CA1295831C - Carrier device for successively displaying pictorial information - Google Patents

Abstract

TITLE : CARRIER DEVICE FOR SUCCESSIVELY DISPLAYING
PICTORIAL INFORMATION
ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE
There is provided a device for successively displaying a plurality of illuminated pictures in a predetermined recurring pattern, including a conveyor band made of flexible material, having a plurality of jackets associated therewith, the jackets to contain pictorial displays to be revealed, the conveyor band travelling around at least one roll. The jackets are individually formed and spaced from one another and each comprises an individual rectangular sheet of flexible material shaped to overlie the conveyor band, Resilient means connect the jacket to the conveyor band so as to cause the jacket to be carried by the conveyor band while being displaceable relative thereto when the conveyor band together with the jacket travels around the roll. Resilient means also apply a force to said jackets in an axis longitudinal to the displacement of the conveyor band to prevent flexure of display material in said jacket and formation of air gaps between display material and said conveyor band, when operating said device,

Description

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This invention relates to a device for successively displaying illuminated pictures.
More specifically this invention relates to an improvement in the moveable band o-F a Flexible material constituting the system of an illuminated display mechanism that is fully ; automated, and in which the jackets which receive the display material are prevented from forming air gaps with the conveyor band. Illuminated display mechanisms are typically employed a5 an advertising medium. The configurations and applications oF such mechanisms may vary considerably. However, it should be remembered that the purpose of the mechanism is to pictorially convey information in some predetermined recurring pattern. It i5 known that pictorial displays are carried by a moveable band of transparent or translucent material. The prior art teaches a number of solutions to carry the pictorial displays wich all have several draw~acks. For;e~ample, It i5 known tD place the displays~directly on a band by means of dyes and ~ ~ ; paints. Thi~s represents a time consuming and `~ ~ e~pensive effort. In addition~ the display ,1 : :
material is permanent and the user must change the entire band to replace part or all of the ~, : : : :
~ dlsplay material. Laminating the display material ~i . ~,,,, . ~ .

between two transpare~t moveable bands is also known. The display material becomes unitary with the band of moveable material and i5 or may require to be spliced. User must change the entire band to replace part or all of the display material. Canadian patent 1,126,020 granted to Rota-vu Canada Inc. d i 5C loses a band o-f flexible translucent material in the form of contiguous pockets adapted to receive and carry pictorial displays. The pictorial displays can be replaced independently without havin~3 to remove the Flexible moving band. With the use oF
contigu~us pockets, the plurality oF thicknesses of material used makes it necessary to slacken the outermost layer of flexible translucent material with respect to the innermost layer~ in :~!
I order to obtain smooth and even storage of the , band of flexible material on the main rollers of the illuminated display mechanism. This Z0 slackeniny of the outermost layer of translucent material with respect to the the innermost layer results in a lack of support for the display material, which will make ~t warp and crease when it is displayed. It is therefore an object of :
the preS~nt Invention to provide an improved carrier system for an illuminated display ~:
mechanism having a reliable and simple means for ~ .
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securing and carrying pictorial display material an the band. ~nother object of the invention is ; to provide a carrier system that can carry display material of varying thicknesses ano rigidity. Qnother object of the present invention is to prevent the carrier system from being damaged, cut, ripped~ etc.. by rigid display material. ~nother object of the inventiDn is to provide a carrier system that can keep the display material of varying thicknesses and rigidity straight while the material i5 on di5play. Still another object o-f the invention is to enable the carrier and display rnaterial to be rolled and unrolled smoothly. Still another object of the present invention is to provide for an easy insertion and removal of the display material from the carrier. Still another ob~ject of the present invention is to provide a means to 1 prevent the display material from creeping along ; 20 the conveyor band as a result of static ~ electricity or inertia of the display material.
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Still another object of the present invention is to provide a polyester or polycarbonate based .~ :
~ ~ transparent or translucent film treated to . .
;I 25 prevent and~or reduce abraslon of the transparent film of the carrier system. These and other objects according to the invention and problems ~ .

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associated with the prior art may be overcome by providing a flexible conveyor band which is resiliently joined to a plurality of independently moveable jackets adapted tD receive and carry pictorial displays. ~ccording to the inventionl there is provided a device for success/vely displaying a plurality of illuminated pictures in a predetermined re~urring pattern, including a conveyor band made of flexible material, having a plurality of jackets associated therewith, the jackets tD contain pictorial displays to be revealed, the conveyor band travelling around at least one roll. ~he jackets are individually formed and spaced from ; 15 one another and each comprises an individual rectangular sheet of flexible materiàl shaped to overlie the conveyor band. Resilient means connect the sheet to the conveyor band so as to cause the sheet to be carried by the conveyor band while being displaceahle relative thereto when the conveyor band together with the sheet travels around the roll. Resilient means also apply a force to said jackets in an axis ~; longitudinal to the displacement of the conveyor : ~ es band to prevent~ flexure of display ma;terial in said ~acket and formation of air gaps between display~ materla~l and ~said~conveyor band~ when .

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operating said device.
A mDre complete understanding o-f this invention may be ~btained fr~m the detailed descripti~n that follows, taken with the accompanying S drawings in which :
FIGURE 1 is a layout oF the flexible carrier band according to Canadian patent 1,12~,020;
FIGURE 1~ is a cT-oss-section taken along line A-A
oF FIGURE l;
FIGURE 1~ is a sketch showing the rolling up of the b~nd oF contiguous pocket~
: according to Canadian Patent 1,126,0Z0;
FlGURE 2 is a sketch of an existing carrier band design showing the flaws associated ` therewith;
FIGURE 3 is a layout of an improved carrier system according to the invention;
I FIGURE 3~ is a section taken along line A-~ of FIGURE 3;
~:: FIGURE 4 is a layout of an individual jacket ~before assembly;
25 ~ FIGURE 5 is a layou:t of an assemDled jacket;
FIGURE 5~ is a crDss-section taken along line h-~
: ; - o-F FIGURE:5;

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FIGURE ~ is a cross section view in elevatiDn showing drawing o-f the means o-F joining the individual jackets to the conveyor band.
~s shown in FIGURE 1, the band of flexible translucent material comprising a plurality of ; contigucus pockets adapted to receive and carry pictorial displays according to Canadian Patent 1,126.020, is made up of an inner sidewall t and an overlying outer sidewall 2. The sidewalls are Joined together by means oF a seam 3 along one edge thereof to form a closed bottom and are further joined together at predetermined : :
~` in~tervals along lines 4 which are orthogonal to the olosed ~ottom 3. It must be understood that the aforementioned band of material ls~described in an unrolled or flat condition. Rolling up the:
: : band of fle~ible material creates a number of prohlems, which will be described brlefly ln ; 20 ~ order :to~better understan~ the improvement accord~ing to the present Invention.
Referring~t~o FIGURE l~, it will be seen that the ;band h~as:three thicknesses : namel~y the inner : sidewa:ll I~has th~ickness tl,:the overlying outer 25::~r~illewall~2;:has thickness t3:and the display ~ :
material~S has~th~ckness t2~. The display~m.~ r is:inserted between the inner sidewall 1 and ! ~` : : : : : :

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the outer sidewall 2. It is clear that the materials previously described will not be rnlled onto the same radius.
If we suppose R : radius of roll tl : thickness of inner wall tZ : thi~kness of the display material;
~ aftef having rolled the materials one turn, the : foll~wing will be obtained :
- a perimeter of Z X Pi X R for the inner wall - a perimeter of 2 X Pi X ~ R ~ tl ) For tl-e display material - a perimeter oF 2 X Pi X ~ R ~ tl ~ tZ) for the auter wall where Pi = 3.1415 ., :
;l 15 For each revolution of the band onto the roll~
the outer wall must be Z X Pi X ~tl-~tZ) longer than the inner wall.
Therefore, if the outer wall Z is joined to the ;: ~:, .
: inner wall 1 at predetermined regular intervals the outer wall will have to be ~ 2 X Pi X ~tl~tZ) X No of turns ) longer if the band is tn be rolled and unrolled smoothly. As illustrated in FIGURE 2~when:t~he pictorial infarmatian 5 i 5 belng displ:ayed, the outer wall 2 will not b~e 25~ straigh~t and unlfarm be~ause of the ex-tra length oF ~:2~X Pi;X ~tl~+t2~) X No af turns ) required to be:~ble ta~rDll i:t up smoothly.

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The extra length of the outer wall will create bubbles, waves and will of-Fer no structural support to the display material. The appearance of the display material will be of doubt-Ful quality~ To be able to use the prior art carrier system, the inner wall and display material thicknesses must be made up of very thin material ~tl ~ t2 become negligible ). The use of very ,:
thin material make the carrier band very -fragile and prevents the use oF high quality and rigid display material lil<e "DURQTR~NS" ( TM from KODQK ), "CI~C~IROME" ~ TM From ILFORD ) or others .
The present inventian proposes to solve the problems associated with the device of the prior art by means of a carrier system comprised of independently moveable jackets 6 adapted to receive and carry pictorial displays.
; Qs illustrated in FIGURE 3, it will be seen that the device according to the invention generally comprises a continuous conveyor band 7. a ~ :
plurality of independently moveable jackets 6, strips of elastic materials 8, rectangular pieces o-F non elastic~materi21~q to join the jacke-ts to.the~inner wall~of the conveyor bar,d 7 an~
opaque masks lO which are placed at regular intervals over the outer wall of the conveyor , .. ..... .

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band 7 as shown at the top of FIGURE 3. In this context, it will be realised that the opaque masks 10 have not been showr, a-t the ;unction between two jackets in order to better illustrate S the device.
~s shown in FIGURE 4, an individual jacket 6 is made from one piece of transparent or translu~ent material which is die cut into an I form. ~oth horizontal edges 11,12 o~ the I shaped Form are folded 180 degrees alDng dotted lines 13.
The len~th o-F a given jacket 6 depends only ~n the vertical size oF the display material. I-ur display material having a given vertical size the 3acket will have an optimum fald width. For display material having a longer vertical size, the width of the fold would be longer.
The four flaps 14 are then also folded 180 degrees, along dotted lines 15. The folds are nece55ary to prevent lateral movement of the Z0 display material relative to the jackets 6.
s shown in FIGIJRE 5~, the four folded flaps 14 are~then bonded a~t 19 to~the body of the jackeb~
; ; w~ith an adhesive. The folded flaps 1~ uith the :.:: ~ : ~ .
dhesive applie~ in specified manner, take a ring ~for~m la.; The hole in the :rlng is necessary to nsert an ;elasti~c~band 8 fur;ther in the assembly process, a~s will be described later.

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As shown in FIGURE 3, the jackets 6 are joined to the inner wall of the conveyor band 7 by a ~: combination of s-trips of elastic material ~ and non elastic material 9.
It must be understood that the term non ela~tic m~an~ a material whose constant of elasticity is high enough to prevQnt the material from stretching~ ~5 shown in FIGURE 6, one of two materials that joins the jackets 6 to the inner wall of the conveyor band 7 is constituted by strips of elastic material ~. The strips o-F
elastic material a are stretched orthogonal to the top and bottom edges 16, 17 of the jackets 6 and further inserted through the ring 18 for~ed as shown in FIGURE 5~ Qs shown in FIGURE 6, Dne extremity of the strip of elastic material a i5 bonded at 20 to the outer wall of the jacket 6 : ~ .
: and the middle of the elastic strip is fastened at 21 to the inner wall of the Conveynr band 7.
The other half of the elastic is then fixed at 22 : to an other jacket 6, and the assembling process .
: of the entire device i5 continued ~t the first and last Jackets;6 the~str~ps of elastic materials are only half len~th and have both one extremity fastened to the jacket and the other ~ ~: : : ~ : : :
adhesively secured to:the conveyor band as described~previously. Of course the strips of :

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elastic material with their three bonds Z0,21,22 could oe replaced by two shorter strips of elastic material with an additional bond to the inner wall of the conveyor band 7 as will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art. The length of the elastic is determined to obtain a fairly even ~orce between maximum and minimum extensions. ~fter having bonded the middle oF
each strip 8 a prestretch of for example about 10% of the overall length of the strip of elastic material 3 is given to the ~trip before bonding both extremities. This insures smooth rolling and unrolling of the carrier system. ~s shown in dotted llnes in FIGURE 6, without the aoove .j :
mentioned prestretch, the leading edge of the jacket 6 would curl at Z3 under the weight of the display material 24 preventing it from passing ~ver the tensionning rolls 25 around which the conveyor band 7 travels. The prestretch also insures that the strips 8 will always exert a : : :
tension b`etween the jacket 6 and the conveyor band 7;therefore~ensuring that the display material 24 is straight whlle~being d~splayed.
:: : The stri~s of elastic~material are fastened as ~outllned above ~ i~n~order not; to obstruct the illumination of the dlsplay area. This also permits longer ela~stic bands to be used in order : : ~

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to minimise differences in tension between ma~imum and minimum extensions without lengthening the gap between the sheets of display material 24. Evaluation has shown that strips 8 made of a polyester rubber type material work best, hawever other types of elastic material can be used. Q width of about .25" has given the best results althaugh it is not intended tD be limited by specific width.
It must be understood by those skilled in the art that the çame result could be obtained by simply fastening the strips of elastic rnaterial along the horizontal edges of the jackets ~ to the conveyor band 7. However because of the constant ~5 of elasticity of strips oF elastic material generally faund on the market, the gap between display materials would be greatly increased crr-ating an awkward effect.
It will be seen that the aforementionecl prnblems of the prior art resulting from the presence of contiguous pockets wound on a roll may be solved by proviciing strips of elastic material ~ between ;ackets 6 contalning the display material Z4 and the conveyor band 7. ~ccording to the invention Z5 the relative motions of the multiple layers which -- are being~wound on a roll are still inherent but the Qla5tiC mater~al will compensate for the :
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differences in radius as mentioned previous1y~
This allows for a smooth storage and retrieval on and from a roll. It also yields a display material 24 that is flat while on display.
Strips of non elastic material 9 in FIGURE 3 join the j~cket to the inner wall of the conveyor band 7 at properly spaced in-l;ervals between lateral Fdges thereof. The strips of non elastic material need a minimum width to insure that no lateral movement of the jackets 6 relative to the conveyor band iB possible. Experience has shown that a width oF abo~t one inch gives be~t r~,ult~
although it is not intended to be limited by specific width.
~150 the non elastic material i5 necessary -to ; prevent the jackets 6 in which are inserted the display material 24 from creeping in reference to :: :
the conveyor band. Creep is generated by the ccnstant relative mnvement of the display i Z0 material 24 in reference to the conveyor band 7.
The relative movement creates friction between the two plastic ~ilms. This produces static electricity which results in a surface tension between the d~fferent layers and eventually creep of one wlth respect td tho~other. Finally at regular intervals~opaque bands 10 are fixed on the outer wall of the conveyor band 7 to hide 13-~

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From view the strip of elastic material inner wall conveyor band bDnd 21 and the nDn elastic material 9. ~ecause of the continual mDvement of the carrier system as previously discussed, the relative movement of the jackets b and display material 24 in reference to the conveyor band 7 creates friction. On the long term that c1-eates abrasion of the transparent film and scratching.
This problem maj be solved by using a polyester or polycarbonate film which is treated on both sides to reduce scratching.

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Claims (8)

1. A device for successfully displaying a plurality of illuminated pictures in a predetermined recurring pattern, including a conveyor band made of flexible material, said conveyor band having a plurality of jackets associated therewith, said jackets to contain pictorial displays to be revealed, said conveyor band travelling around at least one roll, wherein said jackets are individually formed and spaced from one another, each jacket comprising an individual rectangular sheet of flexible material shaped to overlie said conveyor band, and at least one strip of elastic material connecting said jacket to said conveyor band so as to cause said jacket to be carried by said conveyor band while being displaceable relative thereto when said conveyor band together with said jacket travels around said at least one roll, thereby providing a means to prevent flexure of said display material in said jacket and formation of air gaps between said display material and said conveyor band, when operating said device.

2. Device according to claim 1 wherein said sheet of flexible material has both end edges thereof inwardly folded relative to said conveyor band to form catching bends at top and bottom ends of said jacket thereby preventing a pictorial display from sliding past said top and bottom ends of said jacket when said conveyor band is travelling.

3. Device according to claim 2, wherein said sheet of flexible material has laterally projecting tabs at the four corners thereof, said tabs being outwardly folded against said sheet of flexible material with the ends of said tabs being adhesively secured, thereto to form guiding loops, four of said strips of elastic materials being provided, each said strip extending from the top of said jacket through guiding loop to said conveyor band in space provided between said jackets.

4. Device according to claim 3, wherein each strip of elastic material has both ends adhesively secured to respective top and bottom ends of adjacent jackets properly spaced between lateral edges thereof, said strips of elastic material having a central portion thereof adhesively secured in said space to said conveyor band.

5. Device according to claim 4, which comprises at least one rectangular piece of non elastic material, wherein both ends are adhesively secured to respective top and bottom ends of adjacent jackets properly spaced between lateral edges thereof, said rectangular pieces of elastic material having a central portion thereof adhesively secured in said space to said conveyor band.

6. Device according to claim 5 wherein said rectangular pieces of non elastic material are wide enough to prevent lateral movement of the jackets relative to the band of flexible material.

7. Device according to claim 6, which comprises an opaque mask member fixed to the outer wall of said conveyor band to hide said strips of elastic material, said rectangular pieces of non elastic material and part of said ends of said jackets while displays are being revealed.

8. Device according to claim 1 wherein said conveyor band and said jackets are made of flexible material selected from the group consisting of polyester and polycarbonate, said material being treated to prevent or reduce abrasion.