Digital spring roll display device

The invention includes a display device having a support structure including an opening forming a display window and a spring roll visible through the window, the spring roll including display characters along its length and comprising material having the property of tending to form coils at its opposite ends. The display device also includes a spring roll carrier for supporting the spring roll closely adjacent the rearward surface of the window, this carrier including a planar member having a planar forward surface positioned closely adjacent but rearwardly of the window.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates to point of purchase display devices and more 
particularly to display devices having a numerical or alphabetical display 
and wherein the characters displayed can be easily changed. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Display devices having numerical or alphabetical displays have been 
constructed employing film strips having numerals or letters on the film 
and with the film strips being supported such that selected numerals or 
letters are visible through windows in a supporting structure. The visible 
letters or numerals are changed by rolling the film strip past the window 
in the supporting structure. Examples of such devices are illustrated in 
the U.S. Trame Pat. No. 3,939,584, issued Feb. 24, 1976 and the U.S. Trame 
Pat. No. 4,095,359, issued June 20, 1978. 
Attention is also directed to the U.S. Taber Pat. No. 3,426,115, issued 
Feb. 4, 1969, the U.S. Shapiro Pat. No. 1,999,133, issued Apr. 23, 1935, 
the U.S. Marette Pat. No. 1,553,906, issued Sept. 15, 1925, the U.S. 
Jeffreys Pat. No. 1,890,117, issued Dec. 6, 1932 and the U.S. Barnes Pat. 
No. 3,159,937, issued Dec. 8, 1964. Also of interest are the U.S. Bourseau 
Pat. No. 3,660,918, issued May 9, 1972, the U.S. Offensend et al. Pat. No. 
3,100,356, issued Aug. 13, 1963, the U.S. Slavsky Pat. No. 2,951,301, 
issued Sept. 6, 1960 and the U.S. Coffey Pat. No. 2,588,803, issued Mar. 
11, 1952. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides an improved display device wherein the 
numerals or letters displayed can be easily changed and wherein the 
display device has attractive qualities and appearance and is 
uncomplicated in structure and inexpensive to manufacture. 
More particularly, the invention includes a display device including a 
support structure including a planar portion having a display window and a 
rearward surface defining a plane, and a spring roll positioned adjacent 
the rearward surface and being visible through the window. The spring roll 
includes display characters along its length and is comprised of material 
having the property of tending to form coils at its opposite ends. The 
display device also includes means for supporting the spring roll adjacent 
the plane defined by the rearward surface of the planar portion, this 
means for supporting including a planar member having a planar forward 
surface positioned closely adjacent but rearwardly of the rearward 
surface. One of the curled opposite ends of the spring roll is supported 
rearwardly of one of the edges of the planar member and the other of the 
curled opposite ends is supported rearwardly of the other of the edges of 
the planar member. Means are also provided for preventing movement of the 
ends of the spring roll past the edges of the planar forward surface, the 
means for preventing movement including apertures formed in the ends of 
the spring roll and including a first pin joined to one edge of the planar 
member and a second pin joined to the other edge of the planar member. One 
of the apertures is intended to slip over the first pin as the spring roll 
is moved in one direction until its end having the aperture is 
substantially uncoiled, and the other of the apertures is intended to slip 
over the second pin as the spring roll is moved in an opposite direction 
until its end having the aperture is substantially uncoiled. 
Various other features and advantages of the invention are set forth in the 
following description, in the claims, and in the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Illustrated in FIG. 1 is a display device 10 embodying the invention and 
including a plurality of side-by-side spring rolls 12, the spring rolls 12 
being comprised of precurled generally opaque plastic strips having 
display characters 14, such as the numbers shown in FIG. 1, along their 
length. The display device 10 also includes a support structure 16 having 
a central elongated window 18, and the spring rolls 12 are supported 
immediately rearwardly of the window 18 such that the numbers or display 
characters 14 are visible through the window 18. The spring rolls 12 are 
also supported such that they can be conveniently rolled or unrolled so 
that numbers 14 visible through the window 18 can be easily changed. In 
the arrangement illustrated in the drawings, the display device 10 could 
be used in a retail business to indicate, for example, the price of a 
product. This use of the display device is referred to merely for purposes 
of example, and it will be understood that there are a wide range of other 
potential uses of the display device of the invention. 
Referring more particularly to the specific embodiment of the display 
device shown in the drawings, the support structure or body 16 is 
comprised of a planar member 22 including a face 24 and a rearward surface 
26. While in the illustrated construction the support structure 16 
includes a single elongated window 18, in other arrangements it could 
include a plurality of windows aligned longitudinally along the length of 
the support structure. The support structure also includes a pair of 
bushings or pins 28 extending rearwardly from the rearward surface 26 of 
the support structure 16 and intended to permit a spring roll carrier 30 
to be fixed to the support structure 16. 
The spring roll carrier 30 comprises an elongated thin flat plate member 32 
adapted to be positioned closely adjacent the rearward surface 26 of the 
support member 16 but spaced rearwardly of the rearward surface. The 
spring roll carrier 30 has a height which is greater than the height of 
the window 18 and, accordingly, the upper edge 34 of the spring roll 
carrier 30 is above the upper edge of the window and the lower edge 36 of 
the spring roll carrier 30 is slightly below the lower edge of the window 
18. While in other arrangements the spring roll carrier 30 could support 
more or fewer spring rolls 12, in the illustrated arrangement it is 
adapted to support three spring rolls in spaced relation along its length. 
The spring rolls 12 are comprised of a precurled thin plastic material, 
such as described in the Trame and Taber patents cited above, and having 
the numerical or alphabetical characters 14 on one surface and arranged 
linearly along the length of the spring roll. The spring roll material is 
characterized by the tendency to form coils at its opposite ends. The 
spring rolls are supported on the spring roll carrier and with each of the 
spring rolls having an upper coil 40 (FIG. 3) positioned immediately 
rearwardly of the upper edge 34 of the spring roll carrier and with a 
lower coil 42 positioned immediately rearwardly of the lower edge 36 of 
the carrier. The spring roll supported in this manner also includes an 
intermediate portion 44 positioned between the planar forward face 46 of 
the spring roll carrier 16 and the plane defined by the rearward surface 
26 of the support structure, the intermediate portion 44 being planar and 
being supported against the face 46 of the spring roll carrier. 
The spring roll carrier 16 also includes means for maintaining the spring 
rolls 12 in spaced apart relation along the length of the spring roll 
carrier, this means including a plurality of rearwardly extending planar 
dividers 48 spaced along the rearward surface of the planar member 32 of 
the spring roll carrier, the planar dividers 48 being integrally joined to 
the rear surface of the planar member. In the illustrated arrangement, the 
planar dividers 48 define planes perpendicular to the plane of the planar 
member 32 of the spring roll carrier and the planar dividers 48 include 
upper ends 50 (FIG. 4) extending upwardly beyond the upper edge 34 of the 
planar member 32 and lower ends 52 extending downwardly beyond the lower 
edges 36 of the planar member. The means for maintaining the spring rolls 
12 in spaced relation also includes ribs 54 projecting from the forward 
face 46 of the spring roll carrier and extending from the upper edge 34 of 
the planar member to the lower edge 36. As shown in FIG. 4, the ends of 
the ribs are stepped such that the ribs include a central or intermediate 
portion 56 adapted to extend through the opening in the support member 16 
defined by the window 18. The upper end of this intermediate portion 56 is 
adapted to be positioned closely adjacent the upper edge of the window and 
the lower end of the intermediate portion 56 is positioned closely 
adjacent the lower edge of the window. As shown in FIG. 2, these central 
or intermediate portions 56 of the rib divide or separate the face 46 of 
the planar member into discrete surface areas and prevent lateral movement 
of the spring rolls 12. The ribs 54 also include upper and lower end 
portions having forward faces 58 which are adapted to engage the rearward 
surface 26 of the support structure 16, these end portions of the ribs 
being adapted to maintain the forward face 46 of the plate member 32 in 
rearwardly spaced relation from the rearward surface 26 of the support 
structure. 
The spring roll carrier 30 also includes a pair of wings 60 which extend 
outwardly from the ends of the carrier and which are parallel to the plane 
defined by the planar member 32. More particularly, the wings are integral 
with and extend outwardly from the rearward ends of the rearwardly 
extending dividers 48 forming the ends of the spring roll carrier. The 
wings 60 each include an aperture and are adapted to be positioned against 
the rearward ends of the pins 28. Means are also provided for securing the 
spring roll carrier 30 to the support structure 16. While various securing 
means could be provided, in the illustrated arrangement, screws 64 extend 
through the apertures in the wings 60, and the screws 64 are threaded into 
the ends of the pins 28 to thereby secure the wings of the carrier to the 
pins of the support structure. 
Means are also provided for preventing the opposite ends of the spring 
rolls 12 from being completely unrolled and pulled past the respective 
upper and lower edges 34 and 36 of the carrier. During use of the display 
device, numbers or characters 14 being displayed can be changed by moving 
that portion of the spring roll 12 in the window up or down thereby 
causing one end of the spring roll to uncoil while the other end of the 
spring roll coils. The means for preventing complete unrolling of the 
coils 40 and 42 of the spring rolls includes pins 64 extending upwardly 
from the upper edge of the planar member 32 and pins 66 extending 
downwardly from the lower edge of the planar member. In the illustrated 
construction the pins include a planar forward surface 68 which is 
coplanar with the surface or face 46 of the plate member 32. The rearward 
surface of the pins is rounded. The spring rolls are each provided with 
holes 70 formed in their opposite ends. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, as the 
spring rolls 12 are uncoiled, and as an end of a spring roll passes over 
the upper edge 34 of the plate member 32, that end of the spring roll 
tends to curl around the upper edge 34 and the pin 64 will extend into the 
aperture 70 as the aperture begins to pass over the upper edge 34 of the 
plate member. As the pin 64 moves into the aperture 70, it will prevent 
any further movement of the spring roll past the upper edge. If the spring 
roll is moved in the opposite direction, that end of the spring roll 
illustrated will slide up and off of the pin and again form a coil 40. 
By reference to the above description of one embodiment of the invention 
and by reference to the drawings, it will be appreciated that the 
invention provides a simple and uncomplicated display device to be used in 
retail sales and in a variety of other applications as a means for 
providing a readily changeable sign or other display and wherein the parts 
forming the display device are simple and inexpensive to manufacture yet 
provide an attractive display device and wherein the characters displayed 
are easily changed. 
Various features of the invention are set forth in the following claims.