IE43521B1 - Illuminated indicator board - Google Patents

Abstract

An illuminated indicator board of the class comprising a plurality of lamps and means for selectively illuminating the lamps in different combinations to present respective different numbers, or the like.

Description

Phis invention relates to an illuminated indicator board, for example a numeric indicator board for use in sports stadia.

Clluminated indicator boards currently in use employ either Lamp boxes or systems of fluorescent tubes for forming the Illuminated numerals or other characters or symbols.

L conventional lamp box comprises a matrix of twenty four Incandescent bulbs arranged in six rows, each row containing :our bulbs, and illumination of the appropriate combination of julbs permits the formation of any number between zero and nine, i lamp box indicator uses 40 watt or 25 watt bulbs. In order ;o form the numeral five with a lamp box, thirteen bulbs must >e lit and this represents a power consumption of 520 watts jr 325 watts depending on which wattage bulb is used. [he use of fluorescent tubes also involves a high power :onsumption. Fluorescent tubes have the added disadvantage .n that they are not readily adaptable for the constant iwitching on and off which is required irt the case of an .ndicator board. Despite the incorporation of rapid start lechanisms, the fluorescent tubes are found to flicker and ience it can be difficult to read the indicator board.

In the case of both lamp boxes and fluorescent tubes ihe high power consumption also results in considerable feneration of heat which cracks glass or scorches and >uckles plastics materials in the windows of an indicator ioard. In order to overcome the problem of heat eneration it is necessary to use expensive heat resistant laterials in the fabrication of illuminated indicator boards. ,n embodiment of this invention described hereinbelow does ot have the aforementioned disadvantages and 43581 has a lower power consumption than conventional illuminated indicator hoards.

According to the present invention there is provided an illuminated indicator hoard comprising nine elongate neon tubes arranged as three pairs of tubes with each pair of tubes disposed end-to-end in a generally upright position and substantially parallel to the other two pairs of tubes and three substantially parallel eingle tubes extending respectively across the top ends of the three pairs of tubes, across the bottom ends of the three pairs of tubes, end between the adjacent tubes of each pair, the board further comprising at least one transformer for stepping up the voltage from a mains supply to provide a current at sufficiently high voltage to each tube to illuminate said tube, and means for selectively connecting different combinations of said tubes to the mains supply via said transformer^) so as to display any one of a plurality of predetermined numerals or the like by illumination of the selected combination of tubes. lhe invention will be understood from the following description of an embodiment thereof given by way of example only with refer20 ®nce to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of a portion of a numeral indicator board embodying the invention; and Figures2A and ZB illustrate the relay circuit associated with the tubes of Figure 1.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings, there is shown a single numeral display position of a numeral indicator board, indicated generally at 10, having a plurality of such positions, lhe numeral display position shown has nine elongate neon tubee 11, 9 in length, mounted thereon in sockets 12, six jQof the neon tubes 11 being mounted in a generally vertical manner <33§>££ sad tho regaining throe tubes being mounted horizontally. Illumination of various coabinatioas of the neon tabes 11, individually indicated by tho letters a to i, penults the formation of any srsasol between s®ro aaS nine me herainskftttx- daeoribed. Xn part5 icalar, tho nine neon tubee ere arranged as three pairs of tubes *, :.· with each pair disposed end-to-end in a generally upright position end substantially parallel to the other two pairs of tubes and three substantially parallel eingle tubes a/e/i extending respectively across the top ends of the three pairs of tubes, between the adjacent tubes of each pair, and across the bottom ends of the three pairs of tubes.

Each neon tube 11 has associated therewith a transformer for stopping up the voltage from a mains supply from 230v to lOOOv end thereby providing the necessary current at high-voltage to illuminate tbe neon tubes. The supply of current to the transformer is controlled by a relay circuit which oan he operated by a conventional computer control circuit, or by a manually operated switch. The olosnre of a different combination of any two of five relays on a printed oirouit board associated with each humeral display position selects a respective different combination of tubes 11 for illumination, so as to display any one of the numerals 0 to 9. For example, selection and illumination of tubes a, d, e, h, and i, forms the numeral three. Each relay operates at a voltage of 24 volts to tie in with the conventional opsr25 ating voltage of & cor^uter, but the indicator board is also suitable for operation by a manually operated double-pole rotary switoh.

The relay oirouit is shown in detail in Figure 2A. Each of the five relays 1 to 5 comprises a plurality of sets of relay contacts, each set comprising a group of three contacts of which the middle contact is in electrical connection with the upper oontaot in the unenergised state of the relay. The sets of contacts associated with each relay are shown in respective vertical columns of Figure 21. It will be seen that each relay comprises eight sets of oontacts grouped into two grpups a and b. 43531 The five relays are connected in parallel, each between a common ground and a respective energising terminal 1' to?1, see Figure 2B. Application of a 24 volt d.c. potential to an energising terminal causes energisation of the respective relay, whereby all eight of the associated contact sets caused to switch over so that the middle contact makes electrical connection with the lower contact and breaks electrical connection with the upper contact.

The interconnection of the relays between the 230 volt a.c. mains and the individual tubes a to i, Figure 2A, is such that the energisation of each different combination of two relays, by application of a 24 volt potential at their respective energising terminals, causes application of the mains voltage to a different combination of tube transformers, whereby any one of the numerals zero to nine can be formed. It is to be understood that the capital letters A. to I. in Figure 2A represent the transformers of the tubes a to i respectively.

The different combinations of relays which are to be energised for producing the respective numerals is shown in Table 1, together with the combination of tubes which will be illuminated in each case.

NUMERAL RELAYS TUBES 1 1 and 2 £,3. axSw^f,i 2 1 and 3 3 4 1 1 and and 4 5 a,&,e,h,i ibc/Lg “ 5 2 and 3 a,b,e_,h,i 6 2 and 4 a,b,e,f,h,i 7 2 and 5 a»d,h 8 3 and 4 9 3 and 5 a,b,d,<3yh,i 0 4 and 5 a, b, d, f, h, i_ TABLE 1 osai As mentioned previously, the supply of energising voltage to the selected two of the terminals 1’ to 5’ is preferably effected under computer control. However, selection of the relays may alternatively be effected by a manually operated switch which in each of ten positions supplies energising voltage to a respective different pair of terminals 1’ to 5*· It will be appreciated that in an alternative embodiment of the invention a single transformer may be used to step up the voltage from a mains supply and the current at high voltage provided thereby fed through a relay circuit to the neon tubes, there being means for selectively energising the relays in different combinations so as to illuminate the various combinations of tubes as required. Such a system necessitates the use of high tension relay contacts.

IJeon tubes are ideally suited for use in indicator boards on account of their adaptability, high luminosity and brilliant colours. The neon tubes employed may contain a high percentage of neon gas, giving the characteristic orange-red colour or they may be of different colours.

The use of neon tubes in indicator boards results in a considerable saving in power consumption over conventional numeral.'indicator boards. For example, the average power consumption per numeral of a conventional lamp box type indicator board using 25 watt bulbs is 265w whereas the average power consumption of a neon type indicator board using 10 watt neon tubeB is 49 watts. A comparison of the power consumption of a conventional lamp box indicator board, using 25 watt bulbs, with the neon tube indicator board described above, io outlined in Table 2. 43321 Φ tt to μ μ nJ ϊ Ϊ o o o VD co O'· II II tl o o o ι—ι H «—I XXX νο n o* 3 o o CO CO II II O O rH rH X X VD VD £ cn ·<* II u CO Φ 0 X μ fi φ ϋ •rl iw Ό * 0 fi H . fi 0 8 0 Φ 8 VD Power consumption comparison table Φ tt Φ μ Φ in ·—ι II m OJ X VD > 2 in in > o* OJ OJ II il in in OJ OJ X X r*I rH £ z tn in o* oj oj ω II II in m OJ OJ X X rH n ι—I rH O in O M m oj II II in tn oj oj X X OJ Ch S & O tn tn ooi oj II II tn tn oj oj X X Ο H Η H 3= o o co II tn OJ X OJ rH OJ rH Average Wattage = 265 w Average Wattage The formation of the numeral five in the lamp box type indicator board employing 25 w bulbs involves the lighting of thirteen bulbs and results in a power consumption of 325 watts as hereinabove described. Formation of the numeral five with the present system involves the use of five neon tubes with a power consumption of approx. 5 x 10 or 50 watts thus demonstrating the saving in power consumption with the present system.

It is also found that the neon tube indicator board described above has greater legibility than conventional indicators.

Claims (8)

1. CLAIMS:43521

1. An illuminated indicator board comprising nine elongate neon tubes arranged as three pairs of tubes with each pair of tubee disposed end-to-end in a generally upright position and substantially parallel to the other two pairs of tubes and three substantially parallel eingle tubes extending respectively across the top ends of the three pairs of tubes, across the bottom ends of the three pairs of tubes, and between the adjacent tubes of each pair, the board further comprising at least one transformer for stepping up the voltage from a mains supply to provide a current at sufficiently high voltage to each tube to illuminate said tube, and means for selectively connecting different combinations of said tubes to the mains supply via said traasformer(s) so as to display any one of a plurality of predetermined numerals or the like by illumination of the selected combination of tubee.

2. An indicator board as claimed in claim 1, wherein a respective transformer is associated with each tube for stepping up the voltage from a mains supply to provide a current at sufficiently high voltage to illuminate the tube, and wherein the selective connecting means comprises means for selectively connecting different combinations of the transformers to the mains supply. J. An indicator board as claimed in claim 2, wherein the selective connecting means comprises a plurality of relays connected between the mains supply and the transformers, and means for selectively energising the relays in different combinations,

3. 4. An indicator board as claimed in claim. .}, wherein the selective connecting means comprises five multi-contact relays connected in such a manner that the energisation of each different combination of the two relays causes application of the mains supply to a different combination of transformers.

4. 5. An indicator board as claimed in claim 1, wherein a single transformer is provided and the selective connecting means comprises a plurality of relays connected between the transformer and the neon tubes and means for selectively energising the relays in different combinations.

5. 6. An indicator board as claimed in claims 3 to 5» wherein the selective energisation of the relays is under computer control.

6. 7. An indicator board as claimed in claims 3 to 5» wherein fhe selective energisation of the relays is effected by a manually operated switch.

7.

8. An illuminated indicator board substantially as described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.