AU734344B3 - An airport adverstising system - Google Patents

Description

2802B

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION FOR A PETTY PATENT

ORIGINAL

Name Of Applicant: WEBSTER SIGNS PTY LIMITED and DENANN CONSULTANT SERVICES PTY LIMITED Actual Inventors: Address for Service: Warren James WEBSTER Dennis ROGAN HODGKINSON OLD McINNES Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys Level 3, 20 Alfred Street MILSONS POINT NSW 2061 AN AIRPORT ADVERTISING

SYSTEM

Invention Title: The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to us: 2802B The present invention relates to airports and, in particular, to a system of displaying advertising to aircraft passengers during take-off and/or landing of the aircraft from the airport.

Airports are by definition dividend into two zones viz the "airside" and the "landside". The airside is the area from which members of the public are excluded and includes the runways, taxing areas and apron. The "landside" is the remainder of the airport to which the general public is permitted free access and egress. This includes the terminals, car parks, taxi rank, etc.

It is well known that aircraft passengers represent a lucrative market and the provision of advertising to aircraft passengers in aircraft terminals is a well established business which enjoys a large turnover. Normally such display advertising takes the form of large vertical billboards positioned on the walls of the interior of the airport terminal. However, this advertising is restricted to the landside. As a consequence, this advertising is only able to be seen by the aircraft passengers prior to embarkation and after disembarkation and is unable to be seen during flight.

The object of the present invention is to extend the availability of advertising to enable advertising to be displayed to aircraft passengers during take-off and/or landing and thereby create a new advertising market. In particular, the invention enables advertising to be displayed at locations in the airside.

In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a billboard dimensioned to be visible to aircraft passengers during take-off and/or landing, said billboard comprising a substantially horizontally disposed indicia bearing surface removably connected to a support means located adjacent the ground at a location within the airside of an airport.

2802B Several embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: Fig. 1 is a plan view of Sydney's Kingsford-Smith Airport showing the locations of the three runways, Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical cross-section through a horizontal billboard in accordance with a first embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a perspective view of a horizontal billboard in accordance with the second embodiment of the present invention, and Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a further embodiment of the present invention having a peripheral skirt.

As seen in Fig. 1, Sydney's Kingsford-Smith Airport 1 has two north-south runways 2, 3 and an east-west runway 4 within the airside. Each runway has a central zone intermediate two opposite distal ends. Intermediate the central portion and the distal ends is a takeoff/touch-down zone 5 indicated bydotted lines in Fig. 1. That is to say, aircraft taking off approach the distal end of the runway and are airborne at or about the zone 5 whilst aircraft coming in to land approach the central zone of the runway and have landed by the time they reach the zone Positioned alongside each of the runways 2, 3, 4 and between the distal end of the runway and the adjacent zone 5 is a large, substantially horizontal billboard 7. In the embodiment illustrated in Fig.1 each of the three runways has four billboards 7 so there are twelve billboards 7 in total.

Each of the billboards 7 has a dimension of approximately fifty metres by fifty metres and is therefore approximately hectare in surface area. Such a size billboard is easily able to be seen by aircraft passengers immediately prior to landing or immediately after taking off.

In general the area alongside runways is grassed and must be generally free of obstructions in order that there not be a collision with an obstruction should the aircraft happen to leave the runway in an unintended direction. Most such grassed areas are regularly mowed, 2802B however, sometimes they are fenced off and grazed. In all cases the general public is denied access to the grassed areas. In order not to constitute an obstruction, the billboards 7 should preferably be both substantially horizontal and also be mounted close to the ground.

In its simplest form, the billboard 7 could simply be formed from the grass alongside the runway and the indicium or indicia which go to make up the advertising can simply be painted on to the grass or the grass be dyed. However, it is thought that this is generally unsatisfactory since the grassed areas alongside airport runways are generally not very smooth and substantial upkeep is required for such a site.

Therefore a second embodiment is to form the indicia on a low level prepared surface other than grass. Examples of such prepared surfaces include spray sealed rolled profiles, light construction asphalt, or concrete. The indicia are painted onto the prepared surface. Such prepared surfaces incur a capital cost but reduce the cost of grass mowing.

A third, and more preferred embodiment is that illustrated in Fig. 2 where a billboard 17 is formed from a rigid sheet 16 which is anchored by bolts 15 into a cementitious pad 14 formed from concrete or asphalt. In this way the sheet 16 is able to be provided with bright colouring of a durable nature and therefore the upkeep of the billboard 17 is minimal.

In a still further embodiment as illustrated in Fig. 3, the billboard 27 is formed from a flexible sheet 26 which extends between two rollers 21 and 22 which are mounted in journals 23 which are in turn supported by a cementitious pad 24. A motor 25 enables the roller 21 to be rotated in either direction.

The flexible sheet 26 carries an advertising sign. If desired the advertising sign may be back illuminated by means of elongate light fittings 29 positioned under the sheet 26 at spaced apart locations.

As indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3, if desired the flexible sheet 26 can take the form of an endless loop 30 which enable two advertising signs to be alternatively displayed in a regular automated fashion. Alternatively, the flexible sheet 26 can consist of only a single 2802B sign in which case the sheet 26 is wrapped around each of the rollers 21, 22 only by a small number of turns or even a fraction of a turn. In a further possible arrangement, the flexible sheet 26 can be very long and can be rolled from one roller 21 to the other roller 22, and then reversed. Such an arrangement enables a long sequence of advertisements to be displayed in turn, and the sequence then reversed.

Fig. 4 illustrates a still further embodiment of a billboard 37 which is essentially the same as in Fig. 3 but is provided with a peripheral skirt which prevents wind entering under the tensioned flexible sheet which forms the display surface of the billboard 37.

The height of the billboards 17, 27, 37 above the ground is typically less than one metre so there are several orders of magnitude difference between the height of the billboard above the ground and the length of an edge of the billboard.

The foregoing describes only some embodiments of the present invention and modifications, obvious to those skilled in the art, can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, the rigid sheet 16 can be formed from a number of individual flush and abutting smaller sheets. Furthermore, the sheet 16 can be mounted at an inclined angle, preferably falling towards the adjacent runway, in order to enhance both its visibility from the air and to permit run-off of rainwater from the sheet 16. In some instances the airside can include sloping surfaces, or even man made hills, on which the billboard(s) can be located. Generally such slopes would have a slope angle of approximately 600 or less being the slump angle of soil or the scree angle of weathered debris.

The term "comprising" has used herein is used in the inclusive sense of "including" or "having" and not in the exclusive sense of "consisting only of".

Claims (3)

1. A billboard dimensioned to be visible to aircraft passengers during take-off and/or landing, said billboard comprising a substantially horizontally disposed indicia bearing surface removably connected to a support means located adjacent the ground at a location within the airside of an airport.

2. A billboard as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indicia bearing surface is on a rigid sheet and the support means is a cementitious pad.

3. A billboard as claimed in claim 1, wherein said indicia bearing surface is on a pliant sheet which extends around and between two rollers, and a means to rotate is operably connected to at least one of said rollers for rotating the same and thereby tension said sheet. Dated this 1 1 th day of April 2001. WEBSTER SIGNS PTY LTD and DENANN CONSULTANT SERVICES PTY LTD BY: HODGKINSON OLD McINNES Patent Attorneys for the Applicant