Improvements in Means for Advertising.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 17th Feb., 1897-Accepted, 20th Mar., 1897
Improvements in Means for Advertising.
1, LOUIS WELTER, of the Firm of Kölner Electricitäts-Gesellschaft of Schilder-
gasse 47, 49, Cologne in the Empire of Germany, 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:―
In the annexed drawing are shown various means for effective advertising by means
of illuminating devices.
In these illuminations, in which the inscription appears either alternately in various
colours, the letters or the single parts of the advertisement appearing either
successively or all at once, in order to he visible again in another colour or the
inscription is shown as flaming writing or the lamps are lighted successively, so that
the inscription appears as if it were being written, a mercury tilting-lever serves for
the automatic insertion of the different circuits.
In the annexed drawing this mercury-tilting-lever is shown in Fig. 1.
A clock-work with 2 contacts closes every minute alternately the one or the other
contact for 4 to 5 seconds. The time-intervals can of course also be fixed otherwise.
In connection with these contacts is a galvanic battery and the electro-magnets a and b
arranged under the mercury-tilting-lever-circuit-closer c, e', which is pivoted to turn
in the bearing e.
When the circuit closes in the electro-magnet a, the armature,
which lies over this electro-magnet and which is fixed on the arm c of the tilting
lever e, c, draws this arm downwards, the lever c, c¹ tilts on its axis and the contact
arranged at the end of the arm e dips into a cup d filled with mercury.
In order to
prevent accidental back-tilting of the lever c, c', the latter is hollow and filled for
about of its capacity with mercury, which in the oblique position of the lever rolls
to the lowest point. After an other minute the circuit closes in the electro-
magnet b, whereby the other arın c' of the tilting lever c, c¹ is drawn down, the lever
is therefore tilted to the opposite side and the mercury rolls thus to this end and the
contact arranged at the end of this arm c' dips into the mercury-cup d'. The circuit
is thus closed at d' whilst that at d is opened.
The leads to the two lamp-groups lie on the mercury-cup d, d'.
When for instance the letters have to appear in the word "Automat " separately
one after the other until the whole word or the complete inscription is forined, or
when the same has to appear wholly at once, in order to disappear also completely
together and to reappear in another colour, the arrangement shown in Figs. 2 and 3
is used. The letters are transparent and behind each of the same are several
incandescent-lamps, which are connected together in couples, so that those lamps are
lighted simultaneously which belong together and possess the same colours. If the
inscription appears once in red, it appears the next time in green and so on.
Instead of two changing colours one can of course also provide more colours.
In the advertisement shown in Fig. 4 having the form of a wreath, but which may
have any other form, on both sides are provided incandescent-lamps of different
colours, which with regard to colour follow alternately and which can be inserted in
such a manner, that when on the one side the red lamps are burning, the green lamps
are burning on the other side and inversely. Instead of red and green other colours
can be used.