GB2464513A

GB2464513A - LED Illuminated Poster Display Apparatus with Poster Changing Mechanism

Info

Publication number: GB2464513A
Application number: GB0819108A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Philip Sheward
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2008-10-17
Filing date: 2008-10-17
Publication date: 2010-04-21
Also published as: GB0819108D0

Abstract

An advertising board 1 for displaying a poster 11 has an outer framework 2, a back plate 8 mounted to the outer framework 2 and having a plurality of light emitting diodes LEDs 9 mounted in an array substantially over the whole surface of the back plate. A mounting mechanism for mounting the poster 11 along a display plane 13 at or near the front of the outer framework 2, is formed by a first connector 17 that is coupled to a lower end of the poster 11 and is hooked over a hook 22 on the inside of the outer framework 2. A second connector 17 is coupled to an upper end of the poster 11 and to a line 23 which is wound over a pulley 14 to pull the poster 11 up into position and to release it to drop down when it needs to be replaced to change the poster.

Description

Advertising Board for a Poster

Field of the Invention

This invention relates to advertising boards for posters, particularly, though not exclusively, to such boards that can be mounted to the sides of buildings or other structures and that are backlit.

Background of the Invention

Advertising boards are known in many different shapes, sizes and designs. A common design hitherto has been the billboard, where advertising posters are glued to a backboard mounted on a supporting framework as a freestanding structure. Such billboards sometimes, though not always, have incandescent or halogen lights mounted on the supporting framework to illuminate the poster from the front, usually at the top.

Another type of advertising board that has become more common in recent years, is a completely enclosed structure, with a glass or transparent plastic material front, through which a poster within can be viewed. Such enclosures are commonly used at bus-stops or railway stations, for example.

The structure of the enclosure is such that there may be several posters within, which can be changed automatically with a powered motor, periodically, for example every few seconds or minutes. The posters may connected together in a strip which can then be rolled around a pair of rollers and can be wound forwards to change the poster that is visible through the front. Alternatively, there may be a number of multi-sided rollers, with portions of the posters on the sides of each roller, so that all the rollers, which are in close proximity to each other, can be rotated to display the appropriate portions of a particular poster, so that the complete poster is visible. Posters in these enclosures may also be lit, and different types of lighting are known. For example, fluorescent tubes may be provided at the side edges of the enclosure to provide illumination, or the fluorescent tubes may be provided at the rear of the enclosure to provide backlighting for the poster. Clearly, the enclosure must be accessible and must be capable of being opened in order to allow the posters to be changed periodically, and to allow the lighting tubes to be replaced.

Still more recently, advertising boards have become larger and larger and have been mounted to the sides of buildings or other large structures. Some large advertising boards are formed directly of a large matrix of light emitting devices, whether of one colour or of several or many different colours, If the matrix is of light sources of a single colour, then they can be controlled to be turned on and off in particular patterns to provide a monochrome advertisement.

If there are a large number, particularly if of different colours, then large, self-luminescent advertisements can be produced by programming the controller that controls the switching of the light sources on and off. As light emitting diodes have become available, especially in several colours, this has become a preferred form of the light source for such matrices.

On the other hand, because of the cost and requirement to program such large matrices of light emitting diodes, it has also become more common to use large advertising boards for mounting to sides of buildings or other structures in which a poster is provided, perhaps made from PVC or other plastics material, and which can be replaced, without the whole structure being replaced. Such posters can also be perforated if they cover windows of a building so that inhabitants of the building can still see out and receive some natural light, but where viewers of the poster from outside will still see the poster. Such boards may also be backlit and may need large numbers of fluorescent tubes to be positioned behind the poster in order to provide sufficient light for the large sizes of posters that may be utilized in this fashion. These advertising boards have various problems associated with them because of the dimensions and locations of the advertising boards. For example, the dimensions of the boards are such that maintenance workers move through the board between the poster and the fluorescent tubes. Apart from the heat that they are then exposed to, they also often brush against the fluorescent tubes and can break them.

Movement within such a restricted space, often at great height on the outside of a building, also brings with it severe risks of health and safety. Furthermore, such boards cannot have space (or the mechanism) for several posters to be joined together in a strip and periodically wound. Therefore, the poster needs to be accessible to be changed easily and relatively frequently. This has meant that the front of the structure needs to be accessible, usually at the top and bottom, to allow the old poster to be removed and a new poster to be installed.

Access to the top, particularly, of such a large structure, on the outside of a tall building also brings with it heath and safety issues.

Brief Summary of the Invention

The present invention therefore seeks to provide an advertising board that overcomes, or at least reduces the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the invention provides an advertising board comprising an outer framework for mounting to a building or other structure, a back plate mounted to the outer framework and having a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted in an array substantially over the whole surface thereof, and a mounting mechanism for mounting a poster along a display plane at or near the front of the outer framework, such that the light emitting diodes are positioned adjacent the display plane so as to light a poster mounted in the display plane from the rear thereof.

In a preferred embodiment, the mounting mechanism includes a first coupling device for coupling to a first end of the poster to be mounted, the first coupling device being provided at a first end of the outer framework, and a second coupling device for coupling to a second end of the poster to be mounted, the second coupling device being provided at a second end of the outer framework opposed to the first end thereof, wherein the first end of the outer framework is arranged to be a lower end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure and the second end of the outer framework is arranged to be an upper end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure.

According to a second aspect, the invention provides an advertising board comprising an outer framework for mounting to a building or other structure, a back plate mounted to the outer framework, and a mounting mechanism for mounting a poster along a display plane at or near the front of the outer framework, the mounting mechanism including a first coupling device for coupling to a first end of the poster to be mounted, the first coupling device being provided at a first end of the outer framework, and a second coupling device for coupling to a second end of the poster to be mounted, the first end of the outer framework being arranged to be a lower end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure, and wherein both the first and second coupling devices of the mounting mechanism can be accessed from the first end of the outer framework without the need for a hinged panel on the outer framework.

Preferably, the advertising board includes lighting means for lighting a poster mounted in the display plane from the rear thereof. The lighting means may comprise a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted in an array substantially over the whole surface of the back plate.

Preferably, the light emitting diodes have a substantially flat configuration and the array may be either regular or irregular.

In a preferred embodiment, the first coupling device comprises a first connector portion for connecting to the first end of the poster and a second connector portion for connecting to a complementary connector mounted on an inner side of the outer framework at the first end thereof.

Preferably, the second coupling device comprises a rotatable device housed in an inner side of the outer framework at the second end thereof and a connector portion attached to a first end of a flexible elongate line, which is According to one embodiment, the advertising board further comprises a drivable device housed in the inner side of the outer framework at the first end thereof, the drivable device being coupled to the other end of the flexible elongate line for moving the flexible elongate line in either direction so as to move the connector portion towards the rotatable device or to allow it to move away from the rotatable device.

The rotatable device preferably comprises a pulley mechanism. The drivable device may be manually driven or power-driven.

In a preferred embodiment, the mounting mechanism includes a longitudinal tensioning mechanism for tensioning the poster. Preferably, the outer framework has a pair of opposing sides and includes a lateral tensioning mechanism for tensioning the poster between the opposing sides.

in a further embodiment, the outer framework is provided with a lip that extends towards the display plane from a front part of the outer framework, thereby to contact the poster when it is in position in the display plane.

According to a further aspect, the invention provides a method of mounting a poster on an advertising board comprising an outer framework for mounting to a building or other structure, a back plate mounted to the outer framework, a mounting mechanism for mounting a poster along a display plane at or near the front of the outer framework, and lighting means for lighting a poster mounted in the display plane from the rear thereof, the method comprising: coupling a first connector portion of a first coupling device to a first end of the poster to be mounted; positioning a second connector portion of the first coupling device adjacent to a complementary connector mounted on an inner side of the outer framework at a first end thereof; coupling a connector portion of a second coupling device to a second end of the poster to be mounted, the second coupling device further comprising a rotatable device housed in an inner side of the outer framework at a second end of the outer framework opposed to the first end thereof and a flexible elongate line having a first end attached to the connector portion and being wound around the rotatable member, rotating the rotatable device so as to wind the flexible elongate line thereon, thereby causing the connector portion of the second coupling device to pull the poster towards the second end of the outer framework, whereby, as the poster is pulled towards the second end of the outer framework, the second connector portion of the first coupling device is caused to hook onto the connector mounted on the inner side of the outer framework at the first end thereof, and to tension the poster between the two ends of the outer framework, whereby the poster is mounted under tension in the display plane; and wherein the first end of the outer framework is arranged to be a lower end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure, whereby both the first and second coupling devices of the mounting mechanism can be accessed from the first end of the outer framework without the need for a hinged panel on the outer framework.

Preferably, the method further comprises tensioning the poster between the sides of the outer framework.

Brief Description of the Drawings

One primary embodiment of the invention will now be more fully described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which: FIG. I shows a schematic cross-sectional view through the top and bottom portions of an advertising board according to one embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view a top outer part of the board of FIG. I mounted to a support; FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view a bottom outer part of the board of FIG. 1 mounted to a support; and FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional perspective view of an extrusion similar to that forming the outer part of the board of FIG. 1, but with some minor modifications made to various portions of it.

Detailed Description of the Drawings

Thus, as shown in Figure 1, an advertising board 1 includes an outer framework 2 formed of an extrusion 3 having a front 4, a back 5 and a side 6 connecting the front and the back, together defining an elongate recess 7 between them. The outer framework itself is formed of four pieces of the extrusion 3 connected to form a rectangular or square configuration depending on the shape of the poster(s) to be displayed. The board I is intended to be mounted on the side of a building or other structure (as will be more fully described below) and the FIG. 1 shows two ends of the board 1 formed by two sides of the framework 2 providing the upper and lower ends of the board 1, when mounted in a vertical manner on the building or structure.

A back plate 8 is mounted to the rear of the outer framework 2. An array of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) 9 is mounted on the back plate 8. The array extends over substantially the whole area of the back plate 8, which may be of several meters (or even several tens of meters) in length and width, depending on the size of the poster(s) to be displayed. As can be seen, the extrusion 3 is shaped so as to provide a recess 10 adjacent the back plate 8 to allow connections, including electrical connections to the array of LEDs 9 to be positioned within the recess 10. A poster 11 to be displayed is mounted towards the front of the framework 2 such that it is backlit by the array of LEDs 9 on the back plate 8. The extrusion 3 includes a rearwardly extending flange 12, which extends from the front 4 of the extrusion 3 towards a display plane 13 in which the poster 11 is mounted, so that a lip 14 on the flange 12 contacts the poster 11 when it is mounted in position. The lip provides a barrier to light from the LEDs 9 escaping around the edge of the poster, which would give an undesirable halo" effect, and also to prevent, or at least reduce, the amount of water (from rain or other sources) passing into the inside of the framework.

The poster 11 is provided at its ends, and at its sides (although this is not shown), a reinforced edge having a rod 15 mounted therein. The poster itself may be printed on plastics, PVC, woven or webbed materials and may be perforated in order to allow light and or water through. For example, sometimes such posters may be mounted over an office or other building and it is perforated to allow inhabitants to see out. in such a case, it will be appreciated that the back plate 8 may also be perforated to allow inhabitants of a building on which the advertising board 1 is mounted to see out through their windows. The rod 15 may be made of rigid plastics material, metal or any other material, but should be strong enough to be gripped and pulled to tension the poster.

As shown in FIG. 1, the rod 15 at each end of the poster 11 is arranged within an elongate recess 16 within a keder rail 17. The recess 16 is formed so as to receive the rod 15, housed within the end of the reinforced edge of the poster 11, therein in a relatively loose manner, so that it can easily be removed by sliding it longitudinally out from the end of the recess and vice versa. The elongate recess 16 is provided with an elongate slit 18 thereby defining a pair of arms 19, which allow the poster 11 to extend through the slit 18 between them, but which prevent the rod 15 from doing so, thus holding the end of the poster within the elongate recess 16. The keder rails 17 are preferably extruded and may be the same, but need not be.

The keder rail 17 at the lower end of the board 1 is provided with a curved leg 20, which is arranged to curve through approximately 1800 so as to provide an end 21 facing the elongate recess 16 from a front side thereof. This end 21 of the leg 20 can hook over a hook portion 22 provided on the inner side of the front 4 of the extrusion 3, Thus, when the end 21 is so hooked over the hook portion 22, and the poster is pulled towards the top end of the board 1, the lower end of the poster 11 is held in place and can be put under tension.

Conversely, when the top end of the poster 11 is loosened and is allowed to hang free, the end 21 of the leg 20 will drop out of engagement with the hook portion 22 and the lower end of the poster 11 can then be easily pulled up and over the flange 12, so that the rod 15 can be slid out from the elongate recess 16 to remove the poster and mount a new one.

The keder rail 17 at the upper end of the board 1 is mounted on an end of a cable or other flexible line 23, which is wound around a pulley mechanism 24 mounted in a pulley bracket 27 in the elongate recess 7 at the upper end of the advertising board 1. The cable or flexible line 23 then passes behind the back plate 8 through the recess 10 to a drive pulley mechanism 25 mounted in a bracket 28 in the recess 7 at the lower end of the advertising board 1. A drive motor 26 or a manual drive mechanism is provided at the lower end of the board 1 coupled to the drive pulley mechanism and arranged so that the drive pulley mechanism 25 can be driven in either direction so as to reel the cable or flexible line 23 or to unreel it.

As will be appreciated, in order to replace a poster 11 by a new one, the existing poster must first be removed. This is done by driving the drive pulley mechanism 25 so as to unreel the line 23, thereby slackening the tension in the poster and allowing the keder rail 17 at the upper end of the board I to lower.

As the tension is reduced, as mentioned above, the end 21 of the leg 20 will drop out of engagement with the hook portion 22 and the keder rail 17 at the lower end of the poster 11 can then be easily pulled up and over the flange 12.

Thus both keder rails 17 at both ends of the poster are made accessible from the lower end of the board I and a person replacing the poster 11 need only activate the drive motor 26 to gain access to the poster to replace it from the lower end of the advertising board I without the need to reach the upper end.

In order to install a new poster 11, the rods 15 at each end of the poster 11 are slid into the recesses 16 in the keder rails 17. The end 21 of the leg 20 is then positioned under the hook portion 22 and the drive motor 26 is engaged to reel the line 23 onto the drive pulley mechanism 25. As the top end of the poster is pulled upwards, as the line 23 is wound over the pulley mechanism 24, the end 21 of the leg 20 is comes into engagement with and then hooks into the hook portion 22. This retains the lower end of the poster in position and further reeling of the line 23 tensions the poster to the required tension in the display plane 13.

In a preferred embodiment, the sides of the poster 11 are also provided with similar rods 15, which fit into a recess in a cylindrical keder rail (not shown) -.9-positioned at each side of the outer framework 2. By rotating these cylindrical keder rails, the poster can also be tensioned laterally, if needed.

The array of LEDs 9 may be a regular or irregular array depending on the size and shape of the advertising board and the requirements for backlighting the poster. The LEDs 9 are preferably of a substantially flat configuration, so as to take up as little space within the advertising board as possible. They may be white hght LEDs or of any colour that may be desired and there may, of course, be different coloured LEDs within the array in any desired pattern or in none.

FIGs 2 and 3 show the upper and lower ends of the outer framework 2 of the advertising board 1, with the extrusions 3 being mounted to a structure 30, but without the poster mounting mechanism described above being shown for clarity. The extrusion 3 is the same as that shown in FIG.1, except that the hook portions 22 are shown reinforced. The upper end of the advertising board 1 is provided with a first mounting bracket 31 mounted to the back 5 of the extrusion 3 by means of two bolts 32. The first bracket 31 has a generally flat portion 33 adjacent the back 5 of the extrusion 3 and a cantilever portion 34 extending downwardly from the flat portion 33 at an angle away from the extrusion 3. The lower end of the advertising board 11$ provided with an L-shaped bracket 35, having a generally flat portion 36 adjacent the back 5 of the extrusion 3 and a support portion 37 extending perpendicularly from the top of the flat portion 36.

A longitudinal channel 38 of substantially rectangular cross-section is mounted to the structure 30. The channel 38 includes a longitudinal tube 39 within it for the line 23 to pass through. The channel 38 also includes appropriate apertures for electrical connections to be made to the array of LEDs mounted to the back plate (not shown). As can be seen the wall channel may be mounted to the structure 30 by means of bolts 40, although any other suitable mounting devices may be used. Mounted within the channel 38, for example by welding, is a dowel 41, which may be made of metal, and which extends laterally across the channel 38. The dowel 40 provides a support for the cantilever portion 34 of the first bracket 31. Thus, when the advertising board 1 is to be mounted to the structure, to which the channel 38 has first been mounted, the top of the outer framework 2is first lifted over the channel 38 and then moved downwardly so that the cantilever portion 34 of the first bracket 31 -10 -drops down to contact the dowel 40 and to become supported thereby. The lower end of the outer framework 2 is then rotated towards the structure 30 until the support portion 37 of the L-shaped bracket 35 contacts the lower end of the channel 38 and is then bolted to the channel 38 be means of bolt 41. It will of course be appreciated that other mounting and fixing means may be utilized to mount the advertising board Ito the structure 30.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the extrusion 3, in which the same features as those described earlier have the same reference numbers. In this case, it will be seen that the major difference is that the rearwardly extending flange 12, which extends from the front 4 of the extrusion 3 towards the display plane in which the poster 11 is mounted, is formed at a slight angle so that inclines inwardly towards the display plane. Furthermore, the lip 14 on the flange 12 is formed as a bead to contact the poster when it is mounted in position. Other minor differences are that the side has strengthening ribs 42 provided on the inner face, and that the designs of various other internal structural features are different according to the particular configurations of the pulley brackets 27 and 28 that are to be mounted in the recesses 7 in the extrusions 3.

It will thus be apparent, that the advertising board described above firstly has the advantage that the poster can be backlit by an array of LEDs which take up less space that fluorescent tube lighting, which do not need to be replaced as often as fluorescent tube lighting, and because of the larger number of light sources that can be provided in the array, cab provide a more even back lighting effect. The advantages of the advertising board are further enhanced by the fact that the poster can be mounted and replaced from below, without the need for anyone to access the top of the board, whether by moving within the board or external to it. Furthermore, since there are no hinged panels that need to be pivoted outwardly to gain access to the lower part of the board, there is an even greater safety advantage, because a person replacing the posters can more easily have access to the necessary parts of the mounting mechanism and does not need to reach around an open panel.

It will be appreciated that although only one particular embodiment of the invention has been described in detail, various modifications and improvements -11 -can be made by a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims

-12 -Claims 1 An advertising board comprising an outer framework for mounting to a building or other structure, a back plate mounted to the outer framework and having a pluraJity of light emitting diodes mounted in an array substantially over the whole surface thereof, and a mounting mechanism for mounting a poster along a display plane at or near the front of the outer framework, such that the tight emitting diodes are positioned adjacent the display plane so as to light a poster mounted in the display plane from the rear thereof.
2. An advertising board according to claim 1, wherein the mounting mechanism includes a first coupling device for coupling to a first end of the poster to be mounted, the first coupling device being provided at a first end of the outer framework, and a second coupling device for coupling to a second end of the poster to be mounted, the second coupling device being provided at a second end of the outer framework opposed to the first end thereof, wherein the first end of the outer framework is arranged to be a lower end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure and the second end of the outer framework is arranged to be an upper end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure.
3. An advertising board comprising an outer framework for mounting to a building or other structure, a back plate mounted to the outer framework, and a mounting mechanism for mounting a poster along a display plane at or near the front of the outer framework, the mounting mechanism including a first coupling device for coupling to a first end of the poster to be mounted, the first coupling device being provided at a first end of the outer framework, and a second coupling device for coupling to a second end of the poster to be mounted, the first end of the outer framework being arranged to be a lower end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure, and wherein both the first and second coupling devices of the mounting mechanism can be accessed -13-from the first end of the outer framework without the need for a hinged panel on the outer framework.
4. An advertising board according to claim 3, further comprising lighting means for lighting a poster mounted in the display plane from the rear thereof.
5. An advertising board according to claim 4, wherein the lighting means comprises a plurality of light emitting diodes mounted in an array substantially over the whole surface of the back plate.
6. An advertising board according to either claim I or claim 5, wherein the light emitting diodes have a substantiaHy flat configuration.
7. An advertising board according to any one of claims 1, 5 or 6, wherein the array is either regular or irregular.
8. An advertising board according to any one of claims 2 to 7, wherein the first coupling device comprises a first connector portion for connecting to the first end of the poster and a second connector portion for connecting to a complementary connector mounted on an inner side of the outer framework at the first end thereof.
9. An advertising board according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein the second coupling device comprises a rotatable device housed in an inner side of the outer framework at the second end thereof and a connector portion attached to a first end of a flexible elongate line, which is wound around the rotatable device.
10. An advertising board according to claim 9, further comprising a drivable device housed in the inner side of the outer framework at the first end thereof, the drivable device being coupled to a second end of the flexible elongate line for moving the flexible elongate line in either direction so as -14 -to move the connector portion towards the rotatable device or to allow it to move away from the rotatable device.
11. An advertising board according to claim 10, wherein the rotatable device comprises a pulley mechanism.
12. An advertising board according to either claim 10 or claim 11, wherein the drivable device may be manually driven or power-driven.
13. An advertising board according to any one of claims 2 to 12, wherein the mounting mechanism includes a longitudinal tensioning mechanism for tensioning the poster.
14. An advertising board according to any one of claims 2 to 13, wherein the outer framework has a pair of opposing sides and includes a lateral tensioning mechanism for tensioning the poster between the opposing sides.
15. An advertising board according to any one of claims 2 to 14, wherein the outer framework is provided with a lip that extends towards the display plane from a front part of the outer framework, thereby to contact the poster when it is in position in the display plane.
16. A method of mounting a poster on an advertising board comprising an outer framework for mounting to a building or other structure, a back plate mounted to the outer framework, a mounting mechanism for mounting a poster along a dispJay plane at or near the front of the outer framework, and lighting means for lighting a poster mounted in the display plane from the rear thereof, the method comprising: coupling a first connector portion of a first coupling device to a first end of the poster to be mounted; positioning a second connector portion of the first coupling device adjacent to a complementary connector mounted on an inner side of the outer framework at a first end thereof; coupling a connector portion of a second coupling device to a second end of the poster to be mounted, the second coupling device further comprising a rotatable device housed in an inner side of the outer framework at a second end of the outer framework opposed to the first end thereof and a flexible elongate line having a first end attached to the connector portion and being wound around the rotatable member, rotating the rotatable device so as to wind the flexible elongate member thereon, thereby causing the connector portion of the second coupling device to pull the poster towards the second end of the outer framework, whereby, as the poster is pulled towards the second end of the outer framework, the second connector portion of the first coupling device is caused to hook onto the connector mounted on the inner side of the outer framework at the first end thereof, and to tension the poster between the two ends of the outer framework, whereby the poster is mounted under tension in the display plane; and wherein the first end of the outer framework is arranged to be a lower end of the advertising board when it is mounted on a building or other structure, whereby both the first and second coupling devices of the mounting mechanism can be accessed from the first end of the outer framework without the need for a hinged panel on the outer framework.
17. A method of mounting a poster on an advertising board according to claim 16, further comprising tensioning the poster between the sides of the outer framework.
18. An advertising board substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.
19. A method of mounting a poster on an advertising board substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the drawings.