Solid state sign system

Claim 2

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized, control means for the lamps comprising: tape-reading means for reading columns of binarycoded characters extending across a tape, a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each circuit having register stages positioned according to the position of the lamps in the associated row of lamps in the bank for effecting energization of the associated lamps when lampenergizing markers appear therein, a series of character memory shift register circuits, there being one such circuit for each row of lamps in the bank, each of the latter circuits having a number of stages corresponding to the largest number of lamps in a row which are energized by the widest character to be displayed on the sign, decoding means coupled between said input reading means and said character memory shift register circuits and responsive to the column of binary-coded characters being read by said input-reading means for storing lamp-energizing markers in the stages of the various character memory shift register circuits in accordance with the pattern of lamps to be energized for the character involved, shift register advancing means for progressively advancing the pattern of lamp-energizing markers in the various character memory shift register circuits from the stages at the end associated with the right-hand group of lamps in the bank to the stages at the other end thereof, means interconnecting the corresponding character memory and lamp control shift register circuits so that the two circuits form a single overall shift register system for the lamp-energizing markers proceeding in columnar order from the character shift memory unit through the lamp control shift register circuits, and character read control means responsive to the removal of all the lamp-energizing markers from the character memory shift register circuits for effecting the reading and decoding of coded information of said tape representing the next character on the tape and the feeding of corresponding lamp-energizing markers into the empty stages of the character memory shift register circuits.

Claim 3

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized, control means for the lamps comprising: input-reading means for reading columns of binary-coded information fed thereto one column at a time, each column of information representing a character to be displayed, a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each circuit having register stages positioned according to the position of the lamps in the associated row of lamps in the bank for effecting energization of the associated lamps when lamp-energizing markers appear therein, a series of character memory shift register circuits, there being one such circuit for each row of lamps in the bank, each of the latter circuits having a number of stages corresponding to the largest number of lamps in a row which are energized by the widest character to be displayed on the sign, decoding means coupled between said input-reading means and said character memory shift register circuits and responsive to the column of binary-coded characters being read by said input reading means for storing lamp-energizing markers in the stages of the various character memory shift register circuits in accordance with the pattern of lamps to be energized for the character involved, shift register advancing means for progressively advancing the pattern of lamp-energizing markers in the various character memory shift register circuits from the stAges at the end associated with the right-hand group of lamps in the bank to the stages at the other end thereof, means interconnecting the corresponding character memory and lamp control shift register circuits so that the two circuits form a single overall shift register system for the lamp-energizing markers proceeding in columnar order from the character shift memory unit through the lamp control shift register circuits, and character read control means responsive to the removal of all the lamp-energizing markers from the character memory shift register circuits for effecting the reading and decoding of a new column of coded information by said input reading means and decoding means and the feeding of corresponding lamp-energizing markers into the empty stages of the character memory shift register circuits.

Claim 4

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized, control means for the lamps comprising: input-reading means for reading columns of binary-coded information fed thereto one column at a time, each column of information representing a character to be displayed, a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each circuit having register stages positioned according to the position of the lamps in the associated row of lamps in the bank for effecting energization of the associated lamps when lamp-energizing markers appear therein, a series of character memory shift register circuits, there being one such circuit for each row of lamps in the bank, each of the latter circuits having a number of stages corresponding to the largest number of lamps in a row which are energized by the widest character to be displayed on the sign, decoding means coupled between said input-reading means and said character memory shift register circuits and responsive to the column of binary-coded characters being read by said input reading means for storing lamp-energizing markers in the stages of the various character memory shift register circuits in accordance with the pattern of lamps to be energized for the character involved, shift register advancing means for progressively advancing the pattern of lamp-energizing markers in the various character memory shift register circuits from the stAges at the end associated with the right-hand group of lamps in the bank to the stages at the other end thereof, means interconnecting the corresponding character memory and lamp control shift register circuits so that the two circuits form a single overall shift register system for the lamp-energizing markers proceeding in columnar order from the character shift memory unit through the lamp control shift register circuits, and character read control means responsive to the removal of all the lamp-energizing markers from the character memory shift register circuits for effecting the reading and decoding of a new column of coded information by said input reading means and decoding means and the feeding of corresponding lamp-energizing markers into the empty stages of the character memory shift register circuits.

Claim 5

The sign system of claim 2 wherein said character read control means is a shift register circuit including a number of stages equal to the number of stages in each of the character memory shift register circuits and additional stages corresponding to the number of deenergized columns of lamp bank forming the space between successive character elements in a word or number grouping to be displayed on the lamp bank, decoding means responsive to the binary-coded character read by said input-reading means at any instant for storing a single marker in the stage of the character read shift register circuit which is spaced a number of stages from the last stage thereof proportional to the width of the character involved, and means shifting said latter marker one stage at a time toward the output thereof in synchronism with the feeding of lamp-energizing markers one column at a time from the character memory shift register circuits to the lamp control shift register circuits, and means for feeding a new column of coded information to said input-reading means as said single marker has been advanced through all of the stages of said character read shift register circuit.

Claim 6

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized to form a running sign, control means for the lamp bank comprising input-reading means for reading information representing alphabet and/or numeral characters into the sign system, said input-reading means including character advance signal input terminal means for bringing a new character into a reading position when an advance signal is fed thereto; a light control circuit associated with each lamp in said bank, each light control circuit including a lamp-energizing bistable unit associated with each lamp in the bank operable in either of two states representing a set and a reset state, means for energizing each lamp when the associated bistable unit is in the reset state, means responsive to the information read by said input-reading means for operating the lamp-energizing bistable units associated with the group of lamps at the right end of the lamp bank in a pattern of conductive set states which will energize the group of lamps involved to reproduce the corresponding character, and bistable condition sensing means for each pair of bistable units associated with an adjacent pair of lamps of the bank, the bistable units and bistable condition sensing means associated with each row of lamps in the bank constituting a shift register circuit, advance signal input terminal means for each shift register circuit, each bistable condition sensing means being responsive respectively to the set and reset states of the lamp-energizing bistable unit of the right-hand lamp of each of said pairs of lamps by respectively setting and resetting the other bistable unit of the left-hand lamp of the pairs when an advance signal is fed to the advance signal input terminal means of the shift register circuit involved, each of said bistable condition sensing means being an intermediate bistable unit between each pair of lamp-energizing bistable units associated with an adjacent pair of lamps in a row of lamps in the bank and having a set and a reset state, means for periodically first resetting simultaneously all set lamp-energizing bistable units and thereafter simultaneously resetting all set intermediate bistable units, means responsive to the change of any light energizing bistable unit from a set to a reset state for setting the following intermediate bistable unit before the next resetting operation, means responsive to the change of an intermediate bistable unit from a set to a reset state by setting the associated following lamp-energizing bistable unit, wherein a shift register circuit is formed by all of the bistable units associated with the lamps in each row of the lamp bank and the set state of a lamp-energizing energizing bistable unit is transferred to the following lamp-energizing bistable unit each reset cycle, and means for feeding an advance signal to said advance input terminal means of said input-reading means during each reset cycle and to read progressively new character information into said shift register circuits.

Claim 7

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized to form a running sign, control means for the lamp bank comprising input-reading means for reading information representing alphabet and/or numeral characters into the sign system, said input-reading means including character advance signal input terminal means for bringing a new character into a reading position when an advance signal is fed thereto; a light control circuit associated with each lamp in said bank, each light control circuit including a lamp-energizing bistable unit associated with each lamp in the bank operable in either of two states representing a set and a reset state, means for energizing each lamp when the associated bistable unit is in the reset state, means responsive to the information read by said input-reading means for operating the lamp-energizing bistable units associated with the group of lamps at the right end of the lamp bank in a pattern of conductive set states which will energize the group of lamps involved to reproduce the corresponding character, and bistable condition sensing means for each pair of bistable units associated with an adjacent pair of lamps of the bank, the bistable units and bistable condition sensing means associated with each row of lamps in the bank constituting a shift register circuit, advance signal input terminal means for each shift register circuit, each bistable condition sensing means being responsive respectively to the set and reset states of the lamp-energizing bistable unit of the right-hand lamp of each of said pairs of lamps by respectively setting and resetting the other bistable unit of the left-hand lamp of the pairs when an advance signal is fed to the advance signal input terminal means of the shift register circuit involved, each of said bistable condition sensing means being an intermediate bistable unit between each pair of lamp-energizing bistable units associated with an adjacent pair of lamps in a row of lamps in the bank and having a set and a reset state, means for periodically first resetting simultaneously all set lamp-energizing bistable units and thereafter simultaneously resetting all set intermediate bistable units, means responsive to the change of any light energizing bistable unit from a set to a reset state for setting the following intermediate bistable unit before the next resetting operation, means responsive to the change of an intermediate bistable unit from a set to a reset state by setting the associated following lamp-energizing bistable unit, wherein a shift register circuit is formed by all of the bistable units associated with the lamps in each row of the lamp bank and the set state of a lamp-energizing energizing bistable unit is transferred to the following lamp-energizing bistable unit each reset cycle, and means for feeding an advance signal to said advance input terminal means of said input-reading means during each reset cycle and to read progressively new character information into said shift register circuits.

Claim 8

The sign system of claim 4 wherein there is provided a lamp between each of said adjacent pairs of lamps in each row of lamps in the lamp bank controlled by a pair of lamp-energizing bistable units, and means responsive to the setting and resetting of each intermediate bistable unit making up each shift register circuit for respectively energizing and deenergizing the lamp between the lamps controlled by the associated pair of lamp-energizing bistable units.

Claim 9

The sign system of claim 4 wherein the sign system is a running sign system and there is provided means responsive to the set state of each bistable unit of said shift register circuits associated with a given lamp for energizing in addition only the lamp to the left of the said given lamp for as long as said given bistable unit remains in a set state, whereby the latter lamp has additional time to warmup.

Claim 10

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized to form a lighted sign, control means for the lamp bank comprising: input-reading means for reading sign information fed thereto; a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each shift register circuit having register stages each for energizing and deenergizing the correspondingly positioned lamp in the associated row of lamps when lamp-energizing markers are respectively present and absent therein; a lamp control circuit associated with each lamp in said bank, each lamp control circuit including a source of energizing voltage having the waveform of a rectified periodic AC voltage, a gated means having a control terminal for triggering the gated means into a conductive state to energize the associated lamp when a given control voltage is fed thereto and load terminals connected in series with said voltage source wherein the gated means is automatically returned to a controllable state at the end of each half cycle current pulsation passing therethrough; means responsive to the presence of a lamp-energizing marker in a stage of each shift register circuit for feeding said given control voltage to the control terminal of the associated dated means for as long as the marker remains therein, and for removing said control voltage therefrom as long as the lamp-energizing marker is absent from the associated shift state thereof remains; means responsive to the information read by said input-reading means for placing lamp-energizing markers in the shift register stages associated with the lamps at the right end of the lamp bank in a pattern corresponding to the particular character involved; and means for advancing the lamp-energizing markers in said shift register circuits and for feeding new information to said input-reading means, the advancement of said lamp-energizing markers in the shift register circuits occurring after the beginning of each half cycle current pulsation passing through said gated Means.

Claim 11

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized to form a lighted sign, control means for the lamp bank comprising: input-reading means for reading sign information fed thereto; a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each shift register circuit having register stages each for energizing and deenergizing the correspondingly positioned lamp in the associated row of lamps when lamp-energizing markers are respectively present and absent therein; a lamp control circuit associated with each lamp in said bank, each lamp control circuit including a source of energizing voltage having the waveform of a rectified periodic AC voltage, a gated means having a control terminal for triggering the gated means into a conductive state to energize the associated lamp when a given control voltage is fed thereto and load terminals connected in series with said voltage source wherein the gated means is automatically returned to a controllable state at the end of each half cycle current pulsation passing therethrough; means responsive to the presence of a lamp-energizing marker in a stage of each shift register circuit for feeding said given control voltage to the control terminal of the associated dated means for as long as the marker remains therein, and for removing said control voltage therefrom as long as the lamp-energizing marker is absent from the associated shift state thereof remains; means responsive to the information read by said input-reading means for placing lamp-energizing markers in the shift register stages associated with the lamps at the right end of the lamp bank in a pattern corresponding to the particular character involved; and means for advancing the lamp-energizing markers in said shift register circuits and for feeding new information to said input-reading means, the advancement of said lamp-energizing markers in the shift register circuits occurring after the beginning of each half cycle current pulsation passing through said gated Means.

Claim 12

The sign system of claim 7 wherein said advancing means effects successive lamp-energizing marker advancement at instances spaced apart several half cycles of the current pulsations passing through said gated means, wherein the lamps have a chance to warmup to produce adequate light.

Claim 13

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized to form a lighted sign, control means for the lamp bank comprising: input reading means for reading sign information fed thereto on a record medium and including information advance signal input terminal means for bringing new information on the record medium into reading position when an advance signal is fed thereto; a lamp control circuit associated with each lamp in said bank, each lamp control circuit including a source of energizing voltage have the waveform of a rectified periodic AC voltage, a gated means having a control terminal for triggering the gated means into a conducting state to energize the associated lamp when a given control voltage is fed thereto and load terminals connected in series with said voltage source wherein the gated means is automatically returned to a controllable state at the end of each half cycle current pulsation passing therethrough, a bistable unit including a pair of cross-coupled current control devices operable in either of two stable states of conduction where the devices are respectively both in a conducting and both in a nonconducting state and wherein a momentary change of state of either device will drive both devices to a stable condition in the new state, means responsive to the conductive state of the bistable unit for feeding said given control voltage to the control terminal of the associated gated diode for as long as the conductive state thereof remains, and means interconnecting all the bistable units associated with each row of lamps to form a separate shift register with advance signal input terminal means for advancing a given pattern of conductive and nonconductive states of the various bistable units in the shift register in a given direction therein when advance signals are fed to said terminal means; means responsive to the information read by said input-reading means for operating the bistable units in a pattern of conductive states which will energize the lamps to produce the corresponding information on the lamp bank; and means for feeding in synchronism periodically and at the same frequency information advance signals to said information advance signal input terminal of said input-reading means and shift register advance signals to said advance signal input terminal means of the shift register associated with the respective rows of lamps of the lamp bank, said shift register advance signals occurring after the beginning of each half cycle current pulsation passing through said gated means.

Claim 14

In a sign system including a lamp bank containing rows and columns of lamps to be energized to form a lighted sign, control means for the lamp bank comprising: input reading means for reading sign information fed thereto on a record medium and including information advance signal input terminal means for bringing new information on the record medium into reading position when an advance signal is fed thereto; a lamp control circuit associated with each lamp in said bank, each lamp control circuit including a source of energizing voltage have the waveform of a rectified periodic AC voltage, a gated means having a control terminal for triggering the gated means into a conducting state to energize the associated lamp when a given control voltage is fed thereto and load terminals connected in series with said voltage source wherein the gated means is automatically returned to a controllable state at the end of each half cycle current pulsation passing therethrough, a bistable unit including a pair of cross-coupled current control devices operable in either of two stable states of conduction where the devices are respectively both in a conducting and both in a nonconducting state and wherein a momentary change of state of either device will drive both devices to a stable condition in the new state, means responsive to the conductive state of the bistable unit for feeding said given control voltage to the control terminal of the associated gated diode for as long as the conductive state thereof remains, and means interconnecting all the bistable units associated with each row of lamps to form a separate shift register with advance signal input terminal means for advancing a given pattern of conductive and nonconductive states of the various bistable units in the shift register in a given direction therein when advance signals are fed to said terminal means; means responsive to the information read by said input-reading means for operating the bistable units in a pattern of conductive states which will energize the lamps to produce the corresponding information on the lamp bank; and means for feeding in synchronism periodically and at the same frequency information advance signals to said information advance signal input terminal of said input-reading means and shift register advance signals to said advance signal input terminal means of the shift register associated with the respective rows of lamps of the lamp bank, said shift register advance signals occurring after the beginning of each half cycle current pulsation passing through said gated means.

Claim 15

In a combined running and stationary sign system including a lamp bank containing the rows and columns of lamps to be energized, control means for the lamps comprising: input-reading means for reading sign information units fed thereto, a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each shift register circuit having register stages each for energizing and deenergizing the correspondingly positioned lamps in the associated row of lamps when lamp-energized markers are respectively present and absent therein, means for storing lamp-energizing markers in the stages of said shift register circuits associated with the group of lamps on the right side of the bank in a pattern corresponding to the sign information unit currently read by said input-reading means, shift register advancing means for normally advancing at a given rate lamp-energizing markers stored in the stages of said lamp control shift register circuits associated with the group of lamps on the right side of the bank toward the end thereof associated with the lamps at tHe left side of the bank, means for sequentially effecting readout of new sign information units by said input-reading means, means responsive to the reading by said input-reading means of information indicating that the running sign is to be stopped by momentarily terminating for a given predetermined period the advance of the lamp-energizing markers in said shift register circuits by said shift register advancing means and the feeding of new sign information units to said input-reading means, to provide a stationary sign on said lamp bank, and means responsive to the reading by said input-reading means of information indicating that the running sign is to be stopped for automatically reducing the average current flowing through the lamps of the lamp bank when a stationary sign is displayed on said lamp bank wherein the intensity of the light from the lamp is more nearly equal for the running and stationary signs on the lamp bank.

Claim 16

In a combined running and stationary sign system including a lamp bank containing the rows and columns of lamps to be energized, control means for the lamps comprising: input-reading means for reading sign information units fed thereto, a series of lamp control shift register circuits, there being one such shift register circuit for each row of lamps in the bank and each shift register circuit having register stages each for energizing and deenergizing the correspondingly positioned lamps in the associated row of lamps when lamp-energized markers are respectively present and absent therein, means for storing lamp-energizing markers in the stages of said shift register circuits associated with the group of lamps on the right side of the bank in a pattern corresponding to the sign information unit currently read by said input-reading means, shift register advancing means for normally advancing at a given rate lamp-energizing markers stored in the stages of said lamp control shift register circuits associated with the group of lamps on the right side of the bank toward the end thereof associated with the lamps at tHe left side of the bank, means for sequentially effecting readout of new sign information units by said input-reading means, means responsive to the reading by said input-reading means of information indicating that the running sign is to be stopped by momentarily terminating for a given predetermined period the advance of the lamp-energizing markers in said shift register circuits by said shift register advancing means and the feeding of new sign information units to said input-reading means, to provide a stationary sign on said lamp bank, and means responsive to the reading by said input-reading means of information indicating that the running sign is to be stopped for automatically reducing the average current flowing through the lamps of the lamp bank when a stationary sign is displayed on said lamp bank wherein the intensity of the light from the lamp is more nearly equal for the running and stationary signs on the lamp bank.