US403037A - Device - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

. J.0ASTLB.

ADVERTISING DEVICE.

No.. 403,037. `Paterlted May?, 1889.

Il mm a IIN 'lll @NW6/named UNITED STATES PATENT OEEIOE.

JAMES OASTLE, OE TORONTO, ONTARIO, OANADA.

ADVERTISING DEVICE.

SPECIFIGATIO forming part of Letters Patent No. 403,037, dated May 7, 1889.

Application filed October 10, 1888. Serial No. 287,746. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that LJAMES CASTLE, of To-4 ronto, in the Province of Ontario and-Dominion of Canada, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Advertising Devices; and I do hereby declare that the followingis a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to Which it appert-ains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in advertising or exhibiting devices.

Heretofore in advertising machines and analogous devices employing moving sheets or advertisements which are successively displayed various means have been employed to move the sheets-such as clock-work, gearing connected with and operated by the bellcord of a street-car, dro.; but these old devices have never Worked to entire satisfaction. They are expensive or complicated and require too much attention. l

The object of the present invention is to overcome the defects in the old devices of this class, and to give the required movement to the advertisements, sheets, or other exhibits automatically by a simple, cheap, and effective device requiring no attention, and operated by the jar and motion of a streetcar or other vehicle wherein the device is located.

The invention consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts, more fully described hereinafter, and particularly pointed out in the claims.

Figure lis a perspective view of the device, the front of the case being open and the sheet and rollers shown in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same in plane of c Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a similar view of a modification.

Referring to the drawings, the referenceletter a. indicates any suitable case or inclosing-casing, if desirable, provided with a glass or other transparent panel closing its front side.- A main or driving roller, b, is journaled in the case and drives the advertising sheet or sheets c, which, as shown in Fig. 2, is formed in an endless sheet stretched and moving behind the glass panel. The sheet operates over and is supported by rollers d d in the upper portion of the case, and by one or more rollers, e, in the lower portion, the sheet passing from a rear top roller, d, down around the driving-roller, from thence up around the other roller, d, and down behind the transparent front, to and around the bottom rollers, and up behind the driving-roller to the rear roller, CZ. Thus itwill be seen that as the driving-roller is turned the sheet is moved behind the glass front, thus presenting different advertisements to the eye of the public. Instead of an endless sheet the driving-roller can be provided with a series of sheets, c, as shown in Fig. 3, attached at one edge to hang free from the same; hence as the roller is turned different sheets will be displayed behind the glass front.

The principal object of my present invention is to provide a motor for automatically operating the driving-roller and moving the sheet or sheets, and the preferred way of accomplishing this is by employing a flexible spring-hanf, rigidly secured at one end within the casing to allow its opposite end an up-an d-down or vi.- bratory motion, and said free end is provided with a weight, g. An actuating arm or finger, h, is secured at one end to the movable end of the spring-bar, said finger lying in approximately a horizontal plane When in its normal position, and its free end is adapted to engage the teeth of a ratchet-wheel, z', journaled in the casing, and provided with gearing j, meshing with the teeth of a gear-Wheel, lo, journaled in the case, and meshing with a gear-wheel, Z, secured to or rigidly mounted upon the driving-roller.

The spring-bar is weighted, so that its free end is pressed down to such a point where the slightest jar or jolt will move or vibrate it up and down, as shown by dotted lines, moving with it the finger b. Thus when the free end of the bar is depressed the free end of the finger is lifted from engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-wheel, and as the weighted end of the bar moves up the free end of the linger is thrown down into engagement with the teeth of the ratchet-Wheel, and then forward, rotating the wheel a certain amount, varying with the length of vibration of the weighted. end of the spring-bar, thus IOO operating the gearing and driving-roller and moving the advertising sheet or sheets a certain amount.

The ratchet-wheel provided With a pawl, m, to prevent retrograde movement, and the actu ating-iin ger is held Within certain bounds by a stop, n, limiting its up-and-doivn move ment, and also serving as a guide to keep the finger in place to always engage the ratchet- Wheel.

The device is more especially intended for use in street-cars, as the motion of the car Will cause the Weighted spring-bar to vibrate and operate the mechanism, as described; but the same is not limited to this use, as it can be used in any place Where the case will be jarred or moved sufficiently to vibrate the spring-bar; nor is the motor limited in any Way to use for operating such a device as shown, for it can be used in many other Ways, such as a mechanical show-card, made, say, by cutting letters or other devices through a card and having a variou sly-colored card at the rear of the same attached to the springbar or to the actuating-finger, so that as the spring vibrates the colored card is reciprocated behind the letters, making it appear as though the letters were continuously changing color. It is also evident that the invention is not limited to the exact means shown of transferring the power derived from the springbar to rollers, and that various changes might be made in the form and arrangement of the parts described without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention; hence I do not Wish to limit myself to the precise construction herein set forth.

l. The combination, with a movable ex hibit, of an approximately horizontal springbar rigidly secured at one end and having its free vibrator-y end Weighted and connected with and adapted to move the exhibit by a finger secured to the free end of the bar, substantially as described.

2. .An inclosing-case, in combination With a movable exhibit in the same, and a springbar Weighted at one end and rigidly secured in the case at the opposite end to allow the Weighted end a vibratory movement, and an approximately horizontal actuating-iinger secured to the weighted end of the bar and operating the exhibit, substantially as described.

The combination of an Vinclosing-case, an interior movable exhibit, a spring-bar rigidly secured at one end and having its opposite free vibratory end Weighted, an actuating-finger rigidly secured to and moving with the vibratory end of the bar and having its opposite free end adapted to rotate a ratchet- Wheel to move the exhibit, and a guide for the Iinger, substantially as described.

4. In combination, an inclosing-case having a roller therein to actuate a movable exhibit, a ratchet-wheel to rotate the roller, a springbar rigidly secured at one end near the wheel and having its vibratory end Weighted,a finger secured to the vibratory end and having its free end adapted to engage and rotate the Wheel, and a guide to alloriT the free end of the finger a limited movement and hold it in position to engage t-he teeth of the Wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I afiix my si gnature in presence of two witnesses.

JAMES CASTLE. Vfitnesses:

SAMUEL J ENNIsoN, EDITH L. MACY.

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