Card – picture – or sign exhibiting – Illuminated sign – Lamp box
Reexamination Certificate
1999-02-12
2001-05-08
Melius, Terry Lee (Department: 3628)
Card, picture, or sign exhibiting
Illuminated sign
Lamp box
C040S575000, C040S564000, C040S594000, C040S618000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06226909
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to a printed display sign. In particular it relates to a printed sign for displaying information such as the types of products for sale and their prices in an establishment such as a fast food outlet. The sign may be backlit by a light box.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Fast food outlets often provide a display sign comprising a menu of the products available and photographs of those products behind the counter of the outlet at approximately head height. The signs are often backlit using a light box to create an illuminated display. In one existing display system, the front of the display comprises an acrylic panel which defines a series of pairs of rails or the like into which printed display panels can be inserted. The panels indicate the name of a product such as “cheeseburger”. The price of that product is also printed on a panel and is also inserted between the rails aligned with the name of the product. If the price changes, the panel which displays the price can be removed and replaced with a new panel showing the new price. In some more sophisticated display systems, individual figures on the pricing panel can be removed and replaced. Thus, for example, a price of $2.30 could be amended to read $2.35 by simply removing the end “0” and replacing it with a “5”.
There are two problems with the existing display system described above. First, it is quite complex, compared with just printing a menu and is consequently expensive. Secondly, the arrangement of rails and panels is relatively bulky and occupies much of the surface area of the light box display leaving less space for the display of photographs of the products available at the outlet. This is generally undesirable as often the product photographs “sell the product” more than the printed menu and generally the more photographs displayed, the better the product sales are at a particular outlet. Also, since the display is modular, its appearance is not as uniform and smart as a simple printed panel displaying the same information would be.
Ideally, the display should be as professional looking as possible with all the names and prices horizontally and vertically aligned in correct registration to give a good impression to customers. A scruffy menu display might give customers the impression that the outlet's standards, including perhaps its hygiene standards, were low.
If instead of having a display where the prices and names of products can be changed, a printed sheet displaying all the current menu information is used, the lettering takes up less surface area than the rails and panels. The same information can be displayed on a smaller surface area and the menu display can be smaller, allowing more pictures to be displayed on the light box. Justification of the product names, and horizontal and vertical alignment of the product names and prices can be more accurately controlled. The overall appearance is also more professional and smarter than having removable prices. The printed sheet menu display can be backlit more effectively by the light box. However, the problem with such a printed menu is that if the price of any of the products is to be changed, whether permanently, or in the case of a special promotion temporarily, the entire display sign has to be reprinted.
It is an object of the present invention to alleviate the disadvantages of the prior art discussed above and provide an improved printed display sign.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, there is provided a printed display sign including a sheet of transparent material defining a front face which displays printed information and a rear face, wherein information visible from the front face is printed on the rear face of the sign to be read from the front face, the information including at least a first indicia such as a product name or the like and at least one transparent window area aligned in registration with that first indicia, wherein a frame extends around the window areas on the rear face of the sign, the frame being non-visible from the front of the sign and whereby a removable label having an adhesive front face, displaying second indicia, such as price indicia or the like on said adhesive front face, and being of a size larger than that of the window, may be applied to cover the window area by using the frame as a guide, so that the second indicia is aligned in correct registration with the second indicia.
Typically the printed display will be a menu for a “fast food” outlet and the product names will be food items.
When the inventor originally attempted to design a printed display menu with transparent windows, behind which removable price tags could be located to enable the prices of the various products to be changed without throwing away the entire sign, the inventor discovered that when the prices were stuck on the rear face of the sign, it was impossible to ensure that the prices were correctly aligned. Viewed from the front, the printing looked uneven and the display sign was commercially unacceptable. After trying out a number of systems, the inventor discovered that the provision of a frame around the outside of the window provides a guide on the rear of the sign which can be used to ensure that each price is correctly aligned with its related product name so that the appearance of the sign from the front is satisfactory.
Typically, the sign will be screen printed with headings such as “breakfast” or “beverages” printed on the rear of the transparent medium first, followed by a dark colored background such as black or brown, leaving blank spaces defining the windows and the lettering for the products such as “cheese burger” or the like. Following that stage, a coat of white paint is applied to the rear of the screen over the previously applied paint. This white layer acts as a diffuser when the sign is placed in front of a light box and makes the display less harsh on the eye than if the transparent areas defining the lettering were left clear. The white paint is applied in such a way that it does not extend as far as the edges of the window but leaves a dark border or perimeter around the window. This border defines the frame for the window.
Ideally, the windows and the adhesive labels displaying prices will be rectangular. The labels will typically be made from vinyl and are coated with a low tack adhesive so that they can be easily removed from the display sign for replacement.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, as well as including windows for prices, the sign also includes elongate windows for product name indicia and further windows for prices. Normally those windows will be blanked out with plain labels the same color as the dark background. However, it is possible to add new product lines or “specials” to the sign, if desired, by removing the plain dark labels from the windows and replacing them with appropriate labels displaying the new product information.
The display sign is typically used with a lightbox thus the invention also provides a light box and printed display sign assembly comprising in combination:
a) a lightbox;
b) a printed display sign positioned so as to be backlit by the light box, said printed display sign comprising a sheet of transparent material defining a front face and a rear face, information being reverse printed on the rear face of the sign so as to be readable from the front face, the information including a series of first indicia such as product names printed in at least a first color, the sign being printed with a second background color, different from the first color, defining a series of transparent windows defining an area, aligned with at least some of those product names, the rear face of the sign being coated with a diffuser layer which defines a frame around each window; and
c) removable labels larger in size than the area of the windows displaying second indicia, typically price indicia, reverse printed on a front face of each label, the labels being applied to the rear of the sign covering the window areas
Hewitt James M
Melius Terry Lee
Morgan & Lewis & Bockius, LLP
LandOfFree
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