Process for making a front panel of a scoreboard

A process for making a front panel of a scoreboard by computer generating a layout and color scheme incorporating lettering and graphics and digitally printing the layout directly onto a front panel made of vinyl, or other appropriate material. The front panel is then appropriately secured to the body of a scoreboard. This method allows the user to easily add a custom look to a generic scoreboard in a one-step process.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT FIG. 1 illustrates an isometric view of a complete scoreboard 10 incorporating a one-piece front panel 12 , the present invention. The scoreboard front panel 12 is created by selecting and formatting a plurality of captions 16 a - 16 n and a plurality of graphics 18 a - 18 n in any color in the desired layout which is input into a computer. Once the desired layout is achieved in the computer, the one-piece front panel 12 , made of vinyl film or other appropriate material, is loaded into a digital printer where the captions, graphics, and background color are printed directly onto the front panel 12 . Typically, the front panel 12 has a pull-away backing, which when removed exposes an adhesive material for applying the front panel 12 onto the scoreboard body 20 . It is to be understood that the front panel 12 may be appropriately secured to the scoreboard body 20 by any other appropriate means. This method provides a one-step application of all the captions 16 a - 16 n , graphics 18 a - 18 n , and background color to a scoreboard 10 . FIG. 2 illustrates an exploded view of a scoreboard 10 , where all numerals correspond to those elements previously described. Illustrated in particular is front panel 12 removed from scoreboard body 20 , which allows the user the ability to take a standard, generic scoreboard body 20 and enhance its appearance with multicolor captions 16 a - 16 n and graphics 18 a - 18 n which are printed directly on the front panel 12 . The present invention creates a new method of creating custom scoreboards without the time-consuming processes of manually painting and manually applying each letter of each caption on the front panel, greatly reducing the possibility of misalignment or error. Various modifications can be made to the present invention without departing from the apparent scope hereof.