Load indicating apparatus

Claim 1

LOAD INDICATING APPARATUS FOR INDICATING A PLURALITY OF LOAD RANGES, THE APPARATUS COMPRISING: A FRAME HAVING AN ANNULAR REFLECTING SURFACE; A DISK-LIKE NUMERAL MADE OF LIGHT TRANSMITTING MATERIAL MOUNTED ON SAID FRAME FOR ROTATION ABOUT A HORIZONTAL AXIS, THE NUMERAL PLATE BEING SPACED FROM SAID FRAME IN A DIRECTION ALONG SAID ROTATIONAL AXIS; LIGHT MEANS CONNECTED WITH SAID FRAME AND DISPOSED ABOUT THE PERIPHERY OF SAID NUMERAL PLATE FOR TRANSMITTING ILLUMINATION INTO THE SPACE BETWEEN SAID FRAME AND SAID NUMERAL PLATE SO THAT SAID REFLECTING SURFACE WILL REFLECT THE LIGHT THROUGH SAID NUMERAL PLATE; LIGHT TRANSMITTING MEANS FORMING A PLURALITY OF SETS OF NUMERALS ON THE FACE OF SAID NUMERAL PLATE, EACH SET INDICATING LOAD VALUES FOR A LOAD RANGE, THE NUMERALS BEING DISPOSED AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE PLATE AND EACH NUMERAL BEING LOCATED ALONG A RADIUS WITH THE VIEWING AXIS OF THE NUMERAL ORIENTED TRANSVERSE ITS RADIUS, THE LOCUS OF THE NUMERALS BEING AN ANNULUS; A DISK-LIKE WINDOW PLATE SPACED FROM SAID NUMERAL PLATE IN A DIRECTION ALONG SAID ROTATIONAL AXIS AND FIXEDLY INTERCONNECTED WITH SAID FRAME, THE WINDOW PLATE HAVING A PLURALITY OF ELONGATED OPENINGS EXPOSING NUMERALS AND THE NUMERAL PLATE TO VIEW AND THE LOCUS OF THE OPENINGS BEING AN ANNULUS COAXIAL WITH FIRST SAID ANNULUS AND THE NUMERALS AS VIEWED THROUGH THE OPENINGS BEING IN THE NORMAL READING POSITION; SPACER RING MADE OF LIGHT TRANSMITTING MATERIAL EXTENDING AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID WINDOW PLATE AND FIXEDLY INTERCONNECTED THEREWITH; A DISK-LIKE TRANSPARENT MEMBER MOUNTED ON SAID SPACER RING; AN ANNULAR-SHAPED RING EXTENDING BETWEEN SAID FRAME AND THE PERIPHERY OF SAID TRANSPARENT MEMBER AND FORMING A CLOSURE FOR SAID LIGHT MEANS, SAID WINDOW PLATE AND SAID NUMERAL PLATE, THE ANNULAR-SHAPED RING HAVING A REFLECTING SURFACE REFLECTING LIGHT FROM SAID LIGHT MEANS THROUGH SAID LIGHT TRANSMITTING MEMBER ONTO THE PERIPHERAL AREA OF SAID WINDOW PLATE OCCUPIED BY SAID WINDOWS; AND MEANS TO ROTATE SAID NUMERAL PLATE TO BRING A SINGLE SET OF SAID NUMERALS INTO ALIGNMENT WITH SAID OPENINGS AND THEREBY BE EXPOSED TO VIEW THROUGH SAID TRANSPARENT MEMBER, THE MATERIAL OF SAID NUMERAL PLATE AND THE MATERIAL OF SAID NUMERALS HAVING DIFFERENT LIGHT TRANSMITTING CHARACTERISTICS SO THAT AS VIEWED THERE IS DIFFERENT OPTICAL CONTRAST BETWEEN THE NUMERALS AND THE PLATE.