Process for assembling and transporting an electronic sign display system

• US 6,704,989 B1
• Filed: 12/19/2001
• Issued: 03/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Daktronics Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Daktronics Incorporated
• Inventors: VanderTuin, Bradley Jon, Lutz, Robert James, Dennis, Mark Daniel
• Primary Examiner(s): Vidovich, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cozart, Jermie E.
• Application Number:
  US10/027,328
• Time in Patent Office: 818 Days
• Field of Search: 405/84--24, 404/52, 404/53, 404/48, 206/701-728, 340/815--81, 345/1.1, 345/1.3, 345/903, 294/070.9, 294/071, 294/261, 294/263, 294/28, 294/69, 294/81.1, 294/81.2
• US Class Current: 29/428
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 9/30 in which the desired character or characters are formed by combining individual elements panels comprising a number of electrodes in a single cell controlling light arriving from an independent light source, e.g. electro-optical or magneto-optical cell, G02F1/00
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 9/3026 Video wall, i.e. stackable semiconductor matrix display modules video wall control systems G06F3/1446, G09G2300/026
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 345/903 Modular display
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49815 Disassembling
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49819 with conveying of work or disassembled work part
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 29/49826 Assembling or joining

Abstract

A transportable electronic sign display system and process where electronic display modules are encased in castered protective cases which are broken down on site and assembled in rows of desired length and stackably elevated and maneuvered by a lifting truss. Electronic display modules are lifted from protective case bases with minimal effort or labor. Various numbers of rows of desired length of electronic display modules can be stacked to form a desired display size.

Claims

1. A process for providing and handling an electronic sign display comprising the steps of:

a. packing and shipping a plurality of electronic display modules in a plurality of protective cases with at least one electronic display module in each protective case;

b. partially unpacking each of said electronic display modules from said protective cases;

c. aligning each of said partially unpacked electronic display modules with respect to each other to form a row of electronic display modules for an electronic display;

d. connecting the aligned, partially unpacked electronic display modules formed in the row; and

,

e. lifting the row of the connected, aligned, partially unpacked electronic display modules to a fully unpacked condition separated from said protective cases, thereby forming an electronic sign display.

2. The process of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

a. packing and shipping a second plurality of electronic display modules in the plurality of protective cases with at least one electronic display module of the second plurality of electronic display modules in each protective case;

b. partially unpacking the at least one electronic display module of the second plurality of electronic display modules from each protective case;

c. aligning each of said partially unpacked electronic display modules of the second plurality of electronic display modules with respect to each other to form a second row of electronic display modules for an electronic sign display;

d. connecting the aligned, partially unpacked electronic display modules formed in the second row;

e. placing a previously assembled row of electronic display modules atop the second row of electronic display modules and connecting the previously assembled row to the second row; and

,

f. lifting the connected previously assembled row and the second row of the connected, aligned, partially unpacked electronic display modules to fully unpack the second row from the protective cases thereby forming an electronic sign display.

3. The process of claim 2, wherein the previously assembled row is the first row of the electronic sign display.

4. The process of claim 2, wherein each of the protective cases contains an electronic display module of the first plurality and an electronic display module of the second plurality.

5. The process of claim 4, wherein each protective case includes a base and a pair of separable case halves, and wherein the steps of partially unpacking include separating the separable case halves from the base with the partially unpacked electronic display modules remaining with the base.

6. The process of claim 5, wherein each base includes casters and the steps of aligning include movement of at least one base and partially unpacked electronic display module relative to another base and partially unpacked electronic display module.

7. The process of claim 2, wherein the previously assembled row is the first row of the electronic sign display, each of the protective cases contains an electronic display module of the first plurality and an electronic display module of the second plurality packed in a mirror image arrangement on a castered base and covered, during shipping, with separable case halves, and further wherein the steps of partially unpacking include separating the separable case halves from the base with the partially unpacked electronic display modules remaining with the base, and further comprising the step of rotating each of the castered bases 180 degrees subsequent to lifting the first row and prior to aligning the second row.

8. The process of claim 7, wherein the partially unpacked electronic display modules protrude from the castered base to facilitate alignment and connection of the partially unpacked electronic display modules into a row.

9. The process of claim 7, wherein the two electronic display modules packed together in a protective case are adjoining members of a column in the resulting electronic sign display.

10. The process of claim 9, wherein each electronic display module includes a lifting lug, the lifting lug of an uttermost electronic display module of a column being available for connection to a lifting truss.

11. The process of claim 2, wherein lifting the connected previously assembled row and the second row of the connected, aligned, partially unpacked electronic display modules to fully unpack the second row thereby forming an electronic sign display includes connection to a lifting truss.

12. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of lifting the row is performed by a lifting truss.

13. The process of claim 1, further comprising the disassembly steps of:

a. lowering the electronic sign display and partially packing the row of connected, aligned, electronic display modules into aligned protective cases;

b. disconnecting the partially packed electronic display modules;

c. unaligning the disconnected, partially packed electronic display modules; and

,

d. fully packing the unaligned, disconnected partially packed electronic display modules within the protective cases.

14. The process of claim 13, further comprising the step of shipping the fully packed electronic display modules.

15. The process of claim 14, wherein the protective cases are castered and the shipping step includes moving the fully packed electronic display modules in the protective cases by rolling on the casters.

16. The process of claim 13, wherein the protective cases are castered and the casters are available for movement of the partially packed electronic display modules and the unaligning step includes moving the partially packed, disconnected electronic display modules by rolling on the casters.

17. The process of claim 13, further comprising the step of strapping the partially packed electronic display modules to bases of the protective cases.

18. The process of claim 1, wherein each electronic display module is strapped within a protective case for shipping and the step of partially unpacking includes unstrapping the electronic display module from the protective case.

19. The process of claim 1, wherein the each protective case includes a foam panel providing protection to an electronic display module packed therein.

20. A process for providing and handling a transportable electronic sign display comprising the steps of:

a. providing a plurality of electronic display modules in a plurality of protective cases having castered bases, the protective cases being characterized by the ability to be broken down to partially expose the electronic display modules for assembly into rows while maintaining support by the castered bases;

b. partially exposing the plurality of electronic display modules by breaking down the protective cases;

c. assembling a row of the plurality of partially exposed electronic display modules, the assembled row having support on the castered bases; and

,

d. lifting the assembled row from the castered bases to provide an electronic sign display.

21. The process of claim 20, further comprising the steps of:

a. providing a second plurality of electronic display modules in the protective cases having castered bases;

b. partially exposing the second plurality of electronic display modules by further breaking down the protective cases;

c. assembling a second row of the second plurality of partially exposed electronic display modules, the second assembled row having support on the castered bases; and

,

d. attaching the second assembled row beneath the first assembled row and lifting the second assembled row from the castered bases to fully expose the second assembled row and thereby provide a larger electronic sign display.

22. The process of claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

a. providing a third plurality of electronic display modules in a second plurality of protective cases having castered bases, the protective cases being characterized by the ability to be broken down to partially expose the electronic display modules therein;

b. partially exposing the third plurality of electronic display modules by breaking down their protective cases;

c. assembling a third row of the third plurality of partially exposed electronic display modules, the third assembled row having support on the castered bases of the second plurality of protective cases; and

,

d. attaching the third assembled row beneath the second assembled row and lifting the third assembled row from the castered bases of the second plurality of protective cases to provide a still larger electronic sign display.

23. The process of claim 21, further comprising the steps of:

a. lowering the previously lifted first and second assembled rows such that the second assembled row has support in the castered bases of the protective cases;

b. separating the second assembled row from the first assembled row and relifting the first assembled row; and

,

c. disassembling the electronic display modules of the second assembled row and moving the disassembled electronic display modules in the castered bases.

24. The process of claim 23, further comprising the step of reassembling the broken-down protective cases about the electronic display modules.

25. The process of claim 24, wherein the step of reassembling is preceded by adding the first assembled row of electronic display modules to the castered bases of the protective cases.

26. The process of claim 25, wherein electronic display modules are arranged in mirror image relationships in the castered bases and the castered bases are rotated 180 degrees between the step of separating the second assembled row from the first assembled row and the step of adding the first assembled row of electronic display modules to the castered bases of the protective cases.

27. The process of claim 20, wherein the assembled row is lifted by attachment beneath a lifting truss.

28. A process for deploying a transportable electronic signage array comprising the steps of:

a. providing multiple protectively encased electronic display modules, each of the electronic display modules being carried upon a maneuverable case base and covered by a protective casing;

b. removing the protective casings to uncover the electronic display modules carried upon the maneuverable case bases;

c. aligning multiple electronic display modules from a rear position of adjacently positioned case bases in end-to-end relationship to form a first row of aligned electronic display modules while on adjacently positioned maneuverable case bases;

d. lowering a lifting truss to meet and attach to the aligned electronic display modules in the first row;

e. raising the lifting truss to remove the first row of aligned electronic display modules from the case bases to a position suspended above the adjacently positioned case bases;

f. maneuveringly rotating the case bases 180 degrees to place remaining electronic display modules into a second row of aligned electronic display modules in alignment below the suspended first row of aligned electronic display modules;

g. lowering the lifting truss and attached first row of aligned electronic display modules to meet and attach to the second row of aligned electronic display modules in adjacent case bases, thus forming an array of electronic display modules; and

,

h. again raising the lifting truss to remove the second row of aligned electronic display modules from adjacent case bases and to elevate the array to a viewable elevated position.

29. A process for assembling an electronic sign array comprising the steps of:

a. providing an electronic display module on a separable castered base;

b. lifting the electronic display module from the separable castered base;

c. providing another electronic display module on the separable castered base;

d. mating the another electronic display module below the electronic display module; and

,

e. lifting the mated another electronic display module from the separable castered base by lifting the electronic display module to form an electronic sign array.

30. The process of claim 29, including attaching the provided electronic display module to a row member electronic display module, the row member electronic display module being provided upon another separable castered base.

31. The process of claim 30, including attaching the provided another electronic display module to another row member electronic display module, the another row member electronic display module being supported by the another separable castered base.

32. The process of claim 31, further comprising the steps of:

a. mating the another row member electronic display module below the row member electronic display module; and

,

b. lifting the mated another row member electronic display module from the another separable castered base simultaneously with the step of lifting the mated another electronic display module, by lifting the attached row member electronic display module simultaneously with the step of lifting the electronic display module.

33. The process of claim 32, wherein the electronic display module and the another electronic display module are both provided on the same separable castered base and sequentially lifted therefrom, and wherein the row member electronic display module and the another row member electronic display module are both provided on the same another separable castered base and sequentially lifted therefrom.

34. The process of claim 33, wherein the separable castered base and the another separable castered base are each rotated 180 degrees between the sequential liftings.

35. The process of claim 33, wherein the electronic display module and the another electronic display module as provided on the same separable castered base both protrude therefrom and wherein the row member electronic display module and the another row member electronic display module as provided on the same another separable castered base both protrude therefrom, such that maneuvering the castered base and the another castered base facilitates attachment.

36. The process of claim 29, further comprising the step of removing a case half from the separable castered base prior to the lifting step.

37. The process of claim 36, wherein the case half is one of a pair of case halves on the separable castered base.