US2188294A - Gaseous tube sign - Google Patents

Description

Patented Jan. 23, 1940 I GASEOUS PATENT OFFICE TUBE SIGN Florance Samuel Ganoung, l can,.l\l. Y.

Application June24, 1938, Serial No. 215,593

7 Claims.

My invention relates ingeneral to electrically illuminated signs,- and more particularly to signs illuminated by gaseous tubes. i I

I Heretofore a great deal of difficulty has been encountered in the maintenance of gaseous tube signs against electrical breakdowns between the electrodes of the gaseous tubes and ground. Difficulty has also been encountered in the mainte- I nancevof the electric cables and other electrical 1 connections. The principal source or cause. of the difficulties residesv in the fact that the gaseous tubesand theelectrodes for the gaseous tubes are exposed to dirt, insects, rain, sleet, and ice. The collectionoi this foreign matt'ertends to cause an electrical breakdown which necessitates the servicing of the sign to put it in proper working condition. r l An object of my invention is the provision of a gaseous tube sign which protects the electrically energized parts from dirt, insects, rain, sleet'and ice.

Another object of my invention is to mount the gaseous tube means in a closedhousing to protect it'from foreign matter and against breakage.

Another objectof my invention is the provision of asign illuminated by gaseous tubes which is adaptable to give any desirable display pattern including any letter, symbol, character, ornament or design, or any combination of 1 such arrange-. ment, which cannot be directly produced by the configuration of the gaseous tubes themselves.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a design illuminated by gaseous tubes which gives clear cut and defined display patterns; including any letter, symbol, character, orna; ment or design, or any combination of such arrangement. a

Another object of my invention isthe provision of utilizing a bank of gaseous tubemeans and of 4o diffusing the light emanatingfrom.thegaseous tube means to give asubstantially solid glowing back ground to illuminate adisplay pattern, in-

cluding any letter, symbol, character, ornament or design, of any combination of such arrangement, and to give a clear cut illuminated display pattern which is visible in the day light as well as at night. I

Another object of my invention isthe provision of an illuminated field opening in the design housing which permits a change of display patterns, including any letter, symbol, character, ornament or device, or-any combination of such arrangement, without installing a new sign.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a peripheral frame. which :.engages; the illu;

minated field opening in the sign housing and which permits the exchange of display-patterns by changing one patternfor another in the peripheral frame.

Another objecto'fmy invention is the provision of utilizing features of my invention with raised characters or letters so as to give an illuminated border aroundthe raised letters or characters. Another object of my invention is the provision of gaseous tube means which may be constructed in sections and which may be arranged to utilize the different kinds of gases in thetubes of each section to give different emanations of colors for illuminating the display pattern in the illuminatedfield opening of the sign.

, Another object of my invention is the provision of'interrupting the light illuminating the display pattern to give the effect of a movable display pattern. 7

Another object of my invention is the provision of a bank of gaseous tube means which may be readily inserted in orwithdrawn from the housingof the sign.

Another object of my invention is the provision of mounting a diffusing material at a distance from the bank of gaseous tube means to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solidglowing back ground.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a sign which maybe easily washed as a window and which gives beautiful designs of any color combination or of changeable gaseous'tube colors and which gives a display pattern legible at acute angles of vision.

Another object of my invention is the provision of a sign which provides a double faced display pattern with the same gaseous tubing which is ordinarily used for a single faced sign.

Anotherobject of my invention is the provision of asign which may be readily manufactured and which may be maintained at a minimum of expense. A fuller understanding of my invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like parts are designated by like reference characters, and in which:

'Figure 1 illustrates a gaseous tube sign embodying the features of my invention, as shown in front elevation;

Figure 2 shows a plan view of the sign shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows an end view of the sign shown in Figure 1;

1 Figure 4 shows an end view of the sign shown in Figure 1, with an end portion removed illustrating the guide rails which receive the bank of gaseous tubes, but which tubes are not shown in place;

Figure 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the sign taken along the line 5-5 of Figure 1 and illustrates the bank of gaseous tubes slidably mounted in the guide rails;

Figure 6 illustrates a bank of gaseous tube means which may be replaceably mounted in the housing of my sign; l Tl Figure '7 shows a' fragmentary and cross-sectional view of a portion of display pattern which may be mounted in the illuminated field opening of my sign;

Figure 8 is a view similar to Figure 'lshowin the employment of my invention in connection with raised letters; Y r l 1 Figure 9 shows a view similar to Figure '7 but modified by the employment of a thin "opaque means upon which the display cpa'ttern is provided; a g Figure 10'is a largefront elevational viewof one of the sockets which are electrically connected to the gaseous tube means; 7

Figure 11 shows an electrical plug which may be arranged to detachably fitin the socket shown in Figure 10 for making electrical connection between the transformer and the gaseous tube means; l r

Figure 12 shows an insulated support upon which the gaseous tubes may be mounted to the frame as shown in Figure 6;

Figure 13 is a fragmentaryand cross-sectional view through the display pattern; having an arrangement as shown in Figure 9; a Figure 14 is-a fragmentary and cross-sectional view through the display'pattern having an arrangement as shown in Figure 8.

With reference to Figures '1 to 6-,'inclusive, my invention comprises generally an electrically illuminated sign having a housing 20with abase portion 2| and a sign portion 22, and a bank of gaseous tube means 24 arranged -to illuminate the display pattern illustrated by the reference character 30: The sign portion '22 is-arranged-to have an illuminated field opening'23 'into which the display pattern 3!] is arranged tobe interchangeably mounted. A' display pattern isprovided on both sides of the sign portion 22; making a double faced display pattern with the same gaseous tube means. r P The bank of gaseous tube means 24 is arranged to be mounted in a frame 25 as shown particularly in Figure 6. As illustrated, the bank' of gaseous tube means comprises two tube sections 26 and 33; The gaseous tube section 26 is ar rangedto be energized from, andfelectrically connected to, the sockets21 and 28y which are in turn electrically .connectedto the. transformer 29 by cables as illustrated by the dash lines, see Figuregl. 'Ihep-gaseousntube section 33..is arranged; to be energized from, and electrically connected to,.the sockets 34 and 35,which are in turn electrically connectedto'the transformer 36 bycables as illustrated by .the dash lines.- 'An enlarge-d view of a socket like that identified as 21, 28, 34 and 35' is shown in Figure 10-and is arranged to slidably receive a detachable plug 49 as shown in Figure '11 to which a cable'that leads to a transformer may be connected. The use of a detachable plug facilitatesthe ready exchange of a bank of gaseous tube means. In'order' 'not to confuse; the drawings-the bank' of gaseous tube means is not illustrated in the elevational view in Figure 1.

To compare the clear cut effect of the display pattern including any letter, symbol, character, ornament or design, or any combination of such devices to that afforded by a gaseous tube itself, I arrange to removably mount a gaseous tube 31 externally of and on top of the sign portion 2!. The ends of the gaseous tube 31 are arranged to be, removably mounted in the electrodes 38 andg39 whichere' electrically connected to the transformer 40 by cables illustrated by the dash lines. The gaseous tube 31 is utilized only to compare the clean out effectiveness of the display pattern to that of a gaseous tube itself, such as for a sales demonstration. In actual service the gaseous tube '31 need not be employed. The primary winding of the transformers 29, 36 and 40 are arranged to be electrically energized from the supply conductors 4| as illustrated by the dash-lines in-Figure li 1 i v i The housing of the design may be constructed of any suitable material andany particular configuration to meet the needs. of thecustomer. To facilitate thev construction of the. sign housing andto-give access to the enclosed part and to; afford the interchangeability of the section of gaseous tubes, the end portions 42 and 43 are arranged to be removab ly mounted thereon by meansof screws. and 45, respectively. The inside ofthe sign portion 22 of the housing 20 is arranged to have. an upper slide rail and a lower slide rail- 5| ,to slidably receive the. frame 25 upon which the sectionof gaseous tube means are mounted, Therefore, inassembling or disassembling. the'gas'eous tube means, it is only necessary to remove the pin 52 in the end of the lower slide rail 5| and-slide the frame out of the opened,end of the sign portion 22. The con-. struction makes my sign very flexible and adapt able to changeable desires of the customer for. the reason that .the bank .of gaseous tube means maynbe arranged in any number of sections whichemanate differentcolors therefrom to pro-, duce arvarietyof colors upon the display pattern. 3 The. gaseous tube means niay be mounted upon the frame25 vin any suitable manner and as illus-, trated vI employ two spaced upright. framemembers 53 which carry a plurality of receptacles 56 holding-insulated supportsand to the latter of whichth'e gaseous .tubes may be attached by means of awire 54 looped around the tube and hooked. under. .thedownwardlyinclined projecting ears upon the outer-end of the insulated support, as shown in an enlarged'view in Figure-12; Only one of such insulator supportmountings is shownin Figure 6.

Mountedwithin-the illuminated opening 23 of the sign portion 22 is a peripheralframe59, see Figure. 5. When the peripheral frame 59- is mounted in the illuminated opening 23, its edges engage theedge portions 60 of the opening 23. As illustrated, in..Figures 1, 5 13- and 14,-the peripheral frame Bil-may be held in engagement with the edge portion 60 by means of screws 6|. Onthe rearward side of the peripheral frame 59 there is provided an engaging flange 62 -which extendsaround the two vertical sides andthe bottom of "the peripheral frame. The engaging flange 62 "does not extend along'the 'top edge of the peripheral'frame 59 so that the display pattern maybe inserted in the engaging flange 62 from thetop."

"As illustrated in Figure 7 which showsan 'enlarged cross-sectional 1 view of the display pattern permits the display pattern to be slidably moved upwardly from the engaging flange 62.

the new display pattern is inserted, the periph- --eral frame 59 is again mounted in the opening-23 by meansof the screws Bl.

in Figure 5, I utilize adiffusing material -63 and an opaque means which may be readily inserted in the engaging flange 62 of the peripheral frame 59. The diffusing material 63 maybe constructed of diffusingglass which may be purchased readily upon themarket or of any other suitable material to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing background. "The bank of gaseous tube means is located at-a distance from the diffusing material 63 so that the longitudinal rib efiectof-the light emanating from the bank of gaseous tube means is-substantially dispersed to lose 'the linear identity. Inan "embodiment of my invention which I have constructed, I "find that the distance between "the bank of gaseous tube meansand each'of thediffusingmaterials 63 on opposite sides of-the bank of gaseous tube means may be in the neighbor- "hood of 2 to 3 inches. The opaque means 64 may compriseglass or anyother material arranged to have adisplaypattern provided thereon. The display pattern maybe produced by painting or otherwise covering certain" portions of the glass and producing an opaque surface through which the light cannot emanate.

In Figure 7, the painted or otherwise covered portion is indicated by the reference character 66 and the display pattern which comprises letters is indicated by the reference 'character 65.

The light which emanates thr'oughthe display pattern is clear cut and produces illuminated characters or letters which may be easily read in the day time as well-as at night and at an acute angle of vision.

In Figure 8, I show amodified arrangement of the display'pattern shown in Figure 7, in that the opaque means 14 may be provided with raised letters or indicia, as indicated by the reference character 15 around which illuminated portions 16 may border. 'The' opaque portions of the opaque means 14 is illustrated by the reference character 7'! and may be provided thereon by any suitable manner such for example as by paint or other suitable material. The combined effect of the raised letters: 15 together with the illuminated border 15 gives a very pleasing effeet to the eye and enables greater flexibility in sign design to meet the demands of the purchasing public.

In Figure 9, I show another arrangement for producing a pleasing display pattern and in this arrangement the display pattern is provided upon non-inflammable, thin material 61 mounted between the diffusing material 63 and a clear transparent piece 68 which may be in the form of glass or any other suitable material. The opaque portions of the non-inflammable thin material 61 is indicated by the reference character l0 and the display pattern which is in the form of letters is indicated by the reference character 59, As in Figure 9, the pattern may be in the form of several single individual letter sections which may be arranged edge to edge between the diffusing material 36and the outer transparent piece 68, to make any combination of words or other indicia.

The different arrangements of the display patterns as shown in Figures 7, 8 and 9 may be readily exchanged for one another by merely withdrawing one display pattern from the engaging flange 62 and inserting a new display. In making the change, it is only necessary to unscrew the screws GI and remove the peripheral frame 59 until the upper edge thereof is free from the edge portion 60 of the opening 23. This After frame'59 is'mounted in the opening 23 the edge portion 60 of the opening 23 constitutes a stop to keep' the' display pattern in position.

Although I have described my invention with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only-by way of example and that numerous -I claim as my invention: 15A gaseous tube sign construction compris- --ing. incombination, a housing having an illumi- When the peripheral nated field opening, a diffusing material p'osi- 'tioned in the said-opening to form a closed housing a bank ofgaseous tube means, frame means for mounting the bank of gaseous tube means in'the housing to protect same from dirt, in-

sectsrain, sleet, ice and against breakage, means for slidably mounting the frame means in the housing, said bank of gaseous tube means being positioned at a distance from the diffusing ma- --terial to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing back ground, opaque *rneans having transparent character portions,

and means for mounting the opaque means externally' of the diffusing material to produce "clean cut illuminated character through the transparent character portions.

2. A gaseous tube sign construction comprisperipheral frame to form aclosed housing; a bank of gaseous tube means, means for mounting the bank of gaseous tube means in the housing to protect same from dirt, insects, rain, sleet, ice and against breakage, said bank of gaseous tube means being positioned at a distance from the diffusing material to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing back ground, opaque means having transparent character portions, and means for mounting the opaque means externally of the diffusing material in the peripheral frame to produce clean cut illuminated characters through the transparent character portions.

3. A gaseous tube sign construction comprising, in combination. a housing-having an illuminated field opening, a peripheral frame for engaging the peripheral edge portion of the said opening, said peripheral frame having engaging means, a diffusing material positioned in the engaging means to form a closed housing, a bank of gaseous tube means, means for mounting the bank of gaseous tube means in the housing to protect same from dirt, insects, rain, sleet, ice and against break-age, said bank of gaseous tube means being positioned at a distance from the diffusing material to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing back ground, opaque means having transparent character portions. and means for mounting the opaque means externally of the diffusing material in the engaging means to produce clean cut illuminated characters through the transparent character portions.

,4. A gaseous tube sign construction comprising, in combinatiom a 'housing having illuminated field opening, a peripheral frame forengaging the peripheral edge portion of the said opening, said peripheral frame having engaging means, a diffusing material positioned in the engaging means to form a closed housing, a bank of gaseous tube means, means for mounting the bank of gaseous tube means in the housing to protect same from dirt, insects, rain, sleet, ice and against breakage, said bank of gaseous tube means being positioned at a distance from the diffusing material to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing" back ground, opaque means having transparentch'aracter portions, and means for mounting the opaque means externally of the difiusing material in the engaging means to produce clean cutilluminated characters through the transparent character portions, said diffusing material and opaque means slidably fitting in the engaging means, said edge portion of said opening constituting means to hold said diffusing material and said opaque means from sliding out when said peripheral .frame engages the said peripheral edge portion.

5. A gaseous tube sign construction comprising, in combination, a housing having an illuminated field opening, a diffusing material positioned in the said opening to form a closed housing, a bank of gaseous tube means, means for mounting the bank of gaseous tube means in the housing to protect same from dirt, insects, rain, sleet, ice and against breakage, said bank of gaseous tube means being positioned at a dis- I tance from the difiusing material to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing back ground, opaque means having transparent character portions; means for mounting the opaque means externally of the diffusing material to produce clean cut illuminated characters through the transparent character portions, and raised character means mounted on the opaque bank of gaseous tube means in the housing to pro- 1 stantially solid glowing back ground, opaque means having transparent character portions,

means with ,the transparent character portions forming a border therearound.

-6. A gaseous tube sign construction comprising, in combination, a housing having an illuminated field opening, a diffusing material posi- 5 ,tioned in the saidopening to form a closed housing, abank of gaseous tube means, meansfor mounting the bank of gaseous tube means in the housing to protect same from dirt, insects, rain,

sleet, ice and against breakage, said bank of gase- ,1 0

ous tube means being positioned at a distance from the diffusing material to produce an illuminated field of a substantially solid glowing back ground, opaque means having transparent character portions, and means for mounting the, a

opaque'means externally of the diffusing material to produce clean cut illuminated characters through the transparent character portions, and a gaseous tube section removably mounted externally of the housing to afford a comparative test go peripheral frame to form a closed housing, a bank f gaseous tube means, means for mounting the tect same from dirt, insects, rain, sleet, ice and against breakage, said bank of gaseous tube means being positioned at a distance from the diffusing material to produce an illuminated field of a suband means for mounting the opaque means in juxtaposition with the diffusing material in'the peripheral frame to produce clean cut illuminated characters through the transparent portions.

- Y F. SAMUEL GANOUNG.

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