AU2004100068A4 - Impact Absorbing Signs - Google Patents

Description

AUSTRALIA

PATENTS ACT 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR AN INNOVATION

PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Actual Inventor: Agent and Address Motif Signs Pty Ltd Michael James Fleming tor Service: MADDERNS, 1st Floor, 64 Hindmarsh Square, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia Invention Title: Impact Absorbing Sign Details of Associated Provisional Application No: 2003900497 dated 5th February 2003 The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us.

IMPACT ABSORBING

SIGN

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to signage for use at events such as sporting events. More particularly the invention relates to minimising injuries to participants in event of collision with signage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Many sporting events are played in environments which include substantial up-standing structures which are potential hazards to participating athletes.

Often signage used for advertising or the conveyance of other information is attached to these structures as they form convenient mounting points. In addition, as these structures are close to the field of play, the signage will gain significant exposure from both television coverage and direct viewing by spectators.

An example of such an arrangement is the attachment of advertising signs to the boundary fence of a playing field such as typically found at a playing ground for any number of sports including Australian rules football, hockey, cricket, rugby etc. Depending on the requirements, the signage may be constructed from materials ranging from fabric which would be tied to the boundary fence to steel sheet which is more permanently mounted. Whilst the boundary fence serves to protect the spectators from any potential collisions with athletes due to its fixed nature, athletes can cause substantial injury to themselves by inadvertently colliding with signage mounted to the fixed boundary fence in the course of play. In some cases the signage attached to the fence may indeed increase the risk of injury due to the protrusion of sharp edges.

Other examples where substantial fixed structures can introduce hazards to a sporting environment include semi-permanent fencing erected during a sporting event such as a golf tournament or a road cycling event. Often this fencing is used as a convenient mounting point for advertising signage but once again an athlete can cause themselves considerable harm by colliding with such a structure. One illustrative example is a cyclist crashing into signage mounted to such a fence.

As sponsorship is an important component of a sporting team or organisation's income it is imperative that advertisers be able to position signage for maximum exposure. With the increased focus on providing a safe environment for athletes and in view of the impact that injuries may have on a playing team's performance it is also important that any potential hazards to an athlete be minimised without compromising the safety of the spectators.

Although the risk of injury is greater with athletes at a sporting venue, similar considerations occur when signage is mounted to fixed up-standing structures at, for example, an exhibition or a street festival or any other place where there is a significant gathering of people. With the increasing premiums for public liability insurance required for these occasions there is a requirement for providing signage which does not compromise the safety of people attending such events.

It is an object of the invention to provide signage which addresses the competing requirements of safety as outlined above and advertising exposure.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly the present invention provides a sign including: a display surface bearing information; a force absorbing region to absorb force generated by an external object impacting said display surface; and an engagement region to engage and locate against an up-standing structure, wherein in use said sign is supported by said up-standing structure.

Thus the sign as well as providing a display surface for advertising or other information also acts to reduce the risk of injury to anyone who would potentially collide with the sign due to the force absorbing region.

Preferably, said display surface includes information arranged on a banner and said sign includes releasable attachment means for attaching said banner to said sign.

As the information is displayed on a banner and this can be easily removed and changed without altering the position of the sign, changing the information content of the sign is very convenient.

Preferably, said sign further includes releasable attachment means for attaching a plurality of said signs together.

In the case of a large up-standing structure presenting a hazard, a number of signs can be attached to each other and arranged appropriately about the upstanding structure to reduce the risk of injury on impact with the sign.

Preferably, said sign further includes releasable attachment means for attaching said sign to said up-standing structure.

In some cases a sign will only be required during certain time periods. When the sign is not required it can be removed easily from the up-standing structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be discussed with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: FIGURE 1 is a cross-sectional view of a sign according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIGURE 2 is a front view of the sign illustrated in Figure 1; FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional detailed view of the top of the sign illustrated in Figure 1, depicting the Velcro® attachment means for a banner; FIGURE 4 depicts a number of the signs illustrated in Figure 1 attached together forming a support for a single banner; FIGURE 5A is a fence barrier commonly used during cycling events; FIGURE 5B is a cut-away view of a second embodiment of the present invention supported by the fence barrier illustrated in Figure FIGURE 6 is a sectional view through AA depicting a first mounting arrangement of the sign illustrated in Figure 5B; and FIGURE 7 is a sectional view through BB depicting a second mounting arrangement of the sign illustrated in Figure In the following description, like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts through out the several views of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED

EMBODIMENT

Referring now to Figure 1, there is shown a cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of sign 10. Figure 1 also depicts a cross-sectional view of fixed perimeter fence 40 which is mounted upon a raised concrete step 30 relative to a playing area 20. Such an arrangement would be common in many sporting grounds where spectators are located behind the perimeter fence 40. Typically signage would be attached directly to perimeter fence 40. Sign 10 includes a front display surface 12 which faces outwards to the playing area and hence has excellent exposure to other spectators and to any potential television coverage. Display surface 12 is tilted at a modest angle back towards the perimeter fence 40 to further maximise exposure.

Sign 10 is manufactured from a combination of foam rubber (25-150) and medium density polystyrene foam. However, as would be apparent to those skilled in the art, any suitable material with sufficient force absorbing properties would be suitable. In fact the material properties could be modified according to the types of expected impact from an external object which will in turn be dependent on the sport or activity being undertaken.

Sign 10 also includes a back section 13 which in this embodiment includes a recess 14 which together with back section 13 forms an engagement region to engage and locate against the concrete step 30 and perimeter fence 40. By modifying the back section 13 in this manner, the sign fits to and is supported by the perimeter fence 40 thereby minimising any potential for movement of the sign 10 relative to perimeter fence 40. This has important safety implications as sign 10 will substantially remain in place in the event of an accidental collision between an athlete and sign 10. Furthermore, any impact forces acting on display surface 12 of sign 10 will be more uniformly distributed because of this arrangement.

Figure 2 illustrates a front view of the sign 10. Clearly, display surface 12 is suitable for placement of advertising or other information as required. Also shown is top Velcro® flap 50 and side flaps 60 and 70 containing a number of eyelets. The top flap 50 provides for the attachment of advertising banners to sign 10. This is shown in Figure 3 which illustrates a detailed cross-sectional view of the Velcro® mounting system. Banner 80 includes a strip of female Velcro® 82 arranged parallel to the top edge and on the front face of banner Similarly a strip of male Velcro® 81 is arranged on the back face of banner 80. A strip of female Velcro®11 is also arranged parallel to the top edge of sign Flap 50 includes a strip of male Velcro® 51 attached to the underside.

To attach banner 80 to backing member 10, the strip of male Velcro® 81 is pressed and engaged to the strip of female Velcro® 11. Flap 50 is then positioned to overlay the top edge of banner 80 with male Velcro® strip 51 engaging with female Velcro® strip 82 located on the banner 80. This secures the banner 80 in place. A similar arrangement is used to secure the sides of the banner 80 to sign 10. As would be apparent, any number of means could be used to releasably attach banner 80 to sign 10. This could include use of press studs, simple lacing arrangements, suitable adhesives or buttons.

Side flaps 60 and 70, incorporating eyelets, are used to attach sign 10 to a free standing structure by either cable ties or other similar tying arrangements.

These flaps 60 and 70 can also be employed to attach a number of signs 10 to one another. Figure 4 illustrates three signs 10 being arranged to form a combined sign 100 to accommodate a banner 80 whose width is significantly longer than one sign. By using this modular approach an entire perimeter fence 40 can both be protected and also incorporate advertising signage of varying width as required.

Referring now to Figure 5B there is shown a sign 300 according to a second embodiment of the present invention particularly suited to being supported by the barrier fence 200 illustrated in Figure 5A. Barrier fences of this type are employed to protect spectators in events such as cycling races and the like.

These fences typically consist of a frame 210 of steel tubing and are supported by a pair of legs 230 having feet 235 arranged on the ground perpendicular to the legs 230. Fence 200 further includes a number of parallel upright rails 220.

A typical barrier fence would be 1 metre high and 2.5 metres wide.

Sign 300 includes a front display surface 310 which may include attachment points for a banner or alternatively a clear plastic sleeve arrangement in which planar board advertising signage may be slid into. At the bottom of front display surface 310 is foot section 320 which also includes a further display surface for advertising or alternatively this surface may be colour coded so that a cyclist can easily discern the safe riding area.

Referring now to Figure 6, there is shown a sectional view along AA of a first mounting arrangement for the sign 300 illustrated in Figure 5B. In this mounting arrangement the front display surface 310 and foot section 320 are integrally formed from high density foam having a PVC outer layer. Foot section 320 includes recesses moulded to the shape of the legs 230 and feet 235 of fence 200 and together with the rear of the front display surface these surfaces form an engagement region which engages and locates against fence 200. Sign 300 also includes cap section 330 and rear flap 340 also constructed from high density foam which also engages with fence 200 thereby securing sign 300.

Referring now to Figure 7, there is shown a sectional view along BB of a second mounting arrangement for the sign 300 illustrated in Figure 5B. In this arrangement front display surface 310 may be either attached or separate to foot section 320. Front display surface 310 is attached to fence 200 by suitable securing means. Foot section 320 includes engagement region 325 which engages and locates to the bottom member of frame 210 of fence 200. In this manner the region of the fence near to the ground where studies have shown that injuries are most likely to occur is protected by an information bearing display surface having a force absorbing region which is supported by fence 200.

Clearly, as the circumstances dictate, the present invention can be applied to any number of up-standing structures including fixed objects such as statues or trees or alternatively removable free-standing barriers.

Although a preferred embodiment of the apparatus of the invention is described in the foregoing detailed description, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the embodiment disclosed, but is capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications and substitutions without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims (4)

1. A sign including: a display surface bearing information; a force absorbing region to absorb force generated by an external object impacting said display surface; and an engagement region to engage and locate against an up-standing structure, wherein in use said sign is supported by said up-standing structure.

2. A sign as claimed in claim 1, wherein said display surface includes information arranged on a banner and said sign includes releasable attachment means for attaching said banner to said sign.

3. A sign as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein said sign further includes releasable attachment means for attaching a plurality of said signs together.

4. A sign as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said sign further includes releasable attachment means for attaching said sign to said up-standing structure. A sign substantially in accordance with any one of the embodiments of the invention described herein and illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Dated this 5 t Day of February, 2004 Motif Signs Pty Ltd By its Patent Attorneys MADDERNS ANTHONY A LEE