Patent ID: 6584716
Filing Date: 2003-07-01
Classification: G09F

Abstract:
A vandal resistant sign attachable to a utility pole or other support surface comprising:a) a flat plate having obverse and reverse faces, said plate being adapted for attachment to a support surface with its reverse face against said support surface; b) said plate having a plurality of regularly spaced side-by-side rectangular openings wherein the spaces between said openings define transverse molding strips; c) a plurality of interchangeable tiles, each tile having top and bottom edges, generally parallel lateral side edges and an obverse face including indicia representing an alpha-numeric character; d) each of said tiles having a width as defined between said lateral side edges that (i) is greater than the width of a plate opening and (ii) less than or approximately equal to the width of a plate opening and an adjacent molding together; e) said plate has top and bottom longitudinal edges and a portion of said plate including said top and bottom edges being bent back over the reverse face of said plate to form parallel open channels that are in facing relationship, said channels slidably receiving said tile top and bottom edges respectively and allowing the longitudinal adjustment of a plurality of said tiles to form an abutting side-by-side array against the reverse face of said plate and the longitudinal adjustment of the array with respect to the channels being in a position such that the indicia on each said tile obverse face shows through one of said openings while said tile top and bottom edges are masked by said plate obverse face; f) said tiles when in said abutting side-by-side array having the abutting lateral side edges of adjacent tiles concealed by said molding strips, whereby the concealing of the edges of said tile by said plate and molding strips reduces the exposure of the edges of the tiles to vandal attack; and g) each of the channels having a crimp at an outermost edge of each of the tiles at each end of the array for fixing said array of tiles in said longitudinal adjusted position, each crimp being formed after slidably receiving the top and bottom edges of the tiles into the channels.