Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Changing exhibitor – Rotatable carrier for display item
Reexamination Certificate
1998-02-24
2002-02-12
Davis, Cassandra H. (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Changing exhibitor
Rotatable carrier for display item
C040S607060
Reexamination Certificate
active
06345458
ABSTRACT:
Rotating display devices are usefull when mounted on poles or walls to provide schedules for buses stopping near the mounted display device, for advertisements, maps and other information useful to the public.
A number of designs for rotating signs are been described in prior patents. U.S. Pat. No. 1,637,988 describes a motorized sign comprising a cylinder top and bottom ball bearings for hanging on brackets. U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,56 discloses a rotating sign device with a light inside equipped with a coil spring and designed to rotate in a single direction. U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,987 describes a rotating box on a stand. U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,284 describes a rotating kiosk. U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,179 describes a rotatable sign having rectangular panels arranged in a triangular configuration, and capable of being rotated by the wind. U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,116 describes a rotational support for a conventional flat advertising poster. U.S. Pat. Des. 305,778 discloses a three-vaned carousel on a small stand. U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,219 describes a motor-driven multi-faced sign for mounting on existing sign pedestals. U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,772 describes a triangular arrangement of rectangular panels capable of rotating on a pole. U.S. Pat. No. 5,572,816 describes a cylindrical rotating sign device having a changeable surface made of louvers. These designs do not appear to provide the type of weatherproof and tamperproof shape or construction required for an outdoor sign available to be touched and manipulated by the public without supervision.
Rotating signs designed for outdoor, public use have also been described. U.S. Pat. No. 3,986,284 describes a prismatic structure which may be attached to an existing signpost and rotated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,801 describes a timetable holder comprising a transparent tube which appears to fit closely around a signpost and may be rotated in grooves in a set of sleeves. U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,671 discloses a similar cylinder made in vertical sections, rotatable in a fixed track around a post. The structure is not enclosed. U.S. Pat. No. 5,116,204 describes an enclosed, rotatable domed structure suitable for mounting on an existing pole to display bus schedules and advertising; however this device has a number of drawbacks. It is difficult and inefficient to assemble, requiring placement of numerous bolts and screws. The many holes required allow dust and dirt to enter the interior of the carousel. Due to the placement of its bearings, this previously-known carousel display device has a tendency to wobble. The two-piece construction of the display device described in said patent requires a vertical seam between the pieces, interfering with the ability of sheets of advertising or notices to lie smoothly on the circumference of the carousel, or providing space for only two large sheets of advertising or notices, and the vertical seam may be easily pried apart by vandals. Further, strips of vinyl used for strip signs are deformed over the spots where the bolts used in assembling the display device are placed. This device is also manufactured by a process which forms sprues on the outer surfaces, thus requiring an extra sprue-removal step.
It is an object of this invention to provide a rotating display device which overcomes the foregoing disadvantages, which may be made by modern injection molding technologies for mass production, provides ease and efficiency of assembly, no bolts, holes or seams beneath the vinyl display sheets, improved stability of rotation, efficient manufacture and ease of poster installation, and formed so as to be maximally tamper-resistant.
SUMMARY
A rotatable outdoor public information display device is provided which is adaptable for mounting on a support which can be a pole or a set of upper and lower brackets or beams. The device is cylindrical in form, and designed to be secured to a pole inserted into it, or a pipe or other internal support inserted at least partway into the top and bottom thereof attached to brackets or beams affixed to a nearby vertical supporting structure such as a wall. The device comprises:
upper and lower lock plates fixedly attachable to a support, said upper and lower lock plates comprising means for accommodating rotation of the remainder of the device;
top and bottom caps rotatably aligned with said upper and lower lock plates respectively;
a main cylinder comprising poster display spaces removably engageable with said top and bottom caps.
Preferably, the device is designed for manual rotation by the user to view posters affixed around the circumference thereof, although other means of rotation known to the art may also be used. The pole may be an existing sign pole, a light or telephone pole, or a pole included as part of the device. The device may also be attached to brackets or beams holding it spaced apart from existing vertical supporting structure such as a wall or post, said beams or brackets being equipped with internal support members extending at least partway into the top and bottom of the device. The upper and lower lock plates fit around the pole or other support member, e.g. by threading thereon, and are fixedly attachable thereto, e.g. by means of bolt holes in the lock plates. Corresponding holes in the pole or other support member are provided. Preferably, a single bolt hole pierces each lock plate so that it may be attached to the pole or support member with a single bolt secured with a nut. Other means for attaching the lock plates to the pole or other internal support member as known to the art may also be used.
The upper and lower lock plates are preferably made of metal or other strong material including strong plastics known to the art, and comprise means for accommodating rotation of the remainder of the device. Such means include grooves sized to receive therein means on the top and bottom caps for accommodating rotation such as attached ball bearings which can revolve in the groove of the lock plate, or a slider which slides in said groove. Alternatively, the top and bottom caps may be equipped with such grooves, and the lock plates may have attached ball bearings or sliders. Preferably, the upper and lower lock plates are identical.
The top and bottom caps are also preferably identical, preferably sloped or domed to help make the device weatherproof and tamperproof When the lock plates are in place with the means for accommodating rotation thereof engaged or aligned with the corresponding means for accommodating rotation on the top and bottom caps, ideally, any gap between the lock plates and the top and bottom caps will be minimal. Rotatable alignment of the lock plates with the top and bottom caps means that complementary means for accommodating rotation on the lock plates and caps, e.g. grooves and ball bearings or sliders fitting into said grooves, are touching or engaged so that the caps rotate with respect to the fixed lock plates. The ball bearings are seated in the cap (or if the cap contains the groove, the ball bearings are seated in the lock plate), preferably the ball bearings are rotationally seated so that they can rotate but not move around the circumference of the device. At least three or four ball bearings should be used, preferably four, and any number up to the number required to entirely fill the groove, may be used. In the latter case, it is not necessary to provide means to prevent the balls from traveling around the circumference of the component in which they are seated.
The top and bottom caps may be equipped with integral circumferential ridges defining display spaces for strip posters, e.g. posters about 2″×32″. The diameter of the main cylinder is preferably about 32″.
The main cylinder is designed to provide display space for affixing posters such as rectangular posters of about 10″×15″. Preferably, the main cylinder is equipped with at least one integral vertical ridge to define two poster display spaces. Additional vertical ridges, as well as horizontal ridges may be provided on the main cylinder to define small
Davis Cassandra H.
Greenlee Winner and Sullivan P.C.
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