Year: 1898

page_text: I, HENRY GREENWELL IRWINE, of 144, Upper Canning Street, in the City of
Liverpool, Inventor, do hereby declare the nature of this invention be as follows:-
This invention relates to advertising signs and similar devices.
The surface upon which a word, announcement, or device is depicted is corru-
gated, that is to say it consists of a series of depressions and ridges. In most
cases the words or devices will be printed or lithographed on a flat sheet of
material which is subsequently corrugated.
The letters or device of the sign may be depicted upon both inclined sides of the
corrugations, or upon one side only, or some letters of the sign or some parts
of a device may appear upon both inclined sides and the other letters or parts
upon one of such sides only. Where a letter or portion of a device appears on
both sides of a corrugation such letter or portion may be differently coloured on
opposite sides of the corrugation.
A variety of effects can be produced by different combinations and arrange-
ments of letters or devices depicted as above described, for example:-
(a). Where those portions of letters or devices appearing on the left-hand
slopes of the corrugations are coloured red, and those appearing on the right-
hand slopes blue, a person passing the sign from left to right will read it in red,
in red and blue, and all blue consecutively, according to the angle of his line of
sight with the sign.
b. Where alternate letters of a sign have their left-hand slopes coloured red
and their right hand slopes blue, and the intermediate letters have their right
hand slopes red and their left hand slopes blue, a person passing the sign will
see, primarily, alternate red and blue letters, which change colour as he passes,
namely the red and blue slopes of the corrugations will shew-simultaneously-
producing a variegated appearance and finally the alternate letters which pri-
marily were red are now blue and the intermediate letters which were blue are
now red.
(c). Where those portions of letters or devices appearing on the left hand slopes
are black, and those appearing on the right hand slopes are of various colours,
black letters change to coloured ones as the line of sight is changed.
(). Where the left hand (or right hand) slopes are left blank and the right
hand (or left hand) slopes are coloured, an apparently blank surface discloses a
sign, or a sign fades away, as the line of sight changes.
(e). Where only alternate letters are depicted on both slopes of the corrugations
and the intermediate letters on one slope only, an incomplete word is completed
as the line of sight changes.
Combinations of two or more of the arrangements above described may be
employed. Thus where a sign consists of two words, the first word may be depicted
on both slopes and the second word on single slopes only, so that the second word
does not appear until the sight line is changed. Or the first word may appear

page_text: on the left hand slopes only, and the second word on the right hand slopes only,
so that as the sight line is changed one word will fade and the other appear.
The above arrangements are only mentioned as examples of some of the adapta-
tions of this invention.
Signs according to this invention may be arranged upon vertical, inclined, or
horizontal surfaces. Upon vertical surfaces the line of the corrugations will
usually be vertical also, whilst upon horizontal surfaces the corrugations may be
arranged to produce their effect either upon a person approaching the sign from
the front or upon a person passing it by.
It will be understood that the effect produced by signs above described may be
due either to the movement of the spectator or to the movement of the sign. Thus
a vertical sign horizontally corrugated may have an up and down motion, or a
vertical sign vertically corrugated may have a to and fro horizontal movement.
In another method of construction the sign is arranged upon a cylinder which
may rotate upon a vertical or horizontal axis. Upon a vertical axis the cylinder
will be vertically corrugated, and upon a horizontal axis it will be horizontally
corrugated. In some cases a rotating cylinder will be grooved or corrugated
vertically and horizontally, thus converting its surface into a number of four
faced pyramids. In the latter case those portions of letters or devices appearing
on, different faces will be differently coloured, so that the colours will change to
a person approaching it from the front or to a person passing it by.
An alphabet of separate letters may be made. These can be fitted together to
form any word, and overlap at their edges similarly to corrugated roofing sheets.
The letters can be nailed upon a hoarding or be fitted in a frame. For transport
the letters will nest into one another and so save space.
+
It will be understood that any suitable material may form the corrugated sur-
face, although sheet metal and paper will be most largely used.
JA. COUBROUGH,
Registered Patent Agent (Qual. by Exam.),
10, St. Georges Crescent, Liverpool,
Agent for the Applicant.
I, HENRY GREENWELL IRWINE, of 144, Upper Canning Street, in the City of
Liverpool, Inventor, 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 advertising signs, name-plates, sign-boards, and similar
devices, and the characteristic feature of the invention consists in imparting
different hues to different facets of a corrugated surface, and in imparting to those
portions of letters or devices, which occupy certain facets, a different hue or hues
to the hue or hues imparted to those portions of letters or devices which occupy
other facets. That is to say I employ for the purpose of my invention a corru-
gated surface and I so arrange the hues of such surface and of the letters or
devices depicted thereon that certain, novel and interesting effects, which will
be hereinafter described, are produced.
My invention does not refer to. the formation of such surface, but it may be
here stated that such surface may be corrugated subsequently to depicting an
announcement thereon, that is to say, sheet material may have an announcement

page_text: and the facets of the corrugations depicted in different hues, and be corrugated
subsequently to such depiction..
My improved method of colouring a corrugated surface consists in imparting
to alternate or different facets a different hue or hues, the object of such arrange-
ment being that the surface shall present a different hue or hues according to the
angle at which the spectator views such surface. For instance if those parallel
facets which face the right are coloured red and those which face the left are
coloured blue, a spectator who passes from left to right will have presented to
him a blue surface, then a blue-and-red surface, and finally, a surface entirely red.
My improved method of depicting a letter or device on a corrugated surface
consists of imparting to those portions of such letter which occupy certain facets
a different hue to that imparted to the portions which occupy other facets. For
instance if those portions of a letter which face the left are coloured red and
.those which face the right are coloured blue the passing spectator above men-
tioned will have presented to him, consecutively, a representation of the letter in
red, then red-and-blue, and finally in blue.
It will be evident that in the employment of the methods of colouring a corru-
gated surface and of colouring an announcement upon a corrugated surface above
described, a variety of combinations or systems embodying such methods may be
used for producing different effects, and I will now proceed to. describe those
which I consider to be the most important of such combinations or systems.
(a) Where an announcement is so depicted upon the corrugated surface whose
parallel facets are coloured red and blue respectively, that the portions of such
announcement which occupy red facets are coloured blue, and the portions which
occupy blue facets are coloured red, a blue announcement upon a red ground will
become a red announcement upon a blue ground, as the spectator's line of sight
changes.
(b) Where alternate letters have their left hand facets coloured red and their
right hand facets blue, and the intermediate letters have their right hand facets
red and their left hand facets blue, a passing spectator will see, primarily, succes-
sive red and blue letters, which change colour as he passes, namely, the red and
blue facets of the corrugations will shew simultaneously-producing a variegated
appearance and finally the alternate letters which primarily were red are now
blue and the intermediate letters which were blue are now red.
(c) Where those portions of letters or devices appearing upon alternate facets
are black and those portions upon intermediate facets are coloured, black letters
change to coloured ones as the spectator passes.
The methods of depicting announcements described in paragraphs (b) and (c)
may be employed upon mono-dual, or multi-coloured corrugated surfaces.
(d) The announcement may be similarly coloured on both facets, and in this
case the surface surrounding the announcement will change colour as the specta-
tor passes, owing to its facets being dual- or multi-coloured.
(e) Where the corrugated surface is arranged to change colour as the spectator
moves past it, parallel alternate facets may be devoid of any announcements,
whilst the intermediate facets will bear announcements, whereby an apparently
blank surface discloses an announcement (or the latter fades away) as the specta-
tor passes.
(f) A modification of the system described in (e) will be made when alternate
letters are depicted on both facets, and intermediate letters on one facet only,
whereby an incomplete word is completed as the spectator passes.
(g) Another modification will be where alternate complete words are treated
as described with reference to letters in paragraphs (e) and (f).
Instead of an announcement being coloured or depicted directly upon a dual- or
multi-coloured corrugated surface, it may be depicted upon a glazed front having
a plane surface, that is to say my improved arrangement of corrugated surface
may form a background for any suitable transparent sign or name-plate.
Or

page_text: letters or devices of skeleton formation may be attached to the ridges of a dual-or
multi-coloured corrugated background.
Multi-coloured corrugated surfaces will be produced by treating groups of three
or more facets with different hues, that is to say three successive facets may be
coloured red, blue and yellow, and be succeeded by three successive facets coloured
red, blue and yellow. Or instead of the succession being regular, it may be
irregular. The same principle of multi-colouring may be applied to the announce-
ment as well as to the surface upon which it is depicted. Again, the surface
upon which one of two words are depicted may be arranged to change from red
to blue, whilst the surface upon which the second word is depicted may simul-
taneously change from blue to red. Another variety of multi-coloured surface
or announcement will be where (say) a red and yellow surface or announcement
changes to say a blue and gold surface or announcement.
It will be understood that the effect produced by corrugated letters depicted
as above specified may be due either to the movement of the spectator or to the
movement of the sign, name-plate, or other announcement. The corrugations
may run horizontally instead of vertically where the spectator passes in a vertical
lině, as in a public elevator-well, or where the announcement is given a up-and-
down movement.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The hercin described methods of preparing a corrugated surface for the recep-
tion and exhibition of announcements, the characteristic feature of which is the
imparting to alternate or different facets of such corrugations a different hue or
hues, whereby the hue or hues of such surface change as the spectator's line of
sight changes, substantially as described.
2. The herein described methods of depicting announcements upon a corru-
gated surface, the characteristic feature of which is the imparting of a different
hue or hues to those parts of the announcement which occupy alternate or different
facets of such corrugations, whereby the hue or hues of an announcement change.
Dated this 8th day of February 1869.
J. A. COUBROUGH,
Chartered Patent Agent,
10, St. Georges Crescent, Liverpool,
Agent for the Applicant.