Improvements in and relating to Advertising Devices.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 3rd Sept., 1896-Accepted, 5th Dec., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in and relating to Advertising Devices.
We, ELMER FLETCHER, Treasurer, of No. 359 Greene Avenue, and RICHARD
BAKER EASTMAN, Architect, of No. 404 Clermont Avenue, in the City of
Brooklyn, in the County of Kings, and State of New York, in the United States
of America, hoth citizens of the United States, 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 :-
Our invention relates to that class of display apparatus in which a series of
panels are successively exhibited, with sound producing means for attracting
attention to the panels and our invention consists of certain improvements
fully set forth hereinafter and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in
hich

page_text: panels, and also in some instances to accompany or substitute for the oral
announcement an instrumental performance of some character which will serve to
further attract attention to the matter upon the panel.
Different means may be employed for shifting the panels in succession, as
above described. We will now describe one means which we have found to be
effective.
All of the panels normally rest upon the disk 2, and from the sections 3 of the
frame A extend two lugs 8, 9, (Fig. 2) the former in such pusition as to prevent
the panel in the position a (Fig. 1) from swinging forward, while the lug 9 is in a
position to prevent the panel in the central position al from swinging forward.
The panel in the position el is also prevented from swinging back by means of a
catch C consisting of a lever pivoted at y, having a weighted arin 12 and an
upright finger 10 with a beveled edge, over which the panel will pass, depressing
the catch until the panel strikes the lug 9, when the catch will rise and lock the
panel in place.
A similar catch C¹ yields as the panel passes to the position a³, and then rises so
as to prevent the panel from swinging back.
As each panel is carried to the position a, and as the panel in the position a is
simultaneously carried to the position it is necessary to turn the whole series of
panels at the back of the case. at
An effective meaus of doing this is to provide the
lower edge of each panel opposite the edge of the disk 2 with a shoe F, extending
equally beyond the opposite sides of the panel and contacting with the similar
shoe of the adjacent panel as the panel is carried to the position a, thereby
pushing round the entire series of panels at the back of the case. It will be
apparent that the extent to which the shoe projects beyond the sides of the panel
will depend upon the number of panels that are in the apparatus, it being necessary
that all of the shoes shall be in contact to the extent of the half circle occupied by
the panels at the rear of the case, so that as a panel is brought to the position a
the whole series will be turned to bring another into the position a; if therefore,
there are but two panels, the shoes will project to a greater extent than when the
panels are more numerous.
In order to carry the panels in succession first from the position to the
position a, and then after an interval from the position al, to the position a', I
make use of a carrier of such a character as to lift each of the panels in the
position a, a, high enough to escape the lugs 8, 9, and then swing them each in a
quarter circle. The carrier may be constructed in different ways. As shown, a
hub Fig. 5 vibrating on the shaft 1, is provided with two arms 13, 14, extending
radially outward, and with a third arm 20 connected by a rod 21 with a crank
pin 22 upon a revolving disk 23, the rotation of which imparts a reciprocating
vibratory movement to the hub and its arms.
At the outer end of each arm 13, 14, is pivoted a weighted pawl G having a
stud 24 which bears upon a curved rail 25, whereby the pawl is held in an inclined
position until the pointed end 26 of the pawl is brought beneath a conical recess to
in the shoe F. As this occurs, the stud 24 escapes from the end of the rail 25 and
the pawl assumes an upright position entering the recess to, and lifting the panel
above the stud 8 or 9, the pawl making contact with a stud 27 on the arm so that
it cannot turn further as the panel is carried with the arm to its new position. The
hul D then reverses its movement when the pawls G will swing into position to
bring their studs 24 above the rails 25, and the arms will be carried back into
position to engage other panels and feed them forward in like manner. In order
to properly adjust the parts, the hub D consists of a section 17 with which the
arni 20 is connected, which section is adjustable on the shaft 1 and may be secured
after adjustment by a set screw 30, while each of the arms 14, 13, extends trom
a ring 15 secured in position upon a neck 60 of the section 17 by means of a set
screw 16.
Any suitable means may be employed for rotating the driving disk 23.
shown, the disk has a toothed periphery engaging a worm on a shaft 32 driven

page_text: by a belt 31 from a motor M which may be constantly or intermittently in
motion.
The oral or musical accompaniments to the exhibition of the panels may be
effected through the medium of "well known devices, for instance, a phonograph, or
other talking machine or a "Regina" or other music box. We prefer to make
use of a phonograph for either or both purposes, the cylinder upon the phonograph
being provided with the proper oral announcements each followed by a piece of
instrumental or vocal music, and we provide the case with means whereby such
announcements and music may be transmitted so as to be readily heard from the
outside of the case.
די
It is of course necessary in the case of a phonograph to carry back the diaphragm
to a starting position after the diaphragm has traversel the length of the cylinder,
and we therefore provide the" phonograph with the proper reversing and restoring
means. One means which we have found to be effective and which may be used
for various purposes is illustrated in the drawings.
There is arranged' opposite the frame K of the phonograph a screw J, the
threads of which are run in the reverse direction to and with a steeper pitch than
those of the feed screw of the phonograph. The lifting arm L of the phonograph
is extended so that when raised its end will engage the threads of the screw J, and
this arm is raised as soon as the diaphragm of the phonograph has reached the end
of the cylinder, when the screw J, engaging with the arm, will carry it back to the
starting position, when the arm will again be depressed out of contact with the
screw J with the result of again putting the diaphragm into connection with
the usual feed screw. The arm is supported in its raised position by means of' the
short cranked portion 100 of same which rests upon the edge 101 of the framework
(Fig. 7).
1. I
One means of lifting and depressing the arm L consists of two disks H, H',
turning in opposite directions and provided with cross pins 40, 40, preferably
adjustable, the pin 40 of the disk H' lifting the arm L'to put it in connection with
the screw J, and the pin 4!) of the disk H depressing the arm L.
The arm L is preferably provided with two fingers 41, 42. The finger 41
occupies such a position that when the arm L is elevated, the pin 40 of the
disk H will pass beneath the finger 41 and strike the end of the arm L swinging
it down to the position shown in dotted lines Fig. 7, when the finger 41 will be
brought against the top of the pin 40 thereby preventing the arm from falling
suddenly allowing it to descend only as fast as the pin 40 passes downward.
The finger 42 is in such a position that when the diaphragm is at the end of
its travel the pin 40 of the disk H¹ will come in contact with the underside
of the finger 41 and lift the arm L to its upper position in engagement with
the screw J.
Different means may be employed for driving the two disks H H in opposite
directions. As shown, the disk H₁, as well as the screw J are secured to a
shaft 45 having at the opposite end a band pulley 46, while the disk H is secured
to a sleeve 47 turning on the shaft 45 and carrying a band pulley 48. A straight
belt passes to the pulley 48 and a cross-belt from the pulley 46 to a pulley 49 on
the feed shaft of the phonograph, or directly to the motor. In the arrangement
shown the phonograph is driven through the belt 50 from the horizontal wheel 102
the vertical shaft of which is suitably 'driven.
It may be desirable in some instances' to make use of the entire surface of the
phonographic cylinder as each panel is brought to a display position. Of course,
in such case, the phonograph should be started' simultaneously with the change in
the positions of the panels and stopped after 'the cylinder is exhausted, or it may
be, after a fraction of the cylinder is exhausted. Different means may be
employed for stopping and starting a phonograph, one of which consists in
tightening or loosening the usual belt 50 that drives the feed screw 51. "Thus,
one (or it may be both) of the guide rollers 52 may be raised or lowered to loosen
or tighten the belt 50. As shown, see Figs. 8 and 9, one of the said rollers' is

page_text: upon the arm of a shaft 53 from one end of which extends an arm 54 adapted to
make contact with a cam N on the disk 23. When such cam comes in contact
with the arm 54, it rocks the shaft 53 to tighten or loosen the belt. If the belt is
tightened the phonograph is set in operation, if it is loosened, it remains out of
operation. The cam N may consist of two sections 55, 56, which may be brought
one above the other, or carried to almost in line with each other so as to regulate
the time for which the arm 54 is pushed back and the time that the phonograph is
in operation.
To facilitate the hearing of the matters on the phonograph by parties outside
of the case, we provide a trumpet Q (Figs. 3 and 10) extending through the case,
preferably near the top, and communicating through a pipe 58, partly rigid and
partly flexible, with the space above the diaphragm of the phonograph.
Heretofore, it has been considered necessary to have a large metallic trumpet in
order to distribute the sound from the phonographic cylinder. We have discovered
that a better result can be secured with a small trumpet provided the same is so
constructed as to form a deflecting surface throwing the sound received by said
surface directly outward through the mouth of the trumpet. Thus, we construct
the trumpet with a surface v, occupying about an equal angle to the line u, in which
the sound waves approach the surface and to the line t through the mouth of the
trumpet at which the sound waves are deflected. This surface v may be flat or
slightly concave.
While we have referred to the locking means for holding the panels as lugs on
the frame, the lugs a might be on the panels as shown in Fig. 11 so as to enter
holes on the frame A, the pawls lifting the panels the same as before or other
locking means might be employed.
It will be evident that the pawls or engaging devices may be of different
forms.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. The combination of a series of panels arranged to swing round a central
support, of means for locking some of the panels in radial positions and a
carrier provided with lifting devices for engaging the locked panels, whereby
the latter are first lifted and then carried to other positions, substantially as
described.
2. The combination of a series of radially supported panels, of locking
lugs 8, 9, 10, and a vibrating carrier having pawls G adapted to engage the
panels to lift and swing the same, substantially as described.
3. The combination with the series of radially supported panels, of shoes at the
edges of the panels arranged to make contact, substantially as described.
4. The combination of the series of radially swinging panels, of shoes on the
panels, a vibrating carrier and pawls pivoted thereto and adapted to engage said
shoes, substantially as described.
5. The combination of the radially swinging panels and shoes thereon having
recesses, of a reciprocating carrier, pawls pivoted thereto with projections adapted
to enter said recesses, and locking lugs 8, 9, substantially as described.
6. The combination of the radially swinging panels, locking lugs 8, 9, and
catches C, substantially as described.
7. The combination of the radially swinging panels, locking lugs and catches
having beveled ends and adapted to yield under the movements of the panels in one
direction, substantially as described."
8. The combination with the radially swinging panels and locking means
of a vibrating carrier provided with pawls, means for turning the pawls to
engage the panels as the pawls are brought beneath the panels, substantially as
described.
9. The combination of the radially swinging panels, of a reciprocating carrier,

page_text: pawls pivoted thereto and provided with studs, and rails for said studs to bear
upon, substantially as described.
10. The combination with the radially supported panels, of a carrier consisting
of a hub provided with radial arms, devices pivoted to the said arms to engage the
panels as the arms approach the panels and means for maintaining this engagement
until the motion of the carrier is reversed, substantially as described.
11. The combination in the carrier of the arms, stops 27 and pawls pivoted to the
arms and adapted to engage said stops, substantially as described.
12. The carrier consisting of the hub and arms adjustably connected with the hub
and carrying devices for engaging the panels, substantially as described.
13. The combination of the shaft 1, panels swinging round said shaft, vibrating
carrier arranged directly below the shaft and provided with devices for engaging
the panels, substantially as described.
14. The combination with the series of radially swinging panels of the frame A
providing with locking devices, and a vibrating carrier provided with elevating and
carrying devices, substantially as described.
15. The combination of the series of swinging panels, of a frame A provided with
locking devices and with rails 25, and a vibrating carrier provided with pawls
having studs 24, substantially as described.
16. The combination in a display apparatus, of a series of panels and means
for exhibiting the same in succession, a sound producing apparatus, a motor and
appliances for shifting the pauel therefrom and automatic means for putting the
sound producing apparatus into action as the panels are shifted, substantially as
described.
17. The combination with a series of panels, means for shifting the same and
motor therefor, of a phonograph, means for putting the same automatically into
and out of action provided with devices for regulating the direction of such action,
substantially as described.
18. The combination of the panels, motor and shifting devices including
the disk 23, a phonograph and stopping and starting means and adjustable cam
sections 55, 56, for operating said stopping and starting devices, substantially as
described.
19. The combination with the lifting lever L of a phonograph, of a return
screw J and means for driving the same, the lever arranged to engage said screw
when lifted, substantially as described.
20. The combination with the lifting lever L, of a phonograph, of a screw J,
means for rotating the same, and disks H, H', provided with contact pins 40, 40,
and means for rotating the disks in opposite directions, substantially as described.
21. The combination of the phonograph, lifting lever L provided with arms 41, 42,
and revolving disks H H' and pins 40, substantially as described.
22. The combination in a display apparatus having shifting panels and a
surrounding case and sound producing apparatus, of a trumpet extending through
said case and tube connecting it with the sound producing apparatus, substantially
as described.
23. The combination with a sound producing apparatus, of a trumpet having a
face vat about right angles to the lines at which the sound waves enter and leave
the trumpet, substantially as described.
Dated the 3rd day of September A.D. 1896.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
London, Chartered Patent Agent,
For the Applicants.