Advertising Sign

Abstract

A large outdoor advertising sign formed of a vertical support panel having a pair of horizontally axised idler rollers, with one arranged at the upper end and the other at the lower end of the panel, and a pair of horizontal wind-up rollers arranged upon the rear face of the panel. A long, flexible, cloth-like message carrying sheet is arranged upon the forward face of the panel, with its opposite ends extending around the idler rollers and wound upon the wind-up rollers for moving the sheet and thereby exposing different portions of it upon the panel forward face. The wind-up rollers each are mounted for pivoting upon a horizontal axis which is centered upon and perpendicular to the center point of the roller central axis, for keeping the edges of the sheet aligned with the edges of the idler rollers. A vacuum means upon the forward face of the panel at the vertical edges of the sheet, holds the sheet against wrinkling.

Description

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

The invention herein relates to an improvement to the type of sign disclosed, for example, in the prior U.S. Pat. application of Karl Singer and Louis Vogel, Ser. No. 854,449, now U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,554, filed Sept. 2, 1969. In such sign, messages are imprinted upon an elongated sheet, a portion of which is exposed through a window in a large sign cabinet with the opposite ends wound around rollers. The sign messages may be changed by rolling the sheet onto one roller and off the other, thereby exposing different portions for viewing.

In dealing with a sign of this character, the large size of the message carrying sheet, as for example several feet in width and many feet in length, creates a problem in keeping the sheet aligned with the rollers and support. That is, a sheet of this size tends to stretch and contract depending upon weather conditions, exposure to the sun, etc., and additionally tends to wrinkle. Where part of the sheet is heated by the sun and part is shaded, the stretching and contracting problem is aggrevated. The result is the sheet tends to slip to one side or another, becoming misaligned and thus failing to properly roll up and unwind.

Hence, the invention herein relates to certain improvements which function to keep the edges of the sheet properly aligned at all times, with a means for correcting and compensating for tendencies to misalign. Also included is a means for reducing and substantially elminating the tendency of the sheet to wrinkle.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The invention herein contemplates forming the sign with a large support panel having an upper and a lower idler roller, with a long, wide message carrying sheet arranged against the face of the panel and its opposite ends extending around the rollers to the rear of the panel where they are wound upon powered wind-up rollers. Thus, the sheet may be advanced either upwardly or downwardly, across the face of the panel for changing messages which are imprinted upon the sheet.

To correct and compensate for tendencies of the sheet to become misaligned along the vertical edges, the wind-up rollers are mounted upon pivoted strips or boards so that they tilt together upwardly and downwardly along a central axis, as needed, to move the sheet sideways into proper alignment when misalignment occurs.

Additionally, the invention contemplates forming a rectangular shaped strip frame on a face of the panel, beneath the sheet, with rows of holes on the panel at each outer edge thereof, adjacent the strips of the frame, and the application of a vacuum through such holes when the strip is not moved, wherein the strip is laterally or sidewise stretched around the edges of the frame to prevent wrinkling and to hold the sheet against flapping or buckling in wind.

Generally, an object of this invention is to provide a simplified structure wherein a very large sized, elongated sheet may be exposed, section by section, upon an advertising sign, with a means to prevent the sheet from becoming misaligned as it advances over the sign and with a means to hold it against wrinkling or buckling, with the construction being operable automatically with practically no required maintenance.

These and other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent, upon reading the following description, of which the attached drawings form a part.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective front view of the changeable message portion of the sign herein.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view, to a smaller scale, showing the overall sign appearance.

FIG. 3 is an elevational view of the rear face of the sign construction, and

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 4--4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a perspective rear view of the sign construction.

FIG. 6 is a rear elevation, to a smaller scale, with the wind-up rollers removed, to show the tilt mechanism.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the front face of the sign, with the sheet shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 8 is an enlarged cross-sectional view of one edge of the support panel.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged, perspective view of an edge of the support panel.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrows 11--11 of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a view similar to FIG. 10, but showing the vacuum applied.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 2 illustrates the changeable message outdoor advertising sign 10 which is formed of a large box-like construction 11 having a cut-out message window 12 and supported upon suitable support legs 13. Various permanent message may be painted upon the front face of the box-like construction. However, the message in the message window is changeable as it is painted or imprinted upon a flexible, cloth-like strip 15 which is moved to expose various portions through the window.

The sheet 15 is arranged upon the exposed face of a support panel 16 which is suitably secured within the box construction, in back of the window 12. The opposite ends of the sheet pass over an upper idler roller 17 and a lower idle roller 18, each secured by suitable brackets 19 to the upper and lower edges of the panel. The free ends of the sheet are then wrapped around an upper wind-up roller 20 and a lower wind-up roller 21 arranged at the rear of the panel and each secured by suitable brackets 22 to an elongated, horizontally arranged, flat board or strip which is connected by a pivot 24 to the rear of the panel. Such pivots are arranged at the center of their respective wind-up rollers, aligned with the central axis thereof and are perpendicular to such roller central axis.

Each of the wind-up rollers is provided with a chain and sprocket arrangement 25, on one end thereof, connected to a suitable motor 26, which motors are reversible so as to drive the rollers in either direction for winding or unwinding the sheet.

The two boards or strips 23 are interconnected by at least one link 27 whose opposite ends are pivotally connected to the two boards at pivots 28 which are in horizontal alignment with the respective roller axis. A reversible motor 30 is mounted upon the rear of the panel and carries a pinion 31 engaging an elongated rack 32 which is pivotally connected at 33 to the lower board 23.

A suitable electrical sensing switch 34 is mounted on one edge of the panel for centering the edge of the sheet and for actuating whenever the sheet edge shifts out of vertical alignment. This switch is connected to the motor 30 and actuates the motor 30 to operate either in one direction or the other, depending upon which way the sheet edge shifts.

When motor 30 is turned on, the pinion moves the rack 32 causing the lower board 23 to tilt (see FIG. 6). Consequently, the connecting link 27 likewise tilts the upper board so that the two boards tilt in parallelism about pivots which are at all times centrally aligned with the respective wind-up rollers. When that happens, the wind-up rollers exert a slightly sidewise force upon the sheet which drags the sheet to one side or another of the idler rollers and straightens the sheet out so that its edge realigns with the sensing switch 34. Thus, the on and off switching of the sensing switch 34 and the operation of the motor 30, tilting the boards either upwardly or downwardly, as required, maintains the sheet in alignment and corrects misalignment each time the sheet is moved.

To eliminate wrinkles formed in the sheet, as well as to avoid buckling or wrinkling caused by wind forces upon the sign, a vacuum stretching and holddown means is provided on the front face of the panel 16. Referring to FIGS. 7-11, a rectangular frame 40 is formed upon the face of the panel 16 by means of thin, narrow, vertical strips 41 and horizontal strips 42 secured to the panel face. A row of aligned, small holes 43 is formed through the panel at its opposite, side, and upper and lower edges, closely adjacent to the vertical strips 41. A suitable channel or pipe or tube 44 is arranged upon the rear face of the panel over the holes and is connected by a suitable tube (shown schematically at 45) to a vacuum pump 46 mounted at the rear of the sign. Operation of the vacuum pump 46 establishes a suction through the holes 43. However, the vacuum pump is adapted to operate only when the sheet is stationary, that is, when the wind-up rollers are not moved.

A suitable electrical connection (not shown) may be provided to deactivate the vacuum pump whenever the windup rollers are actuated. When the sheet is moved by actuating the motors 26, the sheet drags over the frame 40, as shown in FIG. 10. However, when the sheet stops moving, the vacuum pump 46 is actuated, sucking air from beneath the sheet and the panel and drawing the sheet down against the face of the panel and around the vertical strips 41, as illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 11, and similarly around the horizontal strips 42. This drawing down action exerts a sidewise pull on the sheet, substantially reducing or eliminating wrinkles in the sheet. In addition, it causes outside air pressure to hold the sheet flat and prevent it from waving or buckling or wrinkling under wind forces. Since signs of this character are expected to be of considerable size, such as many feet in width and height, the forces of wind upon it would otherwise tend to cause the sheet to flutter, making it difficult to read as well as subjecting it to undue stress and strain which could result in tearing.

In operation, an operator or maintenance man installs the sheet upon the rollers and then places the rollers upon the sign located in some outdoor point. Thereafter, the electrical system of the sign is turned on. A timing mechanism may be provided for periodically actuating the motors 26 for advancing the sheet incrementally. That is, the sheet may be provided with advertising messages on a frame by frame basis, like a motion picture and be advanced from frame to frame for specified periods of time. In between the advancement of these sheets, the vacuum pump 46 operates to hold the sheet down as mentioned above.

Various types of electrical controls and mechanism may be used for the purposes described above. Since these types of devices are conventional and available on the market, they are not further described here.

Claims

Having fully described an operative embodiment of this invention, I now claim:

1. An advertising sign, comprising:

a vertically arranged panel having a forward face and a rear face;

a pair of horizontally arranged idler rollers arranged axially parallel to the panel, with one arranged at the upper end and the other arranged at the lower end of the panel;

an upper and a lower horizontally arranged, rotatable wind-up roller arranged at the rear face of the panel;

each wind-up roller being rotatably mounted at its ends upon roller mounting brackets secured on the opposite ends of a horizontally elongated strip;

and a horizontally directed pivot connecting each strip to the rear of the panel, with the axis of the pivot arranged perpendicular to the center of the axis of the wind-up roller whereby each of the wind-up rollers pivot in a vertical plane about a horizontal axis which is perpendicular to both the panel and the center of the central axis of said wind-up roller;

and means interconnecting said two strips so that they pivot together with their respective wind-up rollers remaining axially parallel;

a long, wide, flexible, cloth-like sheet having messages applied upon its surface along its length, with the sheet extending across the panel forward face, and its opposite ends extending around the idler rollers and wound-up upon the wind-up rollers, the sheet being of sufficient length so that rotation of the wind-up rollers advances the sheet in a generally vertical direction upon the panel for exposing various message bearing portions of the sheet upon the forward face of the panel.

2. A construction as defined in claim 1, and said means interconnecting the two strips comprising a link extending between and having its opposite ends connected to their adjacent strips, with each end connection aligned with the axis of the wind-up roller of the respective strip.

3. A construction as defined in claim 1, and including sensing means for detecting misalignment between an edge of the sheet and the idler rollers and for actuating a power means connected to and arranged to move at least one of said strips about its pivot and thereby pivot the wind-up rollers, for applying a transverse force upon the sheet to cause realignment as the sheet rolls over the idler rollers.