US2929162A - Housing for illuminated sign - Google Patents

Description

March22, 1960 J. E- LOVEJOY HOUSING FOR ILLUMINATED SIGN Filed Aug. 4, 1958 INVENTOR.

JJJIES'EZLOVE'JOY Uni ed tate Paten 10 HOUSING FOR ILLUMINATED SIGN James E. Lovejoy, San Francisco, Calif.

Application August 4, 1958, Serial No. 752,822

2 Claims. (Cl. 40-132) My present invention relates to illuminated signs and more particularly to a housing of novel construction for a sign that can be mounted against the interior surface of a window or other transparent supporting medium.

An object of my invention is to provide a practical and inexpensive housing for an illuminated sign to be mounted on the inside of an automobile window or the like for viewing from the exterior thereof.

Another object of the invention is to provide a practical, strong and neat appearing housing for an illuminatedsign that is formed in a novel manner from a single blank of material.

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel blank that may be cut from sheet metal, cardboard or plastic and which when folded will provide a housing having a front opening with a surrounding frame forming portion that gives the appearance of a solid box.

Another object of the invention is to provide a blank having fold lines and flaps by which a rectangular boxlike housing having an open face may be formed and in which the open face or front forming portion is provided with staggered tongue-like members which when folded in will engage with slots in the back portion of the housing as a means for reinforcing the sides thereof.

Other objects and advantages will be in part evident to those skilled in the art and in part pointed out hereinafter in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein there is shown by way of illustration and not of limitation a preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a horizontal sectional view taken along line I-I of Figure 3, looking in direction of arrows,

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section view taken along line II-II of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a third angle projection taken from Figure 1, showing the housing as it appears when viewed through a pane of glass or other transparent material,

Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view taken along line IVIV of Figure 3, looking in direction of arrows, and

Figure 5 is a developed view of the blank from which the housing is formed.

For a more detailed description of the invention, reference is now made to the accompanying drawing wherein the numeral designates generally a light enclosing housing having an open front constructed in accordance with the invention.

As shown in Figure l, the housing 10 forms a rectangular enclosure having closed ends and side portions with a rectangular opening 11 at its face or front side through which light from an electric bulb 12 is projected both directly and by reflection from the inside of the housing which will preferably be of a light reflecting character. As shown in the drawing, the electric bulb 12 is partially enclosed by a translucent shade 13 through which subdued light will be transmitted to the open face of the housing and other light rays will be reflected from the back, top and bottom surfaces of the housing.

The housing 10 is formed from a blank having foldable flaps and associated foldable tongues which when assembled will provide the housing with multiple ply end walls and a reinforced multiple ply flange 14 at each end of its open side or face 11 to which conventional vacuum cups 15, as shown in Figure 2, are attached for securing the housing 10 upon the inner surface of a window glass 16 or other suitable transparent support. When the housing is fully assembled and equipped with the electric light 12 and mounted upon a window 16, it will appear as shown in Figure 3 of the drawings. In this figure the electric light 12 is shown as carried by a socket 17 that projects through the bottom of the housing and it carries an extension cord 18- having a plug at its extreme end that is adapted for insertion into the cigar lighter outlet of an automobile.

In this showing, as is also shown in Figure 4 of the drawings, the rectangular opening 11 at the face or open side of the housing 10 has a framing surface along its top and bottom edges that is relatively wider than would normally be the case if it were not for a feature of the present invention, which as illustrated in these figures of the drawings provides a folded surface 20 along the upper and lower sides of the opening 11. This feature,-

as will now be described, consists in forming-theblanlcfrom which the housing 10 is formed with a plurality of tongue portions 21 which when folded in, in the manner to be described, will act to also reinforce the top and bottom walls of the housing.

Upon referring to Figure 5 of the drawings, it will be noted that the single blank has two spaced longitudinally extending fold lines 2 which when folded define the upper and lower outer limits of the front of the housing 10 and fold lines 23 which define the back surface of the housing. A tab 24 below the lower fold line 23 as here shown is secured to the outside top surface of the housing when finally folded. At the ends of the blank form there are two spaced flaps 25 which overlap at the ends of the housing and projecting from the bottom forming portion there is a flap 26 that will fold over the flaps 25 when assembled. The ends of the frame forming portion at the opening 11 in the front of the housing is shown as having holes 27 and extending from the flaps 25 and 26 there are respective tabs 28 and 29 which carry holes 30 that will register with the holes 27 at the front of the housing when the housing 10 is completely formed. In this manner, there is provided three ply walls at the ends of the housing 10 and a four ply flange at the point where the vacuum cups 15 are secured. This forms a strong construction which will stand up under considerable use. As another important feature of this invention, it will be noted that the upper and lower edges of the opening 11 in the housing 10 are defined by two fold lines 31 from which the interleaving tabs 21, hereinabove referred to, extend. These tabs 21 each have a reduced tip portion 32 that is adapted to project through slots 33 formed along the fold lines 23 which define the back of the housing and in this manner there is formed a wide frame-like surface around the opening 11 at the front of the housing and between the fold lines 22 and 31. At this point, it will be noted that the central tab 21 is here shown as having a circular opening 34 which will register with a similar opening 35 formed in the bottom surface of the housing through which the lamp supporting socket 17 is projected and secured.

When in use, it is contemplated that the opening 11 of the housing 10 will be covered with a transparent sheet of material having printed matter formed thereupon with the outlines of the opening 11. This sheet Pa.tented Mar. 22 1960 any material which a storekeeper .or a driver of an auto-- mobile may want to transmit. A practical use forjrny device will also be found in identifying the automobiles of a funeral procession by providing such a sign with the word funeral and mounting the housing upon the inside surface of a windshield so that the automobiles in a particular procession will be recognized and the cutting in of trafiic thus avoided.

While I have, for the sake of clearness and in order to disclose my invention so that the same can be readily understood, described and illustrated a specific form and arrangement, I desire to have it understood that this invention is not limited to the specific form disclosed, but may be embodied in other ways that will suggest themselves to persons skilled in the art. It is believed that this invention is new and all such changes as come within the scope of the appended claims are to be considered as part of this invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A rectangular housing for an illuminated sign having an open front area and a co-planar frame forming area around said opening all formed from a single blank of sheet material, and characterized by the fact that the frame forming area along the upper and lower sides of said opening are stabilized by projecting tongues cut in staggered relation in the area forming the opening in said blank, said tongues when folded into the housing providing a rigid support for the inner edge of said frame forming portion along the upper and lower sides of said opening when projected into aligned accommodating slots formed along the fold line at the back of said housing.

2. A housing for an illuminated sign of the character described, comprising asingle sheet of foldable material having longitudinally extended fold lines defining an elongated rectangular box like structure, and flaps extending fromthe back and the two sides of the box when formed for closing the end thereof, a foldable flap at the ends of the bottom of the box when formed, foldable tabs on said end flaps adapted and arranged to interleave and reinforce the front wall of the box at its ends and characterized by the fact that the front of said box has inwardly disposed fold lines defining the top and bottom edges of a sight opening therein and having staggered cuts at the ends and within the area of said sight opening that form staggered tongue like portions which when folded inwardly along said inwardly disfi posed fold lines will reinforce the open side of said housing and provide a rigid frame like surface about the sight opening in the front thereof.

Silberstein Feb. 24, 1931 Tabor -a Aug. 3, 1931

Images