Sign arrangement

The invention relates to an arrangement in signs of the kind which comprise a plurality of narrow, elongated prisms arranged in side-by-side relationship and the side faces of which together form a plurality of sign surfaces in different rotational positions of the prisms. The prisms are rotated by a drive shaft, common to all prisms, via a respective bevel gear drive. In accordance with the invention, each driving gear wheel of the bevel gear drive is journalled for rotation in a bearing which is carried by an individual bearing support, which is guided for individual movement axially along tracks which extend longitudinally along the one frame side-member of the sign, and which bearing supports can be locked in selected positions along the tracks.

The present invention relates to an arrangement in signs of the kind which 
comprise a plurality of rotatable narrow, elongated prisms which are 
arranged in side-by-side relationship and the side faces of which together 
form a plurality of sign surfaces in the various positions of rotation of 
the prisms, the prisms being supported for rotation at each end thereof in 
respective frame side-members and being rotatably driven in one frame 
side-member via a respective bevel gear drive, each of which bevel gear 
drives includes a driving gear which is driven by a drive shaft that 
extends in said frame side-member, longitudinally therealong and is common 
to all said drives, and further includes a driven gear which is carried on 
the end of a respective prism and engages an associated driving gear. 
In earlier known sign arrangements of this kind the elements which carry 
the drive shaft and bevel gear drives comprise elongated, sheet-metal 
angle bars which extend along the length of the aforesaid frame 
side-member and which are connected thereto in a manner to support, in 
common, the drive shaft and bevel gear drives. To this end the metal angle 
bars are provided with a plurality of holes for receiving the drive shaft 
bearing, the gear wheel bearings, and also the dogging devices used to 
rotate the prisms, each of which prisms forms a minor or part section of 
the overall sign surface. Because of the large number of holes required in 
the angle bars, the distances between the holes must be measured with 
extreme accuracy, which renders fitting of the various sign components 
difficult. Furthermore, a bearing or journalling system such as this is 
burdensome with regard to a sign frame in which there is only one specific 
centre distance between the various prisms, which means that separate 
bearing supporting elements must be formed, or constructed, for signs of 
mutually different sizes where the distance between the adjacent prisms 
varies. 
An object of the present invention is to overcome the drawbacks associated 
with these known sign arrangements. This object is achieved with an 
arrangement of the kind described in the introduction, by arranging for 
each driving gear wheel to be rotatably journalled in a bearing carried by 
a separate bearing support which is guided for movement along tracks 
extending longitudinally along said one frame side-member, and which can 
be locked in position in said tracks.

A sign of the kind to which the invention relates comprises two mutually 
parallel frame side-members, and a plurality of mutually parallel 
stave-like prisms 10, preferably three-sided prisms, which extend between 
the frame side-members and which are rotatably journalled on said 
side-members for intermittent rotation in a manner known per se, such that 
the side surfaces of the prisms together form different sign surfaces in 
different positions of rotation. 
The drive mechanism for rotation of the prisms 10 is mounted on one frame 
side-member 12, which has the form of a U-shaped profile section and which 
may be closed-off with the aid of a cover (not shown in FIG. 1) so as to 
protect, or to enclose, the drive mechanism in the frame. The U-shaped 
frame side-member 12 has mounted thereon a number of bearing supports 14 
which, in this instance, have the form of U-shaped bracket structures. The 
base parts, or feet, 16 of the bracket structures are guided for movement 
axially along tracks 18 and 20, which extend longitudinally along the 
bottom of the frame side-member 12, and can be locked in selected 
positions therealong, e.g. with the aid of suitable locking means not 
shown. 
The U-shaped bracket structures 14 have mounted thereon an internal, sprung 
flange 22 which carries a bearing or journal 24 for a longitudinally 
extending, through-passing drive shaft 26, which is operative for driving 
a plurality of, or all of, the sign prisms 10. The bearing 24, which is 
held in the bracket structure 14, by means of the sprung flange 22, which 
functions in the manner of a snap-in coupling, carries a driving gear 
wheel 28, which in this case has the form of a clawed disc. The driving 
wheel 28 is arranged to engage a driven gear wheel, which, in this 
instance, has the form of a triangular plate 30 and is positioned opposite 
the driving wheel 28 at an angle of 90.degree. thereto, and to rotate the 
triangular plate intermittently, in a known manner, and therewith also to 
rotate the prisms 10 through the intermediary of dogging devices 32, with 
the driving gear wheel 28 in continuous rotation. The drive shaft 26 is 
driven by an electric motor via a gear box, or some other speed control 
device, and a slipping clutch mechanism, therewith to prevent damage from 
occurring in the event of a foreign object becoming lodged between the 
prisms. 
The driven wheel, or triangular plate, 30 is journalled, via a protruding 
hub part 34, in a hole (not shown) located in one side wall of the bracket 
structure 14, and abuts the driving wheel 28 via an intermediate spring 
plate or washer 36, which takes up any clearance between the gear wheels. 
Each dogging device 32 is journalled in a through-bore located in the 
side-wall of the frame member 12. The axis of this through-bore is 
slightly offset beneath the centre axis of the drive shaft 26, so as to 
facilitate thereby the transmission of driving forces between the gear 
wheels 28 and 30. 
Each bearing bracket 14 on the frame side-member 12 can be adjusted to a 
position centrally opposite a respective prism 10 and locked in this 
position, so as to be able to receive the through-passing drive shaft 
without creating any problems relating to tolerances during a fitting 
operation. Because the vertical and lateral positions (as seen in FIG. 1) 
of the drive shaft bearing 24 are fixed in the bearing bracket 14, and 
because the position of the bearing bore that receives the hub part of the 
triangular driven wheel 30 is fixed in the bracket 14, the drive shaft 26 
and the bevel gear drives 28, 30 can be readily fitted in position in 
correspondence with the position of each respective prism 10, irrespective 
of the centre distances therebetween. This enables the bearing bracket 14 
to be used in connection with sign frames in which mutually different 
centre distances are employed between the stave-like prisms. Considerable 
advantages from the aspect of assembly and manufacture are afforded 
hereby, in comparison with known sign constructions of a similar kind.