Vehicle placarding apparatus

An apparatus for placarding a vehicle with a plurality of selectively exposable inscriptions on diamond-shaped backgrounds comprising:

• a base member comprising an equilateral, diamond-shaped central portion and a framing section raised from the square central portion and lying along substantially the entire perimeter of the central portion of the base member, said base member being attachable to the vehicle so that the framing section extends outwardly from the vehicle and from the central portion, and so that diagonally opposite vertices of the central portion lie on a vertical axis;
• a plurality of rectangular plates having longitudinal edges of approximately the same length as a side of the central portion and having transverse edges of approximately half the length of the central portion;
• means for pivotally attaching each of the rectangular plates to the base member so that the plates are pivotable about a common axis approximately parallel to a longitudinal edge of each plate, which axis approximately bisects two parallel sides of said framing section;
• manually operable means mounted on the other two sides of said framing section for clipping the rectangular plates to the base member to selectively retain the plates in parallel contact with the central portion;
• said plates being located and having indicia so that the surfaces of any two of the plates facing outwardly simultaneously collectively define a diamond-shaped area displaying an inscription, split along the common pivoting axis and framed by the framing section;
• and,
• said framing section being raised from the central portion a sufficient amount so that the plurality rectangular plates lay in the recess formed by said framing section and are thereby protected from being moved and damaged by stationary projections along the path of the vehicle which would otherwise catch edges of the rectangular plates as the vehicle is driven by the stationary projections
• cutouts are formed in the framing section about the vertices of the central portion to provide access for selection and manual grasping of the rectangular plates;
• and, said framing section comprises:
• wall portions projecting perpendicularly to the central portion and located about the perimeter of the central portions;
• a frame wall portion attached to the wall portion and disposed in a plane parallel to the plane of the central portion;
• and
• a frame skirt portion depending from said frame.