US3544208A - Address projector - Google Patents

Description

' D 111970 c. M. wAssoN 3.544.203

ADDRESS PROJECTOR Filed May 24, 196e SEI United States Patent O 3,544,208 ADDRESS PROJECTOR Carroll M. Wasson, 264 Eastlawn, Detroit, Mich. 48215 Filed May 24, 1968, Ser. No. 731,921 Int. Cl. G03b 21/14 U.S. Cl. 353-22 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A projector for projecting the address of a building upon a Wall or other part of the building which is of a simple telescoping construction requiring only a single lens.

SUMMARY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to projectors and more' particularly projectors for projecting the address of a building.

It is desirable to be able to clearly identify a home or other building with an enlarged representation of its address; this is especially true lat night; however, it is impractical and undesirable to accomplish this with large xed numbers. In the present invention an enlarged image of the address is projected by a light projector upon the side of the building providing clear and easy address identification. The projector of the present invention is of a simple and inexpensive construction and accomplishes the intended purpose at a minimum of cost.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide an address projector for projecting an enlarged image of the address of a building onto a convenient surface.

It is another object to provide a projector of the above described type which is of a simple construction and which is inexpensive to manufacture.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the subsequent description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

. FIG. 1 is a pictorial representation depicting the projector of the present invention in use projecting an enlarged image of yan address onto the side of a building;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the projector of FIG. l; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the projector of FIG. 2 taken generally along the line 3 3.

Looking now to the drawings a projector is constructed to project an enlarged image 12 of an address onto the side of a building 14. The projector 10 is of a simple construction 'and includes a two piece housing 16 having a light support part 18 and lens support part 20. The parts 18 and 20 are generally of rectangular sections with part 18 being smaller and telescoping into the rearward end of part 20. The parts 1f8 and 20 are of a simple construction having generally uniform sections throughout their lengths.

The part 18 is hollow and of a uniform section and has a light mounting or cover plate 22 which has flanges 24 at its outer ends whereby the plate 22 can be held to the rearward end of part by screws 26. A light socket assembly 28, of a conventional construction, is secured to plate 22 by nut and bolt assemblies 30. The socket assembly 2'8 is electrically isolated from the plate 22 (and hence from housing parts 18 and 20) by an insulating board 31. A light lbulb 32 is supported in the socket assembly 28 in a conventional manner with the socket assembly 28 being connectable to a suitable source ice of electricity via conductors 34. The bulb 32 can be a low wattage (30 W.) rellector type bulb (such as the 30 watt, 120 volt reflector bulb made by Sylvania) operable from a conventional 110 volt supply without the need for a step down transformer. At the opposite, forward end of the part 18 is supported an object assembly 36 which contains the address information to be projected.

The assembly 36 includes a pair of transparent glass plates 38 and 40 which have the address information 42 located therebetween. The pair of plates 38 and 40 protect the object information 42 from exposure to the ele? ments and hence protect it from deterioration. The plates 38 and 40 are clamped together by a support plate 44 which has side flanges 46 and upper and lower tabs 48 which are bent to clamp the plates 38 and 40 together. The support plate 44 has a circular'opening 50 whereby stray light is minimized. The plate 44 is mounted to inwardly extending flanges 53 at the forward end of housing part 18 via screws 52 through upper and lower tabs 54. A light shield 516 is secured onto the forward face of support plate 44 and has 'a circular opening 5'8. The shield 56 blocks stray light transmission through the gaps at the sides of the support plate 44. A lens assembly 60 encloses and is secured to the forward end of the larger housing part 20. The assembly 60 includes a anged support member 62, a support ring 63, a pair of retaining rings v64 and 66, Iand a lens `68. The lens 68 is held in the support ring 63 by the retaining rings 64 and 66. The support ring 63 is held in a circular opening in the front face of the support member 62 which is held to the housing part 20 by screws 70 extending through flanges 72.

The forward end of the smaller housing part 18 is telescopically mounted in the rearward end of the larger housing part 20 for relatively sliding movement. By so moving the housing parts 118 and 20 the object information 42 can be properly focused to provide 'a clear, enlarged image 12 on the desired surface. A screw 80 extends through a slot 82 in one side of the larger housing part 20 and into the smaller housing part 18. The screw can be loosened to permit limited relative movement for focusing and can be tightened to tix the housing parts 18 and 20 together in a desired position. i

A series of holes '84 are provided in the walls of the large housing part 20 at both forward and rearward ends to permit drainage of moisture regardless of the mounting position of the projector 10. A similar series of holes 86 are provided in the walls of the smaller housing part 18 at both forward and rearward ends to permit drainage; in addition holes -86 permit lair circulation for bulb cooling.

A mounting bracket assembly 90 including an L-shaped bracket or handle 92 is secured to one wall of the smaller housing part 1'8 and facilitates mounting of the projecto! 10 The projector 10 as shown is of a simple, inexpensive construction. The housing parts 18 and 20 are of generally uniform sections and can be made of light weight inexpensive materials such as aluminum. The socket assembly 28 is located within the smaller housing part 18 and is connected with the back cover plate 22 and can be easily removed for replacement or other maintenance. The bulb 32 and socket assembly 28 as mounted to housing part 18 are movable with the image information 42 whereby the focusing structure is simple. Note that with the construction as shown, only one lens is needed and no additional condensing or other type lens is required. By the use of a low wattage lamp 32 problems of excessive operating temperature are obviated.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiments of the invention disclosed are well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated, it will be appreciated that the invention is susceptible to modification, variation and means containing an address representation located in said housing means between said lens and said light source whereby an enlarged image of said address representation can be projected onto a suitable surface, said housing `means being of a two piece construction and including only one set of first and second housing parts telescopically mounted togetherfor relative in and out movement, said lens mounted at the forward end of said iirst part and with said address representation located at the forward end of said second part, said light source mounted at the rearward end of said second part, said forward end of said first part telescopically located on the rearward end of said second part, said lens being mounted to a front plate position at said forward end of said rst part.

2. The projector of claim 1 with said first and second parts each being of a substantially uniform cross section and eachbeing of a similar size with said second part being slightly smaller `than said first part.

3. The projector of claim 1 with said housing means including a rear cover removably mounted to said `rearward end of said second part, lamp mounting means for mounting said light source and being secured to said rear cover whereby said light `source can be removed by removal of said rear cover.

4. The projector of claim 3 with said light source being a low wattage lamp of the retlectorztype.

5. The projector of claim 4 with said rst and second parts having drain openings at their forward and rearward ends.

6. The projector of claim 5 with said object means including a pair of transparent plates `with said address representation located in between.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,332,999 3/1920 Smith 353-119 X 1,436,503 11/1922 Hughes 353-119 X 1,656,110 1/1928 Foltis 353-119 X 1,830,041 11/1931 Sperry 353-101 2,614,457 10/ 1952 Weber 353--119 WILLIAM D. MARTIN, JR., Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R.

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