Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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The present invention relates to display devices
and ln particular to display devices of the type in
which a display suxface is formed of a series of
separate narrow rectangular surfaces arranged in
substantially abutting relation along their longitudinal
edges, such separate narrow rectangular surfaces being
mo~able lnto and out of a position in which they form
part of the display surface.
One well known form of device of this class
comprises a series of members of triangular ~ross
section, mounted side-by-side, each being rotatable
about its longitudinal axis and arranged to move through
~ngular steps of 120 , so that each face is cyclically
brought into a display surface position in which it is
lS aligned with the corresponding faces of the other triangular
members, which are all then halted in such position for a
short interval, during which a message or advertisement,
; covering the whole display surface, is presented for
observation .
In another device of the same general type the
display surface is composed of separate slat-like
elements, each of which forms one of a series carried
on spaced drive chains. The number of different
~essages or advertisements which can be presented is
` equal to the number of slats in each series.
In both types of device the members forming the
interchangeable display are housed, together with their
s drives, in an enclosed cabinet.
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Both forms of device have certain drawbacks. One
of the requirement~ of successful display devices is
that there must be initial movement to attract the eye
to the device before the display of the message or
advertlsement commences.
The type of device, having rotatable triangular
members, i9 open to the objection that it can only
-~ carry three messages or advertisements. It i8 al~o
open to the ob~ection that in moving from one di~play
position to the next, the movement is not very
conspicuous. The alternative device, in which the
slats are carried on chains, is more satisfactory in
both these respects, but the construction i9 expensive by
reason of the large number of device chains and furthermore
the spatial requirements, particularly depth from front to
rear, of its cabinet restr ct the use of the device to
sites where there is adequate depth available.
It i~ an ob~ect of the invention to enable an
improved form of device of this general class to be
made which i8 constructed so as to provide at least
four, and preferably six, alternative display surfaces,
but which may be constructed so as to occupy less depth
than the type of device in which the individual slats
are carried on chainR.
- 25 According to the pre-~ent invention there is provided
a di~play device comprising a plurality of rotary
carriers mounted for rotation about respective axes which
are parallel to each other, each of said carriers having
mounted thereon, for rotation about respective second
axes which are parallel to and equiangularly spaced about
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the ~aid axl~ of rotation of the carr~er, three supports
each carrylng meAns provlding two elongate di~play faces
which are di~po~ed back to back and whose respective
lengthwi~e axe~ are substantially coincident with the
said second axis of rotation of the ~upport, the
arrangement of the carrier~ and support~ being such that
each di~play face on each carrier is capable of forming
with a displ~y face on each of the other carriers a
~ubstantially continuous display surface, motor means
connected to rotate the carriers in rotational step~ of
120 in unison to move each support on the carrier in
turn into a position in which a display thereof i5 in a
display position, means as~ociated with each carrier for
rotating the support which is being moved out of ~aid
display position through 180 about said second axi~
during that 120 rotational step of the carrier, and
means for oscillating each of the other two supports
rotationally to and fro about their respective ~econd
axes during such 120 rotational step for providing a
clearance between the longitudinal çdges of the display
faces on the support being rotated through 180 and the
longitudinal edges of the di-~play faces on the other two
Qupport~. This arrangement permits each -Qlat to be
turned to show both its face~ and by movement of the slats
around the axis of the carrier it permits alternative
slats to be brought into the display surface. It will be
understood that two slats per carrier gives four altern-
ative display surfaces and that three slats per carrier
gives six alternative display surfaces. The slats are
conveniently mounted for rotation about their centre
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line and their rotation is preferably effected during
the course of movement out of the display surface
position, since the combined rotational and translational
movement of the slat has a much greater effect in catching
the eye than a translational movement alone.
In one arrangement made in accordance with the
invention the rotatable carriers are mounted on
parallel vertical shafts, the spacing between which i8
equal to the modular or nominal width of the slats, each
carrier carrying three slats which are mounted for
rotation about their longitudinal centre lines, the
axes of the slat pivots being arranged symmetricall~ about
the axis of the carrier at the apice~ of an equilateral
triangle, the sides of which are half the modular width
of the ~lats.
Means are provided for rotating the carrier~ by 120
step~, with a display period, during which the slats are
at rest, in the interval between successive angular
movements. In the cour~e of each angular movement of
the carrier, that slat which is moving away from the
display position i8 rotated through 180 about it~ own
axis 80 that the reverse face of the slat is presented
when the slat next arrives at the display position. This
rotation of the front slat provides a desirable eye-
catching movement and is necessarily accompanied bymovement of the two other slats mounted on the same
carrier as will be explained below. In this arrangement
the nomin~l or modular width of the slats slightly
exceeds their actual width by a distance of about 3/32 inch,
but the resultant spacing of the slats in the display
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po~itlon is not found deleteriouJ in practice. It i8
found necesssry to provide a spacing of thls order to
avoid j~mming of the ~lats. It will be appreciated
that when o~e ~lat of each ~et is in the display
S position, the other slats carried by the same carrier
are arranged as the edges of an eguilateral trlangle
in relation to it.
The invention also provides a display device
comprising a plurality of rotary carriers mounted for
rotation about respective axes which are parallel to
each other, each of ssid carriers having mounted
¦ thereon, for rotation about respective second axes
which are parallel to and equiangularly spaced about
the said axiq of rotation of the c~rrier, three
supports each carrying means providing two elongate
display faces which are disposed back to back and whose
respective lengthwise axes are substantially coincident
with the said second axis of rotation of the support,
¦ the arrangement of the carriers and supports being
! 20 such that each display face on each carrier is capable
of forming with a display face on each of the other
carriers a substantially continuous display surface,
i motor means connected to rotate the carriers in unison
in rotational step of 120 to move, in turn, each
support on each carrier into a position in which a
display face thereof is in a display position, means
as~ociated with each carrier for rotating the support
which is moving away from the display position through
180 about said second axis during that 120 rotational
~tep of the carrier, and means for moving the other
supports further from the first said axis during said
120 rotational step. In these layouts the slats are
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mounted ~n a triangular arrangement in a 8imilar way~
except that the supports are mounted for guided movement
radially away from the axis of the carrier 80 as to
permit one of the slats to be rotated without movement
of the other two slats.or, in some layout~, with a
lesser movement of the other two slats.
The invention further provides a display devlce
comprising B plurality of rotary carriers mounted for
rotation stepwise in unison about respective axes
which are parallel to each other, each of said carriers
having mounted thereo~ for rotation about respective
~;~ second axes which are parallel to and equiangularly
spaced about the said axis of rotation of the carrier, a
plurality of supports each carrying means providing two
elongate d$splay faces which Are disposed back to back
and the respective lengthwise axes of which are substant-
ially coincident with the said second axis of rotation of
the ~upport, the arrangement of the carrier and ~upports
being such that each display face on each carrier is
capable of forming with a di~play face on each of the
other carriers a substantially continuou~ display
surface and means for progressively rotating the supports
: leaving the display po~ition through 180 about their
: respective second axes, which progressive rotation
commences simultaneously with the begi~ning of the
rotational step of the carriers and ends simultaneously
with the end of the rotational step of the carriers.
Referring now to the accompanying drawings:-
Figure~ 1 to 18 illustrate diagrammatically the
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series of movements involved in moving the slats of
one form of apparatus made in accordance with the
invention, and
Figure 19 illustrates a device for dri~ing the
arrangement of slats shown in Figures 1 to 18.
In Figure 1 the display surface of the device is
composed of the aligned faces A of slats a, only two
of which are shown in the series of Figures 1 to 18.
A set of slats a, c and e are mounted on a carrier.
The slats a, c, e respectively have display faces A, B;
C,D and E, F. The set of slats a, c, e are mounted on
a carrier which is mounted for rotation about axis ~.
The carrier is rotated about axis ~ in steps of 120 and
many known forms of drive may be employed for that
purpose. The slats a, c, e are pivotally mounted in
the carrier on axes i, k, 1 and drive Means are provided
for turning the slats about these axes to impart the
angular motions indicated in Figures 1 to 18. One drive
me~ns suitable for this purpose is shown in Figure 19
and will be described presently. The light and dark
semi-circles indicated on slats a are shown only to
facilitate identification of the two faces of these
slats during their rotation as shown in Figures 1 to 18.
In Figures 1 to 18 the movement of the slats a, c, e
25 during a 120 step of the carrier is illustrated. As
will be seen, the carrier is turning clockwise and
during the first 90 of movement of the carrier the
slat a turns through 180 in relation to slats c and e,
so that face B is brought into an outwardly facing
position.
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From Fi~ures 1 to 6 it will be seen that during
`~ the first 30~ movement of the carrier in clockwise
direction, slat a turns through 60 about its axis in
anticlockwise direction and during the same interval
~lats c and e turn through 30 in anticlockwise
direction. At this point, shown in Figure 6, slat a
is perpcndicular to slat e. In order to avoid a
clash between slat a and slat e, it is necessary to
reverse the rotation of slat e about its axis 1 and
while the carrier advances from 30 to 48 slats c
and e rotate clockwise through 30 to return them to
their original angular disposition to each other,
- i.e. to the relative position shown in Figure 1. It
now becomes necessary to turn slat c clockwise through
30 to allcw slat a to reach the position shown in
Figure 11, when it passes the axis k of slat c, in
which position slat a is perpendicular to slat c. To
avoid clashing between slats c and e, slat e is also
rotated clockwise through 30 during the same interval.
During the advance of the carrier from 60
(Figure 11) to 90 (Figure 16) slat a perfo~ns a
final 60 counterclockwise rotation and slats c and e
rotate 30 counterclockwise to bring all three slats
back to their original relative positions, except that
25 face B now faces outwardly. During the final movement
of the carrier from 90 to 120, the slats a, c and e
are at rest in relation to their own axes.
At the end of the 120 movement of the carrier,
the faces ~ are all aligned at the display surface and
the carrier is halted du-ing a predete~nined display
interval.
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It will readily be appreciated that all six slat
surfaces are brought cyclically into the display position.
Study of Figures 1 to 16 will show that the left
hand edge tip of slat a is virtually stationary during
movement between the positions shown in Figure 1 and
Figure 16 and this gives a vlsual impression that slat a
;;~ is pivoting about this edge, in a manner similar to the
page of a book.
It will be seen that during initial movement of the
carrier, progressively larger areas of face F are exposed
to view9 but that situation reverses suddenly between
Figures 8 and 10. Thereafter progressively larger
areas of face E can be seen.
It will be understood that slats a, c, e need not
be elements of the device in its form as sold and each
slat need be no more than 2 strips of paper, back to
` back, held in top and bottom clamps constituting
supports, to which the above described motions are
i~parted,
~o In Figure 19 there is illustrated a device for
driving the slats a, c, e, which are not necessarily
integers of the advertising device and may be no more
than strips of paper or paper board cut out from an
illustration, as explained above. In Figure 19 the
driver for three slat stations only are illustrated,
but any number of such stations can be similarly
arranged between the two end stations.
- At each slat station a drive spindle l is rotatably
mounted in-be~rings 2, carried in a frame member 3. The
spindle 1 has a collar 4 to prevent downward movement.
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A ~l~t spindl~ carrier 5 ls secured to the top end of
each drive spindle 1 and c~rries three slat spindles 6
nrranged therein at 120 angles. Each spindle 6 is
provided with a slat support 7 at its top end and the
spindles 6 are turned ln their bearing~ 8 by engagement
o upper and lower cam followers 9 and 10, which are
arranged at 180 to each other and secured to the
related spindle 6. The cam followers 9 engage
with an upper cam 1 and the cam follower 10 engages
with lower cam 12. The spindles 6 are oscillated as
a result of the engagement of their cam followers with
the cams 11 and 12 during rotation of the spindle 1.
The cams 11 and 12 are deve]oped to oscillate the slats
in accordance with Figures 1 to 18,
All the spindles 1 carry a crank arm 15, provided
with a crank pin 16 rotatably engaged with a connecting
rod 17. Thus, in a device having more than three
stations, the drive spindles 1 of the additional station
will be similarly spaced along and coupled to a connecting
rod of appropriate length. The two end apindles 1 carry
sprockets 18, which are interconnected by a drive chain
(not shown), so that all spindles 1 are turned in
synchronism.
The illustrated drive arrangement is duplicated at
the top of the cabinet ~but inverted) to provide an upper
~ end drive for the slats.
An upper and lower spindle 1 at one end of the
device is provided with a spur gear (not shown) for drive
input from a motor, which is under the control of a
control un;t arranged to allow the motor to turn the
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spindles 1 through a 120 increment and then to halt
: for a predete~nined interval before making the next
`; 120 turn of the spindle 1.
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