Split-flap display

Fall leaf ads came as advertisements in digital watches and call displays in waiting rooms used and are still used in billboards at airports and train stations.

Construction

On an axis of the case sheets are rotatably mounted at equal intervals.

The back side of a wafer and the face of the wafer following each show together a printed symbol.

By a retaining device respectively the front and back sides of two successive plates is visible. The axle rotates, the upper plate slips through the retainer and folds down. Thereby, the following icon is visible and it is - especially in older models - the characteristic clatter; Therefore, this display type is colloquially referred to as " panel rattle ".

The number of leaves may vary. Single-width modules ( for digits and letters) usually contain 52 Fall leaves with numbers, uppercase letters, punctuation marks and special characters. Wider modules ( 2 -, 4 -, 6 -, 8 - or 10-fold width ), there are 40, 64, or 80 sheets.

Due to the limited amount of platelets only uppercase letters, numbers and a few special characters are usually available. The modules used to in the past few years at Deutsche Bahn on the platforms as destination displays for example, possessed only the capital letters "A" through "Z", the umlauts "Ä", "Ö " and " Ü " and the numbers "0 " to "9 " and the special characters " _" " -" and " /".

For digital watches come for the display of hours ( " 00" to " 23") and minutes ("00" to "59 " ), other symbols used. Even with train destination indicators on platforms often are complex texts (target stations) and symbols for types of trains ("IC", "ICE ", "S ", etc.) and another for use.

The representation of symbols and signs is very good, as they are printed and therefore no screening, as is done for example in ads from bistable display elements. However, the display is limited to the existing ( printed ) symbols.

At Deutsche Bahn, there are four different high module rows (A, B, C and D).

Trivia

In the movie Groundhog Day groundhog announces a clock radio with fall leaf display the over and over repeating day.