US3255542A

US3255542A - Removable sign for an automotive vehicle door

Info

Publication number: US3255542A
Application number: US430611A
Authority: US
Inventors: Vane Harry M De
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1965-02-05
Filing date: 1965-02-05
Publication date: 1966-06-14
Anticipated expiration: 1983-06-14

Description

June 14, 1966 H. M. DE VANE 3,

REMOVABLE SIGN FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE DOOR Filed Feb. 5, 1965 I n yen/m;

Harry M De Vane b g vvt G,

llfonw/ United States Patent 3,255,542 REMOVABLE SIGN FOR AN AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE DOOR Harry M. De Vane, 1549 Pine St., Oxnard, Calif. Filed Feb. 5, 1965, Ser. No. 430,611 Claims. (Cl. 40-129) 'This invention relates to a removable sign for an automotive vehicle door.

It is an object of my invention to provide a sign which can be selectively mounted upon and removed from the door of an automotive vehicle. Signs are often required by law or desired by the vehicle owner for advertising or identification purposes when the vehicle is being used for the purpose of trade or commerce. On the other hand, such signs are often undesirable when the vehicle is being used for personal pleasure or for another business enterprlse.

It is accordingly an object of my invention to provide a sign which can be easily mounted upon and removed from a vehicle door without any fastening devices being mounted upon the vehicle and without damaging the vehicle in any way.

It is a further and more particular object of my invention to provide a sign of the type described which can be used in vehicle doors which have a slight degree of curvature in a vertical and/ or horizontal direction.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sign of the type described which does not detract from the appearance of the vehicle when in use and which carries its own fastening means for holding itself upon the door and which also includes adjusting means for fitting doors of diiferent sizes.

It is also among the objects of my invention to provide a sign of the type described in which the sign itself is separate from the sign holding members, so that different sign plates may be used.

It is a further object of my invention to provide such a sign which is economical to manufacture, so that it is capable of being sold at a reasonably low price for widespread use.

In essence, my invention contemplates a pair of elongated tracks having holding means at the opposite ends thereof for engaging the edges of a vehicle door. A flat sign plate is held in place by and between the tracks. The sign plate is sufi'iciently resilient to accommodate a moderate degree of vertical and/or horizontal curvature in the vehicle door and the tracks are also capable of being bent to a limited degree to accommodate curvature in a horizontal direction.

It is accordingly among the objects of my invention to provide a removable sign for an automotive vehicle door having all of the advantages and benefits of the structure set forth above and described in further detail hereinafter in this specification.

My invention also comprises such other objects, advantages and capabilities as will later more fully appear and which are inherently possessed by my invention.

While I have shown in the accompanying drawings preferred embodiments of my invention, it should be understood that the same are susceptible of modification and change without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Referring to the drawings,

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automotive vehicle door, showing my removable sign mounted thereon;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the same, taken along line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view, taken along line 33 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of the track assembly, taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3;

ice

FIG.'5 is a sectional view of the track assembly, taken along line 55 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of one of the slides;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of an automotive vehicle door, showing an alternative embodiment of my sign mounted thereon;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of one of the blocks which fits within the tracks;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an alternative form of slide for use in the alternative embodiment of my invention shown in FIG. 7.

A preferred embodiment which has been selected to illustrate my invention comprises a pair of identically formed elongated tracks 10, which may conveniently be formed of metal. The tracks 10 are adapted to be mounted so that they extend horizontally across an automotive vehicle door 12, with one track 10 being disposed along the lower part of the door 12 and the other track 10' being disposed a substantial distance thereabove. Each of the tracks 10 preferably has a semi-circular or raised shape and is provided along the portion which fits against the vehicle door 12 with a pair of flanges 13, which face inwardly toward each other.

Each of the tracks 10 has at each end thereof a fixed block 14, which is best seen in FIGS. 3, 5 and 8 of the drawings. The block 14 is provided on its rounded portion with a circular recess 15. The adjacent portion of the track 10 is deformed inwardly into the recess 15 in order to hold the block 14 in fixed position with respect to the track 10.

As shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings, the non-rounded side of the block 14 is provided with two

longitudinal slots

16 and 17 and two

transverse slots

18 and 19. The adjacent portions of the flanges 13 of the track 10 are deformed inwardly into the

transverse slots

18 and 19 to further hold the block 14 in fixed position with respect to the track 10.

An elongated movable slide 20 is mounted within each end of the tracks 10 outwardly from the block 14. The slide 20 includes an inner end portion 21 which slideably overlies the inside of both of the flanges 13. The outer end portion 22 of the slide 20 is narrower and is slightly smaller in width than the distance between the flanges 13. The extreme end of the outer end portion 22 is bent back upon itself to form a hook 23, which is adapted to'engage and fit around the edge of the vehicle door 12.

At the opposite end of the slide 20, the end of the inner end portion 21 is bent at a right angle to form a leg 24,

which extends parallel to and is spaced from the side of the block 14. The leg 24 is provided with an opening 25, which is somewhat larger than the shank of an adjusting screw 26, which extends through the opening 25 and is threaded into a screw threaded opening 27 in the block 14. The adjusting screw 26 is provided with a slotted head 28, which is accessible from the end of the track 10 when the end cap has been removed.

As shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, the hook 23 fits around the edge of the vehicle door 12. The screw 26 may be tightened by inserting a screw driver into the head 28 from the end of the track 10 to move the slide 20 toward the block 14. The hook 23 is released by rotation of the screw 26 in the opposite direction.

Each end of the track 10 is provided with an end cap 29, which tapers toward its outer end. The inner end of the end cap 29 is provided with a dimple 30, which slidably fits under and engages a corresponding dimple 31 in the outer end of the track 10, to hold the end cap 29 in place.

sheet material which is sufiiciently flexible so that it is capable of being bent slightly to follow the curved contour of the door in a vertical direction along its upper and lower edges with a pair of right angular top and bottom flanges 34 and 35, respectively. The flanges 34 and 35 extend along the entire length of the sign plate 33.

In case the edge of the door is curved or angled instead of straight, as shown in FIG. 7 of the drawings, 1 provide an alternative embodiment of slide member 40, which is shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. Instead of the outer end portion 41 being fixed, it is pivotally mounted by a pivot 42 so that it is free to pivot to fit the curvature or angle of the door.

Since the outer end portion 41 is considerably narrower than the end cap 29, the same end cap 29 can be used and the outer end portion 41 angled within the end cap 29. If the angle is extreme and the end cap 29 interferes, a small part of one edge of the end cap 29 can be filed away in order to provide clearance for the outer end portion 41.

The tracks 10 should preferably have a slight degree of resilience or flexibility, so that they will bend slightly in use in order to follow a slight degree of curvature in the vehicle door.

While the blocks 14 have been shown held in place by deforming the adjacent portions of the tracks, other conventional fastening means may be used, such as screws, rivets, welding, etc. to hold the blocks 14 securely in place within the tracks 10.

I claim:

1. A removable sign for automotive vehicle doors comprising a pair of elongated tracks adapted to be mounted in parallel spaced horizontal relationship across the upper and lower portions respectively of a vehicle door, each of said tracks having a substantially semi-circular portion and a pair of inwardly facing flanges adapted to extend substantially parallel to the vehicle door, a block fixedly mounted adjacent each end of each of said tracks, each of said blocks having a screw threaded opening extending therethrough, an elongated movable slide mounted outwardly from each of said blocks within said tracks, said slide having an inner end slidably overlying the flanges on said track and a narrower outer end somewhat smaller in width than said flanges and disposed therebetween, said outer end being bent back upon itself to form a hook adapted to fit around the edge of the vehicle door, said slide having a right angular leg extending transversely across said track, said leg having an opening extending therethrough, an elongated adjusting screw having a head bearing against said leg and a shank extending through the opening in said leg and engaging the threaded opening in said block, said head being accessible from the end of said track, and a substantially rectangular somewhat resilient signplate having right angular top and bottom flanges, said flanges adapted to fit within said track, extending in transverse engagement with one of the flanges of each of said tracks to hold said signplate in a substantially parallel position to said vehicle door.

2. A removable sign for automotive vehicle doors comprising a pair of elongated tracks adapted to be mounted in parallel spaced horizontal relationship across the upper and lower portions of a vehicle door, each of said tracks having a pair of inwardly facing flanges adapted to extend substantially parallel to the vehicle door, a block fixedly mounted adjacent each end of each of said tracks, an elongated movable slide mounted within each end of each of said tracks outwardly from each of said blocks, hook means carried by the outer end of said slide for engaging the edge of the vehicle door, an elongated adjusting screw adjustably connecting said slide and block, said screw being accessible from the end of said track, and a somewhat resilient sign plate having substantially right angular top and bottom flanges adapted to fit within said tracks in transverse engagement with one of the flanges of each of said tracks to hold said sign plate in substantially parallel position to said vehicle door.

3. A removable sign for automotive vehicle doors, comprising a pair of elongated tracks adapted to be mounted in parallel spaced horizontal relationship across the upper and lower portions of a vehicle door, each of said tracks having a pair of inwardly facing flanges adapted to extend substantially parallel to the vehicle door, an elongated movable slide mounted adjacent each end of each of said tracks, hook means carried by the outer end of said slide for engaging the edge of the vehicle door, an elongated adjusting screw accessible from the end of said track for positioning said slide with respect to said track, and a sign plate having top and bottom flanges adapted to fit within said tracks in transverse engagement with one of the flanges of each of said tracks to hold said sign plate in a substantially parallel position to said vehicle door.

4. The structure described in claim 3 and an end cap removably mounted over each end of each of said tracks, said end caps concealing the ends of said tracks and concealing said adjusting screws.

5. The structure described in claim 3, and at least one of said slides having the hook means thereof pivotally mounted with respect to said tracks, whereby said hook is adapted to be positioned to fit around an angled or curved door edge.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,271,804 7/1918 Thunell 40-128 X 1,512,330 10/1924 Flander 40-129 2,166,048, 7/1939 Fritsch 40-129 2,201,002 5/1940 Theriault 40-129 2,214,302 9/1940 Keller et a1. 40-129 2,675,983 4/1954 King 40-129 X 2,876,566 3/1959 Harrington 40-129 2,902,241 9/1959 Spitko 40-129 X 2,995,849 8/1961 Donnellan 40-140 EUGENE R. CAPOZIO, Primary Examiner.

LAWRENCE CHARLES, Examiner.

SHELDON M. BENDER, Assistant Examiner.

Claims

1. A REMOVABLE SIGN FOR AUTOMOTIVE VEHICLE DOORS COMPRISING A PAIR OF ELONGATED TRACKS ADAPTED TO BE MOUNTED IN PARALLEL SPACED HORIZONTAL RELATIONSHIP ACROSS THE UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS RESPECTIVELY OF A VEHICLE DOOR, EACH OF SAID TRACKS HAVING A SUBSTANTIALKLY SEMI-CIRCULAR PORTION AND A PAIR OF INWARDLY FACING FLANGES ADAPTED TO EXTEND SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLED TO THE VEHICLE DOOR, A BLOCK FIXEDLY MOUNTED ADJACENT EACH END OF EACH OF SAID TRACKS, EACH OF SAID BLOCKS HAVING A SCREW THREADED OPENING EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, AN ELONGATED MOVABLE SLIDE MOUNTED OUTWARDLY FROM EACH OF SAID BLOCKS WITHIN SAID TRACKS, SAID SLIDE HAVING AN INNER END SLIDABLY OVERLYING THE FLANGES ON SAID TRACK AND A NARROWER OUTER END SOMEWHAT SMALLER IN WIDTH THAN SAID FLANGES AND DISPOSED THEREBETWEEN, SAID OUTER END BEING BENT BACK UPON ITSELF TO FORM A HOOK ADAPTED TO FIT AROUND THE EDGE OF THE VEHICLE DOOR, SAID SLIDE HAVING A RIGHT ANGULAR LEG EXTENDING TRANSVERSELY ACROSS SAID TRACK, SAID LEG HAVING AN OPENING EXTENDING THERETHROUGH, AN ELONGATED ADJUSTING SCREW HAVING A HEAD BEARING AGAINST SAID LEG AND A SHANK EXTENDING THROUGH THE OPENING IN SAID LEG AND ENGAGING THE THREADED OPENING IN SAID BLOCK, SAID HEAD BEING ACCESSIBLE FROM THE END OF SAID TRACK, AND A SUBSTANTIALLY RECTANGULAR SOMEWHAT RESILIENT SIGNPLATE HAVING RIGHT ANGULAR TOP AND BOTTOM FLANGES, SAID FLANGES ADAPTED TO FIT WITHIN SAID TRACK, EXTENDING IN TRANSVERSE ENGAGEMENT WITH ONE OF THE FLANGES OF EACH OF SAID TRACKS TO HOLD SAID SIGNPLATE IN A SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL POSITION TO SAID VEHICLE DOOR.