GB2089091A - Display for attachment to the inside face of a window - Google Patents

Abstract

A display carrier, of soft flexible sheet material having a glossy front face and of such nature that it will "adhere" to a polished surface by mere contact, carries one or more items of information, made of a sheet material, the front face of each item being such as not to exhibit "adherence" to the polished surface and the rear face exhibiting "adherence" to the glossy front face of the carrier, so that the item as a whole will remain on the carrier and not be plucked therefrom when the display is stripped off the polished surface. Alternatively, the items can be glossy on their front faces and be stuck to the carrier. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in displays, such as window bills and posters This invention relates to displays, such as window bills and posters, of the kind which comprises (i) a carrier of flexible sheet material, and (ii) one or more items removably secured on a front face of the carrier.

For the purpose of this specification the following terms have the following respective meanings: (i) "adherent", "adherence" (used in quotes) means exhibiting the phenomenon of remaining firmly attached on a polished surface when merely pressed and smoothed thereon, as exemplified by glossy soft flexible sheeting of polyvinylchloride when used on glass; see U.K.Patent specifications No. 627881 and No. 1006793; (ii) "polished" means a smooth, highly glazed surface such as that of conventional window glass or gloss painted surface and capable of supporting the phenomenon of "adherence" as used herein; (iii) "matt" means any surface composition and/or texture and/or relief formation which substantially prevents a sheet material from exhibiting "adherence" and not necessarily being matt in an optical sense; (iv) "glossy" means any surface composition, and/or texture, and/or degree of smoothness which permits an appropriate sheet material to exhibit "adherence".

There is a well-known phenomenon that certain soft flexible sheet materials, having a glossy face, can be caused to "adhere" to a polished surface, by merely smoothing the sheet material firmly into contact with the polished surface, e.g. with the hand.

An example of such soft flexible sheet material is thin gauge polyvinylchloride sheeting. Accordingly, a large sheet of such sheet material can be mounted upon a polished window, of glass or transparent plastic material, to act as a carrier of a poster, advertising sign, list of prices, or any other source of information, hereinafter referred to generally as a display.

This same phenomenon of "adherence" can also be used to mount on the carrier one or more items of information, e.g. for composition of a display from stock lettering or the like, and/or for compiling a display from entire words, pictures, numerals, price indications etc.

With such displays, as used hitherto, there has been a great inconvenience that, at the time of stripping of the display from the window or the like, some or all of the items have remained "adherent" to the window, whereby the composition of the display is then spoilt, and the items remaining on the window have had to be laboriously stripped off manually and, if necessary, replaced individually on the carrier.

It is accordingly the object of the present invention to provide an improved form of display, of the nature referred to generally above, with which the item(s) remain on the carrier, at the time of stripping of the carrier off the window, so that the display remains unchanged by the stripping operation, with resultant much greater convenience of use and avoidance of laborious and time-consuming stripping of individual items off the window.

According to a first aspect of this invention there is provided, for use in making a display for "adherence" to a polished surface, in combination (i) a carrier made of soft flexible sheet material having a glossy front face and of such nature that it can be caused to "adhere" to the polished surface by mere contact and smoothing into position thereon, and (ii) one or more items of information, made of a sheet material, at least part of the front face of the item being such as not to exhibit "adherence" to the polished surface at least part of the rear face of the item being such as to exhibit "adherence" to the glossy front face of the carrier, the comparative surface areas of the "adherent" rear face and the "non-adherent" front face of the item being such that the item as a whole will remain on the carrier and not be plucked away therefrom when the display is stripped off the polished surface.

According to a second aspect of this invention there is provided, for use in making a display for "adherence" to a polished surface, in combination (i) a carrier made of soft flexible sheet material having a glossy front face and of such nature that it can be caused to "adhere" to the polished surface by mere contact and smoothing into position thereon, and (ii) oneor more items of information, made of a sheet material, at least part of the rear face of the item having thereon an adhesive which is selected to be adherent to the glossy front face of the carrier, the strength of the adhesive being such, that the item as a whole will remain on the carrier and not be plucked away therefrom, when the display is stripped off the polished surface.

The carrier may be transparent, translucent or opaque, and may be plain, or may carry painted or printed subject matter such as design, lettering, and guide lines with space being left available for items to be added.

The items to be added to the carrier may themselves constitute subject matter, or they may carry subject matter which is painted or printed on the exposed front face.

To facilitate mass production of the items, a sheet of suitable material may be mounted on a polished support to serve for temporary storage. In connection with the first aspect this support may conveniently be gloss-coated art board. Subject matter, embracing a series of such items, is then painted, printed or otherwise defined on the exposed surface of the sheet material. If it does not already have a matt finish, as needed for the first aspect of the invention, it is coated with a matt finish varnish or other material suitable for the purpose. The sheet material is then dissected into a plurality of items, e.g. squares or rectangles, by, for example, scoring or the method known in the art as "kiss-cutting" in which the depth of an incision is controlled so that it will penetrate through the sheet material but leave the storage support intact.The items can then be peeled off the storage support, as and when required, and applied to the carrier, e.g. a main bill or poster area, in the preparation of a display.

It will be evident that the total area of the items added to the carrier must be such as to leave an adequate area of the carrier, still uncovered by the items, so that the carrier may be adequately "adherent" to the window or the like.

A border area is left uncovered on the carrier, all about the item-bearing area thereof.

The assembled display, especially when the carrier, or all of the assembly, is made of soft polished polyvinylchloride sheeting, can be made to "adhere" to the polished surface, such as window glass, rather more readily and to a greater extent if the following method is used. The receiving surface is firstly washed over with water, preferably warm water to which a little detergent may be added. Then the display is placed in position. Air bubbles, and surplus moisture, are then expelled from between the receiving surface and the display, using for example a squeegee, and preferably working from the centre outwards. Then the back of the display, and a surrounding area of the receiving surface, are gently rubbed over, e.g. with a dry leather or cloth.

Not only is the "adhesion" improved but the presentation of the display is more attractive than otherwise, and the carrier and the items thereon, even with a matt surface presented bythe items, have the appearance of having been signwritten directly onto the glass instead of being "adhered" thereto. Further, it appears that as the display dries out, it may tend to shrink and therefore cling more tightly to the glass so that, providing care is taken, the window or other receiving surface can later be washed over and cleaned without the display becoming dislodged.

When the time comes for the display matter to be removed or altered, the assembly of the carrier (with the items thereon) will come off as one, the items clinging to the carrier and not to the receiving surface. After removal of the assembly from the receiving surface, the items can be peeled off, dried off at the back if necessary, and replaced on their storage sheet. Fresh items can be selected and applied to the carrier to provide a new display.

Where the items are adapted, in accordance with the second aspect of the invention, to be adherent to the carrier by virtue of the presence of a layer of adhesive on the back of the item, other materials which can conveniently be used for production of items are, for example, thin plastics sheeting such as polystyrene, cellulose acetate, and vinyl-treated wallpaper. In order to facilitate mass production of such items, a sheet of the material can be mounted on a substantial release paper, e.g. a siliconised paper, to serve as a storage sheet. The requisite subject matter, possibly embracing a plurality of eventual items, is then painted, printed or otherwise defined on the sheet material.Then the individual items are dissected from the whole, e.g. into convenient size and/or shapes, preferably by scoring or "kiss-cutting", the depth of the incision being controlled so as to penetrate through the item material but leave the storage support intact.

Where the items incorporate adhesive on the rear face, it is preferred to have the front face as highly glazed as possible, and where subject matter is added on the front face by painting or printing, it is preferred to use paint or printing substances which dry to a high-gloss finish.

In order that the nature of the invention may be readily ascertained, some embodiments in accordance therewith are hereinafter particularly described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure lisa perspective view to show a first kind of attachable item temporarily mounted on a board for storage purpose, Figure 2 is a perspective view to show the attachable item removably mounted on a carrier for display purposes, Figure 3 is a perspective view of a second kind of attachable item temporarily mounted on a board for storage purposes.

Figure 4 is a perspective view to show the attachable item of Figure 3 removably mounted on a carrier for display purposes, Figure 5 is a perspective view of a third kind of attachable item temporarily mounted on a board for storage purposes, and Figure 6 is a perspective view of the attachable item of Figure 5 removably mounted on a carrier for display purposes.

Reference is made firstly to Figures 1 and 2. The attachable item 1 is shown in the form of a cut-out letter "E", but it could be any item of information, whether in cut-out form or not. The item 1 has a glossy underface 2 and a matt top face 3. The item is removably secured on the glossy face 4 of a piece of art board 5 which serves for storage of the item.

By reason of its glossy underface 2, the item 1 "adheres" removably to the glossy face 4 of the art board. For removal, it can be picked up at a corner, as shown, and then peeled off the art board.

Figure 2 shows a carrier 6 having a glossy top face 7. The item 1, removed by peeling off the art board 5 in Figure 1, has been placed in position on the carrier 6, with the glossy underface 2 of the item contacting the glossy top face 7 of the carrier, whereby the item 1 "adheres" quite firmly to the carrier 6. The item 1 presents its matttop face 3 outwardly.

When all of the desired items have been mounted on the carrier 6 it is then ready for securing onto a window glass. This is achieved in the conventional manner by presenting the glossy top face 7 of the carrier6 in contact with the polished face of the window glass, and smoothing it firmly into position by hand, as a result of which the carrier 7 "adheres" to the window glass. As the exposed face 3 of the item(s) is matt, there is little or no "adherence" to the window glass, and accordingly at the time of stripping the carrier off the window glass, each item "adheres" firmly to the carrier 6 and has little or no "adherence" to the window glass, so that all of the items remain on the carrier and the complete assembly of carrier and items thereon comes away cleanly from the window glass.

If desired, the item(s) on the carrier can then be discarded, varied, added to, or otherwise varied, and the complete assembly than re-used in the same manner. It is to be noted especially that, if the face 3 of the item 1 was glossy, the items would always "adhere" at least as strongly to the window glass as to the carrier 6, so that at each time of stripping the assembly from the window glass, some or all of the items would be left "adhering" to the glass, with consequent spoiling of the display assembly.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4 there is shown another form of item 8 having a matt front face 9 and a layer 10 of adhesive on its underface. The adhesive 10 is selected to be of the conventional kind which remains tacky for a relatively long period, and which can adhere strippably to a glossy surface 11 of the art board 12, and which can also adhere strippably to the glossy top face 13 of the carrier 14, e.g. rubber latex.

The item 8 is stripped from the board 12 and is mounted on the carrier 14. Then the carrier plus all of its items 8 is pressed firmly into contact with a window glass, to which it "adheres", as the exposed face 9 of the item is matt, there is little or no adherence between it and the window glass, as a result of which when the carrier 14 is subsequently stripped off the window glass, the items 8 all remain adherent to the carrier 14 and come away with it from the window glass.

Referring now to Figures 5 and 6 there is shown another form of item 15 having a glossy front face 16, and a layer 17 of adhesive on its underface. The adhesive 17 is selected to be of conventional kind which remains tacky for a relatively long period, and which can adhere strippablyto a glossy surface 18 of the storage board 19, and which can also adhere strippabiy to the glossy top face 20 of the carrier 21.

Further, the adhesive is selected to have an adhesive strength which is appreciably greater than the "adhesion" which occurs between the glossy material of the item 15 and the window glass on which it is to be used. A suitable adhesive would be rubber latex.

The item 15 is stripped from the board 19 and is mounted on the carrier 21. Then the carrier, plus all of its items 15, is pressed firmly into contact with the window glass. Both the glossy face 20 of the carrier 21, and the glossy face 16 of the item(s) will "adhere" to the window glass. However, upon stripping of the carrier 21 from the window glass, the adherence of the item 15 to the carrier, occurring as a result of the presence of the relatively strong adhesive 17, will be greater than the "adherence" of the glossy face 16 to the window glass, as a result of which the items remain on the carrier, and do not leave it to remain on the window glass.

Claims (11)

1. Adisplaycomprising, in combination: (i) a carrier made of soft flexible sheet material having a glossy front face and of such nature that it can be caused to "adhere" to a polished surface by mere contact and smoothing into position thereon, and (ii) one or more items of information, made of a sheet material, at least part of the front face of the item being such as not to exhibit "adherence" to the polished surface, at least part of the rear face of the item being such as to exhibit "adherence" to the glossy front face of the carrier, the comparative adherent properties, such as the surface areas, of the "adherent" rear face and the "non-adherent" front face of the item being such that the item as a whole will remain on the carrier and not be plucked therefrom when the display is stripped off the polished surface.

2. A display comprising, in combination: (i) a carrier made of soft flexible sheet material having a glossy front face and of such a nature that it can be caused to "adhere" to the polished surface by mere contact and smoothing into position thereon, and (ii) one or more items of information, made of a sheet material, at least a part of the rear face of the item having thereon an adhesive which is selected to be adherent to the glossy front face of the carrier, the strength of the adhesive being such, that the item as a whole will remain on the carrier and not be plucked away therefrom when the display is stripped off the polished surface.

3. A display, as claimed in Claim 2, wherein at least a part of the front face of the item exhibits "adherence" when applied to a polished surface, and wherein the comparative surface areas of the "adherent" front face and of the adhesive-coated rear face of the item, and/or the strength of the adhesive is such, that the item as a whole tends to remain on the carrier, rather than on the polished surface, when the display is stripped off the polished surface.

4. A display, as claimed in Claim 1, wherein the item is made from soft flexible polyvinylchloride sheeting having a glossy rear face and a mattfront face.

5. A display, as claimed in Claim 2, wherein the item is made from soft flexible polyvinylchloride sheeting having a matt front face.

6. A display, as claimed in Claim 3, wherein the item is made from soft flexible polyvinylchloride sheeting having a polished front face.

7. A display, as claimed in either of Claims 2 and 3, wherein the adhesive is rubber latex or other suitable adhesive.

8. A display, as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the carrier is made of soft flexible polyvinylchloride sheeting having a glossy front face.

9. A display, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

10. A display, substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

11. A display substantially as described herein with reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.