Signs and displays having easily interchangeable information panels

A sign wherein individual film panels bearing graphical information are interconnected as an uninterrupted web by way of interconnecting plastic zippers. The web, which is composed of a series of film panel transparencies, is wound and unwound from spaced apart rollers for presenting the individual panels for viewing through a window in a housing. The concept of releasably interconnecting film panels is also used in stationary signs such as menu boards in fast food restaurants to provide for easy interchange of the panels when it is desired to present different menu items and prices, for example.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention disclosed herein pertains to an apparatus and a method for 
exhibiting graphical information, including pictures of products, printed 
text, scenes and price information primarily for advertising products and 
services at the point of sale. 
The use of eye-catching signs has long been recognized as an effective way 
to convey information in supermarkets, drug stores, department stores, and 
taverns, for example, to attract the attention of customers to selected 
goods and services. Typically, the signs are placed in a strategic 
location to be seen by as many persons as possible, and their 
effectiveness can often be increased by making active or moving displays 
which will more readily attract attention. Presently available display 
apparatus types are disadvantageous in that they are capable of exhibiting 
only a very limited number of pictures. An even greater disadvantage is 
that information displayed at the point of sale for advertising purposes 
is presented in sign apparatus which is not designed for convenient 
substitution of information panels. This is a disadvantage because the 
information displayed by the sign in connection with merchandising is 
often seasonal and in other cases the information may pertain to a 
community event which is transitory and anachronistic after the event. 
The sign apparatus and method disclosed herein provides for quick and easy 
interchangability of the graphical information panels comprising the sign. 
The invention disclosed herein overcomes the problems encountered in 
preexisting signs. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
According to the invention, a device for displaying a sequence of film 
panels containing graphical information is characterized by a base member 
on which rollers are mounted for being driven rotationally about parallel 
axes by individual electric motors. A web comprised of a detachably 
interconnected series of film transparencies or panels is wound on a 
roller and has its opposite ends connected to opposite rollers. When one 
motor is energized, the roller which that motor rotates acts as a web 
winding or take-up roller while the other roller acts as an unwind roller. 
During operation of the device, the web is preferably transilluminated to 
permit the graphics on the individual film panels to be viewed through a 
window in a housing that encloses the base. That which has been thus far 
stated in this summary is mostly conventional. 
Distinguishing features of the new design are: The manner in which the film 
panels are detachably interconnected, the ease with which film panels can 
be exchanged in a preexisting web, the ease with which an entire web can 
be exchanged when updating of the graphical information is appropriate, 
and the ease of removing an anachronistic web and installing a new one. 
According to the invention, the film panels are attachedly connected to 
form a series of panels or a web by having plastic detachably interlocking 
strips, sometimes called zipper fasteners, preferably adhesively attached, 
to opposite end margins of each film panel. These fasteners are well known 
per se and are characterized by a flexible plastic strip having parallel 
adjacent extruded grooves and ribs on each of an interlocking pair 
extended over the width of the end portion of the film panels that are to 
be detachably interconnected. Plastic zippers fasteners are described in 
many patents. One example is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,918,131 where there 
is a tape on each end portion of a zipper so that by pressing the tapes 
together, the rib or ribs of the tapes mutually register in the grooves of 
each other to interlock film panels together and thereby develop a 
suitably flexible easily opened and reclosed joint. The joints are 
unobtrusive to a person viewing the film panels or transparencies in 
sequence. The detachably interlocked joints are smaller or thinner than 
joints created by mechanical means such as pivot pins and hinges which 
make rolls large and lumpy when the web, comprised of transparency panels, 
is wound on a roller. 
The panels that are connected by detachably interlocking means are not only 
used in dynamic or moving film displays but, also in accordance with the 
invention, they are used in static displays such as menu price boards in 
fast food restaurants. These signs or menu and price boards which are 
customarily used in fast food restaurants usually have the item of food 
being offered and its price silk screened onto a rigid plastic strip and a 
number of such strips are slid into tracks on a frame which is mounted to 
a light-box for transilluminating the strips to make the translucent 
information printed on them readable by customers. The strips, when used 
in a menu board, are arranged parallel with each other to form a menu 
list. Menu boards for accommodating the strips are rather expensive. In 
accordance with the invention, the foodstuff and price information is 
deposited by various means such as silk screening, photographic film 
techniques, lithography or other suitable means for transillumination and 
the strips, instead of being slid into slots or tracks, are connected by 
means of the detachable connectors alluded to in the description of the 
dynamic machine set forth above. 
The apparatus not only provides for easy interchange of film panels in both 
dynamic and static display devices, but it also provides for convenient 
exchange of webs in their entireties. 
How the foregoing and other features of the invention are implemented will 
appear in the ensuing more detailed description of a preferred embodiment 
of the invention which will now be set forth in reference to the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
FIG. 1 shows the new viewing device with the housing opened to display its 
contents. FIG. 1 affords an opportunity to identify the major components 
of the display system. The back section of the housing is identified 
generally by the numeral 10. One wall of the back portion has a hole 11 
for accommodating a control switch. Another hole, not visible in FIG. 1 is 
provided for connecting an electrical power infeed cord to the device. The 
front of the housing is constituted by a frame 12 in which there is a 
window 13 through which scenes and information presented on the film 
panels may be viewed. The word "Window" is used in the generic sense to 
cover the situation where the window is simply an opening and the 
situation where a transparent glass or plastic panel overlays the opening. 
The base on which the mechanism of the device is mounted is generally 
designated by the numeral 14. There are four brackets 15, 16, 17 and 18 
mounted to the corners of base 14. Diagonally positioned brackets 16 and 
17 are physically identical and the other diagonally arranged brackets 15 
and 18 are physically identical. In other words, bracket 16 could be 
flipped over and mounted in place and in the same orientation as bracket 
17 and the same is true of bracket 15 which could be turned over and used 
in place of bracket 18. The brackets support for rotation two rollers 19 
and 20 which are mounted for rotation on the brackets. The construction of 
the rollers will be described in greater detail later. 
The brackets also support a pair of idler rollers 21 and 22. Only 
diagonally arranged brackets 15 and 18 have an electric motor mounted to 
them. The motor mounted to bracket 18 is marked 23 in FIG. 1. The motor on 
bracket 15 is not visible in FIG. 1 but is visible in FIG. 3 where it is 
marked 24. In FIG. 1, the pulley on the shaft of the motor that drives 
film panel roller 20 is marked 25. Pulley 25 is operatively coupled to a 
larger pulley 26 by means of a tooth belt 27. FIG. 3 shows the 
corresponding pulley 28 on the shaft of motor 23 which drives roller 19 
rotationally by means of belt 29 and by means of larger pulley 30 as one 
may see in FIG. 3. A web 35 comprised of serially and detachably 
interconnected film panel sheets, not visible in FIG. 1, winds and unwinds 
to and from rollers 19 and 20 as will be elucidated later. 
The fluorescent tube 36 for back-lighting the films during viewing is also 
shown mounted to the base 14 in FIG. 1. A ballast for powering the 
fluorescent tube is mounted to the base 14 and is marked 37. The starter 
for the fluorescent tube is marked 38. A transformer 39 is mounted to base 
14 and is used for reducing the power mains voltage to lower voltages 
appropriate for use in digital control circuits. 
Attention is now invited to FIG. 4 which shows the manner in which the film 
panel web is handled in the device. This figure shows the lower 
cylindrical roller 19 arranged in parallel with upper roller 20. The 
rollers have at opposite ends retainer disks 57 for keeping the web in 
proper alignment as it passes from one roller to another. In FIG. 4, the 
film panel web 35 is attached to the roller 19 at a place that is marked 
45. When the device is turned on, the motor 23 that drives roller 19 will 
rotate the roller in a direction that will cause the web 35 to wind onto 
roller 19 and to be unwound from upper roller 20. Control of the web is 
such that a particular scene or film panel is transported to align with 
the viewing window 13 where the web is stopped to permit a viewer to 
perceive the information which is on that particular film panel. After a 
time delay, the web 35 begins to move again and then stops to allow 
viewing of the next in the series of film panels in the web. When the 
entire web is unwound from roller 20, the motor driving roller 20 is 
energized and the motor 23 driving roller 19 is deenergized so that roller 
20 becomes the winding roller and roller 19 becomes the unwind roller. The 
web 35 is transported over two idler rollers 21 and 22 which are 
positioned so as to be not visible through window 13. Idler rollers 21 and 
22 keep the film panel 35 between them tense and vertical. When one motor 
is driving a roller to take-up or wind the web, the other motor which is 
coupled to the roller from which web is being unwound can be partially 
energized so as to effect a drag on the web which assists keeping the web 
in tension and unwrinkled. 
The FIG. 4 embodiment shows the manner in which a transparent back-up plate 
46 can be mounted behind the web for the web to slide along the surface of 
the plate. Base 13 has a raceway or conduit 47 overlying it. The raceway 
is defined by a sheet metal member 48, constituting the top of the 
raceway, and downwardly depending unitary side members 49 and 50. The 
raceway is fastened to base 14 by any suitable means such as rivets 51. 
Although it is not visible in FIG. 4, one may see in FIG. 3 a printed 
circuit board, shown in dashed lines, and identified by the numeral 52. 
The electronic components, not visible, are mounted on this board and are 
adapted to bring about the intermittent movement of the film panel web 
which was mentioned above. The wiring, not shown, for the various 
electrical components 37, 38, and 39 plus motors 23 and 24 has been 
omitted because the design for the electrical circuits is within the 
purview of an electronic circuit designer of ordinary skill. 
FIG. 5 shows the details of one of the wind-unwind roller and idler roller, 
combinations. This FIGURE shows how the brackets 15 and 16 are mounted to 
the base 14 by means of screws such as the one marked 252. In this figure 
one may see that the bracket 15 is molded in one piece and includes an 
axially extending cylindrical portion 53 which serves as a support and a 
bushing for rotating shaft 54. Shaft 54 has a head on it for retaining a 
disk 55 which has an axial protrusion 56 for registering in a 
corresponding groove 58 in the side of the end disk 57 so the shaft can 
drive the roller. Thus, disk 55 and disk 57 are coupled in driving 
relationship so that roller 20 turns when pulley 26 is driven by its motor 
24. 
The structure at the right idler end of roller 20 is designed for making 
removal and insertion of roller 20 easy, according to the invention. In 
this case, the bracket 16 has an integrally molded cylindrical bushing 
member 60. A shaft 61 is journaled for rotation in bushing 60. A member 
comprised of a radially extending flange 62 and a hub 63 is mounted to 
shaft 61 for rotation with the shaft. A washer 64 separates the hub 63 
from the bracket bushing 59. A collar member 65 is provided. This member 
65 has a peripheral wall 66 and an end wall 67. The end wall has an 
axially extending cylindrical portion 68 for supporting the collar member 
on hub 63. Two of the four bayonet latching members or prongs 69 and 70 
appear in FIG. 5 and are an integral part of collar 65. The bayonet prongs 
terminate in hooks such as the hook marked 71. These hooks are dimensioned 
to pass through four openings such as the one marked 72 in radially 
extending flange 62. The bayonet prongs are prestressed by molding them so 
that they diverge away from the axis of the collar and the hooks are 
beveled as evident on inspection so that they can be forced through holes 
72 and then expand to lock collar 65 to radially extending flange 62. A 
coil spring 73 is disposed on the bayonet prongs before the collar is 
attached to flange 62. This is intended to be a permanent attachment. The 
spring reacts against flange 62 to force the collar into gripping 
relationship with the disk 74 that is permanently fastened to cylindrical 
roller 20. The collar is configured to effect a grip on roller 20, or vice 
versa, so that the collar serves as an idler for the right end of the 
roller 20 in the FIG. 5 embodiment. 
If a user desires to exchange the roller 20 for another one in the FIG. 5 
arrangement, the user would grip the roller 20 whether it had web wound on 
it or not and force it to the right so that the spring 73 compresses. This 
disconnects the collar 65 from the cylindrical roller 20 and disk 74 on 
the roller so that the left end of the roller, particularly the grooved 
disk 57 thereon, can be retracted away from flange 55 to enable the roller 
to be completely withdrawn from between the driven end and the idler end 
of the roller. 
As shown in FIG. 5, one of the idler and web tension rollers 22 is also 
supported from the brackets 15 and 16. The idler rollers are preferably 
lightweight but strong plastic material. They have bushing inserts 75 and 
76 in their ends. The brackets 15 and 16 have cylindrical extensions 77 
and 78 for supporting a shaft or rod 79 on which the idler roller rotates. 
The ends of the rods are constrained against axially movement by the use 
of collars such as the one marked 80 which has a set screw 81 in it. A 
palnut could be used in place of collar 80 for retaining the rod 79 
against axial movement. 
FIG. 2 shows the relationship of the parts of the display device. Here one 
may perceive the positional interchangability of the diagonally located 
drive end brackets 15 and 18 and the idler end brackets 16 and 17. Drive 
end bracket 18, is shown with its motor 23 on the far side of bracket 18 
and its drive pulley, driven pulley and belt on the forefront side of the 
bracket. Simply turning this bracket 18 around about a vertical axis as 
demonstrated in FIG. 2 and transferred to the position of drive end 
bracket 15 changes the sides on which the components appear. The whole 
design is directed towards maintaining symmetry so it is not only the 
drive end brackets 15 and 18 that are exchangeable but the idler end 
brackets 16 and 17 are also interchangeable. 
FIG. 9 shows how two of the film panels 92 and 93 are interconnected with 
commercially available detachable plastic rib and groove connectors or 
zippers. As can be seen in FIG. 9 in conjunction with FIG. 10, the zippers 
are provided with flaps 84 and 85 to provide for attaching them by means 
of an adhesive 86 to the ends 87 and 88 of two successive film panels. 
When the ribs 89 and grooves 90 are interlocked they form a joint for the 
purposes of the invention. Of course, the zippers depicted in FIGS. 9 and 
10 are shown as being magnified relative to their actual size. Even though 
the ribs and grooves are detachably interlocked, it is possible for the 
two opposite halves of an interlocked joint to slide laterally relative to 
each other which must be prohibited in a web that is being transported or, 
in other words, wound on and unwound from cylindrical wind and unwind 
rollers. FIG. 9 shows a folded over piece of self adhering tape 91 which 
is pressed onto opposite sides of the adjacent film panels to serve as a 
block against the panel shifting relative to each other. 
FIG. 6 shows a typical film panel 95 having a length that is indeterminate 
and depends on the choice of the designer. Each film panel has a width 
dimension suitable for it to fit between the end retainer disks 57 and 74 
on the cylindrical rollers such as the one marked 20. In FIG. 6 the free 
end of the web is fastened to the roller 20 by means of a segment of 
pressure sensitive adhesive tape. Attaching the end of the film panel 95 
to the roller 20 with a pressure sensitive tape segment 96 having an 
appropriate width solves a problem which otherwise arises when a majority 
of the width of the end of the film is rigidly fastened to roller 20. The 
problem with the latter is that when the film begins to wind onto the roll 
there is always some tendency for misalignment to occur between the film 
and the roller so as winding continues the film runs askew and tends to 
run over one of the retainer disks 57 at opposite ends of the roller. 
Applicant has discovered that using the adhesive tape segment 96 at the 
center of the film provides flexibility in the film-to-roller connection. 
Hence, if the film is somewhat askew relative to the roller, when the 
first wrap of the film on the roller is being made, the guide or retainer 
disks 57 can force the film 95 into perfect alignment with the roller 20. 
The thin pressure sensitive adhesive tape segment 96 can twist and/or 
stretch by a small amount to make this skew compensation possible. After 
the first wrap of the film on the roller is completed, the tape segment 
has done its work and friction resulting from the film overlapping itself 
maintains the alignment between the film and roller. 
The width of the adhesive tape segment 96 should always be a minor 
percentage of width of the film 95 or the width of the roller between 
retainer disks 57. The width of the tape 96 should not exceed 25% of the 
film width but a narrower tape 96 down to about 6% of the film width is 
far better. In an actual embodiment of the display device wherein the film 
width is 26 inches (660 mm) an adhesive tape segment 96 having a width of 
about 2 inches (51 mm) performed as it should. In this case the strip 
width is 8%. of the film width. It is expected that an adhesive strip 96 
having a width of 2 inches (51 mm) would be satisfactory for film having a 
width of up to 40 inches (1,016 mm). 
The use of a segment of adhesive tape 96 in preference to other means for 
attaching the film 95 end to a roller 20 is advantageous from the point of 
view of a user of the display device where the user obtains a custom made 
film web from a supplier for the user to install in the display device as 
a replacement for a film that has become anachronistic. It is only 
necessary to detach the old film from the rollers and have someone endowed 
with minimal dexterity place the adhesive strip 96 at one end of the film 
to a roller at the center of the roller and then run the film to expose 
its opposite free end for permitting fastening this end off the film to a 
roller. 
In the FIG. 7 embodiment, a flap 85 constituting one half of a detachable 
rib and groove joint is attached to a typical roller 20 by suitable means. 
The flap 85 is provided at its free edge with one half of a joint 
comprised of the rib 89 and groove 90 combination that enables 
interlocking with the corresponding mating ribs 89 and grooves 90 at the 
edge of the film panel 95 of web 35. A flap 88, demarked by dashed lines, 
is fastened to the edge of film panel. It is this flap that has the ribs 
for the panel. 
FIG. 8 shows a typical embodiment of a film panel web 35 comprised of a 
series of panels 98 and 99 which are joined together by strips marked 100, 
101 and 89,90 for the sake of being consistent with preceding FIG. 7. The 
retainer strips of self adhering tape 91 that are shown on one side as 
being fully applied and on the other side as in a state wherein the tape 
is not yet folded for being applied to the side edges of the panels 
coincident with a joint in the detachably interconnected film panels. 
The discussion above is related to implementation of the inventive concepts 
in a sign or display device that presents different scenes or graphical 
matter on film panels in sequence. FIGS. 11 and 12, on the other hand, 
illustrate one application of interlocked film panels in a static sign or 
display device. In particular, the panels which are interconnected by 
means of groove and rib connectors are used in a menu board such as is 
used in a fast food restaurant. Here a plurality of panels, such as the 
two being exhibited and marked 105 and 106, are used for presenting food 
item and price information. The panels are interconnected by means of 
connector strips marked 107, 108 and 109. Of course, in an actual menu 
board, there may be a dozen or more of the film panels of varying widths. 
The length of the panels when used in a sign board are preferably modular. 
That is, the length of a panel as defined by the distance between joints 
on successive panels, such as joints 107 and 108, and all other of the 
film panels have lengths which are integer multiples of a basic modular 
panel such as the one, 105, with the least length. FIG. 12 exhibits a 
series of interconnected static panels, such as 105, stretched between 
anchored end points 110 and 111. Endpoint 110 is on a fixed strip 112 and 
point 11 is on a slider strip 118. In this case, the one half zipper 85 
with one half 89, 90 of the ribs and grooves on it is clamped behind a 
plate 12. To keep the series of film panels flat and unwrinkled, by way of 
tensioning the panels, the sign is provided with a frame 113 on which a 
member 114 is formed. A flat spring 115 has its distal end 116 extending 
through a hole 117 in a slider strip 118. The slider strip 118 is actually 
comparable to the flat 85 in FIG. 7 except that the flat is perforated at 
117 to accommodate the distal ends of one or more, preferably, springs 
115. The frame for the sign has a substantially semicircular cross 
section. The bottom region of FIG. 12 shows that the semicircular front of 
the frame 218 has a tongue 119 provided with a prong 120 which latches 
into a correspondingly shaped groove to secure the front frame of the sign 
to the base 113. The upper region of the sign is similar in that the 
tongue 119 of the frame has a prong 123 which latches to the top 124 of 
the sign housing. 
Although embodiments of the invention have been described in detail, such 
description is intended to be illustrative rather than limiting, for the 
invention may be variously embodied and is to be limited only by 
construing the claims which follow.