Patent Publication Number: US-2013232837-A1

Title: Open house sign with interchangeable letters

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional patent application No. 61/609,174, filed Mar. 9, 2012, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to tools for Realtors and, more particularly, to a design of an open house sign with a slate to feed the letters of the open house address, date and time, along with a directional arrow. 
     Often, when a Realtor has an open house, they will put signs up at key intersections close to the designated location to help direct people to visit during the open house. Sometimes, the Realtor only puts an arrow on the sign, providing a general direction toward the open house. This arrow may not be clear to the general public. However, in a development with many residential streets, for example, several of these directional signs may be needed to prevent a driver from missing a turn and, thus, missing the open house. Moreover, with these directional only signs, no time is provided—therefore, the Realtor must put up the signs immediately before the open house and take them down immediately after. 
     Some conventional open house signs include a space to put in the address, date and time. These spaces are usually filled in by attaching paper to the sign, where the paper has the address, date and time of the open house filled in. Wind and rain may damage the paper. Also, these hand-written paper signs rely on the Realtor&#39;s handwriting to get the message to the potential buyers. While a Realtor may use a computer to print out the paper messages for the signs, this is a time consuming task and still does not solve the problem of having the information disposed of on a piece of attached paper. 
     As can be seen, there is a need for an improved sign that includes a method for interchanging data on the sign to provide a time effective, professional appearing and accurate sign that may be used for real estate open houses, for garage sales and the like. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In one aspect of the present invention, an open house sign comprises at least two boarders attached parallel to each other on a front face of the open house sign; a slot in each of the boarders, the boarders disposed with an open end of the slots facing each other; and a plurality of letter cards adapted to be inserted into and retained by the slots of adjacent ones of the boarders. The design may also be attached to an existing Open House sign that is designed with the slates and utilizes the same size lettering. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, an open house sign comprises preprinted information on a front face of the open house sign, the preprinted information including Realtor contact information; at least two boarders attached parallel to each other on the front face of the open house sign; a slot in each of the boarders, the boarders disposed with an open end of the slots facing each other; and a plurality of weatherproof letter cards adapted to be inserted into and retained by the slots of adjacent ones of the boarders. 
     These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a front view of an open house sign according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a side view of the open house sign of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  is a side view of a two-lined open house sign according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a front view of an open house sign adapted to accept an add-on customizable attachment according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 5  is a front view of the open house sign of  FIG. 4 , with the add-on customizable attachment attached thereto; 
         FIG. 6  is a front view of a directional sign having boarders to accept interchangeable letters, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims. 
     Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides an open house sign with a slate to feed letters of an open house address, date, time, directional arrow, and the like. The sign of the present invention allows potential clients to clearly understand by reading the clear lettering, location and time of the open house as clearly as they are reading the standard sign. The sign of the present invention also allows real estate professionals a clear way to update an open house sign&#39;s address without wasting paper while presenting a professional look to the public. 
     The open house sign of the present invention allows the user to interchange data without wasting time or paper, changing the method of display to be time effective, accurate, and professional in appearance. Conventional open house signs do not benefit the public or the time schedule of the Realtor. The time it takes to go to the office, create the address, fold the paper and then tape the paper to an open house sign will be replaced with slip and slide letters that are clear to read. Moreover, the open house sign of the present invention allows the potential clients to clearly understand by reading the clear lettering, location and time on the open house as clearly as they are reading the standard sign. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , an open house sign  10  may include typical open house signage  12 , such as the name, address and phone number of the Realtor, pre-printed on the sign. The open house sign  10  may further include an upper letter boarder  14  and a lower letter boarder  16 . The boarders  14 ,  16  may be designed with a slot  20  for inserting letter cards  22  (letter cards  22  refers generically to not only letters, but also numbers, symbols, directional arrows and the like). The boarders  14 ,  16  may be designed as adhesive strips that the user may cut to the appropriate length and attach to their own sign. In some embodiments, the boarders  14 ,  16  may be pre-formed onto a sign, either by an adhesive, glue, plastic molding, or the like. The boarders  14 ,  16  may be made from various materials, such as plastic, metal, composite, or the like. 
     The slots  20  may be made in various sizes and angles. While the figures show the slots  20  slanted inward, other slot configurations are contemplated within the scope of the present invention. 
     The letter cards  22  may be formed in various colors, typically as clear plastic, with colored lettering on each card  22 . The letter cards  22  may have a height designed to fit and be retained by the slots  20  of the upper and lower boarders  14 ,  16 . The letter cards  22  may be slid into the slots  20  from one end of the sign  10 . In some embodiments, the letter cards  22  may be flexible enough to permit a user to bend and insert the card  22  in a mid-section of the sign, into the slots  20 . The letter cards  22  may be weatherproof letter cards. For example, the letter cards  22  may be made to be weatherproof by being made from an impermeable material, such as plastic. The actual data (such as the letters H, W, K as shown in  FIG. 1 ) may be pre-printed on the letter cards  22  or the letters may be provided as peel and stick letters that can attach to blank letter cards. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , in some embodiments, a central boarder  18  may be provided having an upper slot  24  opening on a top side of the central boarder  18  and a lower slot  26  opening on a bottom side thereof. The central boarder  18  may be used where two lines of interchangeable text are desired on the sign  10 . In some embodiments, a user may simply use one upper boarder  14  and one lower boarder  16  in place of the central boarder  18 , to provide a two-lined sign. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , in some embodiments, a sign  10 - 1  can include an attachment member, such as holes  28  on bottom corners of the sign  10 - 1 . The holes  28  can be secured by grommets for strength. The sign  10 - 1  may or may not include a place to hold letter cards  22 , as described above. The holes  28  may interact with attachment members  30  on a sign attachment  32  such that the sign attachment  32  can be hung on the holes  28  in the sign  10 - 1 . The sign attachment can include upper and lower boarders  34 ,  36  to hold letter cards  22 , as described above. The sign attachment  32  can be formed in various shapes, such as an arrow, as shown in  FIG. 5 . 
     In some embodiments of the present invention, the sign attachment  32  can be formed and used as a separate piece, as shown in  FIG. 6 . Hooks (not shown), or the like, can be disposed in a conventional sign, on a wall, or the like, to secure the sign attachment  32 . 
     The open house sign of the present invention can provide, by simply sliding plastic letters in or out, a professionally looking sign that can withstand various weather conditions. 
     While the above description has focused on open house signs, the signage of the present invention could be used in other circumstances where directing a person toward a specific location is desired. For example, the signage of the present invention could be useful for people having garage sales, for general advertisements, and the like. 
     It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.