US PATENT CLASS 40
Class Notes


Current as of: June, 1999
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40 /   HD   CARD, PICTURE, OR SIGN EXHIBITING



DEFINITION

Classification: 40/

This class includes means for displaying information by printed or painted cards, calendars, photos:graphic transparency viewers, railroad train station indicators, pictures, labels or tags or index files. Picture frames and stands for supporting pictures are also included. Albums are included in subclasses Changing exhibitors, Hinged leaves; Changing exhibitors, Pivoted plates, and in Picture frames, Mats, Mounts and backs, Pocketed. Such station-indicators as change the reading matter displayed are included under the several subclasses of Changing exhibitors. This class includes in subclasses under the heading, CHECKS, LABELS AND TAGS, CHANGING, READING, devices which select or point out one or more of several inscriptions, characters, or legends by means of a movable pointer. This class includes in the subclasses under CALENDARS means to indicate the date desired by means of pointers. This class includes devices for viewing a picture including a transparency or a series of such pictures or transparencies. Excluded from this class are devices which display a plurality of pictures at such a rate as to create an illusion of motion due to persistence of vision of the observer. Also excluded are devices provided with a double lens so that each eye may view a single picture which differs slightly from the other picture in order to produce a sense of depth, which devices are designated

stereoscopes. This class also includes dummy display devices which are provided with means to attract and hold the attention of a viewer, and particularly those which give the impression of falling water and flickering flames.

REFERENCES TO OTHER CLASSES

SEE OR SEARCH CLASS

2, Apparel,

209.13, for a head covering carrying an indicia where the structure of the head covering is modified in a manner other than for merely receiving the indicia.

44, Fuel and Related Compositions,

600, for a solid fuel treated to modify its appearance, e.g., by the application of an indicium thereto.

52, Static Structures (e.g., Buildings), 38, for a specific building structure combined with a discrete sign, and subclasses 103+ for a marker or monument which has a shape which in its entirety has inherent stability against overturning and which serves to indicate a particular use of or position on the earth or which includes features having a function other than imparting information, e.g., a storage compartment.

63, Jewelry,

18+, for lockets adapted to carry a concealed picture, and subclass 20 for ornamental pins.

70, Locks,

57+, for locks of special application designed to secure specific articles where the tag or sign structure has not been modified for the anti-theft device and subclasses 432+ for locks provided with indicators for disclosing whether the lock has been opened or otherwise tampered with, or its present condition, open or locked.

84, Music,

486+, for turning devices particularly designed for use with musical instruments.

116, Signals and Indicators, appropriate subclasses, for devices provided with a pointer to a particular legend or other insignia where the device is neither a calendar or a check, a label or a tag.

131, Tobacco,

347+, for tobacco products carrying indicia where the product

is modified in a manner other than for merely receiving the indicia, and subclass 360 for plug tobacco products carrying indicia.

160, Flexible or Portable Closure, Partition, or Panel, appropriate subclasses, for (1) panel units in which a flexible fabric or other flexible sheet material forms the panel portion, (2) panel units formed of plural strips, slats or panels interconnected for relative motion (excluding those connected only by a common operator or mounted only in a common frame or on a common support), (3) panel units in the form of portable partitions, and (4) parts (1)-(3) combined with each other or with rigid closures or other rigid panels. 192, Clutches and Power-Stop Control,

30+, for clutches, per se, and subclasses .02 to .098 for devices controlling the motor and the clutch.

194, Check-Actuated Control Mechanisms, appropriate subclasses for coin controlled exhibitors.

206, Special Receptacle or Package,

736+, for packages in which the box is convertible to a display package by means forming part of or contained within the box when shipped to the dealer.

211, Supports: Racks, appropriate subclasses, for devices for supporting plural articles and particularly

1.51+, for power operated rotary racks.

215, Bottles and Jars,

365+, for receptacles having means for indicating that the contents of the receptacle have been tampered with, the quantity of material in the receptacle or means to call attention of the user to the dangerous character of the contents; subclasses 201+ for closures which indicate the dangerous character of the receptacle contents; subclass 227 for closures combined with a card or other indicia bearing article; and subclass 230 for closures which bear visual indicia.

221, Article Dispensing,

2+, and particularly subclass 8 for article dispensing devices not otherwise provided for including indicating or display means which are dispenser-operated, and see also subclass 199 for other article dispensing devices having combined display means.

222, Dispensing, 3+, for gas dispensers not specialized for skywriting.

226, Advancing Material of Indeterminate Length, appropriate subclasses for methods of, and apparatus for, feeding material without utilizing the leading or trailing ends to effect movement of the material.

235, Registers, appropriate subclasses for changeable exhibitors where the numerals are changed by accumulator devices.

242, Winding, Tensioning, or Guiding,

325+, for an unwinding and rewinding a machine convertible endless coil (i.e., closed loop) information carrier (e.g., magnetic tape or photos:graphic film, etc.), or subclasses 615+ for a residual guide or guard that directs elongated flexible material that may be combined with more than nominal winding structure.

246, Railway Switches and Signals,

167+, for details of devices on moving vehicles actuated by devices on the track.

248, Supports, appropriate subclasses for mere supports or holders for signs, license plates, etc.; particularly,

441.1+, for a holder for copy, sheet music, or a book, which holder retains the article in position for reading.

250, Radiant Energy,

329, for record projection methods and apparatus using invisible radiation and luminescent screens, subclasses 458.1+ for method and apparatus for irradiating fluorescent or phosphorescent devices and subclasses 483.1+ for fluorescent and phosphorescent devices. 252, Compositions,

647+, 301.16+, 301.36, and 301.4+ for fluorescent and phosphorescent compositions.

273, Amusement Devices: Games,

288+, for game pieces such as checkers, chessmen, etc., which are intended to cooperate with a board in a board game, and subclasses 292+ for cards or tiles which cooperate with each other in a card or tile game.

281, Books, Strips, and Leaves, appropriate subclasses for devices which are directed to book, strip or leaf structure, per se.

283, Printed Matter, appropriate subclasses, for checks, labels or signs where the device relates to printed matter rather than the physical characteristics of the devices noted

above.

310, Electrical Generator or Motor Structure,

92+, for torque transmitting electrical clutches.

313, Electric Lamp and Discharge Devices,

513+, for electric lamps formed into the shape of indicia or having indicia formed on or within the envelope or bulb of the lamp, or otherwise combined with the lamp.

315, Electric Lamp and Discharge Devices: Systems, appropriate subclasses for electric systems for supplying electric energy to electric lamps. 318, Electricity: Motive Power Systems,

445+, for automatic electric motor starting and stopping systems, subclasses 494+ for electric motor starting and stopping by armature circuit control, and subclasses 521+ for electric motor starting and stopping by field circuit control.

345, Computer Graphics Processing, Operator Interface Processing, and Selective Visual Display Systems,

56, for mosaic display light systems.

351, Optics: Eye Examining, Vision Testing and Correcting,

239+, for test charts or targets used in vision testing; and subclass 243 for such charts or targets when illuminated.

352, Optics: Motion Pictures, appropriate subclasses for motion picture methods and apparatus.

359, Optics: Systems (Including Communication) and Elements, for viewers which contain optical features which go beyond the nominal recitation of a lens or reflector. See (1) Note under

806, and (8) Note under subclass 600+ in Class 359. See Class 359, subclasses 467+ for stereoscopes.

362, Illumination, appropriate subclasses for lighting devices which do not form part of signs or exhibiting devices.

368, Horology: Time Measuring Systems or Devices,

28+, for devices wherein the dates of day, month or year are actuated by the mechanism which operates the clock or watch. 400, Typewriting Machines,

718+, for a copyholder linked to or mounted on a typewriter.

402, Binder Device Releasably Engaging Aperture or Notch of Sheet, appropriate subclasses for a sheet retainer device which includes impaling means which means passes through a sheet and releasably secures such sheet so that it may be removed or inserted without mutilation or destruction.

(1) Note. A sheet retainer device disclosed alternatively for (1) the display of sheet (e.g., overlapped, etc.) or (2) for the mere retention of sheets in superposed coextensive relation (e.g., loose-leaf binder, etc.), will be placed in Class 402; however, where the sole disclosure is directed to (1) above or to (2) above including and index means, classification will be in this class (40).

404, Road Structure, Process, or Apparatus,

9+, for traffic director or sign including significant road structure, other than required to accommodate the sign or sign support.

426, Food or Edible Material: Processes, Compositions, and Products, for edible labels and labeled food products and processes relating to same, see especially

87, and 383.

428, Stock Material or Miscellaneous Articles, appropriate subclasses for a stock material product in the form of a single or plural layer web or sheet, especially

4, 30, and 542.2+ for decorative articles not elsewhere provided for, and subclasses 195+ for a web or sheet having a discontinuous or differential coating or impregnation similar to a picture, design or indicia.

472, Amusement Devices, particularly 65, for an amusement type illusion or stage device appropriate therefor wherein the illusion is caused by a visual imitation of an event occurring in nature, e.g., rain, snow, fire, etc.

516, Colloid Systems and Wetting Agents; Subcombinations Thereof; Processes of Making, Stabilizing, Breaking, or Inhibiting,

1+, for smoke or fog colloid systems or agents for such systems or making or stabilizing such systems or such agents, when generically claimed or when there is no hierarchically superior provision in the USPC for the specifically claimed art.

520, Synthetic Resins or Natural Rubbers, appropriate subclasses, particularly Class 523,

172, for a composition containing a synthetic resin or

natural rubber having utility as an applied marking for pavements or roads, or for signs defining traffic lanes, pedestrian crosswalks, traffic instruction, etc., or as an applied reflex-reflector or to processes of preparing said composition.