Patent Publication Number: US-7721475-B2

Title: Simulated neon illuminating sign

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION 
   This is a non-provisional application of a provision application having an application No. 60/843,459 and a filing date of Sep. 8, 2006. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   1. Field of Invention 
   The present invention relates to a sign, and more particularly to an illumination sign which is capable of simulating a typical neon illuminating sign without involving the difficulties associated therewith. 
   2. Description of Related Arts 
   A conventional neon illuminating sign usually uses argon based tubes as a light source. The argon based tubes always has mercury in it. The mercury may be harmful to the environment as well as the user when leakage occurs. As a result, many people may switch to LED illuminating sign instead of the conventional neon illuminating sign. What is we basically have as a light source is a diode with specified crystals attached to produce the intense illumination without employment anything that may be harmful to the environment like mercury. 
   There are many kinds of phosphor that exist in the market today but the ultraviolet ray phosphor is the one most suitable for this application. These phosphors only fully activate under the condition that they&#39;re hit with ultraviolet rays. That is exactly what the selected LEDs emits and hence the application. This has proved to give off the best effect to achieve the unique look of phosphorus coated glass; neon. 
   An important technology employed on these signs that is easily overlooked. Normally after you vacuum form the plastic, the edges and the places surrounding the raised form the plastic, the edges and the places surrounding the raised from is rugged and jagged. This of course is not appealing and the paint becomes extremely uneven and worn. To solve this, we employ a smooth laser cut overlay panel that is cut out via the design in the front to lay on top to transform the sign into modern art. This implies that we no longer need to do an accurate screen print of the design before semi-forming. We would just proceed with the colors roughly and cover the rest up via the laser cut overlay panel. 
   Above of all, the purpose of these signs is to be alternatives to neon signs. They provide many advantages such as freight cost reduction (less packing, weighs less, and don&#39;t break), lower power consumption, and the biggest feat of all, it contains no mercury versus argon based neon tubes. This is a huge advantage from the environmental point of view. 
   In other words, conventional neon illuminating signs contain harmful substance which causes potential danger to the users and the environment. Moreover, the manufacturing process of the conventional neon illuminating signs is complicated, and expensive to operate. At the time being, however, there is little alternative when one wishes to manufacture an illuminating sign which has substantially the same performance as achieved by conventional illuminating neon signs. 
   SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION 
   A main object of the present invention is to provide a simulated neon illuminating sign. Such a simulated neon illuminating sign is simple structure, cheap cost, and without employment anything that may be harmful to the environment such as mercury. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide an illumination sign which is capable of producing an illumination effect as that of conventional neon illuminating signs, yet without involving the utilization of any harmful gases or substances to producing illumination. 
   Another object of the present invention is to provide an illumination sign which easy to manufacture and simple in structure, wherein the illumination sign could be utilized in a wide variety of circumstances for providing high quality illumination of predetermined sign characters. Moreover, the present invention is capable of utilizing a wide variety of light sources for providing illumination of sign characters. 
   Accordingly, in order to accomplish the above objects, the present invention provides an illumination sign, comprising: 
   a light-admissible sign panel which has a rear side and a front displaying side and defines a flat background portion and a plurality of protruding portions protruded from the sign panel to form a corresponding number of character signs at the front displaying side of the sign panel, wherein the sign panel has a predetermined light admissibility for allowing light to pass through the sign panel; 
   a light blocking layer, which is made of light-inadmissible material, provided on the background portion of the sign panel for blocking the light passing through the sign panel at the background portion thereof; and 
   a highlighting element provided at the rear side of the sign panel and arranged in such a manner that when the light passes through the protruding portions of the sign panel, the highlighting element creates a neon illuminating effect at the protruding portions of the sign panel, such that the character signs are illuminated at the front displaying side of the sign panel through the protruding portions for simulating a three dimensional neon illumination effect of the sign panel. 
   These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, the accompanying drawings, and the appended claims. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1  is a front view showing the illumination sign according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 2  is a rear view of the illumination sign according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 3  is a front perspective view of the illumination sign according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 4  is a rear perspective view of the illumination sign according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 5  is a sectional side view of the illumination sign according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 6  is an exploded perspective view of the illumination sign according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
       FIG. 7  is a schematic view of the illumination sign according to the above preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
   Throughout the following detailed description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements in all figures. 
   Referring to  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , the sign panel, made of light transmitting material, has a front displaying side and a rear side, the sign panel  10  has a background portion  1  that is preferably a flat surface and a protruding portion  2  that forms a sign character, wherein a lighting blocking layer  3  attached to said background portion  2  of the sign panel  10 , and a highlight coating  5  coated on said protruding portion  2  of the rear side of the sign panel  10 . 
   Further more, as shown of  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 5 , the background portion  1  of the front displaying side of the sign panel  10  is coated with a black color blocking layer  3  so that the light can not go though the background portion  1 , and the protruding portion  2  of the front displaying side of the sign panel  10  forms the sign character. 
   As shown of  FIG. 2  and  FIG. 5 , the background portion  1  of the rear side of the sign panel  10  is coated with a red color layer  4  so that the light can not go though the background portion  1 , and the protruding portion  2  of the rear side of the sign panel  10  is protruding to the front displaying side. A highlight coating  5  with different colors can be coated on the protruding portion  2  of the rear side of the sign panel  10  to create a neon illuminating effect when the light projects thereto or from the rear side of the sign panel  10 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3  and  FIG. 4 , the sign panel  10  made of light transmitting material (either transparent or translucent material) for light passing from one side to another opposed side. The protruding portion  2  of the sign panel  10  has curved cross section by plastic injection. And the cross section of the protruding portion  2  presents semi-circle. Light can go through the protruding portion  2  and make the protruding portion  2  looks like a sign character. 
   As shown of  FIG. 5 , the protruding portion  2  of the sign panel  10  is a vacuum formed panel. Smooth, even, and strong adhesion of phosphor coating on the vacuum formed letter is made possible with epoxy as binder. Normally after you vacuum form the plastic, the edges and the places surrounding the raised form the plastic, the edges and the places surrounding the raised from is rugged and jagged. This of course is not appealing and the paint becomes extremely uneven and worn. To solve this, we employ a smooth laser cut overlay panel that is cut out via the design in the front to lay on top to transform the sign into modern art. This implies that we no longer need to do an accurate screen print of the design before semi-forming. We would just proceed with the colors roughly and cover the rest up via the laser cut-overlay panel. 
   The light housing houses a light source therein to electrically connect to a power source. The light source can be a plurality of LEDs, or conventional fluorescent light tube to generate the light towards the rear side of the sign panel  10 . No neon light is required. For LED configuration, a circuit board is required to electrically connect and support the LEDs in the light housing. In addition, the LEDs are supported and aligned to the sign character. 
   The simulated neon illuminating sign, comprising a sign panel  10  with sign character and a light housing which providing light for said sign panel  10 , wherein said sign panel  10  is a board made of light transmitting material, having a background portion and a protruding portion, said light housing is a light source therein to electrically connect to a power source, the light source generate the light towards the rear side of said sign panel  10 . 
   The sign panel  10  made of light transmitting material, has a front displaying side and a rear side, the sign panel  10  has a background portion that is preferably a flat surface and a protruding portion that forms a sign character, wherein a lighting blocking layer attached to said background portion of the sign panel  10 , and a highlight coating coated on the protruding portion of the rear side of the sign panel  10 . 
   The sign panel  10  made of light transmitting material (either transparent or translucent material) for light passing from one side to another opposed side. The background portion of the sign panel  10  is a flat surface with a blocking layer. The blocking layer attached to either or both sides of the background portion of the sign panel  10 . A light blocking coating can be further coated at the rear side of the sign panel  10  within the background portion thereof. All the blocking layer and coating used to block the light passing there through so as to define the sign character at the protruding sign portion. The protruding portion of the sign panel  10  has curved cross section by plastic injection. The cross section of the protruding portion of the sign panel  10  presents semi-circle (or other shape if any). A highlight coating with different colors can be coated on the protruding portion of the rear side of the sign panel  10  to create a neon illuminating effect when the light projects thereto or from the rear side of the sign panel  10 . 
   The light housing is a light source therein to electrically connect to a power source, the light source generate the light towards the rear side of said sign panel  10 . 
   To describe the prevent invention in a more specific manner, referring to  FIG. 1  to  FIG. 7  of the drawings, an illumination sign according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is illustrated, in which the illumination sign comprises a light-admissible sign panel  10 , a light blocking layer  3 , and a highlighting element  40 . 
   The light-admissible sign panel  10  has a background portion  1 , and a plurality of protruding portions  2  protruded from the sign panel  10  to form a corresponding number of character signs  70  at a front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10 , wherein the sign panel  10  has a predetermined light admissibility for allowing visible light to pass therethrough. 
   The light blocking layer  3 , which is made of light-inadmissible material, is overlappedly formed on the background portion  1  of the sign panel  10 , wherein when light is illuminating from a rear side  12  of the sign panel  10 , the light is allowed to pass through the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10 , but simultaneously blocked by the light blocking layer  3 . 
   The highlighting element  40  is provided at the rear side  12  of the sign panel  10  and arranged in such a manner that when the light passes through the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10 , the highlighting element  40  creates a neon illuminating effect at the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10 , such that the character signs  70  are illuminated at the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10  through the protruding portions  2  for simulating a three dimensional neon illumination effect of the sign panel  10 . The highlighting element  40  is preferably ultraviolet ray phosphor coating coated on the rear side  12  of the sign panel  10 . 
   According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the sign panel  10  is shaped and crafted to have a predetermined shape as a shape of the illumination sign which is to be displayed at a predetermined position. The sign panel  10  is made of light-admissible material so that when light passes through the sign panel  10 , the sign panel  10  will be illuminated from the front displaying side  11  thereof. 
   The protruding portions  2  are formed on the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10  for forming a plurality of character signs  70  thereon. Accordingly, the sign panel  10  further has a corresponding number of channels  13  indently formed at a rear side  12  of the sign panel  10  for forming the protruding portions  2  at the front displaying side  11 . It is worth mentioning that the shape of each of the channels  13  constitutes the contour of the corresponding character sign  70  so that the character signs  70  can be easily produced during the manufacturing process by pressing the channel  13  on the sign panel  10  or by making the sign panel  10  by conventional molding techniques. 
   The light blocking layer  3 , which is overlappedly mounted on the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10  at the background portion  1  thereof, has a plurality of through shaping slots  301  shaped corresponding to the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10 , wherein when the light blocking layer  3  is overlapped on the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10 , the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10  are projected through the shaping slots  301 , such that the light blocking layer  3  is only overlapped on the background portion  1  of the sign panel  10  for blocking the light from passing through the background portion  1  of the sign panel  10 . 
   It is worth mentioning that the light blocking layer  3  comprises a light inadmissible coating for blocking light from passing through the background portion  1  of the sign panel  10 . According to the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the light blocking layer  3  comprises a black-colored light inadmissible coating for blocking light passing therethrough, and contrasting with the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10  so as to optimally highlight the character signs  70  at the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10 . 
   Moreover, the light blocking layer  3  further has at least a through decorative slot  302  formed thereon and arranged when the light blocking layer  3  is overlappedly mounted on the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10  at the background portion  1  thereof, the sign panel  10  further forms a decorative portion  32  within the background portion  1  thereof through the decorative slot  302  such that not only the character signs  70  but also the decorative portion  32  are illuminated at the front displaying side  11  of the sign panel  10  for simulating the neon illumination effect of the sign panel  10 . The decorative portion  32  therefore forms a decorative pattern on the sign panel  10 . 
   In order to strengthen the illumination effect of the sign characters  70 , each of the protruding portions  2  of the sign panel  10  has a curved cross section integrally protruding from the flat background portion  1  of the sign panel  10  at the front displaying side  11  thereof to create the sign character  70  in a three dimension manner. 
   The operation of the present invention is as follows: the illumination sign is erected or supporting in front of a light source, such as a conventional light box  90 . When light passes through the illumination sign, only those portion of light which impinges on the protruding portion  2  of the sign panel  10  and the decorative portion  32  is allowed to penetrate the entire illumination sign so that the character signs  70  and the decorative patterns are lit up by the light source to produce a three-dimensional illumination at the illumination sign. It is particularly important to note that the present invention is capable of producing illumination of character signs  70  and decorative patterns having three-dimensional illumination performance without utilizing any harmful substances, such as argon gas or mercury. 
   Hence, it is important to mention that the present invention may well be incorporated with a light source, which may be embodied as a light box  90  comprising a plurality of LEDs  91  emitting illumination of a predetermined color, mounted at the rear side  12  of the sign panel  10  so as to produce the neon illumination effect at the character signs  70  and the decorative patterns of the illumination sign of the present invention. 
   In other words, the illuminating sign further comprises a backlight arrangement for providing illumination to the sign panel  10 , wherein the backlight arrangement comprises a light box  90  mounted at the rear side  12  of the sign panel  10  and a plurality of illuminators embodying as LEDs  91  which are spacedly supported within the light box  90  and are electrically connected to a circuit control  93  for generating the light towards the sign panel  10 . Each of the LEDs generates light with a wave length matching an ultraviolet wave length of the ultraviolet ray phosphor coating (i.e. highlighting element  40 ) on the sign panel  10 . 
   One common concern regarding conventional neon signs is the use of harmful substances such as mercury or argon. The present invention completely gets rid of this requirement in that the light source of the illumination sign can be LEDs  90 , which are diode with specific crystals. 
   Moreover, it is important to state that the sign panel  10  is arranged to be cut with laser so that it will have precise shape and smooth edges. 
   The practical purpose of the present invention is to provide an alternative to conventional neon signs in terms of performance. Yet the present invention is made of light materials and utilizes diodes as a light source. As a result, the illumination sign of the present invention enjoys low transportation cost and energy consumption as additional advantages. 
   One skilled in the art will understand that the embodiment of the present invention as shown in the drawings and described above is exemplary only and not intended to be limiting. 
   It will thus be seen that the objects of the present invention have been fully and effectively accomplished. It embodiments have been shown and described for the purposes of illustrating the functional and structural principles of the present invention and is subject to change without departure from such principles. Therefore, this invention includes all modifications encompassed within the spirit and scope of the following claims.