Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Electrically Illuminating and Displaying Letters, Numerals, Devices, and the like, for Advertising and Decorative Purposes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 19th Nov, 1897-Accepted, 12th Feb., 1898
Improvements in or connected with Apparatus for Electrically
Illuminating and Displaying Letters, Numerals, Devices, and
the like, for Advertising and Decorative Purposes.
1, TIMPRON PERREY MARTIN, of 16, Redcross Street, Liverpool, in the County of
Lancaster, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and
in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
The invention, the subject of this application, relates to apparatus for advertising
(including shop, and like signs, or sign boards) by which a series or sequence of
words, sentences, diagrams, or the like, can be exhibited automatically, by means of
incandescent electric lamps.
According to the invention, there is employed a number of moving, namely, rotary,
parts, as cylinders, having, on their peripheries, rows of projections, parallel with
their axes, and, preferably, of the form hereafter described; while, in connection with
each of the cylinders, there are a series of bars, or the like, adapted to operate in
connection with the cylinder, or be operated by it, and which bars are electrically
connected, or caused to be electrically connected, with a number of lamps, and
so arranged and adapted, that when current is passed through them, lamps
connected with, or adapted to be operated and controlled by, each bar, will be
put in and out of illumination, by the action of the mechanism; each bar, or the
like, representing, and when in action, producing, by the contacts made, a letter
or sign, by putting a certain set of lamps in illumination.
Apparatus, according to this invention, constructed in accordance with the
characteristics above mentioned, is illustrated in the drawings annexed hereto, and
the invention will be further explained by their aid.
In these drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan of the apparatus ;
Figure 2 is an elevation; and
Figure 3 a plan, shewing a part of same in detail to a larger scale; and
Figure 4 shews a piece of a signboard, or advertising box, shewing a suitable
arrangement of lamps.
In the drawing, referring more particularly to Figures 1 to 4, a are the rotary
cylinders, e are the contact or letter bars; and the electric conductors or wires
leading to the lamps shewn in Figure 4.
In Figure 1, three sets of cylinders and letter bars are shewn; hence, as each set
of bars, with its cylinder, would be used in connection with each block of lamps on
the lamp board or box, the device or apparatus shewn would produce a series of
illuminated words of not more than 3 letters each, or three signs; consequently, by
the mere multiplication of the cylinders and letter bars, the number of letters, and
so the number of words and sentences, could be correspondingly increased and
produced.
The cylinder a is fixed upon and revolved by the shaft b, as hereafter described,
and all the cylinders are revolved together. In the periphery of the cylinder, there
are a large number of rows of holes c (or slots could be used if desired), in which.

page_text: studs or projections d, are screwed, or secured in any suitable way, so as to enable
them to be easily taken out and moved from hole to hole. In the periphery of each
cylinder, there are as many horizontal rows of holes as there are sentences or words
desired to be shewn for one revolution. Each horizontal row is composed of as many
holes as there are letters, figures, or signs to be shewn on the boards, such as any
letter of the alphabet (26 letters), figures (9), and special signs, such as "&," and
stops, etcetera. And each of these rows of holes, in order, and the studs which are
fixed in them, serve to produce the various letters of the alphabet (or succession of
signs), as hereafter described; and, according to the letters of which the various words
to be produced are comprised, so one or other of the various holes of a row will be filled
with a stud.
The bars e, as illustrated in Figures 2 and 3, are arranged a certain distance
apart, which distance corresponds with the holes in the cylinders a; and the holes
will be arranged in rings circumferentially of the cylinder &, and are in the same
plane as the bars e. The bars e are held laterally by bars f, which are slotted at
equal intervals to receive them; and they are free to move vertically in these slots;
and they are supported or suspended vertically in the bars f by the springs g upon
the ends of e, which rest on the upper edges of the bars ft. The bars e are normally
held off the wire conductors i by the springs, in the position shewn. The bars e-
each of which will produce, on the lamp board, a certain letter, by coming in contact
with the wires are provided, on their lower edges, with projecting portions e¹,
which are the only portions of the bars which come in contact with the conductors. In
connection with the letter bars e, and above them, there are curved bars h, hinged at h¹,
to the bar h2, and bent over and slotted at their other end, at which part they fit over
the bars e. The projections d of the cylinder a, act in connection with these hinged
curved bars, as hereafter described. The conductors are supported upon an
insulating frame j, and they extend between, and are supported on, non-conducting
bars, at either side of the frame j; and they are each provided with a spring i¹, to keep
them in tension.
Each of the conductors is connected with one lamp in a block of lamps in the
board; that is to say, each block contains a number of lamps, and the number of
wires will therefore correspond with this number; and, in every block, the lamp
connected with any wire will be in the same position; and thus, to put that lamp in
any block, in illumination, the bars e, which are required to put that lamp in
illumination, to produce the letters which they are intended to do, must be provided
with a projection el over that wire. Thus, as represented in the drawing, the bar e in
Figure 2, is shewn provided with a number of projections e¹, which are disposed on
them above a certain number of conductors i, which are connected with a certain
number of lamps constituting a letter. When these projections come in contact with
the wires, or when the bar is depressed, this letter will be produced in the block of
lamps connected with the board.
The operation of this apparatus is as follows:-
The frames j, carrying the wires, being moveable, and supported by the hinge
joint j², is raised at the other end through the bell cranks k, worked by the connecting
rod 1, as hereafter described; and one of the studs d of the rows in the cylinders u,
having been moved above the end h³ of the bars h, and a letter bar e, the stud d
(whatever it may be in any particular row), which is above, will prevent such letter
bar from rising further upwards, and as these bars are connected to the frames j, by
the springs g, they, together with their conductors i, will be moved up to the bar e,
by the further raising of the frame, by the further movement of the bell crank levers k,
and, when brought into contact with the projecting parts e¹, will close the electric
circuit with these conductors, and will cause certain lamps to glow in each of the lamp
blocks, and produce an outline of illuminated lamps which will represent or form an
illuminated letter, or the like. As soon as these have been kept in illumination for a
certain time, the cylinders a and levers k, are operated by the operating gear; and the
wires will be lowered from the bars e, and the stud d moved from the bars h; and a
fresh stud brought over the bars h; when the operations described are repeated, and

page_text: fresh letters or signs on the lamp board, produced by the illumination of a different
set of lamps.
Regarding the operating mechanism, and the whole arrangement of parts, this is
shewn in Figure 1. It comprises a shaft m, driven by a suitable motor, carrying upon
it a cam n, and a crank o; an electric contact lever p being arranged in connection
with, and adapted to be operated by, the cam n and a lever q being arranged in con-
nection with, and adapted to be operated by, the crank o. The fulcrum of the lever pis
in the middle; and it carries on its outer end a pendant bridge bar p¹, which alternately
dips into mercury in cups p², and lifts out of them, the dipping and lifting out action
being effected by the action of the cam upon the lever. One cup is connected with
the electricity supply, and the other with the actuating electro-magnets r, for
operating the frames f, and the bars e.
The electro-magnets r, operate the bell crank levers k, of the frames f, through
the connecting rod l, and an armature r¹, to which said rod is connected, and which
is operated by the magnets; the return action of the armature being effected by a
spring 8.
The action of the apparatus is, that, by the revolution of the shaft m, the cam
actuated lever p is operated, and closes the circuit connected with the magnets r, and
energises them; and they then pull the armatures r¹, to, and so, through the
mechanisms described, raise all the frames f simultaneously, and the lamp wires i up
towards the letter bars e, and make contact with some of these bars, whichever they
may, for the time being, be. Then the current flows-it being connected by a
conductor through the bars, or such of the bars, as have been put in contact with
the wires; and the lamps required to be illuminated are rendered incandescent, and
will therefore shew and produce the letters or signs desired, on the respective lamp
blocks. When these have been in illumination for some time, the electricity supply
is cut off, by the cam n, which releases the lever p, and so its contact parts p' are
drawn out of the mercury; which opens the magnet circuit, and allows the frames f,
carrying the wires i, to drop, and thus breaks the lamp circuit. Then, the final
operation of the cycle is that the crank o, operating in connection with the lever q,
rotates the cylinder a a distance equal to the pitch of the rows of studs apart, circum-
ferentially, through the pawl q on the lever q; ratchet wheel 8, engaged and
operated by such pawl; pinion t, connected with and rotated by the ratchet wheel;
and the large spur wheel a² on the cylinders a, with which the pinion t meshes.
After this, the cycle of operations is repeated.
A part of a sign or advertisement board is shewn in Figure 4, which shews the
lamps arranged in blocks. The lamp of each of these blocks is connected up with
the wires i of a cylinder a, and its letter bars e; and they are controlled thereby ;
and, accordingly as which of the letter bars of a cylinder is actuated, so will be the
set of lamps which produce the different letters by illumination, be put in
circuit.
As a modification of the lamp contact making parts, the making of the contacts through
the successive projections of the cylinders a may be effected through levers or bars,
operated in connection with the letter or contact bars; and so arranged, that only
such of the letter bars which have a cylinder stud or projection opposite to them,
would be operated, those having no stud or projection opposite them, not being
affected or operated. For this purpose, a series of vertical levers may be used in
connection with, and working between another guide plate; their upper ends being
adapted to operate in connection with the cylinder studs, and their lower parts, with
the letter or contact bars; and these upright levers may be conveniently operated in
the direction of the plane of the bars, say by the magnets, above specified, through
suitable connections.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. In effecting the exhibition of words, signs, or the like, by electrically putting

page_text: incandescent lamps in and out of illumination, the improvement herein described,
consisting in causing a succession or sequence of different contacts or circuits to be
made, by means of a moving apparatus, which controls the successive sets of contacts
or circuits; the parts with which the contacts are made being connected up with
blocks or sets of lamps, different combinations of which are successively put in and out
of illumination; for the purposes set forth.
2. In apparatus of the kind herein referred to, a plurality of rotating cylinders a,
each having connected with it, a series of sets of contact making parts, adapted to
produce different circuits, in combination with a plurality of blocks or sets of lamps,
each block or set being controlled and operated by each of said cylinders and parts
connected with them, and adapted to put in and out of illumination different com-
binations of lamps, for the production of a sequence of letters or signs, in or from each
block or set of lamps; for the purposes described.
3. In apparatus for displaying advertisements, signs, and the like by putting
electric incandescent lamps in and out of illumination, a rotative cylinder, having
changeable studs, projections, or equivalent devices thereon, and a set or series of bars
in connection therewith, for producing the exhibition of different letters or signs by
lluminating different lamps in a set or block of lamps, and adapted to operate
different bars of said series or set of bars, and produce different effects or letters in
succession, as the said rotative cylinder revolves; for the purposes described.
4. In apparatus for displaying advertisements, and the like, by putting electric
lamps in and out of illumination, the combination of a rotative cylinder a, with the
series of changeable and adjustable studs d thereon, and moveable letter bars e,
arranged side by side, and adapted to be operated by, or in connection with the said
studs of the barrel; substantially as herein set forth.
5. Apparatus of the kind herein referred to, comprising the combination of the
barrel a, with changeable or adjustable studs, or projections thereon, letter bars, and
lamp circuit wires or bars; substantially as set forth with reference to and shewn in
Figures 2 and 3 of the drawings.
6. The arrangement of the letter bars, and circuit wires, transversely to each
other; operating substantially as described.
7. The employment, in connection with apparatus for the purposes herein specified,
of moveable or adjustable studs, or the like, in connection with rows of holes or slots,
extending longitudinally along the periphery of a rotary cylinder; substantially as
and for the purposes set forth.
8. In apparatus of the kind herein referred to, the construction and arrangement
of parts; as set forth with reference to and shewn in Figures 1 and 2 of the
drawings.
9. The cylinders, and letter or contact frames, and operating mechanism,
combined and adapted to operate as set forth with reference to and shewn in the
drawings.
Dated this 17th der of Novamban 1907
CHEESBROUGH & ROYSTON,
Applicant's Patent Agents, 15, Water Street, Liverpool.