Improvements in Advertising Contrivances.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application. 31st July, 1896
Complete Specification Left, 30th Apr., 1897-Accepted, 5th June. 1897
Improvements in Advertising Contrivances.
I, NORMAN STANILAND, of 122 Devonshire Road, Holloway, in the County
of Middlesex, Electrical Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to contrivances which are more particularly intended for
advertising purposes and are so constructed that an effect similar to that commonly
known in the theatrical business as the "gauze effect" can be obtained in a novel
nianner.
According to my invention I employ a frame on one side of which is stretched a
sheet of linen or other gauze and on the other side a sheet of thin linen, or other
transparent or semi-transparent material. Both the gauze and the semi-transparent
material bear a design or advertisement painted or stained thereon or otherwise
applied thereto and this frame, with its gauze side outwards, is fitted into the mouth
of a box or casing in any suitable manner. Within the box or casing and behind
the frame I arrange a series of electric or other lamps and outside the box and in
front of the frame I arrange another series of electric or other lamps, these two
series of lamps being so arranged that they can be alternately ignited and
extinguished by an automatic switch or other appropriate device. When the
lamps behind the frame are ignited and those in front are extinguished, only the
device or advertisement on the semi-transparent material is visible to an observer
in front of the box, and when the lamps behind the frame are extinguished and
those in front ignited, only the device or advertisement on the ganze is visible.
By these means many surprising and amusing effects can be obtained.
It is preferable that the design or advertisement on the linen or other
transparent or semi-transparent material be painted on the side thereof furthest
from the gauze.
According to a modification of my invention I may employ a spherical or.
rectangular framework to receive the aforesaid gauze and semi-transparent
materials and this framework may be adapted to fit over an electric or other lamp
which is provided with means for causing it to be alternately ignited and
extinguished. An external lamp may also be arranged to be ignited and
extinguished, as the internal one is extinguished and ignited.
Or goods, pictures or other objects may be arranged within the aforesaid box or
casing and the sheet of painted gauze alone be employed.
Or only portions of a picture or design may be provided with a window or
inserted piece of the gauze and semi-transparent materials so as to obtain changes
or variations in effect in the said picture or design. In this case the front lamps
burn continuously, and a lamp is placed behind each window or inserted piece, this
last mentioned lamp being strong enough to overpower the front lamps and being
alternately ignited and extinguished.
For the purpose of operating the switch for alternately igniting and extinguishing
the lamps I may employ any convenient form of motor, but I prefer to use a
cylinder containing a light piston which is connected by a pivoted lever to a pawl
and ratchet or other device for imparting an intermittent motion to a small double
way switch controlling the two series of lanips. The said piston is forced outwardly

page_text: by the expansion of air within the cylinder by heat generated by an electrically
heated coil of wire with which the cylinder is provided. When the piston reaches
its outermost position the expanded air is liberated by a suitable valve or opening
and if desired the electrically heated wire may be simultaneously cut-out of circuit
whilst the piston performs its inward stroke unler the action of gravity or a
spring.
When lamps other than electric are employed I. may employ shutter arrange-
ments for alternately covering and uncovering them and these shutters may be
operated by a device similar to that already stated or by any other suitable
device.
Instead of employing stationary sheets of gauze and semi-transparent materials
I may employ lengths or strips of such materials wound upon rollers which may
be operated by suitable means for causing the said lengths or strips to travel from
one roller to another. A great variety of advertisements could thus be displayed
by one contrivance.
I may also use the gauze and transparent materials in the form of a cardboard
advertisement. This consists of a suitable piece of cardboard or other suitable
material with a proper shaped aperture in it, over which is stretchel on one sile
the gauze and on the other side the transparent material. The effect in this case
will be produced by holding the device before and then behind a light or
vice versa.
Or I may make the gauze and transparent materials in the form of animals,
fruit or other natural objects, and change them into other animals, fruit or
natural objects by alternately lighting and extinguishing a lamp place inside the
contrivance.
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HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
I, NORMAN STANILAND, late of 122 Devonshire Road, but now of 33 Hirtham
Road, Camden Road, in the County of Middlesex, 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:
This invention relates to improvements in advertising contrivances and is
designed to utilise in such contrivances an effect similar to that commonly known
in the theatrical business as the "gauze effect," whereby when the contrivance is
illuminated from behind, a different advertisement is displayed to that which is
exhibited when it is illuminated from the front.
According to one method of carrying out my invention I arrange a sheet or
screen of gauze like material in front of a sheet of thin linen or other transparent
or semi-transparent material. Each sheet bears an advertisement or design painted
or stained thereon or otherwise applied thereto. In connection with the sheets
1 arrange electric lamps controlled by an automatic switch or other appropriate
device in such a manner as to enable the sheets to be illuminated alternately from
the front and rear, and a further feature of the invention consists in a switch
device which operates automatically at intervals by the expansion of a body of air
in a cylinder containing a heating coil.
In some cases goods, pictures, or other objects, may be arranged within a suitable

page_text: box or casing behind a sheet of gauze-like material, the transparent or semi-
transparent material being then dispensed with.
Various other modifications of the invention may however be employed if
desired, such for example as making the advertisements or designs in the form of
animals fruit or other natural objects, and changing their appearance by illuminating
them in different ways.
And in order that the invention may be clearly understood and readily carried
into effect I will proceed to describe the same fully by aid of the accompanying
drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a front elevation, and
Figure 2 a transverse vertical section of one form of advertising contrivance
for producing the ganze effect.
Figures 3 and 4 are detail views of a switch device for alternately lighting the
lamps in front and behind the advertisements.
Figures 5 and 6 are respectively a front view and a transverse vertical section
another form of advertising contrivance.
Figure 7. illustrates in vertical section another of my improved advertising
contrivances, and
Figure 8 iliustrates a detail thereof hereinafter referred to.
Figure 9 is a side view partly in section of an advertisement in the form of a
snake, illustrating a mode of applying the invention to advertisements representing
natural objects.
Referring more particularly to the arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 2, a is
the sheet of gauze-like material which may be of the kind used in the theatrical
business for obtaining the gauze effect or may if desired consist of woven wire.
b is the sheet or screen of linen or other transparent or semi-transparent material
arranged behind the sheet a. The advertisements are applied to these sheets by
painting or otherwise, the advertisements on the sheet a being on the front thereof
while those on the sheet bare at the back thereof, so that the latter are less likely
to be seen through sheet a. The two sheets are carried respectively by frames a
and secured by clips c to the inner side of the front of a box or casing d, this
casing having an opening d through which the advertisements can be seen and
which may be glazed if desired. The body of the casing may advantageously be
made of enamelled iron, its interior surface being white to form a reflector.
ee and are the electric lamps, the lamps e being arranged inside the box or
casing behind the sheets a and b, and having their conductors situated in a tube el
carried by brackets e, while the lamps are arranged in front of the said box or
casing near the upper part of the opening d' and have their conductors situated
in a tube carried by brackets f2.. The lamps fare combined with a reflector g
which serves to throw the light on to the advertisements.
It will be readily understood that when the lamps e, are lighted only the
advertisements on the sheet 6 will be visible from the front of the apparatus,
whereas when the lamps f are lighted only the advertisements on the sheet a can
be seen.
The automatic switch device for lighting the lamps e and f alternately, is
actuated as stated by the expansion of the air inside a cylinder in which is a
heating coil i situated in the circuit of one of the lamps or series of lamps. When
the current flows through the coil i the resulting heat of the coil expands the air
in the cylinder and raises the piston k. In some instances however this coil may
be in a shunt circuit with a suitable resistance, or instead of being arranged inside
the cylinder it may be arranged to heat the cylinder from the outside thereof.
At the lower end of the cylinder are formed holes which are normally closed by
a ring 2 adapted to slide on the cylinder but fitting the same sufficiently closely
to prevent escape of air through the holes. The piston bas its rod k connected
by arms with a ring 3 and from the ring extend upwardly two or more
arins whose upper ends are bent inward and project over the ring 3. Owing to
this construction, when the piston rises the ring
is raised by the engagement of

page_text: the parts and h³, and the holes are uncovered, thereby allowing the heated
air to escape and permitting the piston k to descend by its own weight or it may be
by a spring provided to assist the downward movement.
Obviously, however, the cylinder might be a closed one and the piston be
operated solely by the alternate expansion and contraction of the air in the said
cylinder.
In connection with the cylinler, I arrange a tube (Figure 4) having
downwardly bent extremities into which project terminals connected by flexible
conductors with the circuit of the lamps. A body of mercury 13 is placed in the
tube, and as the latter is rocked or tilted, this mercury flows to the lower end
thereof and forms a path between the contacts at that end. The tube / is carried
by a lever m pivoted at m and having a pair of diverging arms m² which are
engaged by a lateral projection on the end of the piston rod k', the arrangement
being such that when the piston is at the top of its stroke, the lever m is thrown
over to the left as seen in Figure 4 whereas when the piston is at the bottom of
its stroke the lever is thrown over to the right, the movements being limited by
stops m³. At the top of the lever m is arranged a weight m to ensure the same
changing quickly from one to the other of its extreme positions. The tube lis
thus, as the piston rises and falls, tilted alternately in opposite directions, and the
contacts at the extremities thereof are made and broken in succession as long as
the current is turned on, thus lighting the lamps alternately, and also allo sing the
coil to be successively heated and cooled.
Obviously instead of the arms m² other suitable means may be provided for
enabling the piston k to operate the lever m, and instead of the switch describe l
any other suitable form of switch may be adopted.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 5 and 6 the apparatus comprises a box or
casing d as in Figures 1 and 2, but instead of the whole advertisement being
formed by means of the gauze effect, only parts thereof are so formed the other
parts being merely painted or otherwise applied to the front of the box or casing.
The said front in this case has two or more apertures d' to accommodate those
parts of the advertisement which are to be produced by the gauze effect. In this
arrangement one or more lamps e are situated inside the box or casing d and these
may be if desired shaped to correspond to the shape of apertures. The outside
or front of the casing is illuminated by another set of lamps (not shown) which
are kept constantly lighted but which are not so powerful as those inside the box
or casing.
Consequently when these latter are lighted they overpower the external
illumination and the words or designs on the parts situated in or behind the
apertures d' are made visible.
This form of apparatus is very suitable for advertisements of the kind in which
changing pictures are displayed together with words indicating the difference before
and after using the article advertised.
In the modified arrangement shown in Figures 7 and 8 a ball or balloon is employed
which is composed of an outer sheet or layer a of gauze and an inner sheet or
layer of transparent or semi transparent material, the advertisements or designs
being applied to these sheets in a manner similar to that by which the advertise-
ments are applied to the sheets a and b before mentioned. Inside the ball or balloon
is arranged a lamp e which is alternately lighted and extinguished, and a lamp or
series of lamps also alternately lighted and extinguished may be likewise arranged
to illuminate the exterior of the ball or balloon.
To the holder of the lamp e is secured centrally a cap p of thin metal, cardboard
or other suitable material, to which the material of the ball is secured, the cap
being formed in two parts to enable it to be readily connected to the holder. The
sheets or layers a and b may be stiffened or supported by any suitable means or the
inner sheet or layer thereof may be composed of celluloid or glass.
Such an arrangement serves as an advertisement both by day and by night.
When the advertising contrivance is in the form of a natural object as in

page_text: Figure 9, the layers or sheets of gauze and transparent or semi-transparent
material may be arranged in the same manner as those of the ball or balloon shown
in Figures 7 and 8, and may be strengthened or stiffened by ribs n or otherwise,
and the contrivance may be illuminated by lamps e in the interior thereof.
Such a contrivance may be made in any desired form, that of a snake being
shown merely by way of illustration, and the advertisements may be applied only
to the inner sheet or layer of transparent material so that they can be caused to.
appear and disappear alternately by successively illuminating and extinguishing the
lamps.
In some cases the contrivance may be a combination representing two different.
objects, the parts representing one object being illuminated by a different lamp or
set of lamps to those representing the other object, so that by lighting one or other
set of lamps a different object is displayed.
Obviously instead of employing electric lamps to illuminate my improved
advertising contrivances gas or other lamps might in some cases be found.
preferably, these being controlled by any suitable device.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-.
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. An advertising contrivance wherein the "gauze effect" is employed,.
substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
2. The combination with an advertising contrivance, of an electric switch.
automatically operated by the expansion of a body of air, substantially as and for
the purpose set forth.
3. My improvements in advertising contrivances substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 20th day of Anvil 1907
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45 Southampton Buildings, W.C., Agents for the Applicant..