AU774852B2

AU774852B2 - Collapsible projection screen assembly

Info

Publication number: AU774852B2
Application number: AU87307/01A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Silas Creel
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2000-11-03
Filing date: 2001-11-02
Publication date: 2004-07-08
Anticipated expiration: 2021-11-02
Also published as: AU8730701A

Description

AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Applicant(s): SILAS CREEL Invention Title: COLLAPSIBLE PROJECTION SCREEN ASSEMBLY The following statement is a full description of this invention, including the best method of performing it known to me/us: 2 COLLAPSIBLE PROJECTION SCREEN ASSEMBLY FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to projection screens and in particular to a collapsible projection screen assembly mounted on or at a trailer or moveable carriage.

The invention has been developed primarily for use as a collapsible projection screen assembly mounted on or at a trailer or moveable carriage and will be described hereinafter with reference to this application. However, it will be appreciated that the invention is not limited to this particular field of use.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Collapsible projection screen assemblies are used for a range of purposes, such as for the projection viewing of overhead transparencies, photographic slides and movies.

Many projection screens are transportable, however the difficulty of and time taken setting up projection screens in-situ increases as the size of the screen increases.

Transportable projection screen assemblies for the viewing of, for example, movies in an outdoor setting by more than, say, 500 people are necessarily large. In order to transport these assemblies to remote locations it is necessary to have a collapsible screen assembly which is relatively compact in its transportable configuration.

Presently available large collapsible projection assemblies are cumbersome to set up, often taking experienced setup crews 4 to 5 hours to install.

30 Components of the transportable projection screen may also have to be transported in several trailers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to one aspect of the invention there is provided a collapsible projection screen assembly mounted externally on or at a moveable carriage, the assembly including: 3 one or more support member(s) mountable to the carriage and moveable between a collapsed position and a screen support position; and a flexible projection screen movable between a collapsed position and a screen position, the screen being mountable to the one or more support member(s).

Preferably, when the screen is in the screen position, it is projectable upon by a projector in the vicinity of but not adjacent the carriage.

Advantageously, the configuration of the assembly allows for the size of the screen in screen position not to be restricted to, for example, an internal carriage size.

Preferably the or each support member is hingedly mountable to the carriage and preferably the assembly includes two support members, the support members being spaced apart when in the screen position, and wherein the screen is mountable between the support members when in the screen position. Also preferably, the screen is retractable into its collapsed position.

Preferably, each respective corner of a leading edge of the screen is attachable to a respective hoisting means. The hoisting means may be used to hoist the screen in an upward direction with respect to the supports when in the screen support position. Preferably, the hoisting means includes respective cable or tape attached at one end to a respective corner of the leading edge, and a winching means for winching the cable or tape to hoist the screen to the screen position.

30 Preferably each support member has a guide means at its distal end. The guide means may take the form of a cable or tape track allowing the cable or tape to slide thereupon, or a pulley wheel allowing the cable or tape to move thereon.

Preferably, the flexible screen is perforated and may have reinforcing means adjacent its perimeter.

Preferably, a respective truss support is hingedly 4 attached to the or each support member. Also preferably, each truss support reinforces its respective support member and is adapted to carry one or more sound speakers.

Preferably, a sound system is mounted on or at the carriage. Preferably also, the carriage includes support means for stabilising the carriage when the screen is in screen position. Also preferably, the support means are arms.

Preferably the assembly includes tension means attached to the distal end of a respective support member and to the distal end of a base member adjacent the respective support member, when the support members are in the screen position. Advantageously, the tension means aid in supporting their respective support members in the screen position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A preferred embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: SFigure 1 is a front elevation of a preferred collapsible projection screen assembly according to the present invention; Figure 2 is a front elevation of the assembly of 25 Figure 1 in a more expanded configuration; Figures 3 to 7 all show similar front elevations of the assembly of Figure 2, but in sequential varying stages of screen assembly erection; and Figures 8 9 are left and right side elevations 30 respectively of the assembly of Figure 7.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the drawings, a collapsible screen assembly in accordance with the invention is mounted externally on a carriage in the form of a trailer 10. Two support members in the form of support poles 12 and 14 are hingedly mounted to a frame 15 of the trailer 10 and are 5 moveable between a collapsed position as shown in Figure 1 and a screen support position as shown in Figures 6 to 9.

The assembly also includes a flexible projection screen 16, as both shown in Figures 6 and 7, which is moveable between a collapsed position and a screen position, the screen 16 being mounted to and supported by the support poles 12 and 14 when in the screen position.

Additional features of the assembly will now be described with reference to the erection of the projection screen assembly, as shown sequentially in Figures 1 to 7.

Figure 1 shows the assembly in a completely collapsed (transportable) position. In this position, support poles 12 and 14 lie substantially flat adjacent the top 18 of the trailer frame 15. Truss supports in the form of truss frames 20 and 22 are hingedly connected to respective support members 12 and 14 so that they may also lie flat.

Support means in the form of outriggers 24 and 26 are stowed adjacent the trailer 10. The task of the outriggers will be described with reference to Figure 2.

Sound woofers 28 are covered and stowed in the base of the trailer In Figure 2, the covers of the sound woofers 28 have been removed and outriggers 24 and 26 have been hingedly swung away from the trailer 10. Jacks 29 and 30 on each 25 outrigger 24 and 26 have each been screwed down through its respective outrigger until the jack has made contact with the ground. Additional jacks 32 and 34 have been screwed down through the trailer to provide additional stabilising support for the trailer in its stationary 30 position.

eIn Figure 3, one truss frame 20 has been moved into its in use lateral position and sound speakers 36 have been attached to it. Tension means in the form of left and right winch arms 38 and 54, left and right winches and 56, left and right cables 42 and 58 and left and right cable extension arms 44 and 59 are provided on the trailer to aid in erecting, collapsing and stably supporting 6 the support poles 12 and 14. In use, left winch arm 38 is extended outwardly from the trailer to deploy the left winch into winching position. The person setting up the screen assembly can then winch the cable 42 in a downward direction which in turn raises support member 12 by pulling upon the cable extension arm 44 which is attached thereto. Prior to the left winch being operated, a light 46 is attached to the distal end 74 of support member 12 and is activated for safety reasons. As seen in Figure 4, when the support member 12 is in its screen support position, the cable extension arm 44 and the bottom 48 of the truss frame 20 abuts a left abutment truss 50 which provides support to the truss frame 20 and hence the support member 12 when the support member 12 is in the screen support position.

The process described for erecting support member 12, truss frame 20 and the sound speakers 36 is then repeated for the support member 14, the truss frame 22 and so on.

The erection of support member 14, truss frame 22 and sound speakers 38 is shown in Figure 5. As shown, right winch arm 54 is in its deployed position and right winch 56, along with right cable 58 and right cable extension arm 59. Also shown in Figure 5 is the bottom 60 of truss frame 22 being winched towards abutment with right abutment truss 62.

Referring now to Figure 6, the ends 64 and 66 of leading edge 68 of the screen 16 are connectable to hoisting means in the form of hoisting tapes 70 and 72 for hoisting the screen 16 into position. In use, the 30 hoisting tapes 70 and 72 are connected to their respective leading edge ends 64 and 66 when the screen is in its retracted position. In the meantime, hoisting tapes and 72 are in position over their respective support poles 12 and 14 and are guided over the distal ends 74 and 76 of their respective support poles 12 and 14 by a respective guide means in the form of hoisting tape tracks. In an alternative embodiment, hoisting tapes 70 and 72 may be 7 hoisting cables and the hoisting tape tracks may be hoisting cable guides. In another alternate embodiment, the lateral sides 77 and 79 are adapted to track in respective grooves in the support poles 12 and 14.

The screen 16, in its collapsed position, is retracted by a spring tension screen roller 86.

Alternately, the screen may be retracted by a manual winch.

Figure 7 shows the screen 16 in screen position. A reinforcing means in the form of tape 88 is adjacent the perimeter of the screen to aid in strengthening the screen while in screen position and also to aid in giving the screen a substantially flat surface when in screen position. The screen is perforated to allow passage of air therethrough. In an alternative embodiment, the reinforcing means may be in the form of rods, or the like which are attached to the screen when in screen position.

The screen image area is typically 8 metres wide by metres high, although the area and/or the dimensions of 20 the screen may be different for different uses. The screen 16 may also be used as a front protection screen, a rear projection screen, or a combination of both.

Figures 8 and 9 show the preferred position of the screen 16 in screen position, as an alternate view to the 25 collapsible projection screen shown in Figure 7.

Now that a preferred embodiment of the invention has been described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the collapsible projection screen assembly has at least the following advantages: 30 1. the assembly, when collapsed, is conveniently compact and suited to road transport on its trailer; 2. given the configuration of the assembly, the time taken for erection of the screen assembly into screen position is substantially reduced by a factor of approximately five when compared with other collapsible projection screen assemblies of similar size; 3. since the screen is not internal of the trailer when 8 in screen position, the potential screen size is larger and viewable by a larger audience; and 4. the preferred embodiment of the invention is adapted to support sound speakers and lights.

Although the invention has been described with reference to particular examples, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the invention may be embodied in many other forms.

Claims

1. A collapsible projection screen assembly mounted externally on or at a moveable carriage, the assembly including: one or more support member(s) mountable to the carriage and moveable between a collapsed position and a screen support position; and a flexible projection screen movable between a collapsed position and a screen position, the screen being mountable to the one or more support member(s).

2. An assembly according to claim 1 wherein when the screen is in the screen position, it is projectable upon by a projector in the vicinity of but not adjacent the carriage.

3. An assembly according to claim 1 or 2 including two support members hingedly mounted to the carriage, the support members being spaced apart when in the screen support position and wherein the screen is mountable 20 between the support members when in the screen support position.

4. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the screen is retractable into its collapsed position.

5. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein a leading edge of the screen is attachable at its respective corners to respective hoisting means, wherein the hoisting means are arranged to hoist the screen from the collapsed position to the screen position.

6. An assembly according to claim 5 wherein the hoisting means includes: cable or tape attached at one end to a respective corner of the leading edge; and a winching means for winching the cable or tape to hoist the screen into the screen position.

7. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein each support member has a guide means at its distal end. 10

8. An assembly according to claim 7 when depended from claim 6 wherein the guide means is in the form of a cable or tape track allowing the cable or tape to slide thereupon.

9. An assembly according to claim 7 when depended from claim 6 wherein the guide means is a pulley-wheel adapted to allow the cable or tape to move thereupon.

An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the flexible screen is perforated.

11. An assembly according to any one or the preceding claims wherein a respective truss support is hingeably attached to the or each support member.

12. An assembly according to claim 11 wherein the respective truss supports are adapted to carry one or more sound speakers.

13. An assembly according to any one of the preceding claims including a sound system mounted on or at the carriage.

14. An assembly according to any one of the preceding 20 claims wherein the carriage includes support means for stabilising the carriage on a ground surface when the screen is in the screen position.

15. A collapsible projection screen assembly substantially as herein described with reference to the S 25 accompanying drawings. Dated this 2nd day of November 2000 S"SILAS CREEL S"By his Patent Attorneys GRIFFITH HACK e a