The present invention relates to
neon sign control devices which perform switching and brightness adjustment of discharge tubes for decorative illumination, such as a neon tube or an argon tube.
In order to light discharge tubes for decorative illumination such as a neon tube sign or an argon tube sign (hereinafter referred to as "
neon sign"), a special transformer of magnetic leakage type (hereinafter referred to as " neon transformer") has been used. The primary side of a neon transformer is turned on and off using a mechanical contact system comprising a brush and a rotary drum; thereby an a.c. current is supplied and interrupted to the neon transformer so as to perform switching control of a neon tube connected to the secondary side of the neon transformer.
In general,
neon sign for advertisement, irrespective of their scale, are lit when it becomes dark in the evening and put out after a definite time (at night) in consideration of economy. If the scale of the advertising
neon sign is large, the turning on and off of a power switch are performed automatically. If it is small, control of turning on and off of a power switch is usually performed in manual operation. This is because the automatic control requires a relay, a timer and the like separately and therefore the device becomes expensive and the construction cost causes a serious problem in expense. Use of a timer of the motor type or spring type and the mechanical contacts makes the life relatively short. Since the control device must be installed at a site which is prevented from wetting by rain and free from moisture, i.e. indoors, it is inevitably installed remote from the neon transformer and therefore the construction cost becomes high also from this aspect. When control is effected in manual operation, not only labor is required but also forgetting of the turning on/off of the power switch may occur. Consequently, the manual operation is not always performed economically.
