Animated display device having a curved platen and a movable film

Claim 1

In an illuminated animated display having a housing, illuminating means within said housing for projecting substantially uniformly diffused light forwardly toward a viewer, a rigid platen between the illuminating means and the viewer, the platen having sections of transparent and opaque character with light from the illuminating means passing through the transparent sections of the platen, a flexible sheet of film having translucent images thereon with only those portions of the images which register with the transparent sections of the platen being illuminated and projected, and tensioning means acting at opposite edges of the film for tensioning it over and in full surface contact with the platen, means for shifting the film and the platen relative to one another, comprising; a motor; a single cam rotatively driven by the motor; similar cranks pivotally mounted in spaced relation adjacent one of said opposite edges of the film; a link member connecting corresponding portions of said cranks for parallel movement of the cranks; drive links connecting corresponding portions of said cranks to said one of said opposite edges of the film; and a cam follower on one of said cranks and riding on said cam whereby rotation of said cam pivots said cranks to effect reciprocation of the film thereby extending and relaxing the tensioning means at the other of said opposite edges of the film so as to vary the alignment of the film images with the transparent and opaque sections and intermittently change the projected visual image.