Illuminated display indicator

Claim 2

An illuminated indicator for visually displaying indicia comprising: a. an opaque mask indicator member having a plurality of clear indicator bars provided therein arranged in the shape of a symbol; b. a rear lens positioned behind said opaque indicator member, said rear lens being fresneled to include a plurality of concentric circle segments for columnating the light which is caused to flow therethrough; c. a light source positioned behind said rear lens for transmitting light through said fresneled rear lens and through the indicator bars formed in said front indicator member for visually displaying a symbol on said front indicator member; and d. a movable shutter positioned between said indicator member and said rear lens, said shutter including a plurality of opaque bars for selectively blocking out one or more of the indicator bars formed in said front indicator member to display all or a portion of the symbol formed in said indicator member and said rear lens.

Claim 3

An illuminated display indicator as defined in claim 1 wherein a front lens having a front surface and a rear surface is placed in front of the front indicator member for dispersing the columnated light which flows through the front indicator member.

Claim 4

An illuminated display indicator as defined in claim 2 wherein said front lens includes a plurality of depressions formed in its rear surface for dispersing the light which flows through the front lens.

Claim 5

An illuminated display indicator for visually displaying numerals 0 thru 9 comprising: a. an opaque mask indicator member having a plurality of clear indicator bars provided therein arranged in the shape of a FIG. 8, said indicator bars including three generally parallel horizontal bars, and two pairs of vertical bars on opposite sides of the horizontal bars; b. a rear lens positioned behind said opaque indicator member, said rear lens being formed of a clear transparent plastic material and having a fresneled portion in the shape of a complete FIG. 8, said fresneled FIG. 8 being of the same size and shape as the FIG. 8 which is formed on the front indicator member with the plurality of indicator bars; c. a light source positioned behind said rear lens for transmitting light through said fresneled rear lens and through the indicator bars formed in said front indicator member for visually displaying a numeral on said front indicator member; and d. a movable shutter positioned between said front indicator member and said rear lens, said shutter including a plurality of opaque bars for selectively blocking out one or more of the indicator bars formed in said front indicator member to display all or a portion of the FIG. 8 formed in said front indicator member.

Claim 6

An illuminated display indicator for visually displaying numerals 0 thru 9 comprising: a. an opaque mask indicator member having a plurality of clear indicator bars provided therein arranged in the shape of a FIG. 8, said indicator bars including three generally parallel horizontal bars, and two pairs of vertical bars on opposite sides of the horizontal bars; b. a rear lens positioned behind said opaque indicator member, said rear lens being formed of a clear transparent plastic material and having a fresneled portion in the shape of a complete FIG. 8, said fresneled FIG. 8 being of the same size and shape as the FIG. 8 which is formed on the front indicator member with the plurality of indicator bars; c. a light source positioned behind said rear lens for transmitting light through said fresneled rear lens and through the indicator bars formed in said front indicator member for visually displaying a numeral on said front indicator member; and d. a movable shutter positioned between said front indicator member and said rear lens, said shutter including a plurality of opaque bars for selectively blocking out one or more of the indicator bars formed in said front indicator member to display all or a portion of the FIG. 8 formed in said front indicator member.

Claim 7

An illuminated digital display indicator as defined in claim 4 wherein the horizontal and vertical indicator bars are formed as slots in an opaque plate with the slots extending through the plate from one side of the plate to the other side of the plate.

Claim 8

An illuminated display indicator as defined in claim 5 wherein thin webbing extends through indicator bar slots in order to structurally support portions of the front indicator member.

Claim 9

An illuminated display indicator as defined in claim 5 wherein the opaque plate indicator member includes a front surface and a rear surface, and the indicator bar slots are tapered so that the width of the bar slots at the rear surface is less than the width of the bar slots at the front surface of the indicator member in order to optically increase the width of the indicator bars.

Claim 10

An illuminated display indicator as defined in claim 4 wherein the rear lens is blackened at the sides of the fresneled numeral 8 in order to reduce light leak from the edges of the fresneled numeral 8.

Claim 11

An illuminated display indicator as defined in claim 4 wherein the fresneled numeral 8 in the rear lens includes a plurality of concentric circular lens sections with the radius of the concentric circles increasing from the top left portion of the fresneled numeral 8 to the lower right portion of the fresneled numeral 8.