GB2171236A - Display unit - Google Patents

Abstract

A display unit, such as a write-on display board, for displaying an item or message comprises a transparent sheet 5 lit by a neon lamp 3 and adapted to receive the item or message to be displayed, the lamp lying along at least one edge of the display board so that it transmits light through at least part of the sheet, and a backing sheet 6 which is light reflective and is of a colour which is predominantly light reflective rather than light absorbent. The backing sheet may be plain white or tinted or it may be a mirror. The transparent sheet 5 may be tinted and written on with a crayon. A changing colour background may be provided by a back-lit coloured-windowed rotating disc co-operating with a perforated backing sheet. Alternatively, a coloured lamp may rotate behind a perforated card. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Display unit Field of the invention The invention relates to desplay units. It may be applied with particular advantage to write-on display boards in which a message is written onto the display board but can be wiped off at any time in order for a new message to be displayed thereon.

Review of the prior art Display units are already known which comprise a display board and a lamp to illuminate the display board. The display board comprises a flat polished sheet of Perspex, (ie acrylic sheeting) backed with a sheet of sheen finished black plastics. The lamp is typically an elongate neon tube and runs along one edge of the Perspex sheet so that it shines through the sheet and along the sheet. Any message which is written on the Perspex by suitable crayons which will allow wiping off will stand out because it will be reflected from the black backing sheet through the illuminated Perspex sheet.

It has been found that if crayons with a high phosphorous content are used to write the message on the board, then the lettering of the message glows slightly as well as being caused to stand out.

Such crayons and also paints with a high phosphorour content are wellknown in this field.

Summary of the invention According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a display unit for displaying an item or message comprising a display board and a lamp to illuminate the display, in which the display board comprises a transparent sheet backed by a backing sheet in which the transparent sheet is adapted to receive the item or message to be displayed; the lamp lies along at least one edge of the display board so that it transmits light through at least part of the sheet; and, in which the backing sheet is light reflective and is of a colour which is predominantly light reflective rather than light absorbent. Thus the backing sheet may be of a light colour such as white but is not black or a dark colour.This is because these colours are predominantly light absorbent, and so even if they have a reflective coating a lot of light is absorbed by the backing sheet and so detracts from the quality of the image of the item or message to be displayed.

In one embodiment of the invention the backing sheet is a plan white sheet. Hitherto no display units have included such a white backing sheet which gives an effective display unit even in daylight. Thus the display units may be used with advantage in shop windows and can be very effective for displaying messages in shops selling foods as the white background conveys an atmosphere of hygiene.

In a further embodiment of the invention the backing sheet comprises a white sheet covered by acrylic sheet which is tinted. The acrylic sheet is advantageously a very bright flourescent type colour such as bright pink. In this case the white background acts as a reflector behing the acrylic sheet and the resultant display board can very effectively be used in a cocktail bar to display the evenings special cocktails. Preferably the acrylic sheet is that sold in the United Kingdom under the Trade Mark PERSPEX.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention the backing sheet comprises a mirror.

The advantage of the mirror backing the transparent sheet is that multiple images of the message are created. The effect is particularly spectacular if phosphorous containing crayons or paints are used since the different images created are ali in slightly contrasting colours to the main image because of the refraction of the light by the mirror through the transparent sheet. The mirror may be a conventional clear view silvered mirror but preferably the mirror is tinted with a colour such as blue, red and gold which gives a very spectacular effect.

More preferably the mirror is a proprietary acrylic mirror consisting of a tinted sheet with a silver foil backing sold by Visijar Tuckers under the Trade Mark MIR-ACRIL or PLEXIGLAS.

The advantage of using a coloured mirror is that a bright yellow primary crayon or painted message will be backed by a red tinged secondary image and a distinctly brown tertiary image depending on the colour of the tinted mirror.

In the above described embodiments preferably the transparent sheet is an acrylic sheet such as that sold in the United Kingdom under the Trade Mark PERSPEX.

Such a transparent sheet may have an item or message permanently printed upon it but the invention can be aplied with particular advantage to cases where the item or message is written onto the sheet by a crayon which can easily and readily be wiped off. This means that the display unit is particularly applicable to messages in restaurants and pubs where, for example, the special meal of the day can be displayed.

Preferably the inside faces of the surrounding frame about the display board may advantageously be faced with metallic silvered foil tape to reflect the maximum amount of light into the unit.

The lamp may comprise one neon tube along one edge of the display board but preferably the illumination of the board is by two neon tubes on the opposite edges of the sheet.

A further preferred feature is that each edge of the sheet along which a neon tube lies is chamfered at an angle of about 45" which maximises the amount of light transmitted down throughtthe sheet.

According to a second aspect of the invention, a display unitfor displaying an item or message comprises a display board, and a lamp to illuminate the display, in which the display board comprises a transparent sheet backed by a perforated backing sheet, the transparent sheet being adapted to receive the item or message to be displayed, and in which the lamp comprises a first lamp lying along the edge of the display board so that it transmits light through at least part of the sheet, and a second lamp or multiple lamp lying behind a rotating perforated disc behing the perforated backing sheet, so that when the disc rotates the holes or slots in both the disc and the backing sheet will intermittently align to allow light through to the transparent sheet.

By using coloured filters in these perforations the effect will be multicoloured.

The perforated backing sheet or perforated disc may have coloured windows attached to the perforations. In this case the rotation of a white lamp behind the backing sheet would cause a series of coloured lights to be displayed through the transparent sheet.

Alternatively, a coloured lamp may rotate behind a perforated card to give the same effect.

In a display unit in accordance with either aspect of the invention, it is preferred that the display board is surrounded by a frame in a colour other than black. Black frames have universally been provided on known display boards since they have been displayed for the message to stand out. In this case it is preferred that the colour of the frame is bright, such as red, gold or silver metallic so that it will stand out.

Brief description of the drawings Three display units in accordance with the first aspect of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an exploded perspective view of a first display unit; Figure 2 is a front view of the display unit of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a section through 1 - 1 of Figure 2; Figure 4 is an exploded perspective view of a second display unit; and, Figure 5 is an exploded perspective view of a third display unit.

Description of the preferred embodiments A first display unit 1 comprises a display board 2 and a lamp 3 to illuminate the display. The whole assembly is surrounded by a frame 4.

The display board 2 comprises a transparent Perspex sheet 5 backed with a mirror 6. The mirror 6 is an acrylic sheet consisting of a tinted sheet 7 backed with a silver metallic foil backing 8. The tinted sheet is blue, green or gold. Such a mirror is sold by Visijar Tucker under the Trade Mark Plexiglas or Mir-acril. The mirror 6 is sandwiched flat against the back of the transparent perspex sheet 5 with no air gap between the two.

In order to hold the diplay board 2 together, the frame has a sufficient depth of, for example, four centimeters to make the display board 2 stand out from the wall or other surface on which it is to be hung. The sandwiched sheets 6 are held in place by spring steel clips 9 which bear against the back of the sheet 6 and the inside of the frame 4. Since the depth of the perspex sheet 5 is typically five millimeters and the depth of the mirror sheet 6 is three millimeters, there is no difficulty in accommodating the spring steel clips 9 in place.

The illumination ofthe board is achieved using two neon tubes 3. One lies along the top edge of the board 2 and one lies along the bottom edge of the board 2. The top and bottom edges of the perspex sheet 5 and the mirror 6 are chamfered at an angle 45which maximisesthe amount of lighttransmitted down through the sheets. The chamfered edges are highly polished again to increase the amount of light transmitted.

The frame 4 surrounding the display unit is brightly coloured of gold, silver or red to make the framework stand out.

The perspex sheet 5 may then have a message written or painted on it with phosphorous containing crayons or paints. The effect of the light passing along the perspex sheet 5 and the mirror 6 and the reflection in the mirror 6 will create a plurality of images of the message. Each of the messages will be a slightly different colour which gives a spectacular effect.

One example of crayons which have this high phosphorous content are sold as "Lyra Crayons" by Lyra Pencil Factory.

The acrylic sheet 5 has a permanent border design 10 silkscreened onto it in different colour inks. The inks used in some cases are those known as "DAYGLO" which give a spectacular outstanding effect.

In a second example of a display unit, the display board comprises a transparent perspex sheet 5 backed by a white sheet 2. The construction of the display unit is as described with reference to the first display unit. The only difference is that in this case there is no mirror behing the perspex sheet 5, only a white backing sheet 2.

The resulting display unit may be used in daylight which means that the display unit can be used in shop windows.

The third display unit is similar to the second display unit having all the described features but also including between the white backing sheet 2 and the perspex sheet 5 a tinted sheet 6. The tinted sheet 6 is of a bright pink. In this case the white background acts as a reflector behind the pink sheet 6 and gives a very spectacular effect which is used to advantage on a board such as a cocktail board.

Claims (12)

1. A display unit for displaying an item or message comprising a display board and a lamp to illuminate the display, in which the display board comprises a transparent sheet backed by a backing sheet in which the transparent sheet is adapted to receive the item or message to be displayed; the lamp lies along at least one edge of the display board so that it transmits light through at least part of the sheet; and, in which the backing sheet is light reflective and is of a colour which is predominantly light reflective rather than light absorbent.

2. A display unit for displaying an item or message comprising a display board and a lamp to illuminate the display, in which the display board comprises a transparent sheet backed by a mirror, the sheet being adapted to receive the item or message to be displayed, and in which the lamp lies along at least one edge of the display board so that is transmits light through at least part of the sheet.

3. A display unit according to Claim 2, in which the mirror is tinted with a colour such as blue, red or gold.

4. A display unit according to Claim 2, in which the mirror is a proprietary acrylic mirror consisting of a tinted sheet with a silver foil backing.

5. A display unit for displaying an item or message comprising a display board and a lamp to illuminate the display, the display board comprising a transparent sheet backed by a backing sheet, the transparent sheet adapted to receive the time or message to be displayed and in which the lamp lies along at least one edge of the display board so that it transmits a light through at least part of the sheet which is characterised in that the backing sheet is white.

6. A display unit according to any one of the preceding claims, in which, the inside faces of the surrounding frame about the display board are faced with metallic silvered foil tape to reflect the maximum amount of light into the unit.

7. A display unit according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the lamp comprises two neon tubes lying along opposite edges of the sheet.

8. A display unit according to any one of the preceding claims, in which the lamp comprises at least one neon tube and, in which each edge of the sheet along which a neon tube lies is chamfered at an angle of about 45" which maximises the amount of light transmitted down through the sheet.

9. A display unit arranged substantially as herein described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A display unit arranged substantially as herein described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A display unit arranged substantially as herein described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

12. A display unit for displaying an item or message comprising a display boad, and a lamp to illuminate the display, in which the display board comprises a transparent sheet backed by a perforated backing sheet, the transparent sheet being adapted to receive the item or message to be displayed, and in which the lamp comprises a first lamp lying along the edge of the display board so that is transmits light through at least part of the sheet, and a second lamp or multiple lamp lying behind a rotating perforated disc behind the perforated backing sheet, so that when the disc rotates the holes or slots in both the disc and the backing sheet will intermittently align to allow light through to the transparent sheet.