Illuminated house number sign

Claim 1

An illuminated house address sign comprising: a rectangular frame member having an elongated top wall, an elongated bottom wall, two end walls connecting the ends of said top and bottom walls, and at least one open face, a transparent rectangular cover member sized to slip over said frame member and to be frictionally retained in assembly therewith by means of a circumferentially sealing rib mating with a circumferential channel such that said open face on said frame member is enclosed and made weather tight, at least one track member extending around the interior of said frame and cover assembly adjacent said open face, said track member having a groove therein oriented perpendicular to the said walls of said frame and open to the interior of said frame, at least one selectively removable track member extending across said open face of said frame member in the same plane as said fixed track member and parallel with said bottom wall, said track member forming pairs of opposed grooves, a plurality of plate members sized to be received in said opposed groove pairs, said plate members having light transmitting portions therein in the shape of individual letters and numbers, a light source interior of said track members, a translucent sheet member sized to be received in said opposed groove pairs interior of said plate members to diffuse the light from said light source, whereby a single or multi-level message can be displayed on at least one face of said sign by inserting or removing track members and placing appropriate plate members in abutting sequence in said opposed groove pairs to spell out the desired message.