AU718747B3 - Supporting mount - Google Patents

Description

P/00/0011 Regulation 3.2

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name of Applicant: Address for service in Australia: Invention Title: CHALLANGLA PTY LTD CARTER SMITH BEADLE Level 10, 189 Kent St Sydney, NSW, 2000 Australia SUPPORTING MOUNT The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us 2 SUPPORTING MOUNT Intro to Invention This invention relates to flags, banners, display panels and the like; and in particular relates to devices for mounting such items, particularly when these items are mounted in a vertical plane.

Background of Invention The-vertical mounting of flags and generally flexible display panels is a popular and effective means of public display. Such banners can be mounted for vertical free hanging but a preferred mounting method involves stretching or holding a banner between two vertically spaced mounts which can hold the banner in tension thereby allowing the full surface of the banner to be readily viewed.

In its simplest form such mounts comprise two horizontally mounted spaced apart rods between which the banner is attached. Such simple systems suffer numerous drawbacks. In particular, the weight and wind impact of such banners can be extreme, causing the mount to break or, more commonly, the banner to tear from its fixing to the horizontal rods.

In order to alleviate such problems more sophisticated mounting devices have been developed incorporating various compliant elements to allow the mounted banners a degree of flex. Such a system is disclosed in W099/27514.

While this device alleviates many of the problems of the previously described simple system, it still suffers from some limitations. In particular, the disclosed device is fully compliant in all dimensions, including vertically down, which can result in general sagging of a heavy banner mounted on such a device where the springs sag under the weight of the banner.

Statement of Invention The current invention provides an improved banner supporting mount.

In one aspect the invention provides a supporting mount including a fixing means adapted for rigid attachment to a substrate, an elongate support projecting BOB:NB:#32677.SPEC 10 February 2000 7 ~N *1I 3 outwardly from said fixing means and adapted for securing a banner or similar item wherein said elongate support is attached to said fixing means by a compliant coupling means wherein said coupling means is inhibited from compliance in the downward vertical direction. The compliant coupling means may be positioned proximate to said fixing means with a bearing means positioned contiguous to and underneath said coupling means so as to inhibit the downward vertical compliance thereof.

The bearing means may be a face plate extending horizontally out from said fixing means and reinforced by a gusset so as to bear upon the underside of the compliant coupling means. The compliant coupling means may be a coil spring fitted to the fixing means at a first end and fitted to the elongate support at a second end. The bearing means may extend outwardly for the substantial length of said spring. The elongate support may be removably fixed to the second end of the spring; for example, by a screw thread fitting. The invention will now be described with reference to a particularly preferred embodiment as shown in figures 1 to 4.

Figure 1 shows a side view of the supporting mount.

Figure 2.shows a plan view of the supporting mount.

Figure 3 shows a front end view of the supporting mount.

Figure 4 shows a side cross section view of the supporting mount.

Figure 5 shows a side view of an auxiliary support mount.

Detailed Description of the Invention Referring firstly to figures 1, 2 and 3 the side, top and end views of one example of the supporting mount of the invention are given in detail. Referring to figure 1 the supporting mount includes a fixing means being a bracket which is adapted for rigid attachment to any available substrate; including for example, a flag pole or light pole. In such a case the preferred means of attaching the fixing means to the substrate could be a flexible steel band clamps which can be drawn around the available pole and provide for the rigid attachment of the fixing means to that substrate. Alternatively, if the substrate takes the form of a building or a wall, any form of bolt or other fixing device could be substituted for the clamps and used BOB:NB:#32677.SPEC 10 February 2000 to affect a rigid attachment of the fixing means to that available substrate. The elongate support is projected outwardly from the fixing means by way of a compliant coupling means The elongate support takes the form of a rod or other slender supporting means which is particularly adapted to receive one end of a banner to be supported. In order to supply the necessary compliance the elongate support is fitted to a second end of the compliant coupling means The compliant coupling means is itself attached at a first end to the fixing means such that the intermediate part of the compliant coupling means provides the necessary compliance and movement for the elongate support relative to the fixing means The compliant coupling means is preferably a coiled spring of suitable specification to provide the necessary support and compliance for the weight of banner chosen for mounting.

The supporting mount is adapted for positioning in such a way that they elongate support projects horizontally outward from the selected substrate and order to prevent undesirable sagging of the elongate support when a banner is fitted, either by freely hanging from one supporting mount or mounted under tension between two spaced apart supporting mounts, the fixing means is provided with a bearing means positioned immediately underneath the compliant coupling means and adapted for contiguous cooperation with the compliant coupling means such that the compliant coupling means is allowed free movement in all dimensions except in the downward vertical dimension. The bearing means can take the form of a face plate supported by a gusset such that the face plate (8) provides a sufficient footprint of support for the compliant coupling means to enable full support to be provided notwithstanding considerable distortion in horizontal plane which may be experienced by the elongate support as the banner is subjected to wind and similar turbulence. In this manner the banner so fitted is provided with the means of moving in a restricted fashion in response to wind and turbulence but in all situations is retained in a substantially taut vertical orientation without sagging under the weight of the banner or the tension so applied to the banner. A hole (11) is provided in gusset to enable a clip attached (either directly or indirectly) to the banner to be attached thereto.

BOB:NB:#32677.SPEC 10 February 2000 -7 "n Referring to figure 4 a cross-section detail of the supporting mount shown particularly detailing the compliant coupling means which takes the form of a coil spring permanently mounted at a first end to the fixing means by way of a screw thread or similar attachment. The second end of the compliant coupling means is provided with a screw thread (10) which is in turn fitted to the elongate support so as to allow bolt (12) attached to elongate support (3)to be readily threaded onto the compliant coupling means or threaded off the compliant coupling means for ready removal. This enables the elongate support to be easily removed from the apparatus. It will be appreciated that bolt (12) includes a threaded portion that extends beyond the end of elongate support The requirement for vertical support is only really needed at the top mount and accordingly an auxiliary mount is provided in figure 5 which does not incorporate the bearing means of the upper mount. In this manner the mount of the invention is used in combination with the auxiliary mount to provide an efficient mounting system.

The invention provides for the first time a simplified yet highly effective supporting mount for flags, banners and other forms of flexible panels which can be used either singly or in plural array or in combination with an auxiliary mount for mounting such banners. The supporting mount of the invention provides many desirable features including the ability to tautly mount banners so as to retain tautness notwithstanding wind and other turbulence where the forces applied to the banner are absorbed in all dimensions with the exception of the downward vertical dimension so as to ensure retention of the tautness of the banner. In use the supporting mount of the invention would be permanently mounted to a selected substrate and the elongate support would be screw fitted to the second end of the compliant coupling means when required and if necessary or when required could be readily removed without necessitating the removal of the entire fixing means from the substrate. In this manner the supporting mount of the invention can be permanently retained on buildings or poles without causing unnecessary visual or physical disturbance yet can be readily brought into action by the simple fitting of BOB:NB:#32677.SPEC 10 February 2000 6 the elongate support to the compliant coupling means and fitting of the necessary banners.

The claims form part of the disclosure.

13OB:NB:#32677.SPEC 10 February 2000

Claims (3)

1. A supporting mount including a fixing means adapted for rigid attachment to a substrate, an elongate support projecting outwardly from said fixing means and adapted for securing a banner or similar item wherein said elongate support is attached to said fixing means by a compliant coupling means wherein said coupling means is inhibited from compliance in the downward vertical direction.

2. A supporting mount according to claim 1 wherein said compliant coupling means is positioned proximate to said fixing means and said fixing means has a rigid bearing means positioned underneath and adjacent to said compliant coupling means so as to limit the downward vertical compliance thereof.

3. A supporting mount according to claim 1 substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED: 10 February 2000 CARTER SMITH BEADLE Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: CHALLANGILA PTY LTD BOB:NB:#32677.SPEC 10 February 2000