Annunciator of modular construction

Claim 2

A module for a multi-module annunciator comprising, an elongated mother board mounted on the rear end of said housing and having on the front face thereof a multi-terminal connector for a light card and a plurality of multi-terminal connectors for point cards, a light card, means for slidably mounting said light card in said housing with connection to its connector, said light card having a plurality of light bulb receiving sockets, at least one point card, and means for slidably mounting a plurality of point cards in said housing with connection to its connector, a power supply mounted on a card having dimensions no greater than the cross-section of said housing, means mounting said card on the rear side of said mother board, means electrically connecting said power supply to said mother board, and a terminal board mounted to the rear of said power supply card and electrically connected to said multi-terminal connectors for said point cards, whereby as an annunciator is built up from modules, the total power supply is automatically sized to the size of the complete annunciator.

Claim 3

A module according to claim 1 in which said electrical connecting means comprises, a plurality of aligned sockets on said mother board and power supply card, respectively, and pins passing through said aligned sockets to connect said board to said power supply card.

Claim 4

A module according to claim 1 further comprising, said terminal board having connectors for a plurality of field contact inputs, said connectors being connected to a multi-terminal socket on said terminal board, and means including a plug for said multi-terminal socket electrically connecting said terminal board to the point card connectors on said mother board.

Claim 5

A module for an annunciator comprising, an elongated, hollow plastic housing of rectangular cross-section, a universal mother board mounted on the rear end of said housing and having on the front face thereof a multi-terminal connector for a light card and a plurality of multi-terminal connectors for point cards, said mother board having a rear face, said rear face having plural connectors adapted to receive plug-in connectors, said rear face connectors being connected to said multi-terminal connectors, whereby multiple modules may be interconnected in select arrays with plug-in connectors, a terminal board mounted to the rear of said mother board and having plural terminals to which conductors from field contacts are connected, means connecting said plural terminals to said mother board whereby field contacts are connected to said point card terminals via said terminal board and said mother board, a light card, means for slidably mounting said light card in said housing with connection to its connector, said light card having a plurality of light bulb receiving sockets, at least one point card, and means for slidably mounting a plurality of point cards in said housing with connection to its connector, whereby said module may easily be modified in the field to add additional point cards simply by inserting additional point cards into existing multi-terminal connectors.

Claim 6

A module for an annunciator comprising, an elongated, hollow plastic housing of rectangular cross-section, a universal mother board mounted on the rear end of said housing and having on the front face thereof a multi-terminal connector for a light card and a plurality of multi-terminal connectors for point cards, said mother board having a rear face, said rear face having plural connectors adapted to receive plug-in connectors, said rear face connectors being connected to said multi-terminal connectors, whereby multiple modules may be interconnected in select arrays with plug-in connectors, a terminal board mounted to the rear of said mother board and having plural terminals to which conductors from field contacts are connected, means connecting said plural terminals to said mother board whereby field contacts are connected to said point card terminals via said terminal board and said mother board, a light card, means for slidably mounting said light card in said housing with connection to its connector, said light card having a plurality of light bulb receiving sockets, at least one point card, and means for slidably mounting a plurality of point cards in said housing with connection to its connector, whereby said module may easily be modified in the field to add additional point cards simply by inserting additional point cards into existing multi-terminal connectors.

Claim 7

An annunciator comprising, a plurality of modules as in claim 4 mounted adjacent one another, a plurality of sockets on the rear face of said mother board, and a flat cable having plugs on each end interconnecting the sockets of all adjacent modules.

Claim 8

A module as in claim 4 further comprising, a reflector mounted on one end of said light card and normally fitting snugly within said housing, said reflector being cup-shaped and having a generally planar bottom wall integral with four side walls, said light card being perpendicular to said bottom wall and intersecting said bottom wall slightly offset from the center line of said bottom wall, the connector for said light card being similarly slightly offset from the center line of said mother board thereby permitting said light card to be applied to said connector in only one orientation.

Claim 9

A module as in claim 4 further comprising, a reflector mounted on one end of said light card, said reflector being cup-shaped and having a generally planar bottom wall integral with four side walls, slots formed in said side walls, dividers cooperating with said slots for selectively dividing said reflector into any of one, two, three and four compartments, a light bulb array mounted on said light board and adapted to provide at least one light bulb for each compartment.

Claim 10

A module as in claim 4 further comprising, a plurality of longitudinal slots on the opposed interior surfaces of said housing, point cards mounted in said slots, a connector mounted on one side of each point card, the point card connector on said mother board being located to one side of a plane defined by opposing slots and in alignment with the connector on said point card.

Claim 11

An annunciator comprising, a plurality of modules mounted adjacent to one another, each module including, an elongated, hollow plastic housing of rectangular cross-section, a mother board mounted on the rear end of said housing and having on the front face thereof a multi-terminal connector for a light card and a plurality of multi-terminal connectors for point cards, said mother board having a rear face, said rear facing having plural connectors adapted to receive plug-in connectors, a light card, slidably mounted in said housing and connected to its connector, at least one point card slidably mounted in said housing and connected to one of its connectors, and a control circuit mounted on one of the light cards in said annunciator, and flat cables having plugs connected to said rear face connectors, said flat cables interconnecting all of said modules.

Claim 12

An annunciator comprising, a plurality of modules mounted adjacent to one another, each module including, an elongated, hollow plastic housing of rectangular cross-section, a mother board mounted on the rear end of said housing and having on the front face thereof a multi-terminal connector for a light card and a plurality of multi-terminal connectors for point cards, said mother board having a rear face, said rear facing having plural connectors adapted to receive plug-in connectors, a light card, slidably mounted in said housing and connected to its connector, at least one point card slidably mounted in said housing and connected to one of its connectors, and a control circuit mounted on one of the light cards in said annunciator, and flat cables having plugs connected to said rear face connectors, said flat cables interconnecting all of said modules.

Claim 13

An annunciator according to claim 9 further comprising, a frame surrounding the front portion of said annunciator, said frame comprising, four extrusions of identical cross-section and sized to extend snugly around the assembly of modules, said extrusion having a slot opening at the rear of said frame, four corner members, each having a pair of keys projecting into the slots of respective extrusions to tie adjacent extrusions together, and set screws on said keys for securing said keys to said extrusions.

Claim 14

An annunciator as in claim 10 in which said set screws are inclined with respect to said keys so that tightening said set screws pushes each extrusion tightly against a corner member.

Claim 15

An annunciator as in claim 10 further comprising, a second slot in said extrusion, a plurality of J clips each having a leg hooked in said slot and a screw in said J clip for securing said J clip frame and annunciator to a panel surrounding said annunciator.

Claim 16

An annunciator as in claim 9 in which said housing has, square pegs and mating square holes in respective opposed surfaces, and round pins and mating round holes in the remaining respective opposed surfaces, the pins and pegs of adjoining housings fitting into their mating holes to properly orient all housings in the annunciator.

Claim 17

An annunciator as in claim 9 further comprising, a mother board, a power supply and a terminal board mounted on and projecting from the rear end of each module, a shroud around the perimeter of the rear end of said annunciator, said shroud consisting of L-shaped foraminous corner-forming elements and a plurality of identical, substantially flat foraminous elements interconnecting said corner-forming elements.