Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Changing exhibitor – Variable reading stationary exhibitor
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-11
2001-04-24
Melius, Terry Lee (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Changing exhibitor
Variable reading stationary exhibitor
C040S453000, C040S466000, C040S470000, C040S509000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06219948
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a display unit for displaying two or more consecutively changing images, more particularly to display units attachable to shelves in supermarkets or department stores, where their function is to effectively draw the attention of prospective buyers to a certain product during a time period of some days or weeks, and to a different product during the next time period, all according to the sales policies of the management and of competing suppliers.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Over the years, supermarkets have established rather strict rules governing the dimensions of display units in order to ensure that they will not interfere with, or even endanger, people moving along the lanes delimited by the shelves, or that some of these units will not impair the visibility of other display units and, of course, of the products. Thus, the size of display units mounted in a direction perpendicular to the shelves is limited to a size of up to about 13×20 cm, while units mounted parallel to the shelves, and thus not projecting into the lanes, may be of a size of up to about 30×30 cm. None of these display units, however, may depend on external power sources, which would imply stringing of wiring along the shelves and the provision of outlets at fixed points, restricting flexibility.
Today the display units used are in the form of plastic frames attached to the shelves and carrying cards with what is intended to be a sales-promoting message. Over the years, however, the attention-commanding power of these passive displays has progressively waned and something more compelling is required to effectively attract the attention of today's sophisticated public.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
It is thus one of the objects of the present invention to provide a dynamically active display unit which continuously exhibits two or more different, high-quality images in succession; a display unit based on optical principles that is inexpensive, lightweight and fully independent of external power sources, operating as it does for many months on a small battery, and having a picture or indicia-carrying card which is easily and rapidly exchanged in situ.
According to the present invention, the above object is achieved by providing a self-powered display unit for displaying at least two consecutively changing images to be viewed by a viewer, said unit comprising a housing having at least one window-like opening; at least one lenticular panel mounted in said housing behind said window-like opening, said lenticular panel having front and rear faces, the focal length of the lenses being substantially equal to their width; at least one displaceable, lightweight, substantially planar indicia carrier in the form of a replaceable film or sheet disposed inside said housing; an edge of said indicia carrier at least indirectly freely abutting against cam means; a high-efficiency, low-energy consumption, battery-powered DC drive means including a DC motor coupled to said cam means for periodically displacing said indicia carrier for a distance at least equalling the distance between two adjacent lenses of said panel, and guide means facilitating smooth reciprocating movement of said indicia carrier in juxtaposition with said rear face of the lenticular panel, whereby displacing said indicia carrier for said distance causes the constituent elements of one of said two or more images to be replaced by constituent elements of another one of said two or more images.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3613277 (1971-10-01), Rose et al.
patent: 3686781 (1972-08-01), Calhoun, Jr.
patent: 5007191 (1991-04-01), Shyu
patent: 5276987 (1994-01-01), Honse
patent: 5513458 (1996-05-01), Dehli
patent: 5724758 (1998-03-01), Gulick, Jr.
patent: 6026215 (2000-02-01), Fantone et al.
patent: 6078424 (2000-06-01), Morton
patent: 2-211437 (1990-08-01), None
M.V.T. Multi Vision Technologies Ltd.
Melius Terry Lee
Morales Rodrigo J.
Oblon & Spivak, McClelland, Maier & Neustadt P.C.
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