PANNEAU ECLAIRE MULTICOLORE

MULTI-COLOUR ILLUMINATED SIGN

Abrégé français

L'enseigne illuminée multicolore affiche un indice ou un numéro d'adresse d'un logement en séquence changeante de couleurs. L'éclairage arrière est assuré par trois groupes de pluralité de diodes électroluminescentes. Un groupe de diodes électroluminescentes génère une lumière bleue primaire, un deuxième groupe de diodes électroluminescentes génère une lumière verte primaire et un troisième groupe de diodes électroluminescentes génère une lumière rouge primaire. Diverses combinaisons de ces lumières primaires produisent une pluralité de lumière de couleur noire qui est reflétée et réfractée par divers modèles réflectifs et réfractifs pour améliorer la visibilité et l'apparence esthétique de l'indice.

Abrégé anglais

The multi-colour illuminated sign displays an indicia or house address number in changing sequence of colours. The back lighting is provided by three groups of plurality of light emitting diodes. One group of the light emitting diodes is operative to generate a primary blue light, a second group of light emitting diodes is operative to generate a primary green light, and a third group of light emitting diodes is operative to generate a primary red light. Varying combinations of these primary lights produces a plurality of colour back lighting which are reflected and refracted by various reflective and refractive patterns to enhance the visibility and aesthetic appearance of the indicia.

Revendications

The embodiments in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are
defined as
follows:
1. A multi-colour illuminated sign comprising:
a rectangular base casing having upstanding opposite end walls and side walls,
and a
bottom panel, said side walls having a light reflective inner surface, said
bottom panel having a
light scattering reflective pattern formed therein,
a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted on a circuit board located
adjacent to an end
wall wherein said plurality of light emitting diodes including a first group
of light emitting diodes
operative to emit a primary blue light in said base casing, a second group of
light emitting diodes
operative to emit a primary green light in said base casing , and a third
group of light emitting
diodes operative to emit a primary red light in said base casing,
a front cover casing mounted on top of said base casing, said front cover
casing having a
top panel with a smooth upper surface,
a light diffusing plate mounted between said front cover casing and said base
casing,
an indicia plate having a transparent display indicia formed therein, mounted
over said
top surface of said front cover casing.
2. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 1 wherein said front
cover casing has
an undersurface with a light refractive pattern formed therein and said light
diffusing plate is a
translucent plate.
3. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 2 wherein said light
scattering
reflective pattern in said bottom panel of said base casing is a plurality of
reversed pyramidal
depressions and said light refractive pattern on the underside of said top
cover casing is a
-9-

plurality of parallel cross sectional V-shaped grooves.
4. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 3 wherein said display
indicia is a
numeral formed by a cut-out pattern removed from said indicia plate.
5. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 4 including a second
plurality of light
emitting diodes mounted on a second circuit board located adjacent to the
other end wall of said
base casing, said second plurality of light emitting diodes also including a
first group of light
emitting diodes operative to emit a primary blue light in said base casing, a
second group of light
emitting diodes operative to emit a primary green light in said base casing,
and a third group of
light emitting diodes operative to emit a primary red light in said base
casing.
6. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 5 wherein said light
emitting diodes
are arranged in three spaced parallel rows with said first group of light
emitting diodes and said
second group of light emitting diodes located at aligned and opposite
positions to one another in
a first row and a second row with said first row and said second row
selectively located adjacent
to said bottom panel, and said third group of light emitting diodes are
located in a middle row
located between said first row and said second row and at offset positions
from said first group of
light emitting diodes and said second group of light emitting diodes.
7. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 6 including an
electrical power
supply
connected to said first plurality of light emitting diodes and said second
plurality of light emitting
diodes, a control device connected between said power supply and said first
plurality of light
emitting diodes and second plurality of light emitting diodes and adapted to
actuate said first
plurality of light emitting diodes and second light emitting diodes for
generating changing colour
-10-

lighting in a predetermined programmed sequence in said base casing of a
single primary colour,
a combination of two primary colours, and a combination of three primary
colours.
8. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 7 including a light
sensor connected
to said control device and adapted to actuate said control device when ambient
light condition
around said sign falls below a predetermined level.
9. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 8 wherein said power
supply, said
control device and said light sensor are located in an auxiliary housing
mounted adjacent to a
side wall of said sign.
10. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 9 wherein said inner
surface of side
walls of said base casing has a plurality light reflective parallel cross
sectional V-shaped grooves
formed therein and said power supply is a power transformer electrically
connected to an
alternating current supply.
11. A multi-colour illuminated sign comprising:
a rectangular base casing having upstanding opposite end walls and side walls,
and a
bottom panel, said side walls having a light reflective inner surface with a
plurality of parallel
cross sectional V-shaped groove formed therein, and said bottom panel having a
light scattering
reflective pattern formed therein,
a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted in three parallel spaced rows on
a circuit
board located adjacent to and end wall wherein said light emitting diodes
including a first group
of light emitting diodes operative to emit a primary blue light in said base
casing and a second
group of light emitting diodes operative to emit a primary green light in said
base casing, said
-11-

first group of light emitting diodes and said second group of light emitting
diodes being located
at alternate evenly spaced positions in said first row and said second row, a
third group of light
emitting diodes operative to emit a primary red light in said base casing and
arranged in an
evenly spaced manner in a third row between said first row and said second row
of said three
parallel rows, said third group of light emitting diodes being positioned at
offset positions from
said first group of light emitting diodes and said second group of light
emitting diodes,
a front cover casing mounted on top of said base casing, said front cover
casing having a
top panel with a smooth upper surface, and an under surface having a light
refractive pattern
formed therein,
a light diffusing plate mounted between said front cover casing and said base
casing,
an indicia plate mounted on said upper surface of said front cover casing,
said indicia
plate having a transparent display indicia formed therein.
12. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 11 wherein said display
indicia is a
numerical cut out pattern formed in said indicia plate.
13. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 12 wherein said light
reflective
pattern
in said bottom panel of said base casing is a plurality of inverted pyramidal
depressions and said
top panel of said front cover casing is a tinted translucent panel.
14. A multi-colour illuminated sign comprising:
at least two rectangular main housings mounted together side by side wherein
each
housing including a rectangular base casing having two opposite light
reflective end walls and
side walls, and a light reflective bottom panel,
-12-

a plurality of parallel cross sectional V-shaped grooves formed on an inner
surface of said
side walls,
a plurality of inverted pyramidal depressions formed in said bottom panel,
a first plurality of light emitting diodes mounted on a first circuit board
located adjacent
to one end wall inside said rectangular base casing, said first plurality of
light emitting diodes
including a plurality of a fust group of light emitting diodes operative to
emit a primary green
light within said base casing, a second group of light emitting diodes
operative to emit a primary
blue light within said base casing, and a third group of light emitting diode
operative to emit a
primary red light within said base casing,
a second plurality of light emitting diodes mounted on a second circuit board
located
adjacent to the other end wall of said rectangular base casing, said second
plurality of light
emitting diodes also including a plurality of first group of light emitting
diodes operative to emit
a primary green light together with said first group of light emitting diodes
mounted on said first
circuit board, a plurality of second group of light emitting diodes operative
to emit a primary blue
light together with said second group of light emitting diodes mounted on said
first circuit board,
and a third group of light emitting diodes operative to emit a primary red
light together with said
third group of light emitting diodes mounted on said first circuit board,
a front cover casing mounted on top of said base casing, said front cover
casing having
two opposite end walls juxtaposed to and covering over said end walls of said
base casing, and
two side walls having a rectangular cut out formed in a central edge portion
therein, said front
cover casing having a transparent front panel,
a shallow rectangular depression formed in a front surface of said front
panel,
-13-

a light diffusing plate mounted between said front cover casing and said base
casing,
an indicia plate having an indicia formed therein mounted in said shallow
rectangular
depression of said front panel.
15. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 14 including a control
device located
in an auxiliary housing mounted to an exposed side wall of said front cover
casing, said control
device being connected to an electrical power source and said first plurality
of light emitting
diodes and said second plurality of light emitting diodes and being operative
to actuate said first
plurality of light emitting diodes and said second plurality of light emitting
diodes to generate a
predetermined sequence of changing colour lights in said main housing of a
single primary
colour, a combination of two or three primary colours for illuminating said
indicia.
16. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 15 including a light
sensor connected
to said control device for operating said control device at a predetermined
ambient light
condition.
17. A multi-colour illuminated sign according to Claim 16 wherein said indicia
is a cut out
numerical pattern formed in said indicia plate.
-14-

Description

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
MULTI-COLOUR ILLUMINATED SIGN
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to an illuminated sign and more particularly relates to
a house
address number sign which has variable and changing multi-colour illumination
after dark to
provide a high visibility as well as a desirable aesthetic appearance.
Illuminated signs are provided such that the indicia of the signs will become
clearly
visible after dark. The indicia is commonly mounted at the front of an
enclosure with a light
source, such as an electrical light bulb, located within the enclosure behind
the sign. The light
source is turned on at night or when the ambient lighting is below a certain
level so as to provide
a back light for illuminating the indicia. Illuminated house address number
signs are particularly
useful for rendering the house address number visible after dark.. However,
due to the relatively
short life span of the incandescent light bulb used as a back light source, it
requires changing
from time to time. Since a house address number sign is normally required to
be mounted at a
high location on the front wall of the house in order that it can be clearly
visible at a far distance,
it is awkward and troublesome to change the light bulb at such high location.
Also, incandescent
lights have a high electrical power consumption. Attempts have been made by
providing long life
and low electrical consumption light emitting diode (LED) lights as a light
source to alleviate the
above problems. A plurality of LED lights are mounted on a support plate
located behind the
indicia with the LED lights arranged in the same pattern as the indicia so
that when the LED
lights are turned on they present an illuminated indicia or number. A main
drawback of such
construction is that when one or several LED lights become inoperative, the
indicia becomes
unevenly illuzninated such that the indicia or number is no longer clearly
legible or identifiable.
-1-

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
Some LED light illuminated signs resolve the above problem by mounting a
plurality of LED
lights on the side walls of the enclosure such that the indicia is illuminated
by reflected light from
the LED lights. However, the reflection means are not effective in providing a
strong desirable
illumination of the indicia. Furthermore, only LED lights providing lighting
of a single colour are
provided such that the illumination is not attractive, and the sign does not
provide any aesthetic
value to the house.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide an attractive
illuminated sign.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an illuminated house
number sign
having a high illumination such that the indicia of the sign is clearly and
unmistakably visible
even at a far distance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an illuminated house
number sign
which operates with changing multi-colour illumination for providing a high
aesthetic
appearance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an illuminated house
number sign
which has a plurality of illuminating light resulting from numerous variable
combinations of
colour lights reflected from a plurality of primary colour lights generated
from a plurality of LED
lights.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an illuminated
house number
sign having effective light reflection means for providing an even and bright
back lighting of the
indicia.
-2-

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
BRIEF DESCRiPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent
from the
following detailed description of the preferred embodiments thereof in
connection with the
accompanying drawings in which
Figure 1 is an exploded front elevation of the house number sign according to
the present
invention.
Figure 2 is a top front perspective elevation view of the two house number
signs and
control housings mounted side by side according to the present invention.
Figure 3 is a partial side sectional elevation view along section line III-III
of Figure 2.
Figure 4 is a perspective bottom view of the top cover of the main housing of
the house
number sign according to the present invention with the top cover turned up
side down.
Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram showing the operation of the house
number sign
according to the present invention.
Figure 6 is an enlarged top front elevation view of the lower enclosure of a
second
embodiment of the house number sign having additional reflective means
mounting on the side
wall therein.
Figure 6A is an enlarged isolated view of the LED light mounting board showing
the
preferred arrangement of the different colour LED lights according to the
present invention.
Figure 7 is an enlarged isolated top front elevation view of the lower
enclosure of the
second embodiment.
DETAILED DESCRIPTTON OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
With reference to the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals
designate
-3-

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
corresponding parts in the several views, the illuminated house number sign
according to the
present invention has a main housing 10 which includes a rectangular lower
casing 11 having
two upstanding opposite end walls 12 and 13, and two opposite upstanding side
walls 14 and 15.
The inside surface of the side walls 14 and 15 are preferably provided with a
light reflective
coating. Two access gaps 16 and 17 are located between the ends of the side
wall 14 and the end
wall 12 and end wall 13 respectively and two additional access gaps 18 and 19
are located
between the ends of the side wall 15 and the end wall 12 and end wall 13
respectively. Groups of
three LED lights consisting of an LED light 20 operative to generate a primary
green light, an
LED light 21 operative to generate a primary blue light, and an LED light 22
operative to
generate a primary red light are mounted in three parallel spaced rows on a
printed circuit board
23 which is mounted adjacent to and spaced from the end wall 13 with the LED
lights pointing
inwards towards the interior of the enclosure such that the three primary
colour lights generated
are directed into the interior of the casing 11. Preferably, the green LED
lights 20 and the blue
LED lights 21 are located aligned and opposite to one another in a first and
second rows with
either the first row or the second row located adjacent to the reflective
plate 25. The red LED
lights 22 are located in a middle row located between the first and second
rows and at an offset
positions from the green LED lights 20 and blue LED lights 21. Alternatively,
as best shown in
Figure 6A, the green LED lights 20 and the blue LED lights 21 may be located
at alternate
positions in both the first and second rows. Similar groups of three LED
lights operative to
generate similar three primary green, blue and red colour lights are mounted
on a second printed
circuit board 24 which is located adjacent to and spaced from the end wall 12
such that the lights
generated by the second groups of three LED lights are also directed into the
interior of the
-4-

CA 02506918 2009-05-14
casing 11. LED lights have a long operation life span and they have a very low
electrical power
consumption.
A light reflective plate 25 is mounted on the bottom panel of the casing 11.
The reflective
plate 25 has a light scattering reflective pattern 25A formed therein. The
light scattering
reflective pattern 25A may be in the form of a plurality of inverted pyramidal
depressions as best
shown in Figure 7. Altematively, the light scattering reflective pattein 25A
may be integrally
formed directly in the bottom panel of the casing 11. Other light scattering
reflective patterns
such as pyramidal protrusions or similar multi-sided depressions or
protrusions may be provided
for the same purposes. The surface of the light scattering reflective pattern
may also be coated
with a light reflective coating, such as a chrome coating.
A light diffusing plate 26 in the form of a thin translucent plastic sheet
such as a polyester
film with a light diffusing coating or ground glass is located over the casing
1 I and a front cover
casing 27 is mounted over the top of the casing 11 to sandwich the light
diffusing plate 26 in
place. The front cover casing 27 is mounted to the casing 11 with screws 28
through threaded
openings formed at the bottom of the casing 11 and the underside of the edge
portions of the
front cover casing 27. The screws 28 extends through openings 29 of mounting
posts 30 formed
integrally in the casing 11.
The front cover casing 27 has two end walls 31 and 32 adapted to cover over
the end
walls 12 and 13 of the casing 11, and two side walls 33 and 34 are adapted to
cover over the side
walls 15 and 14 respectively of the casing 11. The side wall 33 has a
rectangular cut out 35
formed in its lower edge portion, similarly the side wall 34 has a similar
rectangular cut out 36
formed in its lower edge portion. The cut outs 35 and 36 provide two elongated
openings at the
-5-

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
two sides of the sign for electrical connection wiring to LED lights as well
as means for
mounting a plurality of signs side by side.
The front cover casing 27 has a transparent front panel 37 which has a
slightly recessed
rectangular depression from the top edge portions of the front cover casing
27. A light refractive
pattern 38 is formed at the underside of the front panel 37. The light
refractive pattern 38 may be
in the form of a plurality of parallel grooves 39 having a V-shaped cross
section.
An opaque indicia sheet 40 with the desired number 41 formed therein is
mounted over
the front panel 37 such as by snap-engagement with grooves formed in the inner
side walls of the
edge portions of the recessed depression on the front panel 37 or mounted
thereon with adhesive.
The desired number 41 may be formed by a transparent pattern or cut out formed
in the indicia
sheet 40 such that it will be illuminated during operation by the back
lighting generated by the
LED lights in the main housing 10. Alternatively, the background may be made
transparent and
the desired number is opaque such that the background is illuminated during
operation. Also, the
transparent portion of the indicia sheet 40 may be tinted such that the
indicia may provide a
distinctive appearance during day light hours when the LED lights are not
actuated. Also, the
front panel 37 of the front cover casing 27 may be tinted and the opaque
background of the
indicia sheet 40 is white colour such that the indicia would be clearly
visible in day light because
of the contrasting colour from the background..
The power source 42 such as a battery pack or a transformer connected to the
AC
household electric supply for operating the LED lights 20, 21 and 22 are
housed in an auxiliary
housing 43. An electrical control circuit 44 is connected between the power
source 42 and the
LED lights 20, 21 and 22 to control the operation of the latter. A light
sensor 45 connected to the
-6-

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
control circuit 44 operates to actuate the operation of the control circuit 44
as soon as the ambient
light falls below a predetermined level. Electrical connecting wiring 46 with
a connector 47
provides the electrical connection between the control circuit 44 and the LED
lights 20, 21 and
22 in the main housing 10. The auxiliary housing 43 is mounted to the main
housing 10 with
extension arms 48 and 49 insertable through the side openings of the main
housing 10 formed by
the cut out edge portions of the side wall 34 of the front cover casing 27 and
they are mounted to
the front cover casing 27 with screws 50 through the bottom of the casing 11.
A plurality of main
housings 10 of signs may be mounted together side by side to provide the
desired house number
which has more than one digit with mounting plates similar to extension arms
48 and 49 inserted
between the several main housings and secured in place with screws in the same
manner. A
second auxiliary housing 51 similar in construction to auxiliary housing 50
may be mounted to
the other side of the main housing 10 to cover the other side opening.
Additional power supply or
electrical controls may be housed in the second auxiliary housing 51 if
required.
A second and preferred embodiment of the casing 11 is shown in Figure 6, in
which a
plurality of parallel vertical grooves 52 having a V-shaped cross section are
formed on the inner
surface of the side walls 14 and 15.
In operation, the control circuit 44 is operative to turn on in a
predetermined program
sequence the LED lights of one colour or combinations of two or three colours
as soon as the
ambient light falls below a predetermined low light level detected by the
light sensor 45. The
varying combinations of the lights of these primary colours produce numerous
resulting changing
colour lights within the main housing 10. The changing lights are reflected by
the inner surface of
the side walls 14 and 15 as well as reflected and refracted by the bottom
pane125 towards the
-7-

CA 02506918 2005-05-09
front panel 37 after being diffused by the diffusing plate 26 as best shown in
Figure 3. The
diffused light is further scattered by the refractive pattern 26 formed on the
under surface of the
front panel 37 to produce an attractive sparkling light that illuminates the
house number 41 of the
indicia plate 40. Thus, the house number 41 will become visible with the
changing attractive
colour lights to provide an aesthetic display of the indicia.
The additional reflective vertical grooves 52 formed on the inner surface of
the side walls
14 and 15 enhances the mixing process of the various colour lights generated
by the LED lights
of the three primary colours.
While the present invention has been shown and described in the preferred
embodiments
thereof, it will be apparent that various modifications can be made therein
without departing
from the spirit or essential attributes thereof, and it is desired therefore
that only such limitations
be placed thereon as are imposed by the appended claims.
20
_g_

Dessin représentatif