WO2005091260A1

WO2005091260A1 - Device for electric sign

Info

Publication number: WO2005091260A1
Application number: PCT/NO2005/000104
Authority: WO
Inventors: Henry Gordon ØSTHASSEL
Original assignee: Oesthassel Henry Gordon
Priority date: 2004-03-24
Filing date: 2005-03-23
Publication date: 2005-09-29
Also published as: NO320797B1; NO20041228D0; NO20041228L

Abstract

An electric sign (1) which is formed by an essentially transparent sign plate (3), to which one or more symbols (5) have been applied, wherein the whole or portions of the at least one symbol (5) are made of a fluorinated material which is illuminated by UV light (7) placed in one or more sections (11, 12, 13) defined by one or more essentially transparent partition elements (9), essentially the entire sign plate (3) and essentially the entire partition element (9) being provided with a UV-blocking material.

Description

DEVICE FOR ELECTRIC SIGN

The present invention relates to an electric sign for displaying information, more particularly the invention relates to a sign, in which the symbols of the sign are formed by a fluorinated material which is illuminated by UV light, so-called "black light".

The object of the invention is to provide an electric sign which is formed by an essentially transparent sign plate, to which one or more symbols have been applied, and which emits light only from the symbol or symbols activated by one or more UV light sources located behind.

There are known various types of electric signs for producing information in dark surroundings and/or for highlighting information in daylight. The most common forms of luminous signs may be divided into three main groups, the first of which is formed by sign surfaces which are illuminated by means of common light sources directed towards the sign surface. A second group is formed by neon signs which are formed by symbol-shaped, coloured fluorescent lamps which are activated in order to produce the symbols. A third group of luminous signs are light shafts which are made of, for example, metal or plastics materials, and in which the sign plate is formed by, for example, a non-transparent, but translucent, acrylic glass which is illuminated by light bulbs or fluorescent lamps located inside the shaft.

There are several drawbacks associated with the use of the above-mentioned, known electric signs for producing information in dark surroundings and/or for highlighting information in daylight. Firstly, the signs are relatively energy-demanding. Secondly, the electric signs emit much "stray light", which is experienced by many as light contamination in that the signs emit light which lights up the surroundings. Another drawback is the fact that the signs cover part of, for example, a faςade, to which the sign is attached, or take up space in, for example, a window portion, in which the sign is hung.

By illumination of a fluorescent material with UV light, or so-called "black light", which is invisible to the human eye, the fluorescent material will emit light in a spectrum which is visible to the human eye. This light gives a glowing neonlike effect. In US patent 5,585,160 the present applicant has disclosed an electric sign, in which "black light" is used to illuminate symbols made of a fluorescent foil, to which a UV- blocking material has been applied in a glue layer between the foil and the sign surface, among other things in order to protect the fluorescent material from sunlight and to achieve a two-dimensional effect by the illumination of two foils applied on one side each of a transparent/translucent plate, with two UV light sources illuminating one side each of the plate .

Even though the advantages offered by the illumination of fluorescent materials with UV light are achieved with US 5,585,160, said patent has the drawback that UV light passing outside said symbol of a fluorescent material, will pass uninhibited through the sign surface and may illuminate other nearby elements which are provided with fluorescent surfaces. The invention has as its object to remedy or at least reduce one or more drawbacks of the prior art.

The object is realized through the features specified in the description below and in the following Claims.

In one aspect the present invention is formed by an electric sign which is formed by an essentially transparent sign plate, on one side of which one or more symbols are applied, at least a portion of the at least one symbol being made of a fluorinated material known in itself, which is activated by UV light illuminating sign plates, to which said at least one symbol has been applied. In order to prevent UV light from passing out of the sign surface, essentially the entire sign plate is provided with a UV-blocking material which blocks the passage of substantially all of the UV light. The term symbol is used for any character, symbol, ornamentation used to produce the characteristics of a sign.

The sign plate may be formed by any transparent material such as, but not limited to, glass or acrylic glass. In one embodiment a window in, for example, a building or a vehicle may form the sign plate. In another embodiment the sign plate may be placed in front of a part of a faςade . The sign plate being transparent, the fagade behind the sign plate will be visible together with the rest of the faςade which is not "covered" by the sign plate, which is often desirable for aesthetical reasons.

The UV-blocking material may be integrated into the sign plate or applied to at least one of the surfaces of the sign plate. Due to the fact that UV radiation from sunlight breaks down the fluorescent material over time, it is advantageous to apply the UV-blocking material in such a way that it protects the fluorescent material from sunlight.

In another aspect of the present invention, there is applied, to an electric sign formed by an essentially transparent sign plate, one or more symbols separated into at least two sections by one or more substantially transparent partition elements. The whole or portions of the at least one symbol is made of a fluorescent material. Each of the at least two sections are illuminated by at least one UV light illuminating one or more different portions of said at least one symbol, and essentially the whole sign plate is provided with a UV-blocking material and the at least one transparent partition element is provided with a UV-blocking material. In one embodiment the at least two UV light sources can be controlled sequentially by means of a control unit, known in itself, so that different portions of the at least one fluorescent symbol are illuminated by the UV light sources at different times, which provides so-called "live electric signs". By making the at least one partition element in a transparent design, the partition element will not be much visible through a transparent sign plate.

In what follows, there is described a non-limiting exemplary embodiment of preferred embodiments which are visualized in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows an electric sign in accordance with the invention with the symbols "I, II and III" placed on a portion of a building faςade.

Figure 2 shows, on a larger scale, the electric sign of Figure 1, seen in a perspective rear view, showing in addition the partition elements arranged between the symbols.

Figure 3 shows an enlarged section through the line A-A of Figure 1, in which a UV-blocking material has been applied on an inside of the sign plate.

Figure 4 shows an enlarged section through the line A-A of Figure 1, in which a UV-blocking material is integrated into the sign plate. In the drawings dotted lines indicate elements or portions of elements that in the direction of view lie behind other elements. As the materials which form the structural elements of the sign in a preferred embodiment, are essentially transparent, the elements shown in dotted lines will be visible in practice.

In the drawings the reference numeral 1 identifies an electric sign in accordance with the invention. The electric sign 1 is formed by an essentially transparent sign plate 3 , to which symbols 5 of a fluorescent material have been applied. The symbols 5 are illuminated by three UV light sources 7. The individual symbols 5 with respective UV light sources 7 are separated by four essentially vertical partition elements 9 defining three sections 11, 12 and 13, respectively.

Figure 1 shows an electric sign in accordance with the invention with the symbols 5 "I, II, III" placed on a portion of a building faςade . The vertical partition elements 9 dividing the symbols 5 of the electric sign 1 into sections 11, 12, 13, and being arranged between the internal surface of the sign plate 3 and the building faςade, to which the sign 1 is attached, are indicated in dotted lines in the figure. In a preferred embodiment the partition elements 9 are produced from an essentially transparent material such as, but not limited to, glass or acrylic glass. It is desirable for the partition elements 9 to be transparent, so that they are visible to the least possible extent through the sign plate 3 which is made of an essentially transparent material such as, but not limited to, glass or acrylic glass.

In figure 2, showing the sign of Figure 1 seen in a perspective rear view, each of the "sections" 11, 12 and 13 is provided with a UV light source 7 placed in a lower portion of the section 11, 12 and 13. The UV light source 7, so-called "black light", can be placed anywhere and in any number in the individual section 11, 12, 13. An essential purpose of delimiting the symbols 5 of the electric sign 1 into sections 11, 12, 13 and placing at least one UV light 7 in each section, is to be able to turn the UV lights on and off independently of each other, so that the symbols 5 made of a fluorescent material known in itself, are influenced by the UV light and emit visible, "glowing" light which does not light up the surroundings. The turning on and off of the individual UV light sources is controlled by means of a control device known in itself (not shown) .

In order to prevent the UV light source of section 11, for example, from influencing other symbols 5 than the symbol "I", the partition elements 9 have UV-blocking properties which are achieved through the application of a UV-blocking material 4 such as, but not limited to, the UV-blocking material sold under the name "Cyasorb" , to one or both sides of the external surface of the partition elements 9. Alternatively, a UV-blocking material may be integrated into the partition elements 9. An example of a transparent material with UV-blocking properties is an acrylic glass with the trade name "NeoGlass", which absorbs over 99 % of all UV light.

An electric sign 1 according to the present invention can be divided into sections in any way and in any number, the individual section preferably being provided with one or more UV light sources which can be turned on and off sequentially and which influence the fluorescent material disposed on the whole or portions of a surface of the sign plate 3 in the individual section, whereby light of a visible spectrum is emitted. In this way a so-called "live" or intermittent electric sign can be achieved by means of UV light illuminating a fluorescent material.

Reference is now made to Figure 3 which shows a section A-A through the electric sign 1 shown in Figure 2, in an embodiment in which a UV-blocking material 4 has been applied to the surface of the sign plate 3 facing the UV light source 7 illuminating the symbol 5. In the figure the rays from the UV light source 7 are indicated and identified by the reference numeral 7 ' . For reasons of illustration the dimensional ratios (thicknesses) of the sign plate 3, the UV- blocking material 4 and the symbol 5 have been greatly exaggerated.

Figure 4 shows an alternative embodiment of the electric sign 1 through a section A-A of Figure 1, in which the UV-blocking material 4 is integrated into the material of the essentially transparent sign plate 3. An example of such a transparent material with UV-blocking properties is an acrylic glass with the trade name "NeoGlass" which absorbs over 99 % of all UV light .

It is desirable to provide at least one of the surfaces of the sign plate 3 with UV-blocking material 4 for at least two reasons. Firstly, it is desirable to prevent rays of UV light 7 ' from passing the sign plate 3 and activating other fluorescent materials, as, for example, other signs located outside the electric sign 1. Secondly, UV light radiating from one section 11, 12, 13 of the electric sign 1 could be reflected back to the electric sign 1 and illuminate the fluorescent material of one or more of the other sections of the electric sign 1, which would at least reduce the effect sought through the use of the sequential control of the UV light sources of the individual sections 11, 12, 13.

In an alternative embodiment (not shown) the sign plate 3 is formed by a window of a building, in the following referred to as an electric sign window. In the same way as with the electric sign mentioned above, which is placed on a building faςade, the electric sign window is preferably provided with a UV-blocking material, and symbols are applied thereto, at least portions of the symbols being made of a fluorescent material which is illuminated, uninhibited by said UV- blocking material, by a UV light source. The electric sign window may be divided in the same way as the electric sign mentioned above into sections which are defined by UV- blocking material applied to one or more partition elements, and illuminated in sequences from two or more UV light sources .

Partition elements having UV-blocking properties may also be placed between separate windows of a building to prevent UV light which is arranged for illuminating fluorescent symbols in the whole or parts of an electric sign window, from illuminating fluorinated symbols of another electric sign window. As an alternative to said partition elements a

"filter element" may be arranged between the UV light source and the fluorescent material, the filter element admitting the UV light source at a desired point or desired points and preventing the UV light source from passing the filter at a desired point or desired points, so that any portion or portions of the fluorescent material which are to be illuminated, are determined by the design of the filter element. For example, the filter element may be formed by a transparent element which is provided with a UV-blocking material only in portions where it is desirable to stop the rays of UV light. In one embodiment the filter element and the UV light source are arranged to be moved relative to each other, so that the rays of UV light which hit the fluorescent material disposed on one or more of said sign windows "are moved" across the sign window, so that the electric sign comes "alive". In an alternative embodiment "live electric signs" can be achieved by moving UV light with a defined beam direction, for example so-called "spot lights" across the fluorescent symbols of the electric sign.

Claims

C A I M S

1. An electric sign (1) which is formed by an essentially transparent sign plate (3), to which there is applied one or more symbols (5) which are separated into at least two sections (11, 12, 13) by means of one or more essentially transparent partition elements 9, in which the whole or portions of the at least one symbol (5) is made of a fluorinated material, and in which each of the at least two sections (11, 12, 13) is arranged to be illuminated by at least one UV light (7), c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the at least one partition element (9) is provided with a UV-blocking material (4) .

2. An electric sign (1) in accordance with claim 1, c ha r a c t e r i z e d i n that essentially the entire sign plate (3) is provided with a UV-blocking material (4) .

3. An electric sign (1) in accordance with claim 1 or 2 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the UV-blocking material (4) is applied to a surface of the sign plate (3) .

4. An electric sign (1) in accordance with claim 1 or 2 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the UV-blocking material (4) is integrated into the sign plate (3).

5. An electric sign (1) in accordance with any one of the above-mentioned claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d i n that the sign plate (3) and the partition elements (9) are formed by any transparent material .

6. An electric sign (1) in accordance with claim 1, c ha r a c t e r i z e d i n that the at least two UV lights (7) placed in said at least two sections (11, 12, 13) are sequentially activatable or deactivatable. An electric sign (1) in accordance with any one of the above-mentioned claims, cha ra c t e r i z e d i n that the fluorescent material (5) is protected from sunlight by the UV-blocking material (4) .