Luminous outdoor sign board resistant to inclement weather

Abstract

Luminous board designed specially to resist inclement weather and in particular strong gusts of wind, this board being constituted by an open-work framework in the form of a case of which at least one longitudinal wall is formed by slats illuminated from inside the case, said framework being of the open-work type and the support slats being contiguous in a vertical plane to form a continuous wall preventing the diffusion of luminous rays toward the exterior, the slats in addition being spaced out laterally with respect to one another to form between them communication interstices allowing the wind and rain water to pass through the board, both horizontally and vertically.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A luminous outdoor sign board adapted to resist inclement weather comprising: a framework in the form of a case defining a pair of opposed open sides,   support means within the case including a plurality of rods extending toward said opposed open sides of the case,   a plurality of parallel translucent slats,   each slat being supported by attachment to a plurality of said rods, the attachment between each slat and its support rods being located at spaced points along the centerline axis of the slat for allowing free expansion of the edges of the slats,   said parallel translucent slats being positioned in the open sides of said case with the edges of said slats when seen in the vertical plane being continuous, so that when standing back the viewer obtains the impression that he is facing a plane surface,   said slats being inclined in the same direction to form between them lateral interstices extending over their entire length for allowing the wind and rain water to pass freely through the sign board both horizontally and vertically for making the sign board aerated and self-washing,   letters forming a message being fixed on the slats, and   lighting means located in the case illuminating from the inside said translucent slats and said letters on the slats.   
     
     
       2. A luminous outdoor sign board adapted to resist inclement .[.wather.]. .Iadd.weather .Iaddend.as claimed in claim 1, in which: said parallel translucent slats are arranged in opposed pairs positioned respectively in the opposed open sides of said case,   said opposed pairs of slats are supported by the same rods at opposite ends thereof, and   said lighting means are a plurality of light tubes positioned between the opposed pairs of translucent slats and extending parallel with the slats for illuminating them both from the inside,   whereby said slats are illuminated uniformly along their length.   
     
     
       3. A luminous outdoor sign board adapted to resist inclement weather as claimed in claim 2, in which: said rods are each covered by insulation sheaths, and   said light tubes are neon tubes supported by said rods and insulated from said rods by said insulation sheaths.   
     
     
       4. A luminous outdoor sign board adapted to resist inclement weather as claimed in claim 1, in which: the opposite end portions of said rods are bent slightly and are threaded,   said slats have holes therein on the centerline axis and are mounted on the bent ends of said rods,   said slats being held perpendicular to the adjacent bent end portions of said rods by stop nuts on said threaded end portions inside of said slats and blind nuts on said threaded end portion outside of said slats,   whereby said bent end portions of said rods serve to fix said inclined slats in their inclined positions.   
     
     
       5. A luminous outdoor sign board resistant to inclement weather comprising: a framework in the form of a case,   a plurality of parallel translucent slats constituting at least one of the longitudinal walls of the sign board,   the edges of .[.sid.]. .Iadd.said .Iaddend.slats when seen in a vertical plane being continuous, said slats being inclined in the same direction to provide between them lateral interstices extending over their entire length,   letters forming a message fixed on said slats,   lighting means located in the case illuminating from the inside said translucent slats and the letters on said slats,   support means in said case including a plurality of threaded rods extending to said slats,   said slats being made of a translucent plastic material and having a plurality of orifices therein at various points along their length for attachment to said threaded rods,   one of the orifices being circular and centrally located in each slat,   while other orifices located on both sides of said circular one are gradually elongated from one orifice to the other to the ends of the slats for allowing autocompensation expansions of the order from -35° C to +65° C.   
     
     
       6. A luminous outdoor sign board resistant to inclement weather, as claimed in claim 5, in which: said attachment orifices are pierced in the slats at a temperature of 15° C.