US3776177A - Service reminder apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

An apparatus for indicating mileage for various automotive maintenance periods is provided having numerical indicia carrying wheels arranged in rows and columns, each wheel rotatable by an operator''s fingers from the rear of the apparatus and visible individually from the front. Indicia adjacent each row indicates the type of maintenance to be performed with a blank space for one row having a writing surface for special notations by an operator. A magnet is included for attaching the apparatus to the automobile - also a clip for the sun visor.

Description

United StatesPatent 11 1 Bryant et a1.

1/1972 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS SERVICE REMINDER APPARATUS [76] Inventors: Spurgeon Q. Bryant, 1 139 Ninth St.,

P} Albany, Calif; Samuel 1,286,556 1/1962 116/133 Kel 4145 Puma Alta DR, LOS 359,047 1/1962 Switz erland......................... 116/133 Angeles, Calif. 90008 g Primary Examiner-Louis J. Capozi 2 Fl 72 [2 1 June l9 Attorney-Robert R. Tipton [21] Appl. No.: 262,321

[57] ABSTRACT An apparatus for indicating mileage for various auto- Related US. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart ofSer. No. 105,438, Jan. 11

motive maintenance periods is provided having numerical indicia carrying wheels arranged in rows and 9171, abandoned.

[52] US. 116/133, 40/77.4,.235/l14 columns, h h el r tatable by an operators fingers from the rear of the apparatus and visible individ ually from the front. Indicia adjacent each row indicates the [51] Int. Cl.

[58] Field of Search...

type of maintenance to be performed with a blank space for one row having a writing surface for special notations by an operator. A magnet is included for attaching the apparatus to the automobile also a clip for the sun visor.

[56] References Cited UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 1 Claim, 8 Drawing Figures 7/1969 Willingham, 116/133 I N VEN TOR.

MENTEUDEB 41975 3,776 177 sum 2 a; 3

PEG.

PATENTEDUEB 4 I975 SH'LET 30E 3' 1 SERVICE REMINDER APPARATUS CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to indicia indicating devices and in particular to devices having individually adjustable indicia indicating means.

The indicia indicating devices of the prior art comprise, generally, a plurality of indicia carrying wheels having knurled sides or notches to facilitate rotation of the wheels. Some devices utilize a shaft having splines to engage individual wheels so that they may be rotated to expose the desired indicia on their surface.-

Such devices were used to set mileage, telephone numbers or dates and time for the information of the operator, and are generally expensive to manufacture and mechanically complex.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION- The apparatus of the present invention is a service reminder apparatus or indicia indicating device of sim-. plified construction in which each indicia carrying means is accessible for rotation from the rear of the apparatus while viewable from the front with a writing surface provided on the front of the apparatus and means for attaching the device to a support provided integral within the apparatus.

It is, therefore, an .object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for displaying indicia which is settable by an operator.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for dispalying indicia which can be attached to a supporting surface.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for displaying indicia in which further indicia can be added or changed by an operator.

Other and more particular objects will be manifested upon study of the following detailed description when taken together with the accompanying drawing;

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the indicia indicating device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial sectional view of the indicia indicating device of the present invention taken atlines 2 FIG. 3 is an exploded isometric view of the indicia indicating device of the present invention showing the method of assembly of the various parts of the apparatus;

FIG.- 4 is a front elevational view of a second embodiment of the indicia indicating device of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the second embodiment of the indicia indicating device of the present invention taken atlines 5 5;

FIG. 6 is an isometric partial view of another embodi ment of the indicia indicating device of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view of the indicia indicating device of the present invention taken atline 7 7 'of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of the indicia carrying wheel of the indicia indicating device of FIGS. 6

and 7.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the indicia indication device of the present invention basically comprises ahousing 10 having a generallyparallel front panel 11 andback panel 12 between which are disposed 'a plurality ofindicia indicating wheels 15 arranged in rows and columns, each row ofwheels 15 journaled on acommon shaft 17.

A corresponding plurality ofapertures 19 infront panel 11 and oppositely disposedapertures 20 in back panel -12 are arranged to receivewheels 15.

In detail,front panel 11 ofhousing 10 comprises a plurality of apertures l9arranged in an ordered array of rows and columns with eachaperture 19 provided with a bevel at top and bottom to facilitate reading of] the indicia onwheels 15 which are recessed back from the front offront panel 11.

The area to the left ofapertures 19 on the front surface offront panel 11 is provided withindicia 22 printed thereon for indicating the type of service to be performed upon reaching the mileage indicated by the indicia exposed throughapertures 19 onwheels 15. One space in the area to the left of one row ofapertures 19 is provided with awriting surface 23 upon which an operator may write special notes or infonnation not provided forby the printedindicia 22.

Sincehousing 10 can be fabricated from either plas-' tic or metal, writingsurface 23 may be achieved by etching the surface with an appropriate material common in the art such as a solvent for plastic or an acid or alkali for metal, to create a roughened surface suitable for receiving and erasing pencil or pen markings.

The back or inside ofpanel 11 is provided with arecess 25 in the area of the rows and columns of apertures 19-to provide clearance for the passage ofshaft 17. In lieu ofrecess 25, a semi-cylindrical groove adapted to receiveshaft 17 would have to be provided in the panel material between eachaperture 19 in each row.

Aroundrecess 25 is alip 26 adapted to mate with alike lip 31 on the inside or front ofback panel 12. At

1 each end of each row ofapertures 19 and inlip 25 are disposedsemi-cylindrical recesses 27 adapted to receive the ends ofshaft 17.

Back panel 12 of housing'l0 comprises a plurality ofapertures 20 arranged in ordered array in rows and columns corresponding to the rows and columns ofapertures 19 in front panel 1 l. Abevel 29 is provided at top and bottom of the inside ofaperture 20 which is adapted to receive the contour of wheel 15'.Aperture 20 is arranged to be of a size sufficient to permit wheel the numbers from being changed while the device is so placed. Thus there will be no accidental movement of the wheels from the back or front side to cause error.

In the indicia indicating device of the present invention, no special knurled portions are required because of the smallness of the area available to the fingers, to facilitate rotation of wheels of FIGS. 1 and 2 (wheels 115 of FIGS. 6 and 7), in thatwheels 15 and 115 are sufficiently exposed in the back to permit obtaining a sufficient grip on the indicia carrying surface of the wheel for it to be rotated.

Similar tofront panel 11,recess 30 is provided in the front or inside surface ofback panel 12 in the area of the rows and columns of apertures to provide clearance for the passage ofshaft 17. In lieu ofrecess 30, a semi-cylindrical groove adapted to receiveshaft 17 would have to be provided in the panel material between eachaperture 20 in each row.

Around recess islip 31 adapted to mate withlip 26 on the inside or back offront panel 11. At each end of each row ofapertures 20 and inlip 31 are disposedsemi-cylindrical recesses 32 adapted to receive the ends ofshaft 17.

Eachindicia carrying wheel 15 comprises a cylindrical body 37 having ahole 38 through its axis of rotation which is adapted to receiveshaft 17.

The outer cylindrical surface ofwheel 15 is provided with indicia printed thereon. In the present embodiheight of both apertures l9 and 20 must also be suffi-' cient to allow clearance forwheel 15 to rotate aboutshaft 17.

With reference to FIG. 3, the indicia indicating device of the. present invention is assembled by first placingwheel 15 onshaft 17 corresponding to the number of columns ofapertures 19. The wheel-and-shaft assemblies are then placed with the ends ofshaft 17 insemi-cylindrical grooves 32 ofback panel 12 andwheels 15 received in eachaperture 20.Front panel 11 is then placed overback panel 12 mating atlips 26 and 31 withwheels 15 received inapertures 19 and the ends ofshaft 17 received ingrooves 27.

An adhesive is used onlips 26 and 31 to permanently fastenfront panel 11 toback panel 12. Other fasteners such as screws, nails and bolts or the like may also be used.

For proper operation of the indicia indicating device of the present invention,shaft 17 must be prevented from rotating. This may be accomplished either by applying an adhesive to the end ofshaft 17 to affix it to either groove 32 or 27 or reduce the diameter of semicylindrical grooves 27 and 32 and provide, in effect, a 4

"shrink fit about the ends ofshaft 17.

' Since the indicia indicating device of the present invention will be subjected to vibration which may tend to causewheels 15 to rotate, it is preferable thathole 38 in body 37 ofwheel 15 be slightly smaller in diameter thanshaft 17 to resist but not prevent manual rotation ofwheel 15 aboutshaft 17. To permit such resistance,wheel 15 andshaft 17 can be fabricated from a resilient material such as polystyrene or other plastic material.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, there is illustrated a second embodiment of the indicia indicating device of the present invention incorporating, basically, simi lar elements as the embodiment of .FIGS. 1 and 2, namely, a housing having a front panel 111 which is generally parallel to aback panel 112 between which are disposed a plurality of indicia carrying wheel 115 i V arranged in rows and columns.

A corresponding plurality ofapertures 1 19 in front of panel 111 and oppositely disposed apertures inback panel 119 are arranged to receivewheels 115.

The indicia indicating device of FIGS. 6 and 7 is distinguished from the device of FIGS. 1 and 2 in that no common shaft is provided to facilitate rotation ofindicia carrying wheels 115, but rather, eachindicia carrying wheel 115, as shown in FIG. 8, comprises a generallycircular body member 123 about the periphery of which is a generally cylindricalindicia carrying surface 124 with afirst hub 126 having its axis of rotation coincident-with the axis ofrotation 125 of saidbody member 123 and attached to one side thereof.

Asecond hub 127, also having its axis of rotation c0- incident with the axis ofrotation 125 is attached to the other side ofbody member 123.

First hub 126 further comprises a plurality offlat surfaces 129 disposed about the periphery ofhub 126 and parallel to the axis ofrotation 125.

The number and placement offlat surfaces 129 will depend upon the number and placement of indicia onindicia carrying surface 124. For the present example, in which thenumber 0 through 9 are equally spaced aboutsurface 124, there are 10surfaces 129 at equal angular spacing of 36 degrees about the periphery ofhub 126.

It will be noted thatsecond hub 127 has been made of a different diameter than that ofhub 126 and is generally cylindrical in shape. As will de discussed below, the. purpose of the different diameter hubsis to facilitate installation ofwheels 115 inhousing 110.

With reference to FIGS. 6 and 7, a support andspacer ridge 131 is provided in the back of front panel 111 on which are disposedhub retainer arms 132 and 133 which are adapted to receivehubs 126 and 127, respectively.

With particular reference to FIG. 7,back panel 11 is provided on its interior surafce with hub retainers 135 and 136 which are adapted to engage the top ends ofhub retainer arms 132 and 133, respectively. Hub

retainer arms 132 and 133 are arranged to be of a length equal to the diameter of the hub it is to retain so that when either hub retainer 135 or 136 engages the ends ofretainer arms 132 and 133, respectively, there will be little or no play or looseness between the respective hub retainer and hub, and the hub will be in slidable contact with its hub retainer.

Furthermore, it will be noted that the flat portion of hub retainer 135 is in engagement with aflat surface 129 onhub 126 thereby acting as a detent or means for restraining rotation ofhub 126. Since the material from whichpanel 112 andwheel 115 is fabricated is flexible to a small degree, namely a molded plastic,wheel 115 can be rotated in increments according to the placement offlat portions 129 by an operators finger applied to theindicia carrying surface 124 which pro- 132 due to the different diameters ofhubs 127 and 126.

The lengths of hub retainer 136 has been adjusted and increased to permit its engagement with the ends ofarms 133 to maintain slidable engagement of retainer 136 withhub 127.

It can be seen that through the use of thewheel 115 configuration of FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, only three basic dies will be needed to mold the parts for'the indicia indicating device of the present invention. One die forwheel 115, one die for front panel 111 and one die forback panel 112.

Sincewheel 115 includes twodifferent size hubs 126 and 127, assembly of the device is facilitated since wheels 1115 can be installed in only one manner. Hub

126 will fit only betweenarms 132 whilehub 127 will fit only betweenarms 133.

So that the indicia indicating device of the present invention may be attached to the automobile where it can be in continuous view of an operator, apermanent magnet 34 is provided inhousing 10. Of course, other devices may be used such as aspring clip 50 shown in FIG. 5, where the device is to be fastened to a sun viso or like part of the automobile interior.

With reference to FIG. 4, another embodiment of the indicia indicating device is shown having arecess 40 in the space to the left andadjacent apertures 19 for the purpose of holding paper or other sheet material upon which indicia may be imprinted or indicia may be written by an operator. I

FIG. 5 is a section throughhousing 10 andrecess 40 atlines 5 5.

Recess 40, in FIG. 4, comprises basically, left and rightvertical sides 41 and 42, respectively, and upper and lowerhorizontal sides 43 and 44, respectively, and is of a depth sufficient to accommodatemore than one card or sheet of material.

Vertical sides 41 and 42 are generally straight and perpendicularto the surface ofhousing 10 while hori-' zontal sides 43 and 44 are each provided with an inwardly projectinglip 46 and 47, respectively.Lips 46 and 47, in the illustrated embodiment are the means by which paper orcards 49 are retained inrecess 40.

Paper orcards 49 are cut to a length equal to or slightly longer than the height ofrecess 40 measured betweenupper side 43 andlower side 44 undersips 46 and 47, respectively.Cards 49 are also cut to a width slightly less than the distance betweenvertical sides 41 and 42 so that they may be removed merely by bending or bowingcard 49 sufficiently in the middle to release it fromlips 46 and 47.

The indicia oncards 49 can be imprinted in various combinations to provide an unlimited variety including one or more spaces in which indicia may be written by an operator thus permitting maximum flexibility in the use of the indicia indicating device of the present invention.

To operate the indicia indicating device of the present invention, an operator, using his fingers against the protruding part ofwheel 15 or 115 from the back ofhousing 10 or 110, rotates eachwheel 15 or 115 as required to expose the desired indicia at the front ofhousing 10 or throughapertures 19 or 119. The numbered indicia onwheels 15 or of the present apparatus can be set for the particular mileage at which the service noted to the left of the row must be performed. Special indicia, of course, can be written onsurface 23.

We claim: 1. An indicia indicating apparatus comprising a housing having generally parallel front and back panels, a plurality of front apertures in said front panel, a plurality of corresponding back apertures in said back panel disposed opposite said front apertures, a plurality of corresponding indicia carrying wheels comprising a generally circular body member having a generally cylindrical indicia carrying surface viewably disposed at said front aperture and protruding from said back aperture for rotation by an operators fingers using said indicia carrying surface,

a first hub having a plurality of flat surfaces corresponding in number to the number of indicia on said indicia carrying surface of said body member, said first hub attached to one side of said body member having its axis of rotation coincident with the axis of rotation of said circular body member,

a second hub, smaller in diamter than said first hub, attached to the other side of said body member and having its axis of rotation coincident with the axis of rotation of said circular body member,

a set of first retainer arms attached to said housing adapted to receive said first hub and exert a force on at least one of said'flat surfaces of said first hub,

and 1 a set of second retainer arms attached to said housing disposed adjacent said set of first retainer arms,

adapted to receive said second huh. I

Claims (1)

1. An indicia indicating apparatus comprising a housing having generally parallel front and back panels, a plurality of front apertures in said front panel, a plurality of corresponding back apertures in said back panel disposed opposite said front apertures, a plurality of corresponding indicia carrying wheels comprising a generally circular body member having a generally cylindrical indicia carrying surface viewably disposed at said front aperture and protruding from said back aperture for rotation by an operator''s fingers using said indicia carrying surface, a first hub having a plurality of flat surfaces corresponding in number to the number of indicia on said indicia carrying surface of said body member, said first hub attached to one side of said body member having its axis of rotation coincident with the axis of rotation of said circular body member, a second hub, smaller in diamter than said first hub, attached to the other side of said body member and having its axis of rotation coincident with the axis of rotation of said circular body member, a set of first retainer arms attached to said housing adapted to receive said first hub and exert a force on at least one of said flat surfaces of said first hub, and a set of second retainer arms attached to said housing disposed adjacent said set of first retainer arms, adapted to receive said second hub.

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