US3354567A

US3354567A - Indicia-bearing device

Info

Publication number: US3354567A
Application number: US415407A
Authority: US
Inventors: John J Philbin; Rallis John
Original assignee: General Tire and Rubber Co
Current assignee: Aerojet Rocketdyne Holdings Inc
Priority date: 1964-12-02
Filing date: 1964-12-02
Publication date: 1967-11-28
Anticipated expiration: 1984-11-28

Description

1967 J. .1. PHILBIN ETAL 3,354,567

INDICIA'BEARING DEVICE FIGURE I INVENTORS JOHN J.PHILB|N JOHN RALLIS ATTORNEY Nov. 28, 1967 J. J. PHILBIN ETAL' 3,354,567 INDICIA-BEARING DEVICE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGURE 3 Filed Dec. 2, 1964 INVENTORS JOHN J. PHILBIN JOHN RALLIS a a/ ATTORNEY United States Patent C) 3,354,567 INDICIA-BEARING DEVICE John J. Philbin, Fullerton, and John Rallis, Los Augeles,

Calif., assignors to The General Tire & Rubber Company, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 2, 1964, Ser. No. 415,407 2 Claims. (Cl. 40-125) ABSTRACT OF THE DTSCLOSURE A light-weight durable device, constructed so as to be noninjurious to a person falling against it, is composed of a pair of parallelepiped unitary sections of flexible foam sealed Within a breathable plastic cover and permanently joined together and rotatable about a common border. The ends of the two sections opposite the border are joined together by a sleeve which permits the device to be placed as an inverted V upon the ground or other flat surface. Means are provided to incorporate a substance such as sand within the sleeve to weigh down the device. With letters or numerals placed upon the exposed face of the two plastic covers the device can be used as a football yardage marker or the like.

This application relates to improved indicia-bearing devices and more specifically, it is directed to football yard markers having improved safety features.

The rules of football require that there be markers every ten yards. Further, the rules require that the markers be set some distance from the actual playing surface. Even when this is done, players often collide with the markers and there is a possibility that such a collision could result in injury to the player. The type of injury would depend upon the material and construction of the marker as well as the type and direction of impact involved.

It is an object of the present invention to reduce drastically or eliminate entirely any injury which is in whole or in part the result of contact with the marker.

Another object of this invention is to provide a storable marker of long service life. Still another object is to develop an esthetically pleasing and legible yard marker.

The above and further objects and novel features of the invention will appear more fully from the following detailed description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like parts are numbered alike. It is expressly understood that the drawings are not intended as a definition of the invention but are for the purpose of illustration only. These objects of the invention are accomplished by use of the inventive combination involving resilient foam sections covered with a wear-resistant plastic material which bears in a contrasting color a number or letter.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of the device in use.

FIG. 2 is a plain top view of the device in an open extended position.

FIG. 3 is a side view taken along lines 33 of FIG- URE 2.

FIG. 4 is a plain top view of the piece used to retain the device in operative position, and

FIGURE 5 is an end view of the piece shown in FIGURE 4 containing a granular substance.

The device is composed of first and

second sections

2 and 4 which are joined by restricting means 8 so that the angle to which the

sections

2 and 4 can open is limited. The two sections bear on at least their respective

outer surfaces

10 and 12 letters, numerals or other indicia 14. The

respective sections

2 and 4 rotate around an axis depicted by broken line 99 at the junction point or common point of connection of the two

sections

2 and 4. The configuration of these sections is usually of a square or ice rectangular nature and the thickness is much less than the length or width.

'Each section has a cover portion surrounding a resilient foam core. The cover material may be any of the commonly available plastics, e.g., polyvinyl chloride or acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene, which are water-proof and weather-resistant and otherwise have properties which will withstand the service to which the markers are exposed. A particularly good material is polyvinyl chloride.

The

resilient foam core

22 and 24 may be of any applicable resilient foam material, such as foam rubber or polyurethane foam, with the latter being preferred. The core may :be unitary or a mass of particles or crumbs. The unitary form is preferred because of ease of handling, forming and tendency to maintain its shape.

The outer surfaces carry an indica of some type, 14 in FIG. 2, such as numerals corresponding to the yard lines of a football playing field. Preferably, the indicia is in a contrasting color to the cover material. For example, if the cover is black, the numerals could be either white or yellow. A particularly striking effect is obtained when the letters or numbers are of an irridescent material. The indicia may be afiixed in any of a number of ways. It may be painted, printed, or stencilled using an appropriate ink or paint, but the preferred method is to aflix separate pieces consisting of the numerals by heat sealing, elect-ronic welding or other convenient method.

The cover may be affixed by any appropriate method such as cementing, heat and sealing, or electronic welding. The latter method is preferred because of the better bond and ease of fabrication. Care should be taken to avoid any sharp corners or edges which could cause a cut or abrasion when a player contacted it with any force. The indicia is added either before or after the cover is applied to the core.

It should be noted that the cover should have a small hole 26 to permit the escape of air when the device is compressed by, for example, a player falling on it.

FIG. 4 depicts the sleeve 8 which retains the device in position. In one embodiment shown in FIGURE 5, it may be filled with a substance such as sand 16 to hold it in place or it can be, if desired, restrained by use of an appropriate anchor device. The sleeve 8 carries on at least one end one or more means such as snaps 20, enabling it to coact with means such as snaps 20' on the covers to hold the covers in place with respect to the sleeve so that the device is an operative entity.

The foregoing has described an improved safety factor, deterioration-resistant grid marker which is compact and light in weight, which markers may be set up without use of any tools or pretreatment or preparation of any kind for the playing field.

What is claimed is:

1. A self-supporting indicia-bearing device which is readily collapsible and deformable upon bodily impact comprising first and second parallelepiped unitary sections of resilient foam material selected from the class consisting of foam rubber and polyurethane foam having approximately equal dimensions,

(a) each of said sections having a thickness consider ably less than the length or width thereof (b) each of said parallelepiped sections being entirely sealed, except for vent holes which permit the escape of air when said foam is compressed and permit the re-entry thereof when said foam recovers from said compression, within first and second tough plastic covers to provide first and second indicia-bearing elements (0) said first and second indicia-bearing elements being permanently joined at a common border so as to provide an axis of rotation to permit rotation of at least 3 4 350 of said first and second elements around said elements comprises aslecvc which is capable of being loadaxis of rotation ed with a granular substance. (d) means integral to and coactive with said first and econd indicia-bearing elements for restricting the References Cited relative rotation between said indicia-bearing ele- 5 UNITED STATES PATENTS ments to an angle of less than 90, and in which said indicia-bearing elements in operative position form 2,208,080 7/1940 oierdorfl 40-125 a generally V-shaped structure which will be self- 2,613,956 10/1952 Encson 281*33 supporting when placed on a relatively fiat surface in 2,835,219 5/1958 Back, 40'425 a position such that the apex of said structure is dis- 10 posed opposite of said surface.

2. The indicia-bearing device of claim 1 wherein the means integral to said first and second indicia-bearing LAWRENCE CHARLES Prlmary Exammer'

Claims

1. A SELF-SUPPORTING INDICIA-BEARING DEVICE WHICH IS READILY COLLAPSIBLE AND DEFORMABLE UPON BODILY IMPACT COMPRISING FIRST AND SECOND PARALLELEPIPED UNITARY SECTIONS OF RESILIENT FOAM MATERIAL SELECTED FROM THE CLASS CONSISTING OF FOAM RUBBER AND POLYURETHANE FOAM HAVING APPROXIMATELY EQUAL DIMENSIONS, (A) EACH OF SAID SECTIONS HAVING A THICKNESS CONSIDERABLY LESS THAN THE LENGTH OF WIDTH THEREOF (B) EACH OF SAID PARALLELEPIPED SECTIONS BEING ENTIRELY SEALED, EXCEPT FOR VENT HOLES WHICH PERMIT THE ESCAPE OF AIR WHEN SAID FOAM IS COMPRESSED AND PERMIT THE RE-ENTRY THEREOF WHEN SAID FOAM RECOVERS FROM SAID COMPRESSION, WITHIN FIRST AND SECOND TOUGH PLASTIC COVERS TO PROVIDE FIRST AND SECOND INDICIA-BEARING ELEMENTS (C) SAID FIRST AND SECOND INDICIA-BEARING ELEMENTS BEING PERMANENTLY JOINED AT A COMMON BORDER SO AS TO PROVIDE AN AXIS OF ROTATION TO PERMIT ROTATION OF AT LEAST 350$ OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND ELEMENTS AROUND SAID AXIS OF ROTATION (D) MEANS INTEGRAL TO AND COACTIVE WITH SAID FIRST AND SECOND INDICIA-BEARING ELEMENTS FOR RESTRICTING THE RELATIVE ROTATION BETWEEN SAID INDICIA-BEARING ELEMENTS TO AN ANGLE OF LESS THAN 90*, AND IN WHICH SAID INDICIA-BEARING ELEMENTS IN OPERATIVE POSITION FORM A GENERALLY V-SHAPED STRUCTURE WHICH WILL BE SELFSUPPORTING WHEN PLACED ON A RELATIVELY FLAT SURFACE IN A POSITION SUCH THAT THE APEX OF SAID STRUCTURE IS DISPOSED OPPOSITE OF SAID SURFACE.