Abstract:
A lightbox and bracket assembly for use preferably as a display at the end of a bank of devices, such as gaming devices is disclosed. The lightbox has an easily removable, magnetically secured cover. The lightbox includes features for reducing display installation time and removing hot spots cause by the light source from the display screen.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATION  
       [0001]     This application claims the benefit of co-pending Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 60/541,982, filed 4 Feb. 2004. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates to lightboxes and more specifically to illuminated display structures and support structures for the illuminated display structures. Such devices may be used in kiosks in places such as shopping malls, movie theatres, and airports and may also be used as stand alone devices in places such as casinos.  
         [0003]     Lightboxes have been used for some time as display cases. Generally, a poster or advertisement is placed within the lightbox, which illuminates and draws attention to the poster. Many previous designs for lightboxes have a square or rectangular lens shape and a flat lens surface. Such designs are not desirable for areas and situations where people may not be looking at the lightbox directly. For instance, lightboxes may be used as a bookend for a bank of slot machines within a casino, where a person may not approach the light box directly. In this type of application, a flat lens design would not be optimal.  
         [0004]     To compensate for these shortcomings, light boxes with curved or arced display areas have been designed. However, while providing for a viewing surface from more angles, these boxes also have shortcomings. For instance, the lighting may not be evenly arranged and may cause hot spots within the light box. Likewise, these arrangements are difficult to remove or replace the advertisement or poster from the light box.  
         [0005]     Besides the shape and arrangement of the boxes themselves, situating the boxes within a specified area, such as at the end of a bank of gaming devices, has also posed problems. Previous designs do not allow for easy movement or set-up of the boxes, which leads to longer and more arduous set-up time. For instance, time may be required to fasten the boxes to the gaming devices or the base that supports the gaming devices, which also requires time to insure that the light box is properly aligned.  
         [0006]     For example, Ericsen, U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,301, describes a rectangular display box for displaying a poster above a bank of gaming devices having a flat lens. However, the structure and support in Ericsen is specifically designed for overhead display areas. These areas can be difficult to access if the device is to be moved and, also, difficult to access to change the display within the display box.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007]     The present invention is a combination lightbox and bracket designed specifically for mounting a curved lens lightbox to a side of two back-to-back structures, such as two casino gaming machines or vending devices. Independent of any need to affix the bracket to a permanent base, the bracket slides beneath the structures and rests on the base, table, or surface that the structures also sit upon. Additionally, a welded cross member on the back of the bracket slides between the two back-to-back structures or gaming machines to support the weight of the lightbox once in place. The shape of the bracket bottom, the depth of the bracket, and the welded support arm allow the bracket to slide into place and support the weight of the lightbox without any need to permanently mount the bracket to the gaming machines or the base that supports the gaming machines. The bracket portion of the present invention consists of a designed stand or support engineered specifically to slide under the back-to-back structures.  
         [0008]     The lightbox used in conjunction with the bracket is very unique in that it has a curved radius lens as opposed to the conventional flat lightbox lens. It also features a frameless design that eliminates a large external frame (which is commonly present on conventional lightboxes). The lightbox allows for very fast and easy changing of an image that is to be illuminated therein. The top-cap may be removed without the use of tools by using a combination of magnetic strips and plastic fasteners.  
         [0009]     With the strategic placement of the lamps, the light box has also been designed so that the viewed image in the lightbox is substantially void of hot spots. The end result is a system that allows for substantial support of the plastic screens and associated image. The lightbox and bracket work as a system, thus affording the user an excellent opportunity to utilize space at the end of a bank of gaming machines or vending devices, while still providing an adequate display area that is not limited by the bank of structures. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a front perspective view of a light box assembly according to the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is an exploded perspective view of the light box assembly of  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is perspective partially cut-away front view of a light box according to the present invention.  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is bottom plan view of a cover for a light box according to the present invention.  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the bracket shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2  and used for a light box assembly according to the present invention.  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a perspective view of the light box of  FIG. 1  in a typical environment. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0016]     Although the disclosure hereof is detailed and exact to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention, the physical embodiments herein disclosed merely exemplify the invention which may be embodied in other specific structure.  
         [0017]      FIG. 1  depicts a lightbox  10  and a bracket  40  according to the present invention. The lightbox  10  has a topside  12  and a bottom side  14 . The lightbox  10  is preferably mounted on the bracket  40  so that the bottom side  14  of the lightbox  10  is elevated above a bottom  42  of the bracket  40 .  
         [0018]      FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of the lightbox  10 . The lightbox  10  has a main body or enclosure  16 , which includes a ballast cover  18  extending from the topside  12  to the bottom side  14  of the lightbox  10 . The ballast cover  18  provides support for the lightbox  10  and further provides a structure to house the ballast (not shown) that supply power to the florescent light bulbs  20 . At the front of the main body  16  resides a first plastic sheet  22 , an image  24  for display in the lightbox  10 , and a second plastic sheet  26 . The display image  24  is not a part of the present invention, but the present invention is designed so that the display image  24  is efficiently displayed and easily removed or replaced. The two plastic sheets  22  and  26  and the display image  24  are held in place by retaining means, shown as a slot  28  located on the bottom side  14  of the main body  16  and by a top cap or cover  30  located on the topside  12  of the main body  16 . The slot  28  and the cover  30  will be discussed further with respect to the following Figures.  
         [0019]     Still referring to  FIG. 2 , the main body  16  is supported on the bracket  40 . A plurality of holes  44  formed in the bracket  40  correspond to a plurality of openings  46  located on the main body  16 . The holes  44  and openings  46  allow for fastening devices, such as carriage nuts and bolts, screws or bolts (not shown), to secure the lightbox  10  to the bracket  40 . The bracket  40  further comprises a passageway  48  that allows a power cord  50  from the lightbox  10  to be fed through the bracket  40 . While the holes  44  and the openings  46  have been shown as potential areas to secure the lightbox  10  to the bracket  40 , any means that will securely fasten the lightbox  10  and the bracket  40  together will fall within the scope of the invention. For instance, it may be possible for the lightbox  10  to slide into keyhole slots and be “hung” on the bracket  40 . It may also be possible that the lightbox  10  and the bracket  40  are permanently secured to one another, which would also fall within the scope of the present invention.  
         [0020]     A cut-away view of the lightbox  10  is shown in  FIG. 3 . As previously mentioned, the two plastic sheets  22  and  26  and the display image  24  sit within the slot  28 . The lightbox  10  is arranged in such a fashion such that the sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26  may be easily inserted and removed from the slot  28 . A pair of edges  32  are located on opposite sides of the main frame  12 . The sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26  are slid or fed into the slot  28  by working around from one edge  32  to the other. The edges  32  work together with the cover  30  and the slot  28  to retain the sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26  in place. The lightbox  10  may be designed without the side or lateral edges  32 . However, the use of small edges  32  provides extra resistance for the sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26  to be held in place. Furthermore, while larger edges  32  may be employed, the small edges provide resistance without interfering with the viewing area of the display image  24 , thereby providing an essentially frameless display area. The edges  32  are also minimally invasive when installing or removing the sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26 .  
         [0021]      FIG. 3  also shows the light bulbs  20  mounted within the main body  16 . The arrangement of the bulbs  20  is unique over previous designed lightboxes. When designing the present invention, it was observed that previous designs contained hot spots. Hot spots, which are areas where the light source is close enough to the viewing surface or plastic sheets so that the outline of the light source may be seen through the plastic sheets or display image. Hot spots may unnecessarily heat areas of the plastic sheets  22  and  26  and/or the display image  24 . Hot spots also lead to an uneven distribution of light over the viewing surface, which can compromise the quality of the image to be displayed in the display box. To overcome these problems, the present design has light bulbs  20  located closer to the ballast  18  than previous designs. For instance, in a rectangular light box having the dimensions 2′×3′ the light bulbs  20  were moved approximately ½″ inch inwards toward the ballast  18  than prior arrangements. In doing so, a potential existed for the center of the lightbox  10  to be illuminated more than the edges of the lightbox  10 . To compensate for this, the front arc or curvature of the bottom side  14  (and the cover  30 , as well) was moved outwardly from the ballast  18  in the same typical 2′×3′ lightbox, also approximately ½ inch. Thus, by providing a properly dimensioned lightbox  10 , where the light bulbs  20  are located inwardly of previous designs and the front arc of the bottom side is moved outwardly from previous designs, hot spots have been essentially removed from the lightbox  10 . The present ratio of the light bulb location to the lightbox curve is unique and beneficial as compared to previous lightbox designs.  
         [0022]      FIG. 4  shows a bottom view of the top cover  30 . An outer ridge  34  and an inner ridge  35  work together to hold and situate the sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26  in place, as shown in  FIG. 3 . The cover  30  may also have snaps  36  or other securing devices located on the cover  30 . The snaps  36  provide alignment means for centering the cover  30  on the main body  16  (see  FIG. 2 ) and also provide secondary securing means for the cover  30 . The principal securing means are in the form of magnets  38 . The magnets  38  interact with the main body  16 , which is preferably made out of steel or some other magnetic material, to easily enclose and secure the sheets  22 ,  24 , and  26  within the lightbox  10 . The magnets  38  provide securing means that allows a quicker, more efficient placement of the cover on the lightbox  10 . Since there are no hinges or pivots for attaching the cover  30  to the lightbox  10  as in previous designs, the cover  30  has less chance of being damaged and needing repairs. Likewise, easier placement of the cover  30  provides for easier removal and changing of the image display  24 . Especially in an establishment, such as a casino or other gaming institution, which may use several hundred such lightbox displays that may be changed weekly or even daily, the efficient design of the present lightbox  10  and cover  30  can significantly reduce the time and money spent in changing and updating the image display  24 . The magnets  38  further provide for the cover  30  to be lightweight and easily handled, while still providing adequate closure and housing for the lightbox  10 .  
         [0023]      FIG. 5  shows a back view of the bracket  40  of the present invention. The bracket  40  is comprised of a generally upright section  52  and a base section  54  perpendicular to the upright section  52 . A support brace  56  is preferably located along the center of the upright section  52  and the base section  54 , connecting the two sections. The support brace  56  preferably lies in a plane that is both perpendicular to the upright section  52  and the base section  54 . As previously noted, the upright section  52  has a plurality of holes  44  that allows the bracket  40  to be secured to the lightbox  10 . Preferably, the bracket  40  is designed of a hard steel or metal material.  
         [0024]     The base section  54  also has a plurality of holes  58  that will allow the bracket  40  to be secured to a cabinet or other surface. However, the bracket  40  is designed so the operator preferably will not have to manually secure the bracket  40  to a cabinet or surface. The base section  54  has a portion thereof that has a width that is greater than a horizontal space that separates the back-to-back gaming devices. The base section  54  slides underneath the devices for which the lightbox  10  is acting as an end bank, and the weight of the devices will hold the lightbox  10  and the bracket  40  securely in place. The bracket can be installed quickly without the use of tools. Likewise, the central support brace  56  insures that the lightbox  10  is centered between the gaming devices or other structures. The support brace  56  makes a sufficient angle so that the bracket  40  will adequately support the weight of the lightbox  10 . The support brace  56  has a width or thickness that is less than the horizontal space between the back-to-back gaming devices.  
         [0025]      FIG. 6  shows the lightbox  10  secured at the end of a row of gaming devices  70 . The lightbox  10  preferably sits off of the ground, so that the display image  24  is at or near a person&#39;s eye-level. As previously noted above with respect to  FIG. 5 , the bracket  40  is held in place by the weight of the gaming devices  70 , since, as noted above, the base section  54  is wider than the horizontal space between the backs of the gaming devices  70 . Thus, the bracket  40  is preferably held in place without the need of fasteners to hold the bracket  40  and lightbox  10  in place. The arrangement simplifies the process of installing or removing the lightbox  10 . If desired, a cabinet  80  may be placed below the lightbox  10 . However, it is not necessary for the design or support of the invention to have a cabinet.  
         [0026]     When the lightbox  10  is in a mounted position as shown in  FIG. 6 , removal of the display image  24  may be done quickly and easily. The cover  30  is removed, the display image  24  is removed, and a new display image  24  will replace the removed image. If it is easier for the person installing a new image, the second plastic sheet  26  and/or the first plastic sheet  22  may also be removed with little effort. Once replaced, the cover  30  is easily replaced on the lightbox  10 . Also, the present invention simplifies maintenance procedures, such as changing a burned out light bulb. The plastic sheets  22  and  26  and the display image  24  are removed as stated above, which provides the user ample space to remove and change the light bulb.  
         [0027]     As previously stated, the main body  16  is preferably designed of a metallic material. It is possible to provide only the topside  12  as a metallic material, but for production efficiency, the entire main body  16  would be formed from a single piece of metallic material. Similarly, the sheets of material  22  and  26  are described as plastic sheets, but could be formed of another material, provided that the material was sufficiently transparent to allow the light source to illuminate the display image  24 .  
         [0028]     The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Furthermore, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described. While the preferred embodiment has been described, the details may be changed without departing from the invention.