Patent ID: 7026916

Claim:
A tabletop signaling device for a restaurant, comprising: a base having a front, a top surface, two sides and a back; an upstanding housing mounted on the base, the housing having a front, two sides and a back; a plurality of vertically spaced panels disposed on the front of the housing, each panel having predetermined and distinct indicia disposed thereon; at least one light source disposed behind each of said plurality of panels; switch means for selectively illuminating the at least one light source behind the plurality of panels; an on/off switch; a battery holder for receiving a battery, the battery holder electrically connected to the switch means and light source; a table availability switch disposed in the housing and a wireless transmitter electrically connected to the table availability switch; a table availability display unit external to said tabletop signaling device, said table availability display unit comprising: a display housing having a front display panel; receiver circuitry disposed in the display housing, the receiver circuitry in wireless communication with said wireless transmitter; lamp control circuitry disposed in the display housing, the lamp control circuitry in electrical communication with the receiver circuitry; a plurality of lamps disposed in the front display panel, each of said plurality of lamps in electrical communication with the lamp control circuitry; a plurality of switches disposed in said front display panel, each of the plurality of switches in electrical communication with one of said plurality of lamps, whereby toggling the state of one of said plurality of switches toggles the operative state of one of said plurality of lamps; and a voltage means for providing an operative voltage to the table availably display unit.