Two part sign indicia

Constructions are provided in molded indicia such as letters and numbers which may be easily assembled together to form words and other formations. Individual moldings in the shape of alphabetical and/or numerical characters are each provided with a plurality of through openings extending in either the horizontal or vertical directions permitting the moldings to be assembled against a rod, wire or elongated flexible member or members to form assemblies representative of words or other intelligence. In a preferred form, each molding is composed of two half parts or formations which, when properly assembled, represent a particular alphabetical or numerical character. The formations frictionally or otherwise assembled together to form the character are each shaped with a rim which either snap assembles over a rod, tube, strip or string or contains indented portions along the rim which compressibly engage said rod, strip, tube or string to retain the molding against that portion thereof which it engages. In another form, the portions of each molding are hingedly molded together so that the molding may be easily assembled in alignment with an elongated member such as a rod, strip, tube or string. In a particular further embodiment, the elongated member comprises one or more electrical conductors and light emitting means such as an electric lamp are connected thereto and enclosable within to provide internally lighted characters.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to improvements in characters such as alphabetical 
and numerical characters formed by molding or casting materials such as 
plastic resins. In particular, the invention is concerned with 
improvements in the structures of molded characters which are shaped to 
permit them to be assembled to form words, sentences and the like wherein 
the assembly is effected by means of a common member such as a wire, rod, 
string or tube, or a plurality of such members, which may be employed to 
hang or join the alphabetical characters and/or numbers thereto. 
Educational toys are known in the art which employ letters and numbers 
which are secured together or held in arrays such as assemblies or 
arrangements thereof to form words or other information defining arrays. 
Such arrays or assemblies have been formed by means of magnets secured to 
the characters and attracted to a paramagnetic board such as one made of 
sheet steel or by holding the letters and numbers in receptacles by means 
of gravity. Most of these techniques are relatively complex to effect 
assembly of the letters and may employ relatively expensive joining 
components. 
The instant invention is directed to improvements in the construction of 
letters and numbers made of plastic resin and the shapes thereof are such 
as to easily accommodate each letter either in a hanging attitude or in 
clamping engagement against a rod, tube or strip supporting enough of such 
characters to permit them to form one or more words thereof. In one form 
of the instant invention, the letters or numbers are peripherally molded 
with a plurality of cavities in opposite portions thereof and, upon 
assembly of the opposite portions, are made to frictionally grip a wire, 
rod or tube to permit them to hang vertically thereon or in a horizontal 
manner depending on how the display is desired to be completed. 
Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide new and 
improved structures in molded letters and numbers as well as other 
configurations together with means for assembling and retaining such 
characters in a fixed assembly. 
Another object is to provide a new and improved educational toy in which 
letters and numbers may be easily arrayed in either the horizontal 
direction or vertical direction and retained in such array to form words 
thereof and to permit a child to hang or otherwise support the array of 
letters or numbers. 
Another object is to provide new and improved structures in letters and 
characters which may be easily assembled to form words and which may be 
electrically energized and illuminated. 
Another object is to provide an assembly toy which is interesting to a 
child to assemble and which is relatively simple to effect such assembly. 
With the above and such other objects in view as may hereafter more fully 
appear, the invention consists of the novel constructions, combinations 
and arrangements of parts, as will be evident from the accompanying 
drawings and Specification, but it is to be understood that changes and 
modifications may be restored to which come within the scope of the 
invention as claimed without departing from the spirit and nature of the 
invention. 
With the above and such other objects in view as may hereinafter more fully 
appear, the invention consists of the novel constructions, combinations 
and arrangements of parts as will be more fully described and illustrated 
in the accompanying drawings, but it is to be understood that changes, 
variations and modifications may be resorted to which fall within the 
scope of the invention as claimed.

There is shown in FIGS. 1-3 a first configuration of the instant invention 
which is composed of an assembly 10 of a plurality of alphabetically 
shaped characters denoted 11A, 11B, 11C, which respectively represent the 
letters ART which are shown assembled to an elongated member 12 and held 
in a string-like array thereby. The elongated member 12 may comprise 
conventional cotton thread or string, solid rigid or flexible plastic rod 
or tubing, metal wires or cable or wooden dowel. It is shown as being 
secured at one end to a retaining ring E1 which is retained by a base or 
screw to a wall or component S of any suitable support such as a frame 
comprising part of the toy or display. The other end of member 12 may be 
similarly secured to another portion of the frame or support for the toy 
or display. 
In the component configuration of FIGS. 1-3, each of the character 
components is formed of two parts, a front part 13A and a rear part 13B. 
While each of these parts may be molded or otherwise formed in respective 
solid shapes, they are illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3 as each having 
respective outer wall portions, which portions are denoted 14A and 14B and 
respective circumscribing side wall portions which are respectively 
denoted 15A and 15B for the respective character components. 
For toy components in the shape of characters which vary from about 
one-half inch to two inches in maximum dimension, the side wall portions 
of each character or letter may extend between 1/16" to 1/4" or more from 
the side wall portions 14A and 14B and are preferably configured to 
conform to each other so that the edges thereof may abut each other and 
may be clampingly engaged against the elongated member 12 as will be 
described. While not illustrated in FIG. 3, the edges of the side walls of 
each portion of each letter or character may be shaped to frictionally 
secure to or snap assemble with the edges of the corresponding mating 
portion of the character to provide simple assembly means which will hold 
closed yet may be opened by prying the two parts apart. 
The letter A illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 is shown having at least eight 
notches or indentations formed therein at different locations to 
accommodate a plurality of elongated members, two of which, denoted 12A 
and 12B, are illustrated as extending laterally across the character for 
not only positionally locating same but also retaining it in a fixed 
attitude with respect to the two elongated rod-like members. Rod member or 
string 12A passes through openings in the opposite edge walls of the 
assembled character defined by cavities 18 and 19 which respectively are 
aligned with similar cavities in the edge wall of the opposite character 
member 13B as shown in FIG. 7. Rod member or string 12B extends laterally 
across the middle portion of the character through notches or indentations 
16 and 17 formed in the respective opposite side walls of the character 
member 13. Both rod members are frictionally held between those portions 
of the edges of the side walls of the two character members 12 and 13 
which are notched or indented, as illustrated in FIG. 2 at the locations 
denoted 16-19. 
Notches 20, 21, 22 and 23 are formed in the horizontal portions of the 
character defined by the upper edge wall of letter A, the edge walls of 
the opening in the letter A and the lower edge wall between the legs of 
the letter. Thus, if a rod member or string is extended vertically through 
the indentations or notches 20-23, the character may be supported in a 
vertical attitude as illustrated in FIG. 5. In other words, in a preferred 
form of the invention, each character or article to be assembled on a 
string or rod is formed of at least two components of similar 
configuration, such as the front and rear components 13A and 13B shown in 
FIG. 2 which components are adapted to be frictionally or otherwise 
assembled together against one or two string-like members or rods which 
extend either vertically or horizontally through the components to provide 
either a vertical or a horizontal array of the components for forming 
words, arrays of words or sentences. 
In FIG. 4, the rear portions of two characters 13D and 13F are shown 
vertically aligned with each other with a rod or string 12C extending 
through the cavities defined by the left hand portions of the characters 
and engaged by indentations or notches denoted 20D, 23D, and 20F, 23F 
which are formed in the upper and lower edge walls of the respective 
members 13D and 13F. Mating letter formations of similar configuration are 
thereafter secured to the formations 13D and 13F by snap-assembly of the 
edge portions of each, by means of suitable fasteners [not shown] or by 
adhesive or solvent bonding. 
In FIG. 5, parts 13A and 13D for the letters A and D, are shown having a 
rod or string 12D extending vertically and nesting in notches in the 
respective wall portions which are aligned therewith permitting the 
respective mating portions of said characters to be frictionally or 
snap-assembled thereto over the elongated member to hold the assembled 
characters in place. Notations 20D, 21D,22D and 23D refer to indented 
portions or notches formed in the respective horizontal edge walls of the 
character component 13D to receive and accommodate the vertical string or 
rod member 12D. 
The character component 11D of FIG. 5 is shown having the inner edges of 
the side wall 15A and 15B thereof stepped in shape so as to permit 
frictional engagement with the mated matched stepped portion of the other 
D-shaped character portion which assembles thereto against the rod or 
string member 12C in a manner similar to that in which a two-piece plastic 
box has its components snap-assembled and frictionally retained together. 
In FIGS. 6 and 7 is shown a modified form of construction for a character 
shaped article denoted 30 composed of two portions 31A and 31B which are 
integrally molded together by means of respective hinge portions 39A and 
39B joining the two and permitting them to be pivoted with respect to each 
other from the open condition illustrated in FIG. 6 to the closed 
condition as shown in FIG. 7 to form a hollow body thereof. The portions 
31A and 31B are in the configuration of an F which contains three pairs of 
aligned holes formed of respective molded notches or cavities in the top 
and bottom edge walls and the side edge walls of the assembled character. 
Notches 33A and 33B respectively form a hole through the far end wall of 
the upper leg of the character while notches 34A and 34B respectively form 
a second hole aligned with the hole defined by notches 33A and 33B, in the 
opposite end of the upper leg of the character to permit a string or rod 
to pass through the upper leg of the character and be clampingly engaged 
by the surfaces of the respective notch formations. Notch formations 36A 
and 36B are formed in the respective outer edge walls of the vertical leg 
of the character. Notch formations 37A and 37B are formed in the 
respective inner edge walls of the vertical leg of the character aligned 
with the notch formations 36A and 36B for clampingly engaging a string or 
rod extending horizontally through the vertical leg when the character 
portions 31A and 31B are assembled. 
Notch formations 35A and 35B are formed in the upper edge walls of the 
upper leg of the character and provide a hole through the assembled 
character aligned with the second hole in the lower edge walls of the 
vertical leg defined by notch formations 36A and 36B permitting a string 
or rod to extend vertically through the vertical leg of the character. 
Notations 38 and 39 refer to respective lip and receptacle formations 
provided inwardly of the outer edge walls of the lower horizontal leg of 
the character and are shaped to deflect and frictionally engage together 
when the character portions 31A and 31B are pivoted and secured together. 
Molding 30 of FIGS. 6 and 7 is preferably made of a suitable deflectable 
plastic material such as medium or high density polyethylene or 
polypropylene. 
In FIG. 8 is shown a cross-sectional view of the edge walls of matched 
character forming portions 13A and 13B taken at the notched formations 34A 
and 34B thereof which, upon frictional assembly of the portions 31A and 
31B, compressibly engage the flexible rod or string R and deform same as 
illustrated to frictionally retain the assembly thereagainst. 
In FIG. 9 is shown a configuration for the described edge walls of a 
character formed of portions 39A and 39B, each of which edge walls is 
stepped in shape as illustrated and thereby provides frictional engagement 
with a thread or flat strip flexible member RS which extends along the 
stepped portions of the assembled character portions as illustrated. 
In FIG. 10 is shown a character component 40 of the type described having a 
wire W extending through the vertical leg thereof and a small light bulb 
42 secured to the wire within the confines of the character portion for 
eliminating same from the interior thereof when electrical energy is 
applied to the lamp through the wires W. 
While the embodiments of the assembly toy or display illustrated in FIGS. 
1-5 and 6-7 are preferred forms of the invention, it is noted that a 
number of variations in the shape and assembly means illustrated may be 
resorted to without departing from the spirit and nature of the invention. 
For example, the wires or rods illustrated may be assembled to the backs 
of a plurality of character shaped articles by means of plug-like 
formations which frictionally assemble in openings or against protruding 
portions of the molded characters to retain the characters in the spaced 
relationship with each other along the elongated member.