US911557A - Illuminated sign. - Google Patents

Description

A; H. H AW KES. ILLUMINATED' stem. I APPLICATION FILED 001.19, 1907.

Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1. 133?. 7 x l A 6" J E Winesses wen for MMMM B $5? A. HAWKES. ILLUMINATED SIGN.

ION PIL Patented Feb. 2, 1909.

BEETSSHBET 2 "Witnesses MA -M fig in opaque s which form to employ inclined strips with light received from to present a nearly uniform white surface by J wears of ligh a citizen invention.

PAT

I ALBnR T'n. HA'wKEs,

INT oriucn or New renn n. Y.

'ILLUMINATED' iSIGLL specification of Il'ae tters Patent. I

Patented Feb. 2, 1909;

Application filed October 19, 1907. Serial No. 358,139.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I, ALBERT H. HAWKES, of the-United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city and State of New York, electrician, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Illuminated Signs, of which the fol? lowing is a specification;

1 will describe it as depending for its artificial light on incandescent'electric bulbs,. but the improvement may apply withother lighting means.- -I will describe it as'used; with two such sources of light, butthe numbcrmay be-varied.

' I produce the letters or other devices in the long approved Way, by cutting or otherwise shapin open spaces of the properform; ieets f'of iron or other, material the vertical sides of the ls'igh. I liave discovered; tliatit- 'is practicable of thinfmetal, or other suitable strong and cheap material, so placed as to serve to present a white surfacethe exterior in its by day, and also universally difitised form reflecting the rays of a lamp or of a number of lamps inthe-interior at night.' There s of light; This 1s especially thdcase the first portion of the night. My sign is, well ada ted to present its letters or'otherdevicescl e'arly, and with uniform brilliancyunder all the varyingconditions It is espe-'- cially easy to repair, when a blow, as a missile intentionally. or accidentally striking it, shall break the structureor any portion of it;

- same current-which affords the are jeriods when alamp is subject toboth an in well-lighted streets of cities during all--- the lightzshal-l The following is a description of what I consider the best meansof carrying out the The accompa'yin'g drawings form a part of this specificatio.

Figure l is'a front elevation. a vertical section on the line 22 Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a perspective'view of a portion on a larger scale. Figx'h is a diagram showing' t he'direction of some of the Fig. 2' is in Fig. 1.

Similar letters and marks of reference indicatelike parts in all the figures where'they g I :3: Q...

A. is a rectangular casing of sufficiently" large portion of each face, and which it is the purpose of, my inclosed slats to illumi- A is a removable cover which, can be easily lifted off to afford access to the mterior.

- A is a rigid bar extending horizontally the llpng way of the'rectangle at about mid aeig t:-

A is a false bottom bottom, and B B a little above the true are ordinary incandescent bulbs supported on such bottom, receiving current'through wires 0 and D, either of which may be a positive and the other a negative connection to a dynamo or other 1 source of electriccurrent not'shown. E is a ,smallmotojr supported also-on the false bot- -tom*and 'oonnected,w:t obe ,operated by the light. F is -a fbelt from-thisrunning ep n' a pulley G which carries a worm engaging with a horizontal worm wheel G The latter carries a pulley G Which'by' belts H' gives motionto pulleys 'I, which latter operate inverted glass bells or approximately cylindrical screens J. hese screensmay be varied indefin'itely'. Their function is't'o color or other- 'W1se modify-=the" li 'ht .;by their slow revolution-induced bythe connecti n to the rap- ;idlyrevolvi'ngmotorE.-

It is important :to the tjon, as it"- will: preferably be worked, that be uniform in'color up and "downthe whole' side of-thesign. The purpose *of the revolving that light at; intervals. the screensare made is colored in stripes up One side is, left entirely open. In other Words, the cylinder is not complete; it is left with-one side omitted. It'may sometimes be preferred to have the light uniform. In such case theinotor isdisconnected by any ordinary means and the bulbs are allowed to serve constant, giving either the ordinary nearly white color,

screens is to :change The, glass of which i success'bf my'invenother color, as the glass of thescreen may be colored and adjusted.

A are slides riveted in the interior of the sign, one set 011 each side. P P are light frames matching in ways formed by these slides, .and adapted to be inserted and removed rom above. "It remainsto describe 'what I- esteemto-be the most important featureof' the construction,-the reflectors.

stout sheet iron or other substantial mate rial, but It antljclare apertures occupying -a Each of theseframes is formed with a series "of deep lglqlliled grooves P shown clearly in Fig. 4. These frames may have any charproportion, but is not intended as defining acter of surface; I will assume that the material thereof is ordinary iron.

0 O &c. are slats ofiron 0 "low steel hav ing surfaces especially prepai d with reference to reflecting light. be smooth mirrors, or they may be irregular mirrors produced by the aid of broken material of various degrees of fineness. I prefer for general use, and especially for convenience of cleaning, that the surfaces shall be smooth white enamel. The lower surface is the one which is useful. The lamp. is usually higher than the spectator. The lower surface reflects both the diffused daylight under day conditions, and the artificial light from the interior under night conditions. In the latter case it adds so much exterior light as is available.

Modifications within the scope of the apended claims may be made without departs mg from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention.

The drawings show good proportions of the bulbs and of the slats, and of the carria es or frames in which the slats are car- ,rie but all these parts may be varied withinwide limits. Fig. 5 illustrates a good exact proportions.

Parts may be employed without the whole. I can omit the screens JJ and the provisions for revolving them and provide other means for changingthe colors or be content with maintaining the colors uniform. The cover A overhangs the body of the lam and allows a considerable space forzventilation. The tubular provisions, A,

. in the bottom allow air toenter freely at those points. When the light is electrical as shown, these provisions are less important, but theysmay always be of use, especially in case of a driving snow or other cause inducing the presence of water in the sign.

These apertures in such cases drain the structure effectually. In all 'the forms the siats are plane and the rays emitted by the two bulbsB or other source of artificial lightiia tally.

in a low portion of the interior is'received directly and is reflected outward horizo' n I have shown the sign double-faced and such are required in manysituations. Both faces are illuminated 'by the same light.

There are other cases where a single-faced lamp will serve well. In such, the back face may often be omitted, and the casing fitted as closely as may be to 'thefront of the building. T he invention-will serve well thus mplied.

claim as my invention:

1. In an illuminated sign, an opaque plate stencil-cut with the desired :tters or de- The surfaces 'may vices in combination with a series of plane slats having reflective surfaces set inclined adjacent to and behind such late, arranged to receive light directly from the source and reflect it outward horizontallv.

2. In an illuminated sign, an opaque plate stencil cut with the desired letters or devices a series of slats having reflective surfaces and obliquely set in a series adjacent to said letters in frames P, the casing having ways for guiding such frames and a removable cover allowing a frame and its slats to be conveniently inserted and removed at. will.

In an illuminated sign a body or casin'g having an opaque plate stencil-cut with the desired letters or devices, and a series of supporting and guiding ways extending up and down, in combination with frames matched easily in such ways adapted to al low any to be removed and replaced at will. and a series of slats having reflective surfaces, carried in inclined grooves in such slats in combination with the series of-slats adapted therefor of metal with one face enameled, adapted to reflect either day-light or artificial light and provisions for electricallvliqhtin the space behind such slats.

-5. In an illuminated sign two opaque plates stencil-cut eachwith the desired letters 01 devices in combination with connecting end plates, means for lighting and draining the lower portion, means .for removably protecting the upper portion against the weather, and with two series of inclined slats with reflective surfaces arran ed on the opposite sides of-the casing an to be illuminated b a single series of artificial lights in: the owerportion-of the interior, allsubstantiall as herein specified.

'6. In an illiiminated sign, an opaque plate, stencil-cut with the desired letters or ALBERT H. HAWKES.

Witnesses THOMAS ,Danw Srsrson,

EMMA F. HUNT.

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