EP0370393A2 - Method for spreading advertising messages, pictures, and device for carrying out this method - Google Patents

Abstract

The method consists in using three pictures (1, 2, 3) on transparent supports representing dissociated elements of the set of elements constituting an advertising message, which are arranged on these pictures in order that the message should be reconstructed by superposition thereof and in projecting them onto a screen by means of a projection system in which they are displaced along different paths overlapping within a superposition zone (4), and in order to cause them to pass periodically within this zone. An apparatus devised to carry out this method comprises three picture-carrying panels which are displaceable by translation to and fro continuously by means of a transmission of the connecting rod type which is continuously driven by a motor. The advertising message is thus shown alternately and progressively from a dissociated conformation of its elements to a reconstructed conformation and/or vice versa. <IMAGE>

Description

The subject of the present invention is a method of broadcasting advertising messages in which images on transparent supports of these messages are used and an apparatus for displaying these images on a surface capable of being observed by the public, as well as images and a apparatus used for the implementation of this process.

The dissemination of advertising messages by such methods is universally applied in stores selling products to encourage customers to buy them, as well as in public places such as stations and cinemas to promote them.

The images usually used are of all kinds suitable for the desired advertising effect as well as the device used to display them and the budget allocated.

This is how slides or drawings on transparent supports are used, each representing an advertising message intended to be projected on a screen such as for example a rectangle of stretched fabric or frosted glass, using a projection in which these images are passed one after the other in front of a projection optic, either manually or automatically, after a selected individual projection time during which the advertising message is thus shown motionless and in full.

The advertising impact obtained is very average because the image is static and devoid of surprise.

In return advantageous, this diffusion process advertising messages is relatively inexpensive with regard to the means of implementation, images and projection apparatus, except however with regard to certain automatic projection apparatuses called "carousel". On these devices, a kind of carousel presents a series of peripheral boxes in which the units of a series of slides are placed, and an appropriate transfer mechanism periodically takes a slide out of its box, presents it in front of a projection lens and the then return to its place in the carousel while the latter is each time turned from one box to the next. Automation here makes it possible to display several advertising messages on a screen, one after the other, without the help of an operator. But the cost of purchasing this type of projector is high as well as that of its maintenance, because of the transfer mechanism which must withstand here the constraints of repetitive long-term use.

Another kind of advertising image that can be seen especially in stations and public squares consists of a luminous sign permanently enclosed in what is called in the language of the trade a "light box", a kind of box in which is exposed behind glazing and in front of frosted glass a sign lit by one or more lamps or tubes of electric light placed behind the frosted glass to ensure the diffusion of light rays as homogeneously as possible on the entire surface of the sign.

Low cost, the advertising impact is however here also very average because of the fixity of the image and the absence of surprise effect.

Much more attractive, but in return much more costly are the methods of broadcasting advertising messages in which an image film on photographic film is used, animated according to a scenario providing an effect of surprise, and which is projected on the screens of cinemas or other places of public gathering.

In addition, the use of a cinematographic projection device requires the intervention of an operator after each projection of the advertising film to rewind the reel and trigger the next projection, which is restrictive and expensive for its continuous use in a sales store.

The invention aims to offer an attractive medium term between the methods and the means of dissemination by which the advertising message is shown by a single fixed image presenting the entire message without surprise, but of low cost, and those by which the advertising message is shown by a film of moving images according to an attractive scenario but clearly more expensive, thus filling a need situated between these two extremes.

To this end, the method of broadcasting advertising messages according to the invention, of the kind in which images on transparent supports of these messages are used and an apparatus for displaying these images on a surface capable of being observed by the public, is characterized in that a chosen number of images distinct from elements dissociated from the set of elements constituting at least one advertising message are used to make a corresponding number of images intended to reconstitute the advertising message by superposition, and in that these images are displayed with the aid of a device in which they are automatically moved along different paths overlapping in an overlapping area and so as to pass them together periodically in this area, and in that the image formed in this area is continuously displayed by the separate displaced images.

In this way, the advertising message can be presented in an attractive and lively manner, from a composition dissociated from its constituent elements, which has the effect of arousing the curiosity of the public, up to a composition for replacing its elements, when the images which represent them arrive in a superimposed position, and which has the effect of satisfying aroused curiosity with associated surprise effect, and this in a repetitive and continuous manner, without requiring the intervention of an operator.

There is no longer any need for an elaborate and costly script, since it simply consists in dissociating some or all of the elements constituting the advertising message, whether it is composed only of letters and words or elements of a specific object, or all of these two themes.

It follows from this process that the images on transparent supports used for its implementation are characterized in that they constitute a series of a chosen number of distinct images of elements dissociated from the set of elements constituting at least one advertising message, and in that they are set up so that they reproduce the advertising message by superimposition.

The nature of these images can be of all kinds such as for example slides obtained by photography of the real elements composing the advertising message, letters and / or objects, or else drawings on transparent supports of these themes, which, for a representation animated with surprise effect, can be set to the scope of modest budgets, unlike cinematographic films requiring a much larger number of images, without taking into account the depreciation costs of the material used for the script.

The apparatus used for implementing the method according to the invention, which comprises means for making images appear on a surface capable of being observed by the public, is characterized in that it comprises a displacement unit for images comprising at least two movable image carriers, members for guiding the movements of the image carriers provided for guiding them along different paths passing through a zone of superposition of the carried images, at least one motor unit and at least one device for transmission of movements established between the engine group and the image carriers to move the latter and periodically and together pass the separate images carried in the superimposition zone, the means for displaying images being provided for making the image appear continuously. image formed in this overlapping area by the separate displaced images.

The principle of the image displacement unit which characterizes this apparatus, which proceeds by displacement of image carriers to periodically pass the separate images carried in an overlapping zone, calls upon mechanical means which can be designed much more simple and more reliable, therefore less expensive, than those used both in automatic projection devices called "carousel", which do not allow animation, and in cinematographic projection devices.

From this basic conception of the process and of its means of actuation, the following description shows several possibilities offered, both in as regards the paths of the image carriers, their mode of movement as the particular effects obtained for each of them.

• Les figures 1, 2 et 3 représentent trois constitutions successives et essentielles d'une image obtenue par le procédé.
• La figure 4 est une vue d'ensemble d'un appareil pour la mise en oeuvre du procédé.
• Les figures 5, 6 et 7 sont respectivement une vue de face, une vue de dessus et une vue de gauche de la premiè­re forme d'exécution de l'unité de déplacement d'images.
• Les figures 8 et 9 sont respectivement une vue de face et une vue de dessus en coupe partielle, en représenta­tions partielles et schématiques, de la seconde forme d'exécution de l'unité de déplacement d'images.
• La figure 10 est une vue de profil partielle d'un détail de la figure 9.
• La figure 11 est une vue de face schématique et partielle de la troisième forme d'exécution de l'unité de déplace­ment d'images.
• La figure 12 est une vue de face schématique et partielle de la quatrième forme d'exécution de l'unité de déplace­ment d'images.

The accompanying drawing shows, by way of example, an image obtained by the method according to the invention, an apparatus for implementing the latter, and four embodiments of the image displacement unit which characterizes this device.

• Figures 1, 2 and 3 show three successive and essential constitutions of an image obtained by the process.
• Figure 4 is an overview of an apparatus for implementing the method.
• Figures 5, 6 and 7 are respectively a front view, a top view and a left view of the first embodiment of the image displacement unit.
• Figures 8 and 9 are respectively a front view and a top view in partial section, in partial and schematic representations, of the second embodiment of the image displacement unit.
• FIG. 10 is a partial profile view of a detail in FIG. 9.
• Figure 11 is a schematic and partial front view of the third embodiment of the image displacement unit.
• Figure 12 is a schematic and partial front view of the fourth embodiment of the image displacement unit.

In FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 which show an advertising message obtained according to the method of the invention, three separate images 1, 2 and 3 are moved along different paths, in continuous back-and-forth and by rectilinear translation, and according to the arrows indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3 for one of the two directions of the back-and-forth, in front of an overlapping zone 4, marked in strong solid lines, corresponding to the image intended to be shown continuously to the public .

The three distinct images 1, 2 and 3, differentiated voluntarily and for the clarity of the drawing by their contours, respectively in continuous lines, in short broken lines and in long broken lines, each represent a chosen number of elements dissociated from the set elements constituting an advertising message. This message is here, to fix ideas, in two parts, one of which is an assembly of letters forming "MONTRE-TOI", and the other of which is an assembly of elements constituting a wristwatch, these two parts being visible in full, the first in Figure 1, the second in Figure 3.

On the first image 1, the left part of which can be seen in FIG. 1 and the right part in FIG. 3, are represented, on the left, the two hands and a half watch strap, and on the right the letters M , T and T from MONTRE-TOI.

In the same way, but from right to left, are shown in the second image 2 the round case of the watch and the letters N, E and I from MONTRE-TOI.

Finally on the third image 3, and from bottom to top, the dial and the other half-bracelet of the watch are represented at the bottom and at the top the letters O, R and O from MONTRE-TOI.

The location of the elements represented on each separate image is provided so that at each of the two end-of-travel positions of their respective paths, these elements sometimes reconstruct one sometimes the other of the two parts of the advertising message.

During their movements between the two end positions, the elements represented by the separate images 1, 2 and 3 dissociate, as is made visible in FIG. 2.

There is therefore here a continuous presentation, in an attractive and animated manner, and in the superposition zone 4, of the two parts of an advertising message which, by successive passages of dissociations and of resetting of its constituent elements, awakens and satisfies the curiosity of the public, with an associated surprise effect which is here not only the fact of the passage from one to the other of these two configurations, but also the artifice of the passage from one to the other of both parts of the message.

But the device in question is not essential and the separate images used may represent only dissociated elements of a message in a single part with an empty passage, without images, in the superposition zone 4, at the one of the two travel limit switches for these images, as could be done for example here by removing the elements constituting the SHOW-YOU part of the message.

Depending on the desired effect, the speed of movement of the separate images can be modulated, as will be shown below, with or without variations when the advertising image is reconstituted in the overlay zone 4.

The apparatus shown in FIG. 4, which can be used for implementing the method according to the invention, is a projector comprising on the one hand usual means for projecting images onto transparent supports on a surface, such as a screen , likely to be observed by the public, installed in and on the body 5 of this device, and on the other hand an image displacement unit which characterizes it, contained in a removable housing 6 engaged in an appropriate housing of the body 5 .

The means for projecting the images, which have not been shown so as not to overload the drawing unnecessarily, are for example those used for slide projectors and which comprise a source of light rays, an optical capacitor for concentrating the light rays on the images to be projected, and a represented lens bearing the mark 7, for adjusting the focusing of the images projected on the screen, all of these elements being aligned with the optical axis X of the device.

The first embodiment of the image displacement device shown in FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 is suitable for implementing the method illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 and which has been described previously.

In front view according to FIG. 5, the three separate images 1, 2 and 3, however deprived of the elements which they represent to preserve the clarity of the drawing, are placed in relative positions which correspond to those of FIG. 1, at the end races, in a sense, of their movements.

These three images 1, 2 and 3, constituted for example by slides, are carried respectively by three image carriers 8, 9 and 10 displaceable by translation rectilinear, constituted here by thin rectangular panels having a window to the right of the worn image which has a perimeter groove 11 in which the image is embedded and / or glued according to the stiffness of its transparent support.

The two image carriers 8 and 9 travel two different paths superimposed in the same direction and their movements are guided by guide members constituted by two rectangular plates 12 also of small thickness, carrying two parallel slides 13 in which these two image carriers are engaged, one above the other, as is clearly visible in Figures 6 and 7.

The third image carrier 10, the path of which is perpendicular to the path of the first two image carriers 8 and 9, is guided in its movements by guide members also constituted here by two rectangular thin plates 14 carrying two parallel slides 15 in which this image holder 10 is engaged.

The two guide plates 12 of the image holders 8 and 9 and the two guide plates 14 of the image holder 10 are assembled by four screws 16 also taking two half-dovetails 17 intended for engagement and fixing. of the device in its housing 6 (fig. 4).

The intersection zone of the image carriers here constitutes the superimposition zone 4 defined by the method illustrated in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, zone in which the two parts of the advertising message are reconstituted at the end of the movements of these carriers. images, and the device is placed in its case 6 so that the center of this area is located in the axis projection device X-ray.

The back and forth movements of the image carriers 8, 9 and 10, from one end of travel to the other, are controlled by a motor-reduction unit 18 fixed on a guide plate 12 and connected to these carriers -images by a transmission device of the connecting rod-crank type comprising here:
a crank 19, fixed to the output shaft 20 of the reduction motor group 18,
a first connecting rod 21 established in connection between the crank 19 and the third image holder 10,
- And a pair of second connecting rods 22, articulated at the same point on this same third image holder 10 and established symmetrically in connection with the two image holders 8 and 9.

The connecting rods are articulated on pivots 23 integral with the three image holders and the relative position of these articulations as well as the lengths of the connecting rods and of the crank are determined so that the two limit switches of the paths of the three image holders 8 , 9 and 10 are obtained at the passages of the two dead centers of the connecting rod 21 - crank 19 junction, one of these two conformations being precisely illustrated by FIG. 5 in correspondence with FIG. 1 illustrating the process.

Thanks to the nature and the particular arrangement of this type of transmission of movements, a slowing down of the speed of movement of the distinct images 1, 2 and 3 carried by the image carriers 8, 9 and 10 is obtained at the approaches of the two ends. of their journeys, with in addition a temporary virtual immobilization at their changes of direction of movement in the superposition zone 4, when the elements dissociated from the advertising message are replaced to reconstitute the latter.

However, this interesting feature is not essential and other motion transmission systems ensuring other types of modulation of the displacements of the image carriers can be applied, as is shown below.

Similarly, the paths of the images and of the image holders can be different from rectilinear, as shown by the second embodiment represented by FIGS. 8, 9 and 10.

In this second embodiment of the image displacement device, which is only partially represented but which shows the essentials, the different paths of the separate images, two of which are marked 24 and in FIG. 9, are in arcs of circle.

To this end, these separate images are carried by image carriers 26 in the form of articulated tilting panels, outside the superposition zone 4, to pivots 27 integral with the housing 28 of the device and extended by contact fingers. 29 maintained in permanent support by return springs 30 on the lifts 31 and the fallout 32 of a rotary cam in the form of a circular crown 33 encircling the image holders 26.

The tilting of the image holders 26, from the lowered superposition position 4 to a raised clearance position shown in thin broken lines, and which is conditioned by the design of the rotary cam 33, is controlled by a motor 34 driving in continued and in the same direction of rotation a friction wheel 35 supported on the circular periphery of the base of the cam 33.

This arrangement results in a particular crossfade-like effect of the dissociated elements represented on each separate image as they approach superposition zone 4, zone at which they reach their maximum clarity by reconstructing, image after image, advertising message.

Another advantage of this system lies in the fact that according to the design of the cam 33, a partial representation of which is shown in FIG. 10, and in particular by playing, for a given height H of the cam lifts 31, over the length L of the bearing these lifts, over the projected length D of the inclined plane leading to the fallout 32 and over the length B of this fallout, it is possible to modulate at will, and for the same rotation speed of the cam 33, the relative duration of each phase presentation of the advertising message.

In this second embodiment, as in the first form described above, the number of distinct displaced images is dictated by the choice up to a maximum number of usable images compatible with the maximum volume of the box which can be available and from the space necessary for the displacement of one of them, in each particular case.

The third embodiment of the image displacement device shown diagrammatically in FIG. 11 is more particularly adapted, but nonetheless not exclusively, to the equipment of a light box of the type mentioned at the beginning of the presentation.

This device is composed of two pairs of image holders constituted in each pair by two parallel rotary rollers 36 and 37, respectively 38 and 39, on which are wound and tensioned between them two separate image carriers 40 and 41 constituted by two strips of flexible transparent material on which are represented, according to the method, the elements dissociated from at least one advertising message. These rollers are arranged in a square and so that the two image support bands 40 and 41 are superimposed by crossing each other between the rollers 36-37 and 38-39, thus forming an overlap zone 4.

One roller of each pair, here the rollers 36 and 38, are made integral in rotation by a transmission constituted by the meshing of two conical toothed wheels 42 and 43 coaxial with these two rollers, and this rotation is controlled by a motor group- reduction gear 44, the output shaft of which is coupled to the axis of one of these two rollers, here the roller 36.

In order to ensure the permanent tension of the two image support bands 40 and 41 between the two rollers of each pair, the untrained roller is equipped with a coaxial return system with spiral spring 45, here the rollers 37 and 39.

As a result, the images are here displaced by rectilinear translation, from one roller to another in each pair.

The motor of the motor-reduction unit 44 has two directions of rotation and is fitted with limit switches, for example of the electronic type, adjusted to reverse the direction of rotation at each end of travel of the movements in the two directions of the bands. image carriers 40 and 41, these limit switches being designed to operate after the passage of the separate images in the superposition zone 4.

In this third embodiment, and depending on the length of the image support strips and the recall capacity of the non-driven image-carrying rollers, several advertising messages can be shown in succession and according to the same method of dissociation and reconstruction of 'images.

In variants and following the same principle it is possible to provide a larger number of pairs of rollers, no longer arranged in a square but in regular polygons of sides in even numbers, at the limit of course of the space available around the area. desired overlap 4.

The fourth embodiment of the image displacement device shown schematically in Figure 12, which is more particularly adaptable to a projector of the type already described and shown in Figure 4, responds to a variant of the method according to the invention in which makes the separate images appear using a device in which they are automatically moved along different endless paths in closed circuits overlapping in the overlapping area.

To this end, this device comprises three image carriers 46, 47 and 48 constituted by rotary disks arranged in three parallel planes and each carrying here four separate images M, N, O and P distributed equiangularly around their edges and whose circular paths , obtained by synchronous rotation of these discs, overlap in a superposition zone 4 placed in the optical axis of the projection apparatus according to fig. 4.

The synchronous rotation of the image-bearing discs 46, 47 and 48 is obtained, under the control of a motor-reduction unit 49, by a transmission device of the pulley and toothed belt type comprising:
- three pulleys of the same diameters 50 mounted on the three shafts of the three image-bearing discs,
a fourth pulley 51 mounted on the output shaft of the motor-reduction unit 49,
- And a toothed belt 52 established in connection with the aforementioned four toothed pulleys.

Each series of three distinct images of the same mark M, N, O or P distributed over the three disks each represent elements dissociated from the set of elements of the same advertising message, and all the distinct images are arranged on these three disks so that the three distinct images of the same reference point pass at the same time and are superimposed in the superposition zone 4 to reconstitute in turn each of the four advertising messages which it is thus possible to show.

In a variant not shown responding to this same process in which the images are moved along endless paths, the image carriers of the image displacement device consist of endless bands, in rings, stretched in closed circuits between at least two rollers, which intersect by overlapping in an area of their circuits constituting the overlapping area 4.

Such a variant could be represented by a simple modification of FIG. 11, by elimination of the coaxial return systems with spiral spring 45, the image support bands 40 and 41 then being endless and stretched by the two coils 36-37 and 38-39 of each pair, and the means for making the images appear here, of course, interposed between the two parallel strands of the two bands, inside their endless circuit.

Of course, other variants not shown and constituting equivalents of the exemplary embodiments may be applied without departing from the strict scope of the invention, and this in particular with regard to the transmission means used connecting the carriers. images by means of a motor which may be of other types such as, for example, transmissions by chain or by gear trains, each time adapted to the nature of the desired movement, continuous, alternative or back and forth.

Claims (11)

1. A method of broadcasting advertising messages in which images on transparent supports of these messages are used and an apparatus for displaying these images on a surface capable of being observed by the public, characterized in that a chosen number is used of distinct images of elements dissociated from the set of elements constituting at least one advertising message to make a corresponding number of images intended to reconstitute the advertising message by superimposition, and in that these distinct images are made to appear using an apparatus in which they are automatically moved along different paths overlapping in an overlapping zone and so as to pass them together periodically in this zone, and so that they appear continuously the image formed in this overlapping area by the separate displaced images. 2. Images on transparent supports for implementing the method according to claim 1, characterized in that they constitute a series of a chosen number of distinct images of elements dissociated from the set of elements constituting at least one advertising message, and in that they are set up so that they reproduce the advertising message by superimposition. 3. Apparatus for implementing the method according to claim 1 comprising means for displaying images on a surface capable of being observed by the public, characterized in that it comprises an image displacement unit comprising at least two movable image carriers (8-10, 26, 36-39, 46-48), members for guiding the movements of the image carriers provided to guide them along different paths passing through an overlapping zone (4) of the images ranges, at least one power unit (18, 34, 44, 49) and at least one movement transmission device (19-21-22, 33, 42-43, 50-51-52) established between the power unit and the image holders for moving the latter and for passing periodically and together the separate images carried in the superposition zone, the means for making the images appear being provided for making the image formed in this superposition zone appear continuously by the separate images moved. 4. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the separate images are displayed using an apparatus in which they are automatically moved by continuous back-and-forth along paths of limited length including at minus a limit switch, in one direction, constitutes the overlapping area of the displaced images. 5. Apparatus according to claim 3, for implementing the method according to claim 4, characterized in that the different paths of the image carriers (8-10, 26, 36-39) are of limited length and have at least a limit switch, in one direction, forming a position of superposition of the carried images, and in that the transmission device (19-21, 26, 36-39) established between the motor unit (18, 34, 44) and the image holders is provided to move the latter along their paths by continuous back and forth, from one end of race to another. 6. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the paths of the image holders are rectilinear. 7. Apparatus according to claim 5, characterized in that the paths of the image holders are in arcs of a circle. 8. Apparatus according to claims 3, 5 and 6, characterized in that the image holders (8, 9, 10) are constituted by sliding panels, and in that the transmission device between the engine group (18) and the image carriers is of the crank-rod type (19-21-22) and in that this device is established so that the two limit switches of the paths of the image carriers are obtained at the passages of the two dead centers of the connecting rod-crank junction. 9. Apparatus according to claims 3, 5 and 7 characterized in that the image holders (26) are constituted by tilting panels with elastic return, and in that the transmission device between the motor unit (34) and the doors -images is of the rotary cam type (33) whose lifts (31) periodically actuate contact fingers (29) fixed to the image holders. 10. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that the separate images are displayed using an apparatus in which they are automatically moved along different endless paths in closed circuits overlapping in the area of overlay. 11. Apparatus according to claim 3, for the implementation of the method according to claim 10, characterized in that the image holders (46, 47, 48) are constituted by rotating discs arranged in parallel planes and each carrying distinct images (M, N, O, P) distributed equiangularly around their edges, and whose circular paths, obtained by synchronous rotation of these discs, overlap in the superposition zone (4), and in that the distinct images of elements of the same message are arranged on the discs so that they pass at the same time and overlap in the superposition zone (4) to constitute said message.

Images