, and similar length to, core face 32. Facet panel 28 has bevelled

edges

47, 48 that extend the length of the panel. inwardly from each of the bevelled edges a

longitudinal stiffener

51, 52 is fixed to the inner side of the facet panel. Because of the bevel the outer side of the facet panel which bears the sign indicia is slightly wider than the inner side upon which the longitudinal stiffeners are affixed. Preferably,.the'

A plurality of engagements 55, are fixed within each 7 stiffener at spaced intervals vertically. The stiffeners and the engagements therein are spaced horizontally and vertically to coincide with the like spacing of the fasteners on the core faces. The engagements may be channel segments of smaller span than the stiffeners so that they seat therein. The channel segments define a boxlike section at intervals along the stiifeners. The hooks of fasteners 43 engage in the space between the channel and the engagement, as best shown in FIG. 3. V

Preferably the core panels arerof an extruded material such that their width is closely controlled. Little variation exists in the width of a core face from top to bottom. Therefore, if both the fasteners on the core and the stilfen ers and engagements are jig-positioned during fabrication, the orientation of the facet panels is easily maintained so that their bevelled edges meet precisely to define a congruent hollow prism about the core.

For best signboard display effect, the edges of adjacent vanes must pass closely when the vanes of a signboard are rotated to change the message. Therefore, the preciseness with which the vane edges are formed must be maintained in operation. Temperature changes can affect the width, and trouble may be anticipated if sunlight, for instance, falls with varying intensity along the length of a single vane. Warpage in both facet panel and core may result from weathering and rotational stresses. However, the monocoque construction of the core obviates most warpage problems. The stilfeners and fastening means serve to maintain dimensional stability in the facet panels.

Since the facet panel edges must be kept in close registrolled by the vertical location of the channel segments,

each of whose bottom edge abuts upon a fastener base 44.

In practice, each vane core or inner prism is positioned to rotate within the confines of a changing message unit 13, and remains associated therewith. The facet panels comprising a rotating vane may be moved from engagement with a particular inner core and, after the message thereon is changed, may be replaced upon the same or a different inner core.

Placement of facet panels upon the inner core prism is achieved by aligning each facet panel vertically with reference to an outer face of a core prism and elevating the facet panel so that the engagements thereon are slightly higher than the matching fasteners of a core face. facet panel is then pushed inwardly so that the engagements register against the core face. After it is ascertained that the engagements align vertically with the fastener hooks, the facet panel is displaced downwardly so that the engagements register on the hooks; The remaining two facet panels are similarly engaged with the core faces after the core has been rotated so that each next The I l face becomes adjacent the outer working space of the display unit.

While the vanes illustrated in the drawing are triangular, it may sometimes be desirable to use vanes having more than three indicia-bearing facets. Such vanes can be accomplished easily within the scope of the invention by altering the angle of the bifurcations and tongue of each core panel to achieve the proper angular relationship between adjacent core panels. it must be realized that each increase in the number of message-bearing facets increases the visible gap between adjacent vanes. For this reason triangular vanes presently appear to be the optimum configuration. I

The invention disclosed herein results in a wei ht saving of 40% in vanes having three display facets, each approximately one foot by sixteen feet. A comparable saving in power necessary to rotate the vanes and the braking facility necessary to over-con e mi ing inertia may be achieved. The invention affords great flexibility in changing the indicia on vane surfaces, as well .as saving in power and time. It is realized that variations from the illustrative embodiments shown herein will occur to those skilled in the Therefore, I wish the invention to be defined by the appended claims rather than by the illustrative embodiments herein shown and described.

, I claim:

1. A rotatable plural-faceted vane for use in a multivaned, plural message signboard, the vane comprising an elongate hollow prismatic core having a plurality of planar exterior core faces, each of said core faces having a bifurcated long edge and an angular tongue edge parallel to the long edge, each of the two edges of a core face being adapted to engage the unlike edge of an adjacent core face, fastening means on each exterior face of the core face so as to releasably support a facet panel adjacent a core face.

2. A vane in accordance with claim 1 wherein the'facet panels join at their long edges to define a hollow prism geometrically similar to the hollow prismatic'core.

3. A vane in accordance with claim 1 wherein each engagement on each facet panel is contained within a longitudinal stiffener.

4. Apparatus in accordance with claim 1 wherein each longitudinal stiffener comprises an elongate channel member openingadja cent an exterior core face, and each engagement comprises a band extending transversely from open edge to open edge of the channel, the engagements being spaced apart along each stiffener so as to engage 'with a like number of similarly oriented fastening means 'on the adjacent exterior core face.

5. A rotatable plural-faceted vane for use in a multivaned, plural message signboard, the vane comprising a plurality of elongate core face panels, a bifurcated edge on each core face panel extending the length thereof, an angular tongue along the other elongate edge of each core face panel adapted to engage the bifurcated edge of an adjacent core face panel, the angle of the tongue and the bifurcation on each core face panel being such that their mutual engagement defines a hollow triangular prism, a spider at the top of each prism so formed, a spider at the bottom of each prism so formed, each spider being adapted to receive means whereby the core face panels may be rotated about a longitudinal central axis, a plurality of, fastening means on each exterior core face panel, each fastening means extending outwardly and upwardly from the exterior face; a plurality of facet panels having a length commensurate with the length of the core face panels, longitudinal stiffeners extending substantially the length of each facet panel on the interior face thereof, an indicia-receiving outer surface on each facet panel, a plurality of engagements located at spaced intervals on each longitudinal stitfener so as to each engage a fastening m ans on a core face panel, said fastening means engaging with each engagement when a facet panei is moved downwardly paraliel to the longitudinal extent of the core face panels, said engagements and fastening means registcring the facet panels such that the edges thereof abut to form a prism.

6. A rotatabie plural-faceted vane for use in a multivaned, plural message signooard, the vane comprising a plurality of elongate core faces joined to form a hollow elongate core prism, fastening means on the exterior of each core face extending outwardly and upwardly from the exterior face; a plurality of facet panels having lengths commensurate with the length of the core faces, an indiciareceiving outer surface on each facet panel; longitudinal stiffeners extending substantially the length of each facet panel on the interior face thereof, and engagement means on each longitudinal stilfener adapted to engage the fastening means on a core face; said fastening means engaging the engagement means when a facet panel is moved downwardly parallel to and proximate to the longitudinal extent of a core face, said engagement and fastening means registering the facet panels such that the edges thereof abut to form a prism.

References Cited by the Examiner UNlTED STATES PATENTS 884,214 4/08 Schneider IQ-76 X 1,029,231 6/12 Ryan 129-16 1,366,548 1/21 Nillison et a1. 40-76 1,461,047 7/23 Ray 4076 1,713,963 5/29 Einkson 40-125 2,266,590 16/41 Speck 40-125 2,664,978 1/54 Pox 189-88 2,728,622 12/55 Griswold 21l-163 X 3,667,224 11/61 Wean l8941 X EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

20 IEROME SCHNALL, Examiner.

Claims

1. A ROTATABLE PLURAL-FACETED VANE FOR USE IN A MULTIVANED, PLURAL MESSAGE SIGNBOARD, THE VANE COMPRISING AN ELONGATE HOLLOW PRISMATIC CORE HAVINGA PLURALITY O PLANAR EXTERIOR CORE FACES, EACH OF SAID CORE FACES HAVING A BIFURCATED LONG EDGE AND AN ANULAR TONGUE EDGE PARALLEL TO THE LONG EDGE, EACH OF THE TWO EDGES OF A CORE FACE BEING ADAPTED TO ENGAGE THE UNLIKE EDGE OF AN ADJACENT CORE FACE, FASTENEING MEANS ON EACH EXTERIOR FACE OF THE PRISMATIC CORE; AN ELONGATE FACET PANEL ADAPTED TO BEAR INDICIA FOR EACH CORE FACE, LONGITUDINAL STIFFINERS ON EACH FACET PANEL, AND ENGAGEMENTS ON EACH FACET PANEL ADAPTED FOR SLIP FIT RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FASTENING MEANS ON A CORE FACE SO AS TO RELEASABLY SUPPORT A FACET PANEL ADJACCENT A CORE FACE.